New Canaan Parking Bureau Close to Buying License Plate Reader

 

New Canaan parking officials soon are expected to get new technology to help them do their jobs more efficiently while sparing commuters the hassle of keeping physical permits on hand. Use of a license plate reader by the New Canaan Parking Bureau is expected to stem a steady stream of complaints about retaining all sorts of permits—hanging, paper, sticker—and to allow enforcement officers to devote more time to locations where they’re needed. “Simply, put we are going to use the ALPR [Automated License Plate Reader] technology, combined with our permit database, to go through the lots quickly, help the commuters out and you will not have to have any permit in your car at all,” Parking Bureau Supervisor Karen Miller said at a March 19 Town Council meeting, held in the Visitors Center at the New Canaan Nature Center. An account with the bureau itself already has the $18,000 needed for the reader—from Brewster, NY-based ELSAG North America—and the Board of Selectmen on Tuesday will vote on whether to approve the purchase. The Town Council voiced unanimous support for it.