New tools for parking officers

By Bethany Williams

Motorists’ battles with parking officers in Docklands got harder last month with the introduction of new licence plate recognition technology.

The technology has been used since August 19 to monitor and identify cars that have overstayed parking limits.

Parking officers drive through Docklands at approximately 40 kmh taking photos of licence plates as they pass.

Using image-processing technology, the system records the registration details and locations of vehicles and identifies those that have overstayed their parking limit.

Parking officers are then alerted to these vehicles by a hand-held device.

A City of Melbourne spokesperson said parking officers still had to get out of their cars and check for any valid permits, such as disabled or resident, and ensure that an infringement has occurred. Fines are left on the windscreen as usual.

The spokesperson said that although new technology was being used to monitor parking infringements, the expectation for drivers was still the same – park, pay the meter and abide by the time limits.

The technology is also being implemented in East Melbourne, Kensington, South Yarra, Parkville, Carlton and West Melbourne.

This is part of a wider parking technology revamp in Melbourne, which started in July.

These changes include the introduction of in-ground sensors to monitor how long cars are parked in the CBD, Southbank and part of West Melbourne and a 12 month trial of a pay-by-phone system for parking in Carlton.