Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Dallas-based ACS wins parking enforcement contract by the City of Chicago

By Pegasus News wire

DALLAS — Street sweepers equipped with cameras will enable the City of Chicago to decrease the number of illegally parked vehicles under the world's first application of its kind. Affiliated Computer Services, Inc. will install and maintain 100 camera systems during the next three years as part of a $7 million contract.

Photo not provided by ACS

Illegal parking has become a huge problem in Chicago

The street sweeper-automated parking violation system of the city's Department of Streets and Sanitation is designed to reduce the number of illegally parked vehicles on streets scheduled for cleaning. ACS will also perform image verification to confirm the violation occurred and will provide training for city employees.

"ACS is uniquely equipped to provide the services Chicago needs to meet a public safety and traffic flow issue because of our vast experience providing parking services to major cities in the nation," said Michael Huerta, ACS executive vice president and group president, Transportation Solutions. "The City of Chicago has demonstrated extraordinary foresight in helping develop a solution that will be a model for the industry."

ACS' solution involves a rugged camera system to capture the image of the illegally parked car and a second, zoomed-in image of the license plate, using Mobile License Plate Recognition technology for enhanced readability. As the sweeper moves down the street, the automated system takes pictures of the violating vehicles, transmits images and data for image verification, and interfaces with the Chicago Department of Revenue to mail violation notices.

Source: ACS

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