You want me to run out to a store, buy a box, get it back on the post somehow, paint it nice and pretty, put a number on it, and when it's all ready to use, then it becomes your box. The inside of the mailbox does belong to them. My wife, who has other concerns, asked me to help her find a garden trowel. These meters are computerized and have heat and motion detectors that enable them to sense when a car has vacated a space. The meter then resets itself back to zero.
Nobody gets free time from the new meters.
But I've bought that time, it's my time. The town can't sell the same time twice. I pay for it. Now I own that beer. A pal comes in, and for some reason I'm suddenly not thirsty anymore.