History of Parking Meters

The first parking meter was patented by Carlton Cole Magee in 1935. Magee was a newspaper editor and a member of the Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce traffic committee. The idea for a parking meter originated with Oklahoma City merchants who wanted to develop a way to increase traffic turnover in front of their stores - - employees would park early on and leave their cars all day so there would be no parking for the customers. I read that Magee actually sponsored a contest for University of Oklahoma engineering students to come up with the design for the first meter. 

Once the parking meters were developed,  Magee started Magee-Hale Park-O-Meter Company to manufacture his parking meters - - later changed to P.O.M in 1976. The Park-O-Meter company was the first to manufacture the meters. 

The first meter was installed on July 16th, 1935. Meters replaced old system of chalking cars and having officers walk around later checking to see if the cars had exceeded time limits
Early meters were totally mechanical- powered by a clock-type mainspring (which required periodic winding). Some meters were automatic: just insert the coin and the clockworks moved the time remaining indicator to the appropriate location  - - convenient for drivers but requires maintenance personnel to wind meters periodically. Manual meters required drivers to turn a handle after inserting the coin-- reduced the overhead costs because it eliminated the need for maintenance personnel.

 

There were mixed reviews about the parking meters and whether or not they would prove to be a successful endeavor. There were also arguments over whether it was a regulation or a revenue ploy. Five main grievances  from a 1950 law review:

o   “the municipality has no power under its charter to install parking meters”

o   “the ordinances are ‘revenue measures’ under the guise of ‘police regulation’ ”

o   “the public right to free use of the highway is infringed”

o   “the right of an abutting landowner to reasonable access to his property is denied”

o   “parking meters have no reasonable relation to traffic control”

I read one account were a man was, understandably, very angry for having gotten a ticket while his car was parked in front of his own home. I can see the argument that a person should be able to park in front of their own home for as long as they choose. However, at the same time those are public roads so it is a tricky debate.