Atlanta, Georgia and Munich, Germany — 21st July 2022

---

Cleverciti® announces the Circ® 360 Ultra and Circ® 360 Ultra+, the next generation of its flagship parking guidance product.

This newly updated version of the patented Circ builds on the success of the original with improved features, higher resolution, and more flexibility for customers.

Circ 360 Ultra+

By mounting a Circ 360 Ultra at intersections or decision points, drivers are guided turn-by-turn to available parking spaces— whether on-street, surface lot or a garage. Redwood City, California has a Circ at most intersections in its downtown core, as well as at each surface lot entrance.

Original Circ in Redwood City, providing guidance into a surface lot

“The Circ has allowed Redwood City to provide dynamic parking information to the public while maintaining a small, flexible, non-intrusive footprint. It allows parkers to get a real-time snapshot of the parking availability in an area, minimizing unneeded circling and reducing traffic congestion.”

— Christian Hammack, Redwood City's Parking Manager

The Circ 360 Ultra has a 50% higher resolution versus the original Circ, enabling richer graphics and greater clarity in communication to drivers. The display is available in single-height (Circ 360 Ultra) and double-height versions (Circ 360 Ultra+), allowing for additional messaging. With this real estate, clients can now use the Circ to communicate detailed information like bus or train arrival times, reinforce neighborhood branding, or sell advertising space to help fund parking operations.

Circ 360 Ultra+

Circ 360 Ultra

“We have already proven we can reduce parking search times by 45-55% through deploying the Circ for turn-by-turn parking guidance,” said David Parker, CEO of Cleverciti. “The Circ 360 Ultra brings our driver communication capabilities to the next level.”

The Circ 360 Ultra combines the above improvements with the best of the original Circ. Key features include:

• Unique, patented 360° display that provides real-time turn-by-turn guidance for drivers helping to reduce the time spent searching for parking, and in turn, emissions.

• 50% higher resolution.

• Two sizes (single and double height) for full flexibility of content displayed.

• Remotely managed & monitored 24/7, like all Cleverciti devices.

• Display parking occupancy data for spaces managed by the Cleverciti platform; option to pull data from any other source (such as train arrival times).

• Ability to change templates on-the-fly through the Cleverciti Cockpit to update the guidance plan as needed— such as for special events.

• Dimmable to ensure maximum readability while minimizing light pollution (Automatically or by schedule).

• Mounted onto and powered by existing infrastructure, facilitating easy installation whilst integrating seamlessly into the streetscape.

The Circ 360 Ultra will be demoed live next week (July 24-27) at IPMI, New Orleans at Cleverciti’s Booth— #720

Last week, we spent a couple of days with our industry at ParkEx. It was a great opportunity to interact with other members of our industry, engage in insightful talks and learn about evolving trend within our industry. Here are our top 3 trends from ParkEx.

1) Data

There was a key focus on data and how organisations can use data to optimise parking capacity, revenue streams and make drivers lives easier. The talk ‘Linking It Together’ spoke about utilising the different data sources available to improve customer experience from the perspective of both commercial customers and drivers. Here, we can see a push towards comprehensive applications of data to help improve the customer experience such as providing a platform that drivers are able to choose which parking app they wish to pay with or offering turn-by-turn guidance powered by sensors and AI. At Cleverciti, we offer a comprehensive platform that aligns different data sources, providing insights that allow our customers to be more agile with their parking solutions.

2) Collaboration

A continuing trend in the industry is collaboration with 3rd party providers. We saw many instances where organisations collaborated to find innovative solutions to challenging problems. As the environment we operate in changes, with more suburban parking, environmental concerns and changing vehicle requirements such as EV’s, new solutions are required to resolve these challenges. Collaboration is one way of helping to move the industry forward. We have collaborated with several industry partners to resolve issues or challenges they were facing. Find out more here. Want to find out more about what we can do to help resolve your parking issue? Contact us here to start the conversation.

3) Safety

Safety is at the forefront of the industry. Whether it be personal, vehicle or property safety, several players are bringing focus to safety and what we can do to help improve safety. An interesting talk ‘Women In Parking’ looked at both the careers of women in parking but also what we can be doing to improve the safety of women who use carparks or parking spaces. This was coupled with personal and property safety with talks focusing on fire risk in parking structures and protecting frontline enforcement officers. This provided insight into another area of focus for the industry and challenged thinking of what safety means.

