NEW state-of-the-art parking sensor technology is being introduced to a busy town centre road in a bid to improve services for motorists.

Twenty four sensors will be installed on the limited-time parking bays in Crouch Street West, Colchester, as part of a pilot scheme led by the North Essex Parking Partnership.

The sensors detect whether a parking bay is occupied by a vehicle, before the data is communicated to the partnership’s systems in real time to better understand the usage of the parking bays in the road.

It will also eventually allow for availability of parking bays to be displayed within the MiPermit app and provide complementary data for considering the suitability of restrictions, or used to guide future policy-making.

The pilot will also assist Essex County Council with its Active Travel Plan, which has recently been under consultation.

Sue Lissimore, chairwoman of the North Essex Parking Partnership, said: “It’s exciting to see how this new technology can be used to collect data on bay usage and improve the customer experience.

“I look forward to seeing the results at the end of the trial and hope we can expand it to more areas.”

Simon Crow, Colchester Council portfolio holder for environment and sustainability, added: “This technology could provide a valuable service for residents of Colchester, being able to view the availability of bays through the app is an innovative feature.

“I look forward to seeing the result of the pilot.”

The pilot began on Monday and will run for an indefinite period.