'Smart' parking meters not so smart after all 'They're awful!' says one city worker monitoring the devices in Newport Beach. By NOAKI SCHWARTZ

NEWPORT BEACH -- It looks as though the newly unveiled "smart" parking meters have failed the test and -- if parking control officers have their way -- they will be removed. "They're awful!" said parking control officer Nickol Frantzich on Sunday, when 85-degree temperatures brought crowds of people to Newport Beach. "Most of them aren't even working." Newport -- only the second U.S. city to try to the new devices -- got its first taste this weekend of the futuristic meter, which is supposed to firmly enforce time limits. The meters were installed on Balboa Boulevard near the Newport Pier and between Palm and Main streets and were on trial for 90 days. Sold as a parking meter that will sense when drivers feed it beyond its one-hour limit -- the City Council voted to test out the new devices. In theory, the new meter is also able to sense when a car leaves with time remaining and can reset itself to zero time. The problem is it doesn't work. On it's first big weekend, seven of the meters broke and showed no sign of life whatsoever. The insensitive machines gluttonously swallowed coins but gave no time in return. Another problem, Frantzich said, is that many non-English speaking beachgoers don't understand the complex wording taped onto the top of the meters. "They can't understand the word "vacate" she said. If that isn't enough, Frantzich added, tourists and residents alike don't even know what a "smart" meter is. The original purpose for installing the devices was to discourage beachgoers from parking in metered spaces all day, instead of spending money at the neighborhood businesses. But instead of attracting money-spending tourists, Frantzich and other parking attendants found themselves surrounded by irate car owners. They were bitter that the meters swallowed their money, that they had tickets slapped onto their windshields and that couldn't even back out to reset the meters because of the traffic congestion. Frantzich and other parking attendants plan to tell the Traffic Engineering Department to either fix them or take them out completely. "This has been the worst day and I've been here for three years," Frantzich said.

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-- Doris (number9@mindspring.com), May 29, 2000