A trial of inground parking sensors has been labelled a success after detecting nearly 2000 infringements in the Dubbo central business district.
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In mid-2022, Dubbo Regional Council installed 150 parking sensors in Church Street, Brisbane Street and Macquarie Street. The sensors are activated when a car parks and then reset when it leaves.
When the car has overstayed the permitted parking time, a sensor is sent to the council's parking officers.
From November 18 2021 until February 18 2022, when the parking was only monitored by foot patrols, there were 317 violations detected in the area. In the same three month period from November 18 2022, there were 570 violations.
Another trial was held with a licence plate recognition camera.
The cameras were fitted to a council vehicle between September 8, 2022 and March 24, 2023.
During that time, there were more than 157,000 vehicles scanned and 2413 violations detected.
In a report to be presented to the council meeting on Thursday, development and environment director Stephen Wallace said the results showed the inground sensors were a success.
"They have already paid for themselves and effectively ensured more car parking spaces are available due to a higher rate of turnover of parked vehicles in the CBD," he said.
The 150 inground sensors cost $72,000, plus there was $21,000 to operate the software. Taking away the costs, the council made about $165,000.
It's expected to cost about $355,000 if the council wants to extend the sensors throughout the CBD to another 740 spaces.
The council is also paid an annual free to monitor parking in a private car park.
Mr Wallace said if the council acquired more private car park contracts in the future, the licence plate recognition camera might prove to be the most effective and efficient for monitoring parking.
"LPR allows for larger areas to be monitored more frequently, including the private car parks if required, which in turn will benefit the businesses and community with more turnover of parking spaces," he said.