Westminster Council launches parking bay app to guide drivers to spaces

Driven round the bend finding a parking space in central London? There’s an app for that.

Westminster is to become the first council in the UK to install infrared sensors in parking bays across the borough after signing an £890,000 deal with tech pioneers SmartPark.

The sensors are embedded into the road to detect vacant spaces, and drivers are guided to the nearest available bay using a smartphone app. The council says the technology will help to cut both congestion and carbon emissions in an area where drivers spend an average of 15 minutes looking for a spot.

From January, sensors will be installed across all 3,000 paid-for and disabled bays in the West End. All 10,000 spaces will be wired up if the scheme, which has been funded by paid-for parking, proves a success.

The move follows a trial earlier this year with a network of 189 sensors in five streets including Savile Row, Jermyn Street and St John’s Wood High Street.