As a pilot program for new meters on Mamaroneck Avenue comes to a close, the village Ad Hoc Parking Committee looks to recommend the installation of dozens of single-space smart meters.
According to Maria DeRose, chairwoman of the committee, while the data of the pilot program has yet to be fully parsed, public opinion has been clear.
“We’re going to recommend the single-space meters,” said DeRose, who is also running as a Republican for seat on the village Board of Trustees this election. “As far as opinions go, people don’t want the multi-space meters.”
The pilot program—which was started in late May—looks to track user data on various meter styles such as user-friendliness, turnover rate and general functionality. According to Village Manager Richard Slingerland, the pilot will be fully evaluated in about two weeks.
A preliminary online poll, held in January of this year, already saw overwhelming support for single-space meters from residents.
In the meter pilot test were three different varieties of single-space meters as well as one multi-space meter.
The standout candidate, according to DeRose, was an ITS brand of a single-space smart meter which accepts either coins or credit cards and uses a motion senor to reset the meter once a vehicle leaves its designated spot.
This technology, committee members hope, would allow for greater revenue on Mamaroneck Avenue by diminishing the ability of patrons of Mamaroneck Avenue from piggybacking off of unexpired prepaid meters.
According to DeRose, overall costs of the meters, which would need to be installed for each of Mamaroneck Avenue’s 200-plus parking spaces, would run between $400 and $500 per unit. An estimated total installation cost from the committee, she said, would hover around $245,000.
One style of meter that DeRose said is decidedly not in contention for the committee’s recommendation are the multi-space meters, which have been derided for their clunky user interface and the fact that patrons are required to walk longer distances to pay for their parking.
In 2014, the village Board of Trustees voted to purchase 18 multi-space meters for a sum of $114,000, but they were never installed due to public backlash. Some of those meters are now installed in parking lots adjacent to Mamaroneck Avenue.
Still, Trustee Leon Potok, a Democrat who is running for re-election this year, has advocated keeping the options open in regard to the potential application of multi-space meters on Mamaroneck Avenue.
“My concern is that we have an inferior multi-space meter and that the comparison with the single-space meters is not a fair comparison,” he told the Review.
Potok explained that since the village’s current request for proposals process requires the board and village manager to authorize the lowest bid, an inferior multi-space and single-space meter could be selected. In response, the board plans to alter village law to permit the selection of an option that is considered the “best value.”
A round of public hearings will begin next month.
The recommendation, according to DeRose, will likely not be issued to the village board until sometime in October.
