'Smart' Parking Meters Issue Tickets From Afar

The New Jersey State Legislature is considering a bill that would allow cities to deploy "smart" parking meters, high-tech meters with cameras and the ability to remotely issue tickets to parking scofflaws.

Nicholas Pugliese reports:

A bill sponsored by Senate President Stephen Sweeney, D-Gloucester, would explicitly authorize municipalities to use the smart parking meters. The measure, S-2579, has already cleared one Senate committee and is expected to be heard in a second on Monday.  

Pugliese explains in more detail how the proposed law clears the way for the new parking meter technology.

Unlike current law, which generally requires a parking ticket to be placed on the windshield of a car, Sweeney’s bill would allow police or parking enforcement officers to remotely review meter-generated footage of an infraction and then issue tickets through the mail using the state courts' e-ticketing system.

A pilot project testing the "smart" parking meters in Palisades Park tripled the amount of parking tickets issued over a five-month period.

Pugliese also notes that the state in 2014 rescinded its red light camera policy after public outcry.