EL PASO, TEXAS (KFOX14\/CBS4) \u2014 El Paso drivers could soon see major changes in how parking is enforced and how tickets are issued downtown and in the Cincinnati Entertainment District.<\/p>\n
At Tuesday’s city council meeting, El Paso code enforcement Director Steve Alvarado is proposing an automated parking enforcement system that would allow the city to use \u201celectronically controlled operating parking systems\u201d and \u201cimplement feature technology to allow us to increase parking enforcement citywide,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
If approved, the system would apply to more than 1,600 parking meters across downtown and the Cincinnati Entertainment District area. Alvarado said the city is looking at \u201creal-time digital handheld ticket riders\u201d that would communicate with the parking meters to verify whether a vehicle has paid.<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, this parking vehicle paid for the space, so it doesn’t get a ticket at that point,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The proposal also includes license plate recognition technology.<\/p>\n
Emily Schmalz reports on El Paso considers automated parking enforcement system to issue tickets (Credit: KFOX14)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
RECOMMENDED: POLL: Should the City of El Paso use cameras to enforce parking meters?<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cWe’re also looking at adding license plate recognition, which will recognize the license plate to see if it has paid meter space,\u201d Alvarado said. <\/p>\n He said the system would also be able to identify repeat offenders and would include fixed cameras to monitor busy areas at all times.<\/p>\n Ticket processing would also change. Currently, drivers have 14 days to pay or appeal a ticket. Under the new system, tickets would be mailed, giving drivers 21 days to respond.<\/p>\n Alvarado said the technology could eventually expand beyond the initial areas.<\/p>\n \u201cSo, once we get technology that they can utilize, it’ll definitely go citywide,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n RECOMMENDED: El Paso City Council votes to hire consultants in Daniel Villegas civil rights lawsuit<\/a><\/p>\n How drivers pay for metered parking could also be updated. <\/p>\n Under the proposal, individual meters would be replaced with a single multi-space meter per area, while keeping payment options the same, including paying at the meter or through the Park 9-1-5 app. <\/p>\n Officials said installation could take up to two years.<\/p>\n Alvarado said the change would improve the look of city blocks. <\/p>\n \u201cIt’ll clean up the aesthetics of the block with less clutter,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n He also said new meter technology would expand payment options: \u201cWith these new meter technology, we’ll have Apple Pay, Google Pay, Pay with your watch, a credit card, and any other monetary fee that we could use,\u201d adding, \u201cIt’ll take coins as well.\u201d<\/p>\n Some El Pasoans said they support the idea. <\/p>\n