The municipality of Papeete has begun deploying 52 new parking meters in the city center, introducing a new era of parking control. these devices require users to enter their license plate number and will soon enable contactless credit card payments.

according to Wilfrid Hunter, head of urban trips within the municipality of Papeete, entering a license plate is now essential. “It will now be necessary to enter your license plate,” he stated. This change aligns Papeete with practices already in place throughout France since 2018. “It is an obligation that has already been in place throughout the French territory since 2018, with the exception of overseas. We should have submitted to it too,but we did not have the necessary tools,and our geographical context,in this case the distance,did not allow it. It is a delay that we intend to make up for this year.”

Previously, non-payment of parking fees in polynesia was a criminal offense, potentially leading to a court summons. In contrast, France has reclassified these offenses as fees managed by dedicated structures since 2018. Wilfrid Hunter notes a challenge in implementing similar regulations in Polynesia: “You can imagine that a Polynesian will not bother to file a complaint if the bodies concerned are in mainland France.” Additionally, outdated vehicle registration details complicates the process of contacting offenders.

The new system aims to streamline enforcement. “Today, in mainland France, the controls are carried out either by cars equipped with scanners, or by agents who pass and scan the license plates. A method which immediately signals if the owner of the vehicle is in good standing.If this is not the case, the person is immediately identified on the database and a ‘E-PV ‘ He is sent to him. In France, the time of PVs on windshields. Locally, we have not yet incorporated this device, but we would like to do it by the end of the year.” Temporarily, the town hall of Papeete has announced that displaying the parking ticket behind the windshield remains the required procedure.

Centralized System and Payment Options

The new parking meters offer interconnected and centralized information. “We now have a vision on all devices,” said Wilfrid Hunter. “We know if they are broken down, if they walk, how much money is inside, how many cars have registered and their plaque numbers. All this information is very interesting for us, especially when we have to manage certain complaints. For example, a few days ago, a man complained of having inserted 400 francs and having had only 1 h 20 of parking – rather of 2 hours for 300 francs – but also not to have his currency. Back, we have sought in our data and indeed, the man had paid.”

“It will now be necessary to enter your license plate.”

in addition to license plate recognition, the new machines will soon allow users to add parking time remotely and pay via contactless credit card. “The next novelty, which we hope to set up within two months, is the payment by credit card. The machines are already equipped, we just have to settle some administrative concerns. This should be really very quickly set up.Nevertheless, notably these will only be contactless cards. Union pavement cards issued by Socredo and HOA cards from Polynesia will not be accepted. against, for all other cards, like the revolut or Niu Pay for example, it’s good.”

parking rates in the “green” zone start at 100 francs. One hour of parking costs 150 francs, with a maximum of two hours (300 francs).The town hall emphasizes the need for parking regulations to prevent long-term parking and ensure space availability for all users. “We are forced to regulate parking lots in this way to prevent people from parking and starting for the day, preventing other users from finding a parking space.”

Addressing Parking Challenges

Papeete has 980 paid parking spaces in the regulated area and 2,000 spaces in other car parks.Though, the city center sees over 60,000 cars daily, creating a critically important challenge for urban travel management.

Wilfrid Hunter explained, “when we started to set up paid parking in 2003, we were at 1,300 paid places. But over the years, we have increased places dedicated to two-wheelers, delivery spaces, PMRs, taxis, public transport. All this means that the places reserved for vehicles have decreased in the past twenty years.” The city also faces the challenge of accommodating the increasing number of vehicles with limited parking space, further complicated by projects like the upcoming bus route from Tipaerui to the East bridge, which will eliminate parking spaces.