In Zimbabwe, it could mean hospital nurses charging pregnant women $5 every time they scream in pain, as a kind of false-alarm fee.
Table 1 Important notations Symbol Explanation R Reward for each service C Cost per time unit λ s Arrival rate for primary SUs λ p Arrival rate for primary PUs μ s Transmission rate for SUs μ p Transmission rate for PUs θ Constant retrial rate p m The probability of misdetection p f The probability of false alarm p Admission fee.
There is an alarm, to avoid the fees that begin to kick in if you ride the same bike for more than 30 or 45 minutes.
In Los Angeles, 140,000 households have paid the annual $31 permit fee, but the alarm industry itself estimates that there are as many as 300,000 alarm systems in the city.
However, it's alarming that the fees are set to increase even higher.
Chief Sabagh estimated that the reduction in false alarms had saved 500 hours of manpower, and through October, the town had collected $280,791 in fines and fees to register alarm systems.
The investigation, which initially centered on accusations that Mr. Abramoff had defrauded tribal casinos of tens of millions of dollars in lobbying fees, has created alarm on Capitol Hill, where the lobbyist and his junior partner, Mr. Scanlon, claimed friendships among the Republican leaders of Congress.
"We have asked the alarm companies to help collect the fees when they install an alarm, but they have resisted," Mr. Bratton said.
If trials prove it to be accurate and reliable enough for widespread deployment, then state and local transport departments could well have a solution for implementing mileage-based user fees, without causing undue alarm among the motoring public.
The company also charges a $99 installation fee, but nothing for the alarm equipment itself in a standard package.