44.6% - is the increased payment rate of motorists parking in the Nippes district of Cologne. Since Cleverciti implemented its state-of-the-art smart parking guidance system in the city of Cologne last year in collaboration with energy provider RheinEnergie, the project has received a lot of positive feedback - and now the first concrete results are in to prove the success of Smart Parking. While the original goal was to reduce parking search traffic in order to reduce CO2 emissions and at the same time increase the quality of life for residents, the statistics also show that installing a smart parking system increases willingness to pay and can therefore have a direct financial benefit for the city.

COLOGNE’S SUCCESS STORY WITH SMART PARKING

As Germany's fourth-largest city, Cologne is not only one of Cleverciti's most prominent installations, but also one of the most comprehensive intelligent parking guidance systems in the world. In order to reduce search traffic in the lively district of Nippes and thus improve the quality of life for residents and attractiveness for visitors as well as reduce climate-damaging CO2 emissions, all 800 parking spaces along the streets around Neusser Strasse are detected with Cleverciti's modern overhead sensors with regard to free and occupied parking spaces. The information is then displayed directly on-site at 27 central intersections via Cleverciti Circ® LED displays. Drivers thus receive real-time information on the location and number of available parking spaces. The concept of luck to find a parking space is a thing of the past and is replaced by data-based directional guidance. The Cleverciti Sensors do not collect any personal data in the process. The system has been active since June 1, 2020. In October 2020, the parking system was supplemented by a mobile app called "ParkPilot Cologne". This provides information on the parking situation in Cologne-Nippes before arrival, including the availability of special parking spaces such as e-charging parking spaces. At the same time, you can be navigated directly to the next available parking space or to the optimal parking space for the destination you enter. Once you arrive at the parking lot, you can pay the parking fees by selecting a mobile payment provider within the app itself

With the project, which is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure, the city of Cologne and RheinEnergie have taken a major step toward Smart City and Smart Mobility using forward-looking technologies.

Read the full case study here.

INCREASED PAYMENT RATE = REAL FINANCIAL BENEFIT

The first figures are in! And they are indisputable proof of the positive effects of a modern smart parking system:

• The payment rate in Cologne-Nippes among those who have to pay for parking (excluding drivers with residents' passes or other permits) increased from 38.6% to 44.6%

Since the deployment of the smart parking system, the payment rate has increased significantly - proving that a smart parking system can be a significant financial benefit for any city.

“This is a very positive development, especially in the period of just over a year. It shows that drivers are happy to use our service - and are willing to pay for a parking system that makes their daily lives easier.”

— Thomas Hohenacker, CEO of Cleverciti

INCREASED UTILIZATION OF EXISTING PARKING SPACES = MORE REVENUE

In cities, available space is regularly in short supply. The goal must therefore be to make the best possible use of existing resources. A parking guidance system can be used to locate the last available parking spaces. The good news is that the increase in willingness to pay for parking has been accompanied by an increase in utilization:

• Utilization of parking spaces rose from 85% to 92%.

AMORTIZATION OF INVESTMENT IN ONLY ABOUT 2 YEARS

Based on the study results, in Cologne-Nippes, 520 monetized parking spaces with a fee of EUR 2 per hour result in an increase in parking revenue of 100,000 Euro per year (approx. 200 Euro per parking space) for the city of Cologne.

It is noteworthy that for this positive increase in revenue, no new parking spaces had to be created and no price increase was necessary. The key change in the area was the introduction of the smart parking system, which, thanks to Cleverciti's sensors and displays, navigates people to the nearest available parking space and makes optimal use of the available parking spaces.

• The increased revenue means a payback period of less than 2 years for the investment in the Cleverciti smart parking system.

The cost of the system includes operation, monitoring and remote maintenance by Cleverciti.

ADDITIONAL POSITIVE EFFECTS FOR THE CITY

As mentioned before, the original goal of the cooperation between the City of Cologne, RheinEnergie and Cleverciti was to reduce parking search traffic in the Nippes district. Was it successful? It certainly was:

• Over 145 test drives on December 20 and January 21 showed an impressive 45% reduction in parking search time

This involved comparing trips with information about the location of available parking spaces with purely random directional decisions without information at three locations. The results show the benefits of information and the potential for reducing parking search traffic and thus CO2 emissions simply by providing data, without any prohibitions at all. Since nearly 30% of all car traffic in cities is due to parking search, this is a crucial step towards a greener city.

