Cleveland to use automated license plate readers to enforce parking fees [Video]

CLEVELAND, Ohio — Cleveland intends to use automated license plate-reading technology to enforce on-street parking fees as part of its new smart-parking system.

The city’s Board of Control this week authorized an agreement with IPS Group Inc. to provide the technology and related services as an enhancement to the city’s new smart-parking system.

While Cleveland’s new meters have yet to be installed, new pay-by-app options went live in October for street parking spaces in some parts of downtown Cleveland . The rollout of pay-by-app to other areas of the city is ongoing, and the city had been expecting to install new physical meters at some point this year.

Automated license-plate-reading technology is often used by cities to enforce smart-parking systems like the one Cleveland is setting up. Often, the automated readers are attached to parking enforcement vehicles, or included in hand-held devices, in order to determine whether drivers have paid up.

The coin-operated machines currently in place make it apparent when a car is paid …