ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – A recent video circulating on social media has people wondering what the devices mounted on Downtown parking meters are. As it turns out, they are nothing new.
“People are like, ‘Why are they cameras,’ and they’re not cameras at all,” said Dan Mayfield, spokesperson for the Department of Municipal Development.
The round, grey devices, mounted under certain parking meters Downtown might look like cameras, but the city said they are actually sensors, detecting when a car leaves a parking space.
“It just resets the meter, and that’s all they do. They don’t record any footage there, not a camera there, just a sensor,” said Mayfield.
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The city said there are only 10 of these sensors along Central, and they’re not new. It was a pilot program launched five years ago, in high-volume areas like Fourth and Central. The idea is to reset the meter back to zero minutes for each new user.
“When somebody overpays a meter, often, somebody pulls up. They see there’s time on the meter, then they get a ticket because there wasn’t enough time, so it was easier to rest the meter back to zero, so when you put your money in, you know it’s zero minutes,” explained Mayfield.
Just last month the city talked about implementing a new automated parking enforcement system. But that proposal is still in the works, and the city wants to clarify these sensors are not that technology.
“Were exploring and looking into automated parking enforcement now we don’t know all the specifics now on what the plans are we are exploring that now,” said Mayfield.
The city said the sensors are still functioning, but they aren’t looking to add any more around town.
“It works, but it wasn’t worth expanding beyond the 10 meters that have the sensors now,” he said.
The city said they plan to keep the sensors up for as long as they work.