Sustainability is one of the most important issues of our time. Cities that embrace a sustainable future now will be the winners of tomorrow.

Every smart city strives to become climate neutral. With the help of the latest technologies, cities can take an important step in this direction.

Smart parking plays an essential role in the way to smart mobility and infrastructure. If at the same time there is more revenue for the city from parking fees, all the better!

---

Smart parking - the essential piece to your Smart City strategy.

📥 Download the Ultimate Smart City Parking Guide here

---

As the US is slowly emerging from the pandemic state, traffic in American cities is picking up again and soon public parking spaces in public areas will be occupied once again. The big question on people’s minds: how can we make sure this ‘transition’ back to normalcy does not lead to more chaos than before? Tech Journalist from the UK, Arti Loftus, (pandemictechnews.com) interviewed our COO David Parker about post-pandemic parking management.

“In many cities, parking areas are a widely poorly-utilized asset whose full potential value is not well understood,” said Parker when asked about the potential value parking spaces hold. In addition to that, approximately 30% of all traffic is search traffic. Eliminate the driver’s need for circling, and you see an immediate improvement to the local environment, eliminating unnecessary emissions.

Cleverciti has come up with advanced smart city parking solutions to ensure a seamless return to normalcy for shoppers and commuters, such as the Cleverciti Circ® 360 that wraps around lampposts and provides real-time guidance to the nearest available parking space. The Circ can be connected with other Cleverciti technology, like the Cleverciti Sensor, which applies AI technology to monitor the overall occupancy status of parking spaces. 

With these smart parking applications, Cleverciti takes away the need to circle around a block over and over again until you find a parking spot, leading to a smooth, stress-free arrival experience. This does not only benefit the drivers, but also the businesses around and organizations such as parking operators, cities or civic authorities, as they maximize their return on parking assets and drivers will no longer be discouraged and eventually leave, due to driving around wastefully in search of a parking spot. 

David Parker recently spoke at The Frontier Conference, on a panel called, “Emerging Digital Economies of Cities”.

The short answer is: yes, they can be (even more sustainable than non-smart cities). The longer, more complex, answer is: Smart cities have the potential to make a significant contribution to urban sustainability, by using information and communication technology (ICT) to gather urban data and improve performance and management.

How? By applying smart solutions such as smart parking, smart lighting, smart building, air quality monitoring, refuse collection, renewable energy, water infrastructure, and energy grids. In fact, smart parking has turned out to be one of the fastest and easiest solutions to achieve sustainability in a city.

But what do we mean exactly by the term “smart solutions”? A smart solution is a general term commonly used to describe systems that combine innovative information and communication technologies (e.g. Internet of Things), and apply them in all aspects of life, such as smart devices (TVs, phones), but also smart offices, cars, or even complete cities. It is possible to apply smart solutions in such a wide range because most smart solutions are based on the use of sensors. Sensors come in all shapes and sizes and can be installed almost everywhere and in/on anything. 

A concrete example of a smart solution that helps cities control their carbon footprint and reduce their CO2 emissions is air quality monitoring. Monitoring air quality in cities helps in assessing the level of pollution in relation to the ambient air quality standards. It can provide cities insights on how to actively reduce their emissions. A solution like this can lead to 10-15% fewer greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

In order to build successful smart city solutions, three key steps are necessary (Source):

1. The technology base has to include networks of connected devices and sensors, such as smartphones connected by high-speed communication networks

2. Smart applications and data analysis capabilities are used to translate the raw data gathered from these devices and sensors into alerts, insights, and ultimately, actions

3. A wide adoption of applications and usage by cities, companies, and the public, together with the effective management of data, is needed to inspire better decisions and behavior change

In a study from June 2018 on smart cities, McKinsey Global Institute investigated how technology can deliver a better quality of life, including an analysis of smart applications that will be relevant for cities through 2025. Findings indicate that smart technologies could improve key indicators such as health, security or cost of living by 10–30% once introduced and that using the current generation of smart city applications could effectively help cities make significant or moderate progress toward meeting 70% of the Sustainable Development Goals.

Another great example of a smart solution that helps cities improve their environmental impact is smart parking. Did you know that 30% of all emissions that are caused by traffic are due to parking search traffic? Can you imagine the amount of emissions we would ‘save’ if we are able to guide drivers to the nearest parking spot, without having to circle around the block over and over again?! This is why we came up with a variety of smart parking solutions, such as a smart parking guidance system that uses overhead sensors that can be mounted onto existing lampposts, or a curb management system that helps cities manage the curb effectively. 

