S'pore using camera mounted on vehicle driven by 1 person to spot parking offences

Spotting offenders will fewer manpower.

Belmont Lay| March 19, 2021, 06:55 PM

The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) is going to test whether parking offences can be detected in real time using cameras mounted on vehicles.

Offences targeted include parking along double yellow lines, against traffic flow, and in lanes with a single continuous white line across a bi-directional road.

The six-month trial's objective is to find out if using video analytics on a moving vehicle can identify and classify various types of parking offences, a URA spokesman said on March 18.

The trial will start in the second half of 2021.

At least 15 roadside car parks in areas such as Tanjong Pagar and Little India will be used for the trial.

If successful, its deployment can cut manpower to seek out offenders.

Only one person will be needed to drive a vehicle during enforcement operations.

Such offences have to be verified physically.

The technology is expected to work under all weather and lighting conditions.

An enforcement vehicle will have a video camera, a licence plate recognition programme, and an artificial intelligence engine that processes video footage.

AI will determines if a vehicle has been parked illegally.

It can then classify the offence.

It should also pick up heavy vehicles parked in spaces meant for cars.

Tests will be conducted on weekdays between 8.30am and 6pm, as well as between 7.30pm and 10.30pm.

The Straits Times reported that it understands that enforcement action will not be part of the trial.

Top photo via URA & Unsplash