San Jose Approves $6.3M Proposal To Modernize Parking
SAN JOSE (CBS SF) -- The San Jose City Council approved an approximately $6.3 million proposal Tuesday afternoon to overhaul the city's parking system with mobile technology, stronger payment security and a new license plate recognition system.
All city-owned parking lots will receive the modernized system through a contract with New Jersey-based Sentry Control Systems. The city also approved a $7 million contract with the company for parking at Mineta San Jose International Airport.
Visitors will be able to use mobile payment applications such as Google, Apple and Samsung Pay, access 24-hour customer service and use a new automatic license plate verification system.
The proposal says the automatic license plate readers will be used only to authorize drivers in and out of lots, enforce parking and payment laws and audit parking transactions.
Under the approved proposal, the city is restricted from selling camera data for commercial use, disclosing whether certain data exists or monitoring individual activities protected by the First Amendment. Police and other city agencies will have access to the data.
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The proposal includes a contingency plan and employee training for any hacks or data breaches that may occur.
The new parking system will be in effect for one year, at which point the city can extend it for the next decade through the General Purpose Parking Capital Fund and the Airport Renewal and Replacement Fund.
The city said its current parking system, installed over 10 years ago, no longer meets the technological demands of San Jose.
The city's eight parking garages generated about $12 million in revenue from 1.5 million downtown visitors and additional permit holders this year, according to the city proposal. The airport generated another $32 million from parking.
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