FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                               July 16, 2010

CITY SEEKS PARKING UPGRADE PROPOSALS

(Fri., July 16, 2010)—Mayor Mufi Hannemann today announced that a Request for Proposals (RFP) was released to procure new advanced parking devices for the City and County of Honolulu.

            “Increasing efficiencies in the current parking meter system is one of the early initiatives identified by an ongoing Comprehensive Parking Study for Honolulu’s Urban Core Master Plan,” Mayor Hannemann said. “Our goal is to make parking more convenient and efficient for everyone.

            “One of the duties of a mayor is to identify best practices that have been implemented in other cities. I’ve personally seen parking systems in other parts of the United States that are more customer-friendly, and I’d like to see something similar here in Honolulu.”

There are approximately 3,700 municipal parking meters in Honolulu – all coin operated.

It was determined that the City would benefit by upgrading existing parking meters by using enhanced technology.  Expected benefits are:

• Increase efficiency of parking revenue collection
• Increase convenience for users by:

o      Maintaining  the ability to pay by coin

o      Providing the ability to pay by credit card

o      Providing the ability to extend meter payment by cell phone

o      Providing the ability to announce availability of open spaces

The parking device RFP involves a two-step process: First, the City will solicit qualifications from interested proposers; the second step will involve the submittal of a technical proposal by a priority-list of respondents.

The RFP allows for proposals involving either advanced single-space or multi-space parking meters, or both.  The City is looking to implement the advanced devices at no up front cost to the City. Implementation would occur over the next year.

-30-

Media contact: Bill Brennan, Mayor’s Office, 768-6928