A Sydney council is using technology to help drivers find parking at one of Sydney’s popular beaches.

Randwick City Council is trialling a combination of cameras and in-ground sensors to help drivers find parking at Coogee Beach.

The Integrated Smart Parking project is being jointly funded by Council and a grant from the federal government’s Smart Cities and Suburbs program.

Mayor Danny Said said there will be no change to the number of metered parking spaces or the duration that people can park in spaces.

“This new system is all about decreasing the amount of congestion on popular roads as people spend time looking for parking spaces,” he said in a statement.

“Smart parking is designed to save time, frustration and fuel, and will increase road safety because drivers won’t be distracted while looking for a place to park.”

The technology will help Council track parking availability and identify the amount of parking spaces available in an area.

This information will be delivered to drivers through newly installed LED smart signs, which will be operational by the end of September.

Smarter parking meters

PayStay parking meters have also been installed in the currently metered Coogee Oval and Coogee Beach car parks and have been in operation since the beginning of this month.

The app associated with these meters will inform drivers of whether there are a high, medium or low number of car spaces available at these locations. They can find out this information by choosing their registered vehicle and entering the zone number.

The app will enable them to start and stop their parking session, only pay for the time they are there, and be notified when their parking session is about to end.

The trial will continue over the next few months. If it is successful, Council will roll the technology out to more areas within Randwick City.

More trials will be rolled out to locations in Kingsford and Kensington later in the year.