License plate recognition (LPR) technologies enable police to increase parking permit compliance monitoring using fewer patrols.

A Federal evaluation report examined parking mangement systems in Aspen, Colorado.

Date Posted
07/23/2020
Identifier
2020-B01448
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Contemporary Approaches to Parking Pricing

Summary Information

Aspen, Colorado has a high demand for parking by tourists visiting the city. To manage demand and protect parking for residents, Aspen introduced residential parking permits (RPP) and a progressive rate structure. Visitors can pay for a few hours or for an entire day at scaled price models. Compliance is monitored by Aspen’s enforcement officers who look for cars that lack the proper permits or who have overstayed their permitted time. This process was time consuming and required chalking tires and checking back on those vehicles. The time commitment meant that each parking space was only able to be monitored twice a week. It was also subject to abuse as some drivers would move vehicles short distances to avoid paying fees.

When Aspen’s enforcement team installed license plate recognition (LPR) technology in some of their vehicles they were able to dramatically cut down the time it took to monitor residential parking compliance.

Before using license plate recognition technology (LPR) to monitor parking permit compliance, Aspen was only able to check each parking space twice a week by chalking tires. With a GPS and camera based LPR system, Aspen could check all 3,000 residential-zone parking spaces two-to-three times a day. The team went from being able to monitor every parking space twice a week with five staff members, to checking each parking space two-to-three times a day with four staff members.

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