The City of Ballarat has entered into a contract with Australian company CellOPark Pty Ltd for the Smarter Parking infrastructure provision.
The contract includes:
• 146 new parking meters to replace the current 200 ageing meters
• Licence plate recognition cameras that will be affixed to new vehicles specifically bought for this purpose and driven by existing Council staff trained in the technology
• The CellOPark smart phone app
• Associated technology to support this infrastructure
Established in 2008, CellOPark was the first company to bring a pay-by-phone system to Australia.
CellOPark also uses all Australian providers for hosting, billing and support.
Ten companies tendered for the City of Ballarat contract, with CellOPark considered the most cost effective option while also offering a fully integrated system that will integrate with Council's current software to provide the best customer experience.
The new technology will also bring benefits including transparent parking fine management, better payment options, e-permits, and data management and monitoring.
The move to ticketless machines will also save about 20,000 non-recyclable tickets annually.
While the tender price is subject to commercial-in-confidence conditions, it is within the $1.6 million funding allocated for car parking in the 2019/20 budget.
The project management of the Smarter Parking Plan roll out will be the responsibility of an in-house City of Ballarat team.
