Now that you have a "Smart Card," are you ready for your car to have one too?
Now that you have a "Smart Card," are you ready for your car to have one too?
It's possible, says Don Kearns, KU's director of parking services.
As chairman of the International Parking Institute, a trade organization with more than 1,400 members in 20 countries, Kearns has been focusing on the latest technical and cost-saving innovations in the parking industry. Last week he oversaw the group's 1998 International Parking Conference and Exposition in Seattle, which attracted more than 2,000 people and 170 vendors.
And some of the latest devices and systems those vendors demonstrated in Seattle may soon appear on the KU campus. For example, the new 1,000-car parking garage to be built north of the Kansas Union this fall may feature the latest in "smart card" and "proximity reader" systems, Kearns said.
The "smart card" system involves replacing individual parking meters at each stall with a single electronic "pay-on-foot" parking station. Drivers come in and park, then walk to the parking station and type in the stall number. They can either insert cash or use a "smart card," which works like a debit card, to pay for parking.
A "proximity reader" is already in use on the Kansas Turnpike as the "K-Tag" system, which allows drivers to enter and exit the turnpike without stopping to pay a toll. The system records a special sticker or bar code mounted on the car as it passes by and then sends a bill to the owner, usually monthly or annually.
"It's a hands-free system that reduces personnel costs," Kearns said.
Advanced proximity readers are used widely in Europe as a security device. When a car enters a gated parking lot, the machine records the car's color, make, license and photographs the driver. To leave the lot, all components, including the driver, must match or the device will refuse to open the gates.
"The insurance companies are footing the bill because it is cutting the auto-theft rate dramatically. It has cut their loss factor almost down to nothing," Kearns said. "The installation is expensive but they make it up."
However, Kearns said parking experts he had talked to didn't expect to see the device used in America any day soon despite the high incidence of auto theft. While Europeans are used to doing what the government asks, Americans are more protective of their privacy.
"They don't think Americans are ready for it," Kearns said. "For one thing, Americans don't want their pictures taken."
Kearns became the leader of the 38-year-old parking organization last year after serving as vice chair and secretary-treasurer.
"Parking as a profession has become a major element of public policy," said Kearns, who marked his 20th year at KU this year. "It accounts for billions of dollars of revenue each year, and a lot of people don't even think about it. "Many people pull into a shopping center and park and think it is free parking, but it isn't. Someone has to pay for it."