Princeton officials will spend $1 million for a company to provide and install high-tech single-space parking meters and multi-space pay stations that will have multiple payment options.
In all, some 1,000 meters will be replaced, municipal Engineer Deanna Stockton said on May 7. The new machines will accept payment in coin, credit card or through a smartphone app. Later this month, officials will hire a vendor, IPS Group, to provide and install the equipment, she said.
“You might find the smart meters are actually very green, in the fact they rely on solar energy,” said Julie Dixon, the consultant aiding the town in the project, during a presentation at the Princeton Council’s meeting May 7.
“They have rechargeable batteries and everything that is done with them is communicated wirelessly. So being able to do remote programming and managing those parking meters is really optimized and efficient,” Dixon said.
The new equipment will not accept the municipal smart card, or a type of debit card, which officials have said is being phased out.
The municipality will allow residents to apply for parking permits over the internet, but that will be a longer-term project, Stockton said.
Earlier this year, officials announced they would be moving in this direction, to introduce the new technology, as they said they also would be looking at parking regulations. One option before them is to raise the price of on-street parking, which has not happened in about 10 years, said a Princeton official.
“We are considering raising the rates and also calibrating them to encourage turnover and encourage short-term parking where we want short-term parking and long-term parking where we want long-term parking in order to optimize parking for the merchants and the businesses,” council President Jenny Crumiller said on May 8. “Whatever increases we make, we are going to do gradually.”
In the past, officials have raised the prospect of exploring charging an escalating cost to park longer in high-demand spaces in the downtown area to spur turnover.
“The goal is to create the situation where there is always some parking availability,” Crumiller said. “So you price those spaces that are most in demand higher.”
The leader of an area business group called it critical to have parking available for people coming downtown for a quick stop.
“Anything that can help the downtown business community, we’re all for,” said Peter Crowley, president and CEO of the Princeton Regional Chamber of Commerce. “I think it’s always important that customers coming to the retail spaces and the businesses in downtown Princeton have access to parking and that’s the key.”
Another option for council is to lower the price of longer-term parking spots, Crumiller said.
Smart Cities
Higher Education
SMART TECH & IoT
Smart Parking is a critical facet of Smart Cities
TRUE INTEGRATION
All services connected to one backend system
CLOUD INFRASTRUCTURE
Computing capacity, flexibility, and scalability
HIGHER ED SMART PARKING
Comprehensive campus parking solutions
ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY
Paperless, solar power, upcycling, and more
DATA ANALYTICS
All you need to know from all your sources
4G LTE TECHNOLOGY
The fastest wireless connection on the market
Products & Solutions
SINGLE-SPACE METERS
Creators of the first smart Single-Space Parking Meter. Continual innovation ensures IPS meters are still unmatched…
MULTI-SPACE PAY STATIONS
Upgradeable, future-proof, and most flexible and comfortable user experience on the market…
ENFORCEMENT MANAGEMENT
Born in the cloud without issues that accompany old technologies, IPS provides flexible, scalable, and powerful enforcement solutions…
DATA MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
Measure user trends, drive demand-based pricing, and seamlessly integrate your entire parking network…
VEHICLE DETECTION SENSORS
Highly accurate, configurable to any parking environment and can be installed in minutes…
PAY STATION UPGRADE KITS
Save money, reduce waste, and maximize existing infrastructure by upgrading to the latest Smart Parking technology..
PERMIT MANAGEMENT
Full lifecycle permitting with custom customer-facing website to select, pay, and manage permits…
FULLY INTEGRATED SMART PARKING ECOSYSTEM
Apps and Services
PARK SMARTER™
Manage the parking experience on a smartphone
CONTACTLESS TECHNOLOGY
Convenient, secure, safe, and reliable
THIRD PARTY INTEGRATION
Streamline operations, improve efficiencies
IN-VEHICLE PAYMENT
Easiest way for drivers to pay for parking
MY PARKING RECEIPT™
Simplest way to manage parking expenses
PAYMENT PROCESSING
Saving IPS clients thousands of dollars per month
SMART COLLECTION
Access collection data anytime, anywhere
Resources
BROCHURES
Read about our Apps & Services, Infographics, Products & Solutions, and Quick Guides…
CASE STUDIES
Real cities, agencies, colleges and universities – real success stories…
VIDEOS
Got a minute? Short IPS videos will change the way you see parking…
FAQs
Quick answers to common questions…
Newsroom
NEWS
When IPS hits local and national news…
BLOG
The latest smart parking updates…
PRESS RELEASES
What’s new and coming soon for IPS Group…