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Melbourne to Junk Most Meters for Pay-by- Phone Technology

April, 2014

The city of Melbourne, Australia, in a departure from rolling-out fixed infrastructure, has announced that it will introduce pay-by-phone technology as a mainstream method of payment for parking using either a free smartphone app or making a paid phone call.

In late February, Melbourne City Council voted to award a $537,000, three-year tender to Database Consultants Australia,  a Melbourne-based technology company, to deploy the pay-by-phone parking system in more than 12,000 fee-paying spaces across the city.

City officials said the new mobile-based system also will feature the ability to send drivers an SMS reminder just before their time in the parking spot is about to expire. That’s because drivers will be expected to not only activate their parking session via the council app or a phone call, but also terminate the session when it’s finished.

In addition, motorists using pay-by-phone will no longer receive a ticket to display in their vehicle. Once a session has begun, parking enforcement officers will simply be able to scan the license plate number with a handheld device and immediately identify whether a parking session is active and payment has been made.

City officials expect that the rollout of pay-by-phone parking will begin this month (April 2014), and that the removal of meters will begin with machines in the center of the road parking areas in the 2014-15 fiscal year.

[Source: City of Melbourne, Australia]



 


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