From MR, I read this story about how the San Francisco smart parking meters will be designed to adjust meter rates in real time according to demand. There wasn’t much detail there but this bit gave me pause.
Rates at curbside meters in the project area will be adjusted block by block in an attempt to have at least one parking space available at any time on a given block.
Cheap Talk 
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April 6, 2011 at 3:16 pm
Matt
I may be dense, but can you explain the “oops”? My first though was that this will push drivers to the next block, but since they’re paying in time to walk to their destination, I don’t see them travelling more than a few blocks. I’m sure I’ll be embarrassed once you explain the issue.
April 6, 2011 at 6:52 pm
jeff
🙂
If one spot is always “available” then its equivalent to having just removed one parking space from every block.
🙂
April 6, 2011 at 4:33 pm
niko
It seems like if there’s only one spot left, it will be exorbitantly expensive to park there. But assuming rates aren’t displayed prominently on each block, people won’t be able to comparison shop. If the areas were larger, it would add far less confusion and frustration, while still allowing the meters to adjust to parking demand. Of course, the longer the parking period, the less useful these adjustments become.
April 6, 2011 at 8:14 pm
SB7
From what I understand of SF’s plan, the prices will be adjusted weekly so that on average one space will be open. They won’t make the last open space on the block prohibitively expensive in order to keep it open.
April 6, 2011 at 8:17 pm
jeff
Yeah that’s probably a better plan. 🙂