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04 SOUTH <br /> � O <br /> U d <br /> W PEACE a <br /> 1865 <br /> Office of the Mayor <br /> NEWS RELEASE <br /> November 10,2011 <br /> Time <br /> Handheld device to improve downtown parking system <br /> Contact: Mikki Dobski, Director of Communications& Special Projects, 235-5855 or 876-1564 <br /> or Debrah Jennings, Program Manager, Department of Community and Economic Development, <br /> 235-9371 <br /> Just as many school-teachers have traded in their chalk and blackboards for newer <br /> technology, the City of South Bend's on-street parking officers will no longer apply chalk <br /> marks to the tires of vehicles in time-limited, downtown parking zones. <br /> Attendants now use an automated handheld tracking device, which will record a vehicle's <br /> license plate number, log the time it was viewed by the parking attendant and take a <br /> digital photograph of the parked vehicle. The updated system provides the City with <br /> documented evidence of what attendants witness on the street—and it will mean an end <br /> to hand-written tickets. It is the latest efficiency measure added by City government. <br /> The change will result in the increased availability of more parking spaces closer to <br /> downtown destinations. It follows previous efforts, including free, two-hour parking in <br /> the City-owned parking garage at Main Street and Colfax Avenue. <br /> "We hope this will increase the availability of on-street parking spaces in the downtown <br /> area by ensuring that premium parking spaces are used by those patronizing downtown <br /> businesses and restaurants," said Debrah Jennings, program manager for the City of <br /> South Bend's Department of Community and Economic Development. "It is not our <br /> intent to catch violators, but to warn those who've learned to abuse the previous system <br /> that this new method can't be erased or subverted." <br /> The change is the first step in broader changes to downtown parking, including a planned <br /> automation of paid parking in downtown parking garages. Two of the three City-owned <br /> downtown garages already are automated and plans are in place to automate the third <br /> with new technology to better assist the needs of visitors. <br />