The City of Monterey Parking Division continues to integrate latest technology solutions to make finding and paying for a parking space easier. As part of these improvements, in June 2022, the parking enforcement technology was upgraded and equipped with three (3) parking enforcement scooters with Automated License Plate Reader (ALPR) technology. The ALPR system, managed by Vigilant Solutions, automates the current process of manual tire chalking replacing it with “digital chalking”. Digital chalking works by integrating License Plate Recognition technology to capture and analyze digital license plate information with Global Positioning System (GPS) technology for a complete and accurate vehicle parking enforcement system. In addition, the ALPR system has the capability for the City to locate stolen vehicles and parking scofflaws, and greatly reduces the potential for industrial injuries that are associated with chalking tires by hand.
City of Monterey Parking Superintendent Cristie Steffy said, “We have seen a few surprised individuals who thought they could park longer in the on-street parking spot than the posted time limit because they didn’t see a visible chalk mark. What we want the public to know is that, ultimately, the chalkless system ensures fellow parking space users adhere to the time limits and improves user experience by creating more parking space availability.”
How ALPR Technology Works Equipped with ALPR technology, a Parking Enforcement Officer will patrol their assigned route. As the officer drives down the street, the position of the parked vehicles, vehicles image, location, time/date and license plate numbers are read by the mounted ALPR camera and are digitally chalked in the system. When the Officer returns to the location an alarm will notify the Officer when a parking violation is detected based on time/location data using the ALPR and GPS. Using a mounted computer in the scooter the Officer will make a visual confirmation that the license plate matches, as well as the actual images of the vehicles position that were captured by the system during each pass by the officer.
Security Enhancements for the Public The ALPR system does not identify any individual or access personal information during the license place review process. On January 1, 2016, California Senate Bill 34 went into effect, creating California Civil Code (CCC) 1798.90.51. The code requires agencies that operate ALPR technology to maintain reasonable security procedures and practices to protect information gathered through use of ALPR technology. To protect this information, City Council adopted the Automated License Plate Recognition (ALPR) Policy to define the City’s appropriate use, maintenance, collection security and retention of all ALPR information and the authorized users of the City’s ALPR technology in compliance with all applicable federal state and local laws.
Parking Program Options For customers who need to park longer than on-street parking allows, the City of Monterey provides many convenient off-street lot and garage options with enhanced payment applications that adds time using the ParkMobile app rather than having to walk back to the space to extend the time limit. Employees working in Monterey can purchase an annual parking permit for City lots and garages at a cost equivalent to $1.48 per day. Additionally, City of Monterey residents can purchase a $20 annual discount parking pass good for up to two hours of free parking, per day, per parking facility. The discount parking pass is honored in the Downtown Garages, both East and West, the Waterfront Automated Lot (at Washington & Del Monte) and the Cannery Row Garage (at Foam & Prescott).
Parking program details are available at monterey.org/parking
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