What would you do with four extra days per year? I am sure that you have some ideas, but that is the challenge that many people face today. In London, British drivers waste almost four days every year looking for parking spaces. In New York City, it is almost four and a half days (or 107 hours) each year.
However, the “internet of things” may be reaching a solution with smart parking. It is a real-time solution that leverages technology to conserve fuel, time, and space.
One recent example is in Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa. The African capital introduced their first smart parking garage, Megenagna. Megenagna can accommodate up to 90 vehicles by weighing and measuring cars to slide them into appropriate parking slots.
Knud Lasse Lueth, managing director of IoT Analytics, comments on “smart parking”:
“Parking is an area where IoT (Internet of Things) sensor technology is making a tremendous difference – both for user experience and for parking management as well as surveillance.”
Lueth says intelligent parking solutions are delivering significant results in New York City, San Francisco, London, and Berlin. According to IoT Analytics data, 11% of parking spaces worldwide are now smart and that number is expected to increase to 16% by 2023.
Firstly, a driver signals their intention to park and the platform signals to the smart spot. Secondly, the sensor collects the data, which provides real-time information about parking spaces (free or busy). Finally, the parking meter and app verifies the payment or license that authorizes parking.
With vehicle detection sensors and automated camera recognition, smart parking technology allows parking operators to remotely monitor occupancy in real-time.
This solution brings improvements for the city. For example, reducing traffic congestion or understanding drivers’ behavior patterns can help urban planners to optimize traffic flow and build more efficient parking lots.
1. University of British Columbia (Canada)
The Canadian university uses intelligent parking solutions in partnership with the IoT technology company, Eleven-X. These solutions include wireless parking sensors, secure network connectivity, and data retrieval to enable real-time monitoring of all accessible parking spaces on campus.
2. ParkPlus (United States)
In Colorado, ParkPlus is developing a parking technology integrated with automation. The company’s automated parking system uses lasers to scan cars and a robotic valet to park the vehicles. The robot transports the vehicles to storage racks. With this system, the garage can hold up to four times more cars.
3. The Diagonal Smart Parking Garage (China)
China will introduce their first diagonal smart parking garage. This type of garage is the most unique because the robotic valet does almost all of the work.
After the driver parks their vehicle on the platform, the machine lifts the vehicle and holds it at a diagonal angle. When the driver is ready for their car, the machine returns the vehicle to the ground level. Finally, the driver can drive away without having to back out of a parking space.
Smart parking is the solution for our future. The search for parking creates 30% more traffic. The search for parking costs Americans over $70 billion dollars.
In conclusion, we need smarter parking solutions. Since it will help everyone to conserve fuel, it will reduce greenhouse gases on a local or even national scale. Since it will help everyone to save money, it will increase the prosperity of citizens. So, it is time that we use smart building to build smarter parking areas.