People may have seen them driving around – cars fitted out with cameras, patrolling streets with parking limits.
Auckland Transport now has a fleet of 23 of these cars – two more are set to join that fleet shortly.
The organisation’s parking compliance manager Rick Bidgood says its the biggest fleet in the Southern Hemisphere.
“I have to keep up with the expansion of Auckland,” he told 1News. “I can’t do that by throwing more people, more people, more people.”
The city has 173 on-foot parking officers, but using the vehicles means compliance staff can cover far more ground, far more quickly.
1News went for a ride-along in one of the licence plate recognition cars.
The automated cameras snap pictures of licence plates.
Pictures of vehicles that have stayed too long are reviewed the next day and a fine is issued.
“In my experience, the worst offenders are commuters, those who park and catch a bus into town to work,” said parking officer Rob Harrison.
While AT has seen some spikes in infringement revenue, including when parking ticket fees increased nationwide last October, Bidgood said, overall, revenue has remained steady since the introduction of the vehicles.
“Compliance is a funny thing. The more consistent you do it, the better the compliance, the less issuance.”
Other cities are also rolling out this tech.
Wellington has introduced 4 licence plate recognition cars to its parking services fleet, with their use to be expanded in the future.
A Christchurch City Council spokesperson told 1News: “We hope to have this technology operational and functional on our network in the near future.”
Even smaller cities are using LPR cars.
A New Plymouth District Council Spokesperson told 1News the city “started using the system this week and have one car fitted out, with no plans for more”.
Auckland Transport told 1News it only retains footage as evidence if an offence is challenged.
Otherwise it’s deleted within 48 hours.
The organisation added that parking officers wouldn’t be replaced, but upskilled with this new technology.
