Phone app to change parking experience

CELLOPARK, a mobile phone application, will be a big part of Ballarat’s new smarter parking infrastructure when it rolls out.

An initiative of Smarter City Solutions, who recently won the City of Ballarat’s Smarter Parking contract, CellOPark will allow drivers to use their phones to pay instead of queuing at a meter.

The ‘pay by play’ technology means a driver types their registration into the app, it connects to the cloud, and more conveniently, no ticket display is needed.

Smarter City Solutions Managing Director, Ori Almog said he’s “grateful” to work with the City of Ballarat.

“We’re really excited to have been selected. We have done a similar project before in the city of Warrnambool and it’s proven to be a phenomenal success,” he said.

“Unlike some councils today that forward costs to motorists, the council has decided to absorb those costs, which in Warrnambool, has shown a growth from less than 5 per cent uptake to more than 40, which is very pro-motorists.

“We have one of the most advanced systems out there. We’re really excited to bring new technologies to improve the customer experience and entire parking ecosystem which is something people aren’t really big fans of.”

Smarter City Solutions will also install 146 new parking meters, replacing 200 meters currently ageing. Licence plate recognition cameras will also be sourced for use by trained council parking staff.

Ten companies tendered for the council’s contract but Smarter City Solutions were found to be the most cost effective with the best user experience.