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Park the Vote

CALL IT A TALE of two cities, part two. In one corner, the Philadelphia Parking Authority. In the other, the Philadelphia City Commissioners. Both are part of the same city government, but the technological gap between the two spans centuries.

CALL IT A TALE of two cities, part two.

In one corner, the Philadelphia Parking Authority. In the other, the Philadelphia City Commissioners. Both are part of the same city government, but the technological gap between the two spans centuries.

Consider: The PPA has plans for a Web site that will allow drivers to find empty parking spots in Center City by using their PDAs or cell phones. A network of sensors will monitor spaces and update the site when parking becomes available. Pretty cutting-edge.

At the same time, the commissioners (who are in change of our elections) have denied a request from good-government activists to make election returns available online to the public. They claim their system cannot handle more than 150 users at any given time. Technologically, that puts them at the level of communicating by banging rocks together. Why is there such a huge discrepancy between the two? Either the Parking Authority is full of Internet whiz kids (doubtful) or the city commissioners aren't trying hard enough. At any rate, it's terrifying - and depressing- to realize that the people who run parking are more technologically advanced than those who run our elections. *