As Katherine Stein pulled her car up to the curb on La Brea Avenue in West Hollywood and stepped out onto the sidewalk, something gave her pause.
With her friend Laney Roth in tow, Stein examined the parking meter, did a double take, and then another. Up and down the block, other drivers and pedestrians were doing the same.
"It's really cool," Stein said. "It's awesome."
All the parking meters had undergone a makeover and were now outfitted with high-tech, solar-powered credit card reading mechanisms, courtesy of a partnership between West Hollywood and Beverly Hills. The meters also have traditional coin slots.
"I'd use my credit card here if I needed to," said Stein, a Glendale resident. "Being in L.A. for five years, I know to keep a lot of coins in my car. I don't even stop if I don't have coins."
Earlier this month, the two cities unveiled 30 new solar-powered single-space parking meters, believed to be the first of their kind in the United States.
The new meters -- 18 in the 1000 block of La Brea Avenue in West Hollywood and 12 in the 300 block of North Canon Drive in Beverly Hills -- were installed as a pilot project.
The credit card function uses a design from IPS Group and the same encryption technology used in many banks to ensure ease and security for drivers with credit cards, said Tamara White, the West Hollywood public information officer.
Jammed meters send an instant wireless message to city staffers, who can fix them more efficiently, said Dennis Frey, an IPS Group engineer. The solar panels on the back of the meters are the main source of power, with support from a backup battery.
"These meters could make it much more convenient to park," said Chad Lynn, director of parking operations for Beverly Hills. "I can't say how many times I've heard people say they haven't had enough coins for the meter, that they had to run into the store to get change, that they had to sift through their car trays. This is much easier."
Frey, who was monitoring the status of the meters last week, said many people were already trying out the credit card reader.
Officials said the two cities decided to team up to develop the meters through a mutual interest in making drivers' lives easier using technology.
"There's so much overlap between West Hollywood and Beverly Hills in parking -- we do border each other -- so it seemed like a convenient idea for drivers," White said.
