On-street parking in the City of Melbourne
Parking restrictions operate in the City of Melbourne to help make car parking spaces more readily available for shoppers, visitors and residents. There have been no significant changes to the way we conduct our parking and traffic operation in three decades so we are taking the first step in modernising the way we do things, with new parking technology being rolled out across the city from July 2011.
The new technology includes the introduction of in-ground sensors, licence plate recognition systems and a pay-by-phone trial.
It is important to know that while the technology is something new, motorists will notice very little that is different. The city’s parking meters, time limits and expectations of motorists still apply - pay for your parking where required, observe the time limit and don’t overstay.
The only change is a good one - the addition of a five minute grace period in areas where the new technology is operating. The grace period will apply to vehicles parking for a bay’s maximum permitted time limit.
Find out more about the new technologies and the dates they will commence operating in each area:
View map showing where the new technology is located (PDF, 34kb) 
Loading zones
The impact on loading zones will be minimal.
In-ground sensors will not be installed in non-standard size loading bays. Parking officers will continue to enforce parking restrictions for these bays in line with relevant signage. The expectation for commercial drivers using non-standard size loading bays remains the same – to observe the time limit and don’t overstay.
In-ground sensors will be installed in the small number of single marked standard size loading bays where sensors are being installed. Once a vehicle has overstayed the permitted time limit, plus a grace period of five minutes, a signal will be sent to the nearest parking officer’s hand-held device. The parking officer will speak to the driver to help achieve voluntary compliance and avoid an infringement.
In areas where licence plate recognition is in operation, loading bays will be monitored using this technology.
As loading bays are free of charge, the pay-by-phone trial will have no impact.
Internal reviews
The process for requesting an internal review will remain the same. If you believe there is a good reason for you to not pay the infringement notice you may apply for an internal review.
Keeping updated
The exact dates and locations that the technology will become operational will continue to be updated via the City of Melbourne website over coming weeks.