Smart parking is extremely important for the development of smart cities and part of the reason why smart cities tend to be more sustainable than non-smart cities. 

To us at Cleverciti, it is perfectly clear that smart cities are the future and we are eager to contribute to a better and more sustainable future by developing the best smart parking solutions for our customers around the world. Curious to see how our smart parking systems can be applied in your city? Schedule a demo below and talk to one of our smart parking experts now: 

According to the UN, more than half of the world’s population live in urban areas, with numbers expected to rise to up to 60% by 2030. This means that urban settlements already housing millions of people in megacities such as Delhi, Tokyo, Mexico City, and Shanghai are projected to grow further.

This trend in urbanization goes together with unique challenges, such as increasing costs of living, lack of adequate and affordable housing, environmental and infrastructure issues as well as public transit and traffic networks that are not fit to cater to an increasing number of inhabitants.

Smart cities provide solutions that focus on using technology, data, and information to improve the quality of life, spanning from publicly accessible administrative services and smart housing to smart mobility solutions. In smart cities, data is used to reduce the negative side effects of living in densely populated areas, which can range from environmental pollution to stress-related illnesses.

Real-life Example: Smart Parking

With an increasing number of people living and working in cities, the number of commuters and people traveling by car, bicycle, public transport or on foot also continues to grow. Congestion in most large inner cities is already common, with people spending as long as 20 minutes or more looking for available parking spaces. This not only adds to already congested urban areas, but it also increases emissions and environmental pollution. Smart parking solutions such as modern AI-overhead sensors mounted on lampposts and walls can provide real-time data on free parking, allowing drivers to navigate to the nearest parking space quickly and efficiently.

In cities where the center is chronically congested, alternative parking spaces outside the inner city area can relieve the parking situation. Real-time data on available parking spaces can make it more appealing for drivers to park their cars there and use alternative means of transport to travel the last few miles towards their destination.

Smarter Cities for a Smarter Future

Other areas where smart cities can help improve the overall quality of life include smart housing, smart administration, and smart infrastructure. With environmental pollution already being an issue cities are aiming to tackle, smart infrastructures can make cities eco-friendly by creating sustainable structures for supplying electricity, gas, and hot water.

Curious to see how Cleverciti’s smart parking solutions contribute to smart cities worldwide? Then click below and schedule a demo with one of our smart parking experts.

In smart cities, the use of technology, information, and data is promoted to enhance and improve the overall infrastructure, quality of life, and publicly accessible services. Negative side effects of living in densely populated urban areas (e.g. environmental pollution and stress-related illnesses) are to be minimized. Typical features of smart cities include 4 main points:

Smart administration and society

Government services in smart cities are made more accessible to people by making them available online. Processes such as registering a business or filing a complaint are simplified by digital offerings while also adhering to data security and protection regulations.

Online service can help improve accountability and transparency while also allowing citizens to take an active part in local governing processes.

Smart housing

Housing in smart cities should be affordable while also ensuring safety and security for its residents. Open and green spaces, public services, community areas, jobs as well as social facilities raise the housing standard in a smart city and enhance the quality of life in any given neighborhood. Poorly planned areas are redeveloped to improve the housing situation there.

Smart mobility

A central aspect of a smart city is its public transit network. Access to public transportation has increased in tomorrow’s cities. To further reduce emissions, smart cities are aimed towards being more pedestrian and cyclist-friendly.

Creative solutions such as smart parking can further help to reduce emissions and environmental pollution, while also decreasing complexity for drivers in a complicated urban environment. Smart parking data reduces traffic hazards and accidents as drivers are not distracted while desperately looking for a parking space.

It also enables drivers to choose the best options to arrive at their desired destination quickly and efficiently.

Smart parking solutions can thus decrease parking search traffic, as drivers know which streets are fully occupied, and they can avoid circling around. In addition, drivers can make intelligent decisions based on precise parking data and choose to park in the nearest garage for example, or take a scooter if on-street parking in the inner city is not available.

Furthermore, smart cities aim to create walkable neighborhoods, where congestion, air pollution, and resource depletion are reduced to promote interactions and boost the local economy. Road networks are improved to not only provide space for vehicles and public transport but also to accommodate cyclists and pedestrians.

Modern surface parking hubs slightly outside the inner city ring should also provide real-time occupancy data for parking, making it appealing for drivers to park their vehicles there and take alternative means of transport – such as e-vehicles or a bus – for the last miles to reduce emissions in the city center.

