In December, the company that operates two municipal parking garages managed by the City of Charlottesville switched to a system that requires parkers to use their phone to enter in billing information, a name, a telephone number, and a license number.
The company Metropolis uses artificial intelligence to track vehicles with the supposed benefit of allowing people to simply drive in and out of parking garages without needing a ticket.
“The real world is messy, analog and full of friction,” reads a November 6 information release announcing the company’s receipt of $1.6 billion in financing for their efforts to expand the use of AI. “Our platform leverages Computer Vision to eliminate friction and repetition, transforming everyday experiences through recognition and personalization.”
The system’s debut late last year was met with opposition from some concerned about potential privacy violations. In response, the city agreed in January to purchase an add-on that will allow drivers to bypass the use of a phone to track them.
“I am pleased to report today that the payment kiosks in the two parking garages are now up and operational,” said Deputy City Manager James Freas.” So now there’s more than one way for folks to pay for their parking and use the new parking system.”
The section of the Charlottesville parking website does not yet mention the alternate method.
The city signed a contract with SP Plus Corporation on March 18, 2024 to operate the Market Street and Water Street garages and that company was later acquired by Metropolis. This contract runs through March 31, 2029.
The contract sets an initial payment of $40,000 a year to Metropolis plus a processing fee of $0.33 per parker. A transaction fee of up to $0.99 per parker is authorized but the contract does not state what the amount will be.
Section 20 limits what Metropolis can do with data collected.
“Unless expressly agreed to the contrary in writing, all goods, products, materials, documents, reports, writings, video image, photographs, or papers of any nature including software or computer images prepared or provided by the Contractor (or its subcontractors) for the City will not be disclosed to any other person or entity without the written permission of the City,” reads the first sentence of the section.
The second sentence states the city owns all intellectual property rights created by transactions.
What have your experiences been in the garage under the new system?
Before you go: The goal of Town Crier Productions is to increase awareness about what is happening at the local, regional, state, and federal government levels. Please share the work with others if you want people to know things! Paid subscribers cover the cost of conducting research for this article which was originally published in the March 3, 2026 edition of Charlottesville Community Engagement. You can either subscribe through Substack or make a charitable contribution.
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