Cairns Regional Council has awarded Duncan Solutions — a long term supplier of parking systems to the council — a three-year contract for the purchase and use of SenSen Networks’ SenFORCE mobile parking enforcement unit that is able to detect and report a wide range of parking infringements from a moving vehicle.
The technology is enclosed in a roof-racked mounted pod that can be fitted to any car. It comprises cameras, GPS and processing and communications technology that, according to SenSen, is able to read numberplates with a very high degree of accuracy and locate the position of a vehicle with centimetre accuracy.
The system holds a database of all authorised parking spots and time limits. According to SenSen, a parking officer has only to drive past parked vehicles a couple of times and the system is able to identify any vehicles parked in a prohibited area or those that have overstayed the time limit.
Earlier this month SenSen introduced GeminEYE, an AI smartphone app for smart city management, that is able to perform a similar function, along with many others.
Parking changes increase enforcement needs
In October 2017 local website TropicNow reported council plans to introduce a new parking regime, saying: “Visitors to Cairns CBD will have to get used to seeing parking inspectors on the streets seven days a week under changes announced by the council.”
Under the changes an extra 350 car parks were to be added around the Cairns Hospital and Cairns Private Hospital area with time limits changed to provide three-hour premium paid parking immediately next to the hospitals along with either free four-hour or eight-hour parks nearby.
Elsewhere in the CBD parking charges and fines were increased and regulated parking hours extended to f 8.30am to 6pm, seven days a week, when they had been free from midday on Saturday and all day on Sunday.
Note: This article has been updated to correct errors. The original version stated that the contract was with SenSen Networks. In fact it was with Duncan Solutions. The company told us that SenSen Networks simply provided its products in response to an order from Duncan Solutions.
