Nanaimo Parking Enforcement Goes High-tech

NEWS RELEASE

City employs licence plate recognition
Improves monitoring of expired parking

The City of Nanaimo Parking Division has introduced Licence Plate Recognition technology to monitor public parking on Nanaimo's downtown streets and surrounding areas. A vehicle equipped with a series of cameras and a G.P.S. unit patrols roadways and records the location of parked vehicles and the time they've been parked. The implementation of this technology will allow staff to expand their patrol areas and duties without the need for extra staff.

"The new License Recognition System is installed in our vehicle and has recording cameras mounted on it to allow for the digital capture of vehicle licence plates as the car patrols the different areas. The streets and corresponding time limits are pre-loaded into the system and the computer alerts the operator when a vehicle is in violation. This technology will allow for a more consistent approach to on-street parking enforcement, as well as allowing one officer to patrol a much larger zone in the same time period." - Rod Davidson  Manager, Parking Services City of Nanaimo

Any vehicle licence plate that is photographed and not in violation of an offence is purged at the end of the shift.

Any vehicle licence plate that is photographed and is in violation will be stored in a secure manner for 60 days. At that time the electronic file will be purged.

Licence plate information is only used to assist in enforcing the traffic bylaw or collecting a debt to the City as a result of a bylaw infraction.

The cameras are focused on the licence plates of a vehicle and do not take pictures of pedestrians. The information collected is specific to enforcement of the traffic bylaw and is not used as a tracking mechanism.