Smart infrastructure

The infrastructure in smart cities should be geared towards being sustainable and eco-friendly. In addition, many smart cities aim for climate neutrality. Structures for supplying electricity, gas, and hot water, as well as those for the disposal of refuse, need to be transformed to move towards more sustainable infrastructure.

This can be done by reducing the amount of waste generated and more effective recycling of refuse among other things. In addition, the use of natural resources can be reduced by establishing renewable energies.

Interested in learning more about smart city parking solutions? Click the button below to schedule a demo with a smart parking expert now.

Munich, Germany - On September 8, 2020, the German Federal Minister of the Interior, Building and Community, Horst Seehofer, announced the 32 projects that will receive funding in the second round of the “Smart Cities Model Projects”. The projects selected this year will be funded with over 350 million euros. 

With the Smart Cities Model Projects, the Federal Government is helping municipalities and/or cities to strategically shape digitization in support of integrated sustainable urban development. The aim of the funding program is to develop and test cross-sectoral digital strategies for future urban life.

A huge part of the project is knowledge transfer to benefit all municipalities in Germany. Therefore, the selected projects are obliged to participate in organized knowledge-sharing events as well as make sponsored software solutions available to other municipalities as open source or free software. 86 cities, districts and municipalities as well as intermunicipal cooperations from all over Germany applied for the tender by the Federal Ministry of the Interior. A new funding round was announced for next year already.

Cleverciti would like to congratulate all winning projects of 2020 (in alphabetical order)*:

1. Bamberg

2. Berlin

3. Darmstadt

4. Freiburg i. Breisgau

5. Gelsenkirchen

6. Gemeinde Barleben

7. Gemeinde Eichenzell

8. Gütersloh

9. Hagenow

10. Iserlohn

11. Jena

12. Kassel

13. Kirchheim b. München

14. Köln

15. Lohmar

16. Lübeck

17. Mannheim

18. Mönchengladbach

19. Paderborn

20. Rostock

As well as the following intermunicipal cooperations and districts:

1. Aalen & Heidenheim

2. Bad Belzig & Gemeinde Wiesenburg/Mark

3. Dortmund & Schwerte

4. Eifelkreis Bitburg-Prüm

5. Gemeinde Fuchstal with Gemeinden Apfeldorn and Unterdießen

6. Hamburg in collaboration with Leipzig & München

7. Landkreis Hof

8. Kiel with local communities from the regions Rendsburg-Eckernförde & Plön

9. Landkreis Mayen-Koblenz

10. Landkreis St. Wendel

11. Lemgo & Gemeinde Kalletal

12. Osnabrück with Gemeinden Hagen am Teutoburger Wald, Bissendorf & Samtgemeinden Fürstenau, Artland and Neuenkirchen

For more information about the individual projects follow the links mentioned above in the list (when available). More information about the Smart Cities Model Projects program in general can be found on: www.bmi.bund.de/smart-cities or on www.smart-city-dialog.de. 

Interested in learning more about smart city parking solutions? Click the button below to schedule a demo with a smart parking expert now.

Governments around the world are aiming to make their cities smart. In other words, they want to leverage the Internet of Things (IoT) applications to monitor and manage their cities more efficiently. But what is the solution to deploy millions of sensors, cameras and control technologies across sprawling metropolises? The answer is street lighting, the largest network of powered devices across the world.

In the latest report from Counterpoint Research’s IoT service, they show how smart street lighting can form the IoT backbone for smart cities. They showcase the business opportunities for both vendors and cities by going through case studies, existing technologies and assessing the challenges.

Counterpoint Research estimates that less than 18% of the world’s 350 million street lights are LED, with fewer than 2% connected, offering vendors tremendous growth opportunities. Discussing the findings, Neil Shah, Research Director at Counterpoint Research says, “We expect 15% of global street lights to be connected by 2023. This would mean at least 50 million more street lights will be connected creating a large opportunity for companies like Huawei, Telena, Signify and others. A connected street lighting network, complete with sensors and control technologies, can form the backbone for a city-wide network capable of acquiring data, delivering information from millions of devices (from rubbish bins to autonomous vehicles), and monitoring everything from crime to traffic and even the weather.”

