Watford Borough Council manages a complex parking ecosystem - approximately 6,500 resident parking permits, 18,000 visitor permits, 500,000 taxi journeys and 15 Civil Enforcement Officers. Managing this level of activity in an efficient, resident-friendly way is a significant operational challenge.
In 2018, IoT Solutions Group partnered with Watford Borough Council to trial an innovative approach to parking control. Using LPWAN (Low Power Wide Area Network) sensor technology, we deployed a proof-of-concept to determine whether IoT sensors could replace or significantly augment manual parking enforcement activity.
Proof of concepts
The trial was structured around three distinct proof-of-concept scenarios:
- Prove the technology - demonstrating that LPWAN-based sensors could reliably detect vehicle presence and relay data in a real-world council environment
- CPZ trial - testing sensors within a Controlled Parking Zone to monitor bay occupancy and permit compliance across a defined residential area
- Limited Wait bays - using in-ground sensors to monitor turnover in limited waiting bays, alerting officers to vehicles exceeding their permitted stay
By connecting physical parking infrastructure to a cloud-based dashboard, enforcement officers could prioritise their patrols based on actual bay data rather than fixed routes. This improved both efficiency and resident experience - and provided richer data for future planning decisions.
The trial demonstrated that sensor-led parking management is a viable, scalable model for councils looking to modernise their enforcement operations and improve public space management without increasing headcount.