New app finds parking space

Sensors which can alert motorists to empty parking bays are being trialled in Britain for the first time, The Daily Mail reports.

The small glass-domed sensors are embedded in the centre of each bay and can tell when a car is present, absent, or has over-stayed its allotted time.

Details of empty bays are collected centrally and sent via mobile phone and WiFi to motorists on their phones, who can then drive to the vacant space.

“This has potential for the whole country. We're piloting the first system of its kind in the Europe from this Wednesday,” First Post Technology quotes a spokesman for Westminster City Council as saying.

“Smart sensors are being installed in parking bays for the first time on-street in the UK.”

According to Rush Lane, drivers can also make parking payments over their smartphones which can also be prepaid to save further time and effort.

The system will undergo two months of trial before it is put into practice on a full time basis. It is currently in use in San Francisco and has peaked the interest of Westminster Council in London which charges up to £4.40 per hour of parking.