As part of a pilot program, the city of San Francisco has begun to roll out a series of smart digital parking meters which will ultimately replace 5000 of the cities older meters that are currently in use. These meters will happily accept your loose coins like always, but what’s unique about them is that they now will accept plastic.

You will now be able to pay for parking using either a credit or debit card and soon, they will also accept a specialized SFMTA card. In addition to this, the cost to park in a spot will vary depending upon supply and demand as well as on the time of day. In off peak hours, when many of these meters are vacant, the cost will be less then during peak times when you can expect to pay a premium. The fee to park will vary between $0.25 to $6.00 an hour and motorists will also be able to use a wired device like a laptop or smartphone to track the location of available meters.

Via: Geeky Gadgets, Engadget