Glens Falls parking fine revenue jumps as city uses sensors it installed under streets

By Cathy DeDe, Chronicle Managing Editor

Do you remember those electronic parking “plugs” or sensors that the City of Glens Falls installed under some downtown streets in September 2022?

Wonder what happened to them?

Well, they’re up “up and functioning” — and making money for Glens Falls, city Development Director Jeff Flagg tells The Chronicle.

The sensors track when a vehicle has remained in a space beyond the designated time limit.

City Clerk Megan Nolin provided some numbers to The Chronicle on Tuesday:

In 2022, the City earned $15,859 in parking ticket revenues from January to August. For the same period in 2023, with the sensors working, the city took in $24,530 — $8,671 more.

Ms. Nolin said she cut the data off at the end of summer because the enforcement officer left this year in August.

Dr. Flagg noted separately that enforcement “is down” while the City seeks a replacement. “When we have an enforcer, we’ll enforce,” he said. The parking officer is part of the Police Department.

Year-to-date, to the end of November, the City has collected $28,919 in parking ticket fines, compared to $21,015 for the full year of 2022 — $7,904 more.

The sensors can also service an app called “Park Glens Falls” that helps drivers who’ve downloaded the app find available parking spaces downtown.

The app is also supposed to alert a driver who is about to exceed the limit.

Glens Falls last year installed 150 parking sensors under the pavement on Warren, Glen and Ridge Streets last year, and in the first block out from the downtown roundabout, and on South Street from Glen Street to School Street. It’s part of a pilot program it hopes to expand.

The technology, from St. Louis-based tech company Fybr, can also monitor parking use trends, Dr. Flagg said when the sensors were installed.

It could also be used for paid parking, a possibility Mayor Bill Collins floated last year. Dr. Flagg reiterates, “The City has no current plans to use them for that.”

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