Richmond Council is rolling out smart parking sensors in some parts of Richmond to help assist residents and improve air quality.
The sensors will be used in combination with the RingGo app to let residents know where parking spaces are available in trial areas.
This will be part of a one-year scheme aiming to introduce easier parking in the borough.
The trial will see 151 parking bay sensors installed across the borough’s town centres as part of the South London Partnership’s InnOvaTe Project.
Councillor Alexander Ehmann, Chair of the Transport and Air Quality Committee, said: “Smart technologies are playing an ever more central role in the delivery of council services and I’m really excited that Richmond will be at the forefront of local authorities using better data to make decisions.
“The trial results will help us to monitor local parking habits and contribute meaningful data on which future decisions of the council can be based.”
The InnOvaTe Project, which will run across five south west London boroughs including Croydon, Kingston, Merton, Richmond and Sutton, is hopeful of improving people’s lives through the delivery of a multi-purpose Internet of Things (IoT) platform, which will connect various sensors across borough boundaries.
The sensors will gather data to determine local parking trends which will alert residents where parking spaces are available, as well as helping the council keep an eye on parking overstays to make enforcement more effective.
They will also provide accurate data on road, pavement and parking usage without collecting any personal data.
All sensors are designed to reduce congestion levels and ultimately improve air quality by saving people from driving around aimlessly searching for a parking space.
For more information about the one-year smart parking trial, click here.
