Skip to main content

Westminster City Council to crack down on illegal parking in disabled bays

Westminster City Council, in partnership with Smart Parking, is set to unveil new technology which could eliminate the issue of inconsiderate drivers parking in disabled bays. New technology emerging out of Westminster’s successful bay sensors pilot in central London now means that disabled drivers can be issued with electronic permits, known as EPermits or RFID tags, which communicate with sensors in the road. Should a car without a tag park in a disabled bay with a sensor illegally, nearby traffic marshal
December 2, 2015 Read time: 2 mins

Westminster City Council, in partnership with 8034 Smart Parking, is set to unveil new technology which could eliminate the issue of inconsiderate drivers parking in disabled bays.

New technology emerging out of Westminster’s successful bay sensors pilot in central London now means that disabled drivers can be issued with electronic permits, known as EPermits or RFID tags, which communicate with sensors in the road.

Should a car without a tag park in a disabled bay with a sensor illegally, nearby traffic marshals will be alerted so that they could go to the site and ask the driver to move on. They also have the power to issue a fine as a last resort.

Councillor Heather Acton, Westminster City Council cabinet member for parking, said: “Parking in a disabled bay must be one of the most inconsiderate things a driver can do – yet we still see it very regularly in Westminster. We hope this new technology will put an end to this poor practice and help improve the day to day lives of disabled drivers in the city.”
 
Paul Gillespie, Smart Parking’s Group Chief Executive Officer added: “We are delighted to be collaborating with Westminster City Council and 1466 Transport for London in the launch of the EPermit pilot – a world first. This new technology will help to eliminate misuse of disabled parking bays broadening Westminster City Council’s commitment to providing fairer, easier, parking”.
 
The pilot project is set to last around eight weeks, and evaluation will be carried out before a decision is made on a citywide roll out.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • The problem of mass transit ridership post-Covid 19
    June 9, 2020
    Several pillars of Mobility as a Service – notably public transit, ride-share and micromobility – are under pressure as ridership plummets.
  • Australian road pricing, road funding needs more debate
    January 31, 2012
    Everyone in the road transport industry in Australia is talking road pricing - everyone, that is, except the politicians. Christine Keyes reports. At the end of 2008, Australia's road transport industry was wringing its collective hands, unable to raise more than $100 million from an individual bank for any Public Private Partnership (PPP). The A$750 million Peninsula Link project, announced by the Victoria Government in March 2009, was the first road project in the country to be put out to market as an ava
  • Videalert enforces low traffic neighbourhoods
    January 20, 2021
    ANPR cameras used to issue fines to drivers without relevant residents' parking permit
  • Don’t have a ‘taxing’ time over vehicle tax changes, says the IAM
    August 28, 2014
    From 1 October 2014, UK motorists will no longer need to display the paper road tax disc on a vehicle windscreen. The Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM) has taken the opportunity to clarify the rules; drivers now have to pay for their vehicle tax by continuous direct debit, meaning there will never be a risk of forgetting to pay, and driving an untaxed car. One major change the new road tax rules has created is that vehicle tax can no longer be transferred with the vehicle when it is sold - often an