On 8 November, Tres Cantos District Council (Madrid) opened the first installation of the PARKONTROL in Spain. The event was attended by the councillor for works, urban planning and services, Jesús Moreno, and the councillor for disabled people, children and health, Carmen Posada.
The PARKONTROL Project applies technology to solve this group’s long-standing problem of
finding a parking space when the ones reserved for disabled people are occupied by vehicles without
the necessary permit.
The system to control disabled people’s parking spaces consists of a microchip, attached to
the parking card, which emits signals to a receiver on one of the reserved-parking signs. An
operations centre is informed whether the identification of the card is correct or not, so that the
police can take steps in real time to enforce the proper use of reserved spaces.
This initial stage of the project has consisted of installing the system and carrying out surveillance at three strategically positioned parking spaces: the RENFE commuter-rail station, Avenida de Viñuelas and Avenida de Colmenar Viejo.
The latter site is where a demonstration of the system in action was arranged for the media
to show its effectiveness.
The district council aims to fit this new technology at all the town’s other reserved
spaces.
The system won the first prize in the R&D category at the Madrid Regional Government's
annual FAMMA awards in 2009, as well as recognition as the best technological- innovation product
at the 13th edition of the Aragon Disable People’s Foundation awards in June this year.
