Boston parking signs going digital

BOSTON — Finding a parking space in Boston is one thing, deciphering the parking signs is another.

There are more than two dozen different parking signs in Boston. Some of them are as simple as "angle parking." Some prohibit parking for food trucks and street parking during school hours, while others denote curbside food pickup only. Then there are also the parking signs that specify certain restrictions during Red Sox games. It can get complicated quickly for people unfamiliar with the city.

According to the Boston Herald, Mayor Marty Walsh wants to make the parking rules and signs easier to understand -- and bring it into the 21st century.

A program in the 2016 budget would simplify the signs at a cost of about $500,000.

The first changes are expected to be in the North End as soon as the end of the summer. The city has teamed up with a Boston-based technology company, StreetParkd, to go block by block through the North End to create a digital database of all the parking restrictions.

By the end of the year, that information will be available to drivers using navigation apps like Waze. Officials are also looking into installing real time signs, like the signs on the highway, that would show the parking restrictions in place at a given time.

StreetParkd says it's goal is to help cities and drivers "get smart" about parking. There website doesn't offer many details beyond that.

The goal is do to the entire city, which isn't expected to be finished until 2019.

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