Smart parking meters became operational in Tehran's District 2 on Saturday, an official of Tehran Municipality’s Transportation and Traffic Organization said.
Vahid Sarlak added that the plan covers 35 streets in the area in the initial phase, ISNA reported.
"The whole district will be equipped with smart parking meters by early July," he added.
Stretching from the northern to the central part of the city and covering 4,770 hectares, District 2 has over 14,000 roadside parking spaces, 9,000 of which have been equipped with the smart meters.
The system works through the smartphone application “Tehran-e Man” (literally meaning “My Tehran”), introduced by the municipality for making urban utility payments. Using the smart parking meters and the app, motorists can pay for and reserve roadside parking spots.
The parking meters will be equipped with sensors to monitor vehicles parked in the vicinity. They will be connected to the Internet to report any infringement.
Elaborating on the parking cost, Sarlak said Tehran City Council has suggested that parking space reservation should be free of charge for the first 30 minutes.
“To use the service, people are required to create an account on the website MyTehran.ir,” he said.
The project was initially introduced in December.
"If the pilot project delivers the expected results in District 2, it will be extended to districts 6, 11 and 12 in the capital by the end of the current [fiscal] year [March 2020]," he said.
The project is envisaged to cover the whole capital in three years.
Atishahr fintech, Tosan (banking and payment solution provider) and FANAP (an ICT company affiliated to Bank Pasargad) are in charge of developing the project’s infrastructure.
According to Sarlak, roadside parking spaces in the capital were monitored by conventional parking meters and parking enforcement officers. With the elimination of these officers and the replacement of old parking meters with smart and modern ones, TM has taken a step toward transforming Tehran into a smart city.
A smart city is a concept based on which urban services are offered through smart technology and Internet of Things, making life easier for its 8 million residents.
Tehran Municipality has put extra focus on supporting technology firms and emerging startups to help realize its civic goals.
