Proposal to overhaul Sydney parking meters with app
Parking meters could soon be a thing of the past as the government looks to reduce “touch points” and traffic congestion.
NSW
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Parking meters would be replaced by a contactless pay-by-phone parking app under a state government plan to reduce “touch points” and traffic congestion after lockdown.
Mayors across Sydney have been urged to ditch the old-fashioned meters and adopt the government’s Park’n’Pay smartphone app in a letter from Customer Service Minister Victor Dominello.
The letter, which will be sent to council leaders later this week, reads: “As we open up and get NSW moving again, it is essential that we leverage technology to make life easier”.
“In NSW, there are roughly 18-20 million parking transactions every year involving the physical meters – that’s a lot of touch points,” Mr Dominello writes.
“On top of this, traffic congestion costs our economy $6bn, the parking experience for our citizens is inconsistent and there is low uptake of the available digital solutions.”
The app, introduced in 2019 and currently in use in 11 council areas across Sydney, provides live updates on parking spot availability, reducing the amount of time motorists spend hunting for a free spot.
It allows drivers to pay for the exact time they occupy a parking space down to the minute, rather than a flat hourly rate, The contactless option also protects the safety of both parking rangers and the public by reducing physical interactions and discouraging cash payments at the city’s meters.
Earlier this year, Mr Dominello told The Daily Telegraph’s Parking Summit – a forum exploring the future of parking and car use in the city – there was “no excuse” for not having a citywide platform showing real-time availability of parking spaces.
“There is no way in Hades” he would “download 20 different parking apps just to navigate between Parramatta and the city”, he said.
The government estimates the app saves motorists up to 20 per cent, compared with traditional metered parking.
The push to use the app comes after Sydney councils handed out 1.47 million fines in the past financial year – a jump from 957,484 the previous year, according to data from Revenue NSW.
City of Sydney pocketed the most in parking fine revenue – 252,586 penalties totalling more than $36.26m.
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