Not only can smart street lighting help in monitoring key aspects of a city, it can also generate additional revenues for the city administration. For example, cities can rent out lamp post-mounted digital signage spaces for advertising. It is a model that has proven successful by LinkNYC which is expected to generate over US$1 billion in advertising revenues in its first 10 years of operation.

Gareth Owen, Associate Director at Counterpoint Research adds, “Business cases for smart street lighting networks are still being developed. However, they offer a large potential for cities to generate additional revenue streams. Smart lighting poles could be leased out as Wi-Fi hotspots, 4G/5G base stations, digital signages, and many other such uses. The professional lighting industry is already embracing IoT and will play a significant role in transforming the street lighting network into a major backbone for IoT.”

Another benefit of a smart street lighting network with LEDs lies in energy and operational cost savings. By deploying smart street light projects, Los Angeles and Oslo have seen energy savings of 63% and 62%, respectively. Similarly, smart street lights have helped Saudi Arabia save 50% of its power costs. While operational cost savings depend on the costs the operator currently incurs to maintain its lights, smart street lighting with LEDs offer benefits such as longer lifetime, remote monitoring and management allowing for switching off, or dimming the lights when required, predictive maintenance, and automatic outage detection. These benefits have already started to change the outlook of cities for selecting vendors.

Gareth Owen goes on to explain, “We expect 45% of the global street lighting network will have LEDs by 2023. As smart lighting networks are deployed, cities are moving away from traditional tendering methods in favor of a Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) system which changes the business model from a high CAPEX outlay along with OPEX to a pure OPEX solution. Several smart lighting companies are already offering Lighting-as-a-Service (LaaS) business models in which customers pay per lux, i.e. on a usage basis, rather than simply paying for devices and a standard managed service.”

However, as with any new technology there are hurdles. “While the use of smart lighting infrastructure as a technological foundation for a smart city is a very promising prospect, a few challenges must first be overcome. Business models need to be adapted further to include the value of all supported services and not just lighting. Further, issues on connectivity, operational barriers, security issues, ownership challenges and lastly, infrastructure challenges need to be resolved,” Owen adds.

Companies mentioned in this report include Huawei, Cisco, Telena, Signify, Itron, Cleverciti, Echelon Corp., Rongwen, Current (powered by GE), Flashnet, Sensus, gridComm, DimOnOff, Trilliant, Acuity, Ubicquia, Tvilight, Enlighted, AT&T, Verizon, Sansi Technology, ZTE, Philips and Ruchi Telecom.

The report is available for subscribing clients and for purchase on Counterpoint’s research portal. Please feel free to reach out to press@counterpointresearch.com for further questions regarding their in-depth latest research, insights or press enquiries.

About Counterpoint Technology Market Research

Counterpoint Technology Market Research is a global research firm specializing in Technology products in the TMT industry. It services major technology firms and financial firms with a mix of monthly reports, customized projects and detailed analysis of the mobile and technology markets. Its key analysts are experts in the industry with an average tenure of 13 years in high-tech industries.

City of Dubai

As cities look to plan for rapid population expansion, and to make the most out of their infrastructure, one of the first places they might focus on is parking. An increasing number of cities have started to eliminate minimum parking requirements for developers, aiming to increase walkability and decrease car dependency.

This trend brings to light the problems with existing infrastructure. The need is to establish a highly functional and efficient parking management solution that ensures resident satisfaction and utilizes the existing parking lots and on-street parking throughout the city.

The metropolitan parking picture

Parking can be a daily struggle for some, as in attempting to find a nearby yet affordable space to park for work in an office building. It’s also a problem during particular occasions, as hundreds gather around a few blocks or streets for a farmers market or holiday festival.

But, perhaps surprisingly, the fact of the matter is that there are plenty of parking lots available in cities. For example, one study shows that there are 2.2 million total parking spaces in Philadelphia and 1.85 million in New York City.

The problem lies in the way that these spaces are typically managed, which is proven to be inefficient. Drivers are often left frustrated and spend too much time searching for a spot, due to lack of immediate awareness of where spaces are open. Reliable, real-time data that allows drivers to choose between on-street parking, surface lots or garages is not available.

By bouncing between lots and garages that are full, drivers become restless and may choose to park illegally or leave altogether, creating a loss for the city in more ways than one.

The importance of guidance

Implementing an integrated, intelligent parking management solution allows cities to make the best use of their most valuable asset.

