Enterprise Technology Review | Thursday, September 12, 2019
Finding a parking space in densely populated cities has never been easy. Every day, we see drivers struggling for parking spots on the roads and worsening the traffic by restricting the other vehicles to move forward too. This is where smart parking system technology comes to our rescue.
FREMONT, CA: Smart Parking is the blend of human innovation and technology to reduce the traffic as well as resources like fuel, space, and time. It is also important to achieve the goal of faster, denser, and easier parking of automobiles.
The smart parking system is a parking solution that can comprise in-ground smart parking cameras, sensors, or counting sensors. These devices are usually present in the parking spots for the detection of free or occupied parking bays. This occurs through its capability of collecting real-time data. After the real-time data collection, the data is sent to the smart parking mobile website or application, which in turn communicates about the availability to its users.
A study conducted by IBM revealed that around 30 percent of the traffic in the city is caused due to drivers actively looking for a parking spot. Smart parking technology eases the traffic by streamlining the parking process for both operators and drivers. Let's see how it helps avoid worsening of traffic.
Traffic Woes Savior: Smart Parking technology integrates the usage of street lights, sensors, smart navigation systems, and online platforms for payments to relay data to drivers as well as parking lot operators. The real-time information collected from the sensor system gets converted into actionable insights on applications of smart parking which are later used by the drivers to take the less congested route, get an idea of the parking options, and then make payments by clicking a button.
Helpful in Eliminating Distractions: Smart parking makes it easier for the drivers to locate vacant parking spaces, which results in a lesser risk of distracted driving. The drivers spot the locations by using the sensors, which help in detecting empty spaces and lights that indicate it. The drivers can easily have access to the empty slots through red and green lights. This also enables the drivers to plan their parking maneuver.
Reduction in Cruising Time: Smart parking system speeds up the process of parking and reduces traffic congestion. The sensor lights installed by the city planners on every space can help the drivers get off the road rapidly by getting the information of availability in advance. The parking facilities can also provide a list of the number of vacant spaces at the openings with the sensors continually updating the data. Thus, drivers can always have updated figures which can save commute time.
Moreover, Smart parking technology with the integration of IoT can sync sensors to a cloud platform that can send information directly to the mobile app, thus navigating the drivers through GPS to the next empty parking space.
Smart parking system has proved to be very beneficial for metropolitan cities, where a driver spends around half an hour for finding a parking space leading to wastage of fuel, time, and money. This system improves parking and reduces traffic jams, making cities more liveable and environment-friendly.
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