Click here to visit the mobile version of winnipegfreepress.com

Winnipeg Free Press > Local > Plug the meter? Forget about it

Local

Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION

Plug the meter? Forget about it

Winnipeg testing GPS device to let drivers park, walk

By: Bartley Kives

25/11/2009 1:00 AM | Comments: 41

Dave Hill holds a Skymeter box that uses GPS to determine where a vehicle is parked.

RUTH.BONNEVILLE@FREEPRESS.MB.CA Enlarge Image

Dave Hill holds a Skymeter box that uses GPS to determine where a vehicle is parked.

Winnipeg is the first city in the world to try out a satellite-monitoring device that will eventually allow motorists to pay for parking by doing... well, absolutely nothing other than parking.

The Winnipeg Parking Authority is testing a prototype version of a GPS gadget called a Skymeter, which pings orbiting satellites to determine where it is and how long it's been there.

To solve the "wandering" associated with ordinary global positioning system units, which occasionally provide inaccurate location data, the Skymeter uses triangulation software to pinpoint a precise location.

Once the bugs are worked out, motorists could pay for parking merely by placing the device in their car and turning it on. They would then receive a parking bill based on the GPS data at the end of every month.

"You acquire the device, you put it in your car -- and you do nothing," said Dave Hill, the WPA's chief operating officer, who is trying out one of the gizmos in his own truck. A total of three are being tested in Winnipeg.

Hill was first asked to try out a GPS parking device in 2002, when he worked as a consultant in Toronto. He agreed, but didn't hear from the inventors he calls "mad scientists" until years later, after he moved to Winnipeg.

As it turns out, this city is an ideal Skymeter testing ground, given its sprawling layout and the relative absence of the tall buildings that can interfere with satellite signals.

Winnipeg is already one of several Canadian cities to employ cellphone-enabled parking, which allows motorists to pay for parking by merely phoning in a location and paying by pre-registered credit card.

GPS parking would eliminate the need to do anything other than flip on a switch, assuming motorists are willing to pay $40 or $50 for the device itself.

J.D. Hassan, Skymeter's vice-president of business development, said his company would probably sell the gadget below cost to place it in the hands of consumers, the same way smartphones are sold right now.

The device also has pay-as-you-drive applications for heavily congested European countries where politicians are considering radical means of getting more people out of their cars, Hassan said. It could also eliminate the need for both conventional and electronic toll booths.

But in Winnipeg, the long-term plan for Skymeter only involves parking. The WPA plans to test about 10 of the finished models next year and would make the technology available across the city if Skymeter demonstrates they actually work.

The final product will employ software to ensure it only transmits billing information, not actual locations, which would pose huge privacy concerns in most western countries, Hassan said. While the technology has obvious espionage and military applications, Skymeter is only interested in the consumer market.

"This won't be used to write parking tickets or track where you've been," said Hill, staring at a Google Earth display that shows he parked at St. Vital Shopping Centre. "I went to New York Fries and bought a hotdog. I live a very exciting life."

Such displays are only being used during the testing phase, Hassan assured.

bartley.kives@freepress.mb.ca

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition November 25, 2009 B1

  • Rate this Rate This Star Icon
  • This article is currently rated an average of 4 out of 5 (4 votes).

    • We want you to tell us what you think of our articles. If the story moves you, compels you to act or tells you something you didn’t know, mark it high. If you thought it was well written, do the same. If it doesn’t meet your standards, mark it accordingly.

    You can also register and/or login to the site and join the conversation by leaving a comment.

    Rate it yourself by rolling over the stars and clicking when you reach your desired rating. We want you to tell us what you think of our articles. If the story moves you, compels you to act or tells you something you didn’t know, mark it high.

41 Commentscomment icon

Yes "Sue", there are many people in favour.

I plug two dollars into a parking meter only to return to my car a few minutes late and I have a $20 or $30 dollar ticket waiting for me. I had $360 in such tickets last year! Sign me up.

"MyOpinion" makes a valid point about the improving public transit but I reached the opposite conclusion. Not having to buy, maintain and collect and count coins from parking meters is money saved that can be put towards improving the transit system.

