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Being ‘Country Strong’ with ‘True Grit’While Paying for Parking? from Page 18


formed.With myriad new upscale shops and restaurants. Similar theater setup to the one at ArcLight. Reserved stadium seating. The pleasant difference was the price


of the tickets – $11 apiece versus $16 a seat.AMC theaters also validate parking. The first two hours are free with valida- tion.Validation boxes were as easy to find as the day before in Hollywood. Since the filmwas almost three hours


long, we had to pay the difference. In this case, an extra $2. It was easy to do so, what with myriad pay stations on every level of the parking garage conveniently placed around the corners from the entrances to the escalators. Also the pay stations had great and


easy instructions. They accepted paper bills, coins and credit cards. Although another couple of people behind me were waiting to pay, I didn’t feel intimidated or hurried because the transaction was self explanatory. Yes, paying for parking at the Century


City mall was smooth and just as the title of the filmwe saw, “Biutiful.” Besides those three parking adven-


tures, I also parked in one of the city garages in Santa Monica and at pay-by-


space on-street parking on Larchmont in Hancock Park. The former announced that its pay


stations were located on the second floor of the structure, but I wasn’t able to find them. Since SantaMonica offers two-hour free parking, and I was within that limit, finding a pay station wasn’t necessary. The pay-by-space system in Larch-


mont was pretty easy to use. The pay sta- tions have simple directions. They accept coins, bills and credit cards.The spaces are marked by three-digit numbers that are easy to remember. I realize that be it cities or private


parking garages, they all want our money. They want us to be diligent about our pay-


Streetline, Parkmobile Team to CreateMobile Phone Apps


Parkmobile USA and Streetline have


formed an agreement to integrate their smart parking technologies, including pay- by-phone and parking guidance, into their mobile phone applications. Together the companieswill create the


world’s first parking app that integrates motorist guidance with mobile payments for parking, offering drivers the ability to choose the best place to park based on dis- tance and cost, while paying for a parking space fromthe convenience of theirmobile phone in select locations. According to the agreement, Streetline


will integrate Parkmobile’s pay-by-phone option into Parker, Streetline’s newparking guidance mobile app that gives drivers an instant, location-basedmap pinpointing the city blocks with the most available parking spaces. The app also delivers information about parking space time limits, pricing and types of payments accepted.


20 In turn, Parkmobile will integrate


Streetline’s Parker guidance app into its pay-by-phone parking service, giving driv- ers the ability to find available spaces that accept payment by mobile phone. Through its groundbreaking payment app, Parkmo- bile offers users a simple and convenient way to safely pay for parking with just the touch of a few buttons. “We are excited to partner with Park-


mobile to offer this first-of-a-kind service tomotoristswho are constantly looking for two things – to find cheap parking fast and pay for it easily,” said ZiaYusuf, Streetline CEO. “Drivers will not only have an app to guide them to the closest open parking spot, but have a convenient mobile pay- ment capability as well.” “We are pleased to integrate Street-


line’s Parker appwith Parkmobile’s pay-by- phone parking solution,” said Albert Bogaard, Parkmobile USA President and


FEBRUARY 2011 • PARKING TODAY • www.parkingtoday.com


CEO. ”Parkmobile offers Streetline Parker users a new and better way to pay for park- ing. It’s faster, more convenient and offers a better customer experience, while Park- mobile users can add parking guidance to find the best parking spaces.”


ing for parking privileges. Just as the movie studios want us to pay and see their movies. The latter conduct test screenings,


and if the audience doesn’t respond well, the studiosmake the necessary corrections so more of us see those movies and they make their profits. Why can’t parking companies con-


duct similar tests on their meters and vari- ous pay stations?Why don’t they ask us, the customers, which machines are the simplest, the easiest for us to use? We more easily give them our money. Espe- cially when we can use credit cards or smart phones. Paying for parking ought not to have


us display our “true grit” nor have us become “country strong.” We should be able to part with our money in the easiest manner, without spending eons reading very complex (pay station) instructions. It all should be simply “biutiful.”


Astrid Ambroziak is a writer, philosopher and SUV driver living in Los Angeles. She can be reached at astrid@parkingtoday.com.


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