While we’re talking about technology and government, one of the more interesting conversations at the Council’s budget review this week was about how the city is working toward smarter parking meters that will be able to accept credit cards — instead of a pocketful of quarters — and sensors that will be able to tell when a space is empty.

I heard some of the same points made when I went to CityCamp a few months back, and now Transportation Services Director Wayne Yoshioka said it’s coming soon.

Some of these technologies are already in place elsewhere. Coincidentally, the New York Times has an interesting story today about an experiment in San Francisco that’s designed to adjust parking rates based on supply and demand so that there’s always at least one open spot on every block — even if it means charging up to $6 an hour for street parking.

Meters here can now charge different prices at different times of the day, and the city has lengthened or eliminated time limits. Since the city made it easier to pay for parking with credit cards, and began a program that allows people to find spots and pay for them on their mobile phones — so they no longer have to run out of meals to feed the meters — fewer parking tickets have been issued.

Read the full story here: A Meter So Expensive, It Creates Parking Spots

(Photo by Jim Wilson/The New York Times)