Plenty of good discussion, but it seems many people didn't bother to read the article before commenting... especially the ignorant Big Brother comments. It's clear that WE would be hiring a private company to track ourselves and only feed the government our time and costs, NOT OUR LOCATION DATA! Your cell phone is way more invasive. But Bell and Telus are not the government, nor is Skymeter.

I'm all for privacy, but I am also for accountability. The jerks who park downtown in no stopping zones at rush hour should be charged $50 a minute!

One thing about this technology that the articles do not mention, is that it is also used for pay-as-you-drive insurance, and driver rewards such as discounts for not driving in rush hour etc. In a later release it will also provide a parking find-and-reserve function.

Pay-as-you-drive insurance saves money for those people that drive less than average.

Another critical element is that the parking pricing rules (the time-and-fees rules) are inside the device so that the device does not send the location information out. The driver has access to this data, but no one else can. Specifically, only the device and you knows your location. The only thing that the meter operator knows is how much is owed and to whom (it can service any number of parking authorities or insurance companies). If you think you have been overcharged, you can download the location data to your PDA for examination or for use to contest a bill.

In any case, this technology is voluntary and if pre-paid can even be anonymous (no bill, but you are responsible for topping up, just like your Tim Horton's coffee card. You will even be able to do that online using pay-pal.

Before they can introduce the pay-as-you-go system for driving your car. Winnipeg has to vastly improve their transit system. I or my husband can't bus to work because of the way the bus routes are, unless we want to spend 1 1/2 hours on a bus in both directions.

Personally, I took a bus to work for 25 years, I actually got to work faster than taking a car. But I work at a location that was on a major bus route. Now I work in at a different location, that is not on a major bus route.

Am I and thousands others to be penalized because we don't live close to work. Are we to move everytime we change jobs?

Totally dumb idea.

Bart, it's great that you get involved in the Comments on your stories.

Keep up the good work. I elect Bart as the President of the I love Winnipeg fan club.

Is there anyone who thinks this is a good idea?

This is totally workable. Privacy?? Ever heard of OnStar, in every new GM car... they can track where you (your car) are every second of the day....if they want to. Add in your cell phone....yes, they can be tracked even when they're off....... the guvmint can already figure out where you are, if they wanted to...they don't want to, they don't really care what you're up to. Heck, I get an email every time my tire pressure falls too low....... I think the Freep is putting GPS chips in the classified section to see if I'm reading it or if they go straight to new city supplied (probably with another chip-haha) recycling bin. haha get out the tin foil

@ Joey,

Calm down and breath.

Nothing wrong with asking questions. I may have started with the honour question, but all good debates look at the whole issue eventually and not just one aspect of it.

As other media sources were carrying this device today too, the CBC-TV news earlier this evening,mentioned was that it could be used nationally, or has the potential to do so. As our parking is low compared to other cities, this would be good to use when on holidays or even a business trip. That has possibility right there, and even if you flew somewhere else in Canada this could go in you suitcase etc.

Sorry, not allowed to think here or dream as Winnipeggers don't do that.....

See Joey, I did say something nice and practical about this device, but it's still not for me, only because I don't park enough downtown to justify its use. Also, I still want more information and will probably go to the WPA website later to check it out.

'mature' winnipegers turn local online paper comment section into forum flame wars, news at 11

@Anon: Your questions are valid, but I repeat, the WPA is a long way away from giving this the green light.

The WPA won't jump into this unless it makes financial sense for the city and improves customer service, COO Dave Hill says.

Right now, all they're doing is testing a prototype device that uses properietary software to improve upon the accuracy of standard GPS devices. Hence my gee-whiz story.

Personally, I'm even more interested in the potential pay-as-you-go application.

Imagine what would happen in car-addicted Winnipeg if someone proposed we all pay user fees to drive anywhere?

Bartley

p.s. I love downtown. I live near it. I work in it. I walk through it, most days. It has many flaws, but a hell of a lot of potential.

avatar

Since when is Kenaston considered downtown ?

View all Comments

The comment period for this story has ended.

letters

Make text: Larger | Smaller

Special coverage

Our Communities

Poll

Should the province spend $3.1 million to keep Greyhound inter-city bus service in Manitoba?

View Results

View Related Story