The installation and activation this week of 437 IPS ‟smart” single-space parking meters completes a process begun in early 2015 to upgrade the Borough’s parking meter system with state of the art, user-friendly technology.

Based on a recommendation by a cross section of Boroughresidents and business persons formed in 2015 as the Doylestown Borough Parking Meter Study Committee, the upgrade will provide for a convenient, user-friendly, parking experience with a wide variety of payment options, increasing parking turnover while decreasing the number of citations issued.

IPS Group Inc of San Diego, CA was the first company to develop, manufacture, and market single-space parking meters and is the overwhelming market leader with more than 200,000 meters installed in the U.S. – over 90% of the total market. As the nation’s most well known and proven single-space smart meters, the Borough’s new meters will be easier to read and more informative, providing a user-friendly experience. More importantly, the meter will, for the first time, offer the option of credit and debit card payment in addition to coins. Within the next several months, a pay by cell phone option will also be provided.

In addition to the new meters, the Borough has contracted with United Public Safety of Horsham, Pa., an industry leader in parking enforcement technology to modernize its antiquated ticketing system. While it is anticipated that fewer tickets will be issued, this new system will provide a convenient online payment option for the first time, in addition to payment by phone, mail, or in person. The new technology will also provide important data to help resolve ticketing disputes.

The new program does include the Borough’s first increase in parking meter fees since the 1970's, necessary to fund the improvements, permit payment by credit and debit card, and to increase parking turnover and therefore availability through increased compliance with parking regulations. These new meter fees place the Borough or near the regional average for such fees, while still offering a low cost permit option, and more hours of free parking than anyone in the region.

You can learn more about the new meter program at http://www.ipsgroupinc.com/doylestown/