M5 meter

Manhattan Beach in California, US, is set to complete the installation of an additional 420 smart parking meters from IPS Group.

Solar-powered M5 parking meters are being deployed in downtown parking lots, as well as around the Bruce’s Beach and El Porto areas.

The parking meters provide users with an array of payment options such as credit and debit card, smart card and pay-by-cell.

With uptimes that average 99.8% or above resulting in less customer complaints, the meters are wirelessly networked to a web-based management system that alerts officials in case of required maintenance or fault.

Manhattan Beach initially introduced the smart parking meters in 2010 following a successful conclusion of a trial of the IPS meters.

IPS Group said that the additional payment features are helpful to both customers and merchants, with the number of electronic payment users continuing to rise.

Prior to the introduction of the meters, motorists in the city were limited to using cash or the city-specific Cash Key system to pay for parking.

The latest installation of the new M5 meters will bring the total number of credit card-capable meters in Manhattan Beach to 1,200.

San Diego-based IPS Group currently boast more than 100,000 meters installed in over 100 cities across North America.

Image: The M5 parking meters provide users with more payment options, including credit and debit card, smart card, and pay-by-cell payment. Photo: courtesy of PR Newswire/ IPS Group.