Finding on-street pay and display parking in Portsmouth is set to become easier this year with the launch of a new smart parking system, AppyParking.
Visitors using the app will be able to drive straight to a pay and display parking space helping to reduce congestion on the roads and air pollution. This week will see the first sensors installed in on-street pay and display parking spaces.
The council has teamed up with technology firm, AppyParking, to install around 4,000 new smart parking sensors in on-street pay and display spaces across the city. Over the next few weeks, a rolling programme of parking suspensions will be put in place as the circular black sensors are installed at regular intervals in the pay and display parking spaces.
The smart sensors that are being installed by Riggott & Co, are the first step in creating a system that will allow people to use the AppyParking App to see availability of on street pay and display parking space near their destination. They will be able to drive straight to areas with vacant space and then pay for parking sessions with a single click. People will only pay for the time they are parked within the bay and the sensor will recognise when they leave and stop charging from that point.
The new smart parking system is due to launch towards the end of the year once all the sensors and other equipment are installed and the app has been tested. The sensors, all the equipment and its maintenance is part of a two year trial funded by AppyParking and Visa.
People wishing to pay with coins at pay and display parking machines or use RingGo parking app, will still be able to do so and the enforcement of parking across the city will continue to be carried out by Officers in the traditional way with visits to the area. Blue badge and permit holders will be unaffected by the new system.
Through the service, the council will also have access to an analytics dashboard which shows parking utilisation data. This means the council will be able to view parking heatmaps and demand flows, and generally gain a better understanding of how parking is used.
Councillor Lynne Stagg Cabinet Member for Traffic and Transportation said: "I am pleased to see the installation of AppyParking sensors starting this week. This new system will help reduce air pollution by stopping vehicles being driven around in a search for on–street pay and display parking spaces. This will also help reduce congestion, particularly at busy times. I look forward to launching the new smart technology later this year that will help everyone in their search for on-street pay and display parking spaces."
