Technology makes CBD parking easier

The City of Newcastle is embracing new technologies to achieve our vision as a smart, liveable and sustainable global city.

From smart poles beaming free wi-fi, to our upcoming driverless vehicle trial, Newcastle is gaining national and international recognition for its award-winning initiatives.

The latest step on our exciting tech journey is an Australian-first, with motorists now able to use their smartphones to help find available parking spaces in the Newcastle CBD.

This innovative technology has been adopted by some of the world's smartest and tech-savvy cities, including Stockholm, Copenhagen, Berlin, Rome, Milan and Barcelona.

The Find & Park function is available through City of Newcastle's popular EasyPark app, which allows users to remotely pay for parking, or top up their time, using their smartphones.

Users simply need to launch the app, click 'Find' and type in their destination. An in-built map will guide them to available parks, offering colour-coded 'easy', 'moderate' or 'difficult' options for on-street parking closest to their destination.

The app is based on data collected from a survey of parking spaces available in the city across a six-week period, which will constantly evolve with more parking data generated by users.

While the Find & Park app works only in the CBD for now, we're working to expand it across the LGA.

Nuatali Nelmes