Paperless car parking permits introduced in St Albans District
Eco-friendly paperless car parking permits are now being issued by St Albans City and District Council.
The new system not only helps the environment, but is also more cost efficient as less administration is required.
The system covers the District’s controlled parking zones with virtual permits available for residents, visitors, carers, healthcare professionals, traders and nannies.
Business permits are also included along with season tickets for car parks.
Existing paper permits can be removed from vehicles as their details are now on the new system. Residents will be sent a reminder letter when they need to renew.
Civil Enforcement Officers will be able to see if a vehicle has a virtual permit by using automatic number plate recognition software.
They will simply point a hand-held device at the registration plate to confirm the vehicle has a valid permit. If it does not, a Fixed Penalty Notice may be issued.
Similar technology is already used at car parks and on-street parking bays that have a pay-by-phone facility.
Councillor Helen Campbell, Chair of the Council’s Public Realm Committee and Lead for Car Parking, said:
This initiative is part of our commitment to upgrade and modernise our parking services with the latest digital technology.
We have to keep in step with the times and moving to a paperless regime is also good for the environment. It helps conserve precious resources and I am sure our residents will want to support an initiative that does that.
The old system of paper permits was also more time-consuming and expensive to administer, so we will also save money in the years ahead while freeing up staff to concentrate on other important tasks.
I know there is always some resistance to change, but I hope people won’t take long to get to grips with the concept of paperless permits. After all, a similar system has been in place for road tax for some time.
Details of how to renew a permit by setting up an account along with further information about the paperless scheme are available here.
Anyone who encounters difficulties with an application should contact the Council’s customer services team on 01727 866100.
Residents will be able to buy virtual visitor permits using their account and activate them online when necessary. Existing scratch-card vouchers will remain valid until October next year.
Anyone who believes a vehicle is parked without a permit can report this to illegalparking@stalbans.gov.uk.
Senior citizen car parking permits will remain in paper form.
Contact for the media: John McJannet, Principal Communications Officer, 01727-819533, john.mcjannet@stalbans.gov.uk.