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Pop quiz: Would you rather try to remember which side of the street to park on, be threatened by the City of Ithaca with citations for getting it wrong, and the potential of hundreds of dollars of fees, even on days when it didn't snow?  Or would you prefer to get an alert on your phone that even/odd parking is about to be implemented because of inclement weather?  Or how about this: if you could get a phone alert about flooding on East Shore Drive would you go that way anyway, or detour over to Triphammer Road?  Getting local alerts on your phone would be so convenient if only they had something like that.  Tompkins County Legislature Chair Michael Lane and Ithaca Mayor Svante Myrick made this announcement Tuesday: now we do.

"That's a system that will enable local governments to alert residents to matters of urgent importance," said Lane at a press conference Tuesday.  "It also can be used by residents as an everyday tool to stay informed of non-emergency information of importance to them."

Lane said that city officials brought the Swift911 mass notification alert system to their attention, and that county IT personnel were enthusiastic about it.  County officials realized a county-wide system wouldn't cost much more than just city coverage, and decided to take over the cost in order to bring the alerts to all county residents.

"This is something that we've wanted for a long time," Myrick said.  "One of the most common complaints that we receive in the City is that people who live here don't get information from their government in a timely way.  And they don't get it in the ways that they need."

Myrick spoke at length about the Even Odd Parking situation, saying highway department alerts are the single most important alerts people want.  He noted that beginning November 1st ticketing begins for parking on the wrong side of the street, whether there is a snowstorm or not.  That continues for six months every year.  The practice is used in many communities to insure that at least one side of every street can be plowed, but Myrick noted that it is irritating to residents to get ticketed whenever they forget or get confused about which side of the street to park on.  He said that with Swift911 alerts residents can be reminded of the requirement, and further that they would only need to comply when there really is a threat of a storm.

Myrick said Odd Even parking doesn't work well for the city, and noted that it is not environmentally friendly, because it makes people who might not otherwise move their car for two or three days at a time move it back and forth.

"I am now, beginning tonight, suspending enforcement of Odd Even Parking.  He then announced a new policy that makes signing up for Swift911 alerts crucial to city residents," Myrick announced.  "We will no longer ticket folks every single night of Odd Even Parking.  Here's the catch: while we will not enforce Odd Even parking every night, we will be turning it on and off as needed.  When a snowstorm is approaching we will be alerting people using the Swift911 system.  So people who are signed up will get a message from the city saying tonight we'll have to park on the odd side of the street.  Tomorrow we'll have to park on the even side of the street, and we'll let you know when to stop doing it."

Myrick said the system will save residents and city officials a lot of time and headaches.  City officials predict the city will lose about $100,000 in revenue from Odd Even Parking fines, but added the city would forgo that income in order to provide a better experience for people who park on Ithaca streets.

All municipalities within Tompkins County will be able to push alerts through the system, which can deliver them by phone, text, or email.

"I think this is a wonderful example of shared services," Lane said.  "It's also one of those situations where sometimes folks in the city wonder what their county taxes do for them locally.  Here's an example of what your county taxpayer money is going to do for you."


Signing up for alerts is easy.  The City and County are providing icons on their home pages they hope will encourage everyone to sign up for the service.  Or you can just download the Swift911 app on your phone, or go to its site in your browser to sign up.  Fill in a simple form to establish your account and you are ready to subscribe from a list of alerts you want.  The City of Ithaca has a half dozen you can subscribe to.  City residents will definitely want the Odd Even Parking Notifications, but anyone in the County who goes into the city will want Construction Updates and possibly Street Cleaning Notifications.  Here in Lansing we will want to subscribe to Tompkins County Community Notifications, and any city notifications that may be useful.

If you allow the app to track your phone's locations the system is smart enough to send alerts that may affect you where you are.  For example, if a fire in Lansing has necessitated closing a portion of Route 34B you will get the alert in Lansing, but not necessarily in Newfield or Dryden, depending on how the official sending the alert has configured it before sending.

You can change your email address or phone number in your account, or add additional numbers or addresses to be alerted.  People without cell phones or computers can contact Tompkins County Emergency Response for help signing up their land line phones.

At Tuesday's press conference to announce the new service journalists were encouraged to sign up for the service and subscribe to the Even Odd Parking alerts.  It didn't take long before everyone had signed up.  Once that had been done a city official initiated an alert.  The sounds of text message alerts and cell phone ringtones filled the room.  Receiving the alert was immediate and specific.

"The County is going to be able to share this system with, not only the city, but also with our outlying municipalities, the towns and the villages," Lane said.  "The emergency response people in those areas.  And we'll be able to keep all the people in Tompkins County informed.  I think it's a great day for Tompkins County.  It shows how we're on top of these issues of emerging technology and how we can put them to use to better serve our people."

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