The number of cars is growing year by year, so a large number of cities have the problem of how to provide a sufficient number of parking spaces. Some cities, such as Paris, are considering higher prices for SUV owners, and some are using scanning cars to check if drivers have paid for a parking space. Whether this constitutes a violation of citizens’ privacy is a question that troubles the German government.

Brussels has 13 scanner vehicles that patrol the city monitoring 30,000 registered parking spaces. That’s 5.3 million scanned license plates of parked vehicles annually, and there are always those that violate regulations. On average, about 450,000 fines for unpaid parking are issued annually, thanks to which the income is almost three times bigger than before.

“Someone buys a ticket at the parking machine or via SMS. A car that passes and scans between parked vehicles takes photos, including license plates. This information is forwarded to the database and if it turns out that parking has not been paid, the fine is sent to the car owner. Our parking officers check about 500 vehicles a day on foot, while we can check 1,000 cars per hour with a scanner vehicle. Given the increasing pressure around parking in Brussels, it is necessary to check more often,” said Eric Dubois from parking.brussels.

The German government was close to introducing this method of checking parked vehicles, but due to opposition, the decision never came into effect. Also, there are other models like the one used in Amsterdam, where the police have introduced an automated mobile system that sells parking tickets. Thanks to this, incomes are higher than before, and car owners in densely populated cities are motivated to use public transport or bicycles.

Source: DW

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