Does anyone from the San Francisco area know if these folks are looking
into the accessibility of the kiosk mentioned here.  How about folks from
New York?  The article mentions that a similar device already exists in
that city.

Kelly

   City to install info kiosk in the Castro
   Rachel Gordon
   OF THE EXAMINER STAFF
   March 17, 1998
   (c)1998 San Francisco Examiner


   San Francisco's gangly bureaucracy called city government is about to
   go high-tech and user friendly, with plans to install an interactive
   electronic kiosk in the Castro District.

   The kiosk will hook people up by a touch of a button with such
   information as Muni schedules, parking regulations and the location of
   parks and playgrounds.

   Officials hope to have the kiosk, which will be located in the Castro
   Metro Station at Market and Castro streets, up and running in early
   May. It will operate under a one-year trial period and, if successful,
   may be expanded to other parts of The City. Backers say it will be as
   easy to operate as an ATM.

   "You don't have to be computer literate to work one of these things,"
   said spokesman Alex Mamek of the Department of Public Works, the lead
   agency on the project.

   ObjectSoft, a New Jersey-based high-tech firm, will operate the
   $50,000 kiosk at no cost to The City. Advertising will pay for the
   venture. The company already operates a kiosk demonstration project in
   New York City.

   "The kiosk will bring City Hall out to the neighborhoods, make
   government more accessible and be an innovative use of technology,"
   Board of Supervisors President Barbara Kaufman said Monday.

   Eventually, The City hopes people can plug a credit card into the
   machine and pay parking tickets and other fees and fines and get
   printouts of city permits.

   In addition, community groups in the Castro District will be able to
   use the kiosk as an electronic billboard of sorts to alert users of
   upcoming neighborhood events and provide information on businesses and
   social services.

   "This will provide the public with greater access to information about
   The City and the neighborhood," said Barry Hermanson, president of
   Merchants of Upper Market & Castro, a local merchants association.

   The kiosk project is an offshoot of the neighborhood City Hall
   project, in which city workers staff five sites throughout San
   Francisco for a handful of hours each week to help people maneuver
   through city government.

   "We have not been doing enough in the past to make services more
   available. People don't know who to call," Mamek said. "We're trying
   to make it easier."


   (c)1998 San Francisco Examiner   Page A 4