The most important aspect of achieving a streamlined parking experience is real-time guidance to all parking options and reliable, live information and updates. If a driver travels downtown and is looking to park somewhere central for a day of shopping, he or she must be made aware of which public on-street parking, surface lots, or garages are full before taking the time to search them for an open space. Sensors installed on light posts can provide an immediate overview of the occupancy of parking in the city, allowing drivers to make well informed decisions when navigating the lot and surrounding street parking spaces.

This type of live monitoring is especially beneficial for cities when they’re host to a particular event. A garage, lot or street can be controlled based on specific parameters, such as the price and duration, while also creating certain restrictions as necessary.

Serving residents for the greater good

The technology solutions that exist for managing municipal parking must coincide with the desire for city officials to improve the process. Cities increasingly care about their parking situation for a number of reasons:

Revenue

Deploying a cost-effective parking management and guidance solution ultimately generates more revenue for a city, as existing parking spaces are properly monetized. Drivers are more motivated to pay for a spot when they know they’ll be able to find it quickly, without having to circle around in vain. The awareness by drivers that all spaces are monitored by a modern system further increases the understanding that it is fair to pay for the valuable public space and service.

An example of this type of monetized parking policy at play can be seen when we take a look back at the history of Old Pasadena, the original commercial center of Pasadena, a city in California. The city installed parking meters in 1993 to improve its on-street parking situation, with a promise to use the meter revenue on public investments in Old Pasadena. Improvements to sidewalks, alleys and streets were made, while more customers were drawn to the area due to the regulated curb parking.

Service

Utilizing the Parking as a Service model is paramount for businesses and retailers, but its principle applies to cities as well. Officials should aim to provide residents and visitors with a stress-free, enjoyable experience, not one that is compounded by obstacles when trying to enter and exit the city.

Parking as a Service is driven by the deployment of innovative technology, which is typically seen in smart parking services. The Smart City of Dubai, for example, leverages sensors on lampposts to detect 1,100+ spaces in the World Trade Centre District and Sheik Zayed Road.

Public perception

The general perception of a city is impacted by its traffic and parking conditions. More people are likely to choose to spend their time and money in an urban environment where they know their parking concerns are understood and addressed.

A building in the Galeria Kaufhof Shopping Center in Cologne, Germany, for example, reduces parking search traffic in the entire city’s center and sustainably improves quality of life by utilizing a long-range parking sensor at the facade of the building.

As cities continue to thrive and population increases bring newer parking restrictions, it’s inevitable that managing parking in these locations will only become more critical. By applying the time and effort to invest in a solution that takes advantage of the space that already exists and simplifies the overall experience, urban areas can achieve one of their most important goals: happy citizens.

Smart parking and IoT

The Internet of Things (IoT) has begun to permeate nearly every aspect of our daily lives; from entertainment to security to self-driving cars, it’s hard to find one industry that hasn’t taken advantage of the IoT’s ability to seamlessly connect smart devices and facilitate communication.

The IoT provides a host of benefits to a number of markets, with urban areas at the top of the list of those seeing a significant impact. The Smart City is empowered by the IoT, relying on connected devices to improve infrastructure and quality of life. In fact, according to recent research from IoT Analytics on 1,600 real IoT use cases, the largest amount of projects were part of Smart City initiatives.

Of the many fashions in which municipalities can benefit from the IoT, its role in traffic management is one of the most valuable. Cities frequently face a variety of challenges when it comes to traffic and parking, such as exceeded emissions limits, long search times for a parking space, valuable parking space not being monetized and more.

Solutions that utilize the IoT can effectively mitigate these issues. Real-time detection of available on-street parking spaces decreases traffic and pollution and reduces the required time and distance to park, improving mobility. Additionally, these solutions incentivize drivers to pay for parking, allowing cities to capture revenue from one of their most important assets and make the most out of their parking spaces.

The IoT also enables cities to automate processes that may be time consuming or costly. These solutions can continuously monitor traffic patterns or parking restrictions, such as delivery zones or handicap spaces, and implement the proper control, such as verification or a violation.

The overall enhanced traffic management achieved through IoT devices contributes to a comprehensive Smart City initiative that can vastly augment decision-making and operations. And the IoT’s effect doesn’t stop there: cities are seeing improvements to healthcare, commerce, government services and more. Smart grids can more efficiently transmit electricity, while wireless irrigation networks can promote water conservation.

The opportunities the IoT provides to cities are truly revolutionary and stand to revamp and boost an endless number of systems. And the examples above are just the beginning; as more data is collected and further use cases are identified, the possibilities will only expand.