An average Indian motorist will keep driving for 20 minutes to get a suitable parking spot! A more challenging task than driving on roads is to find a parking space. This holds true, especially in countries like India and other developing countries where the population is large and the pressure on infrastructure high.

1. Mindfire Solutions

2. An average Indian motorist will keep driving for 20 minutes to
get a suitable parking spot! A more challenging task than driving
on roads is to find a parking space. This holds true, especially in
countries like India and other developing countries where the
population is large and the pressure on infrastructure high.
However, all of this can change with the implementation of smart
solutions. According to Libelium, a company that provides
technology solutions based on the IoT (Internet of Things), the
application of this technology can reduce traffic volume by 8%,
petrol or diesel emissions by 40%, extra kilometers for a car to
park by 30% and time spent parking by 43%.
Smart parking is going to play an important role to reduce and
automate the time a driver spends to physically look for a parking
slot. Not many know this, but the inefficient parking system is
one of the largest contributors to traffic congestion and
environment pollution.

3. What is a digital parking or smart parking system?
A digital parking system is the process of relaying real time
data to motorists to help them spot vacant parking lots at
their preferred locations. A smart parking system or a digital
parking system offers solutions to urban mobility. This real
time data highlights parking availability, both outside and
inside a designated parking area, and considers traffic and
road conditions.
A smart parking system is an extension of a parking assistant
that lets you know of available parking spots ahead of time.
It is the potent combination of hard technology like sensor
and cameras and soft tech like parking management,
applications, consumer and operator apps. Both the techs are
accentuated with advanced tech like Artificial Intelligence
and Location Intelligence to make the experience of parking
one’s car hassle free.

4. Why do we need parking solutions?
According to the American firm Parking Ya!, specialising in the
sale of garage spaces, more than 25% of vehicles that are driving
around cities are looking for a parking space. Smart technology
has the key power to solve this problem, organize and simplify
the flow of urban traffic, enhance operational efficiency and create
opportunities for drivers to enjoy driving while saving time.
Smart parking solutions can also significantly lessen the harmful
effects of congestion, thereby equating to less greenhouse gas
emissions.

5. Smart parking technology for Parking spot solutions:
There are several devices, processes and systems that form the overall
structure of smart parking. On the one hand, sensors and cameras play
an important role to record, process and transmit data and information
to provide real-time traffic data. On the other hand, the IoT based cloud
system centralizes the data, analyses it and shares it with parking
management companies/authorities to calculate the availability of on-
street, public and private parking facilities. Together they form a force
to act as smart parking space detectors. To understand the technology in
detail, let us take a look at some of the structural components of the
smart parking technology.

6. • Smart parking maps: Maps, while super-helpful on a day to
day level, might not be able to provide us with the more
accurate information on finding an on-street parking space.
While the Google Maps or Bing Maps on our devices provide
us real time traffic data including crashes, diversions and
accidents, they only share a likelihood of parking in these
areas. Smart parking technology will help these maps update
specific parking related information, the closer we get to our
selected destination.
• Smart signage: Road signs have always played a role in
guiding both the pedestrian and the driver. However, smart
technologies and their smart signages are a more effective
process of helping coordination between pedestrians and
vehicles. Example - traffic lights and pedestrian crossings that
change color or light up depending on real time or estimated
traffic volumes, during peak hours.

7. • Sensors: Smart parking depends on sensors to detect available
parking spaces, doing the task of looking for vacant parking
spots, instead of the driver having to do it. With the help of
LED indicators, drivers can see the number of parking spaces
available with green or red lights that indicate the availability
or non-availability of parking spaces.
• Smart counter systems - A system to detect when a vehicle
enters and leaves the parking facility. This is a way where IoT
based platforms will be able to give drivers a real time counter
of available parking spots. Additionally, counter systems can
contribute to increasing parking efficiency while determining
future trends and patterns to predict vehicle surges.
• Automated parking systems - This can help reduce the
dependence on land use and increase efficiency of space usage.
An automated parking system also can be used to navigate the
cars across multi storied parking facilities. Its multi-sensored
system helps reduce parking search time, control emission and
is more secure. Being a minimum resource usage facility, an
automated parking system is less dependent on natural
resources like light or ventilation.

8. In the times of Covid 19:
Even after a year post the Covid-19 outbreak, we continue to heavily
rely on technology for safe access and minimum contact in our daily
lives. The parking industry is one business that has radically adapted to
digitization to meet people’s safety and hygiene expectations.
While smart and intelligent parking solutions capacitate the driver with
intuitive and hassle free parking, it has also made the process smoother,
faster and safer. We can say goodbyes to long queues for cash points
forever, now with the emergence of various touch-points for check-ins,
check-outs and payments.
Parking in metropolitan cities can be an overwhelming experience due
to the massive mismatch between the number of car owners and official
parking spaces available. An IBM survey revealed that 58% of those
who drive cars in cities such as Delhi and Bangalore, are the most
stressed globally. With the disproportionate rise of cars on the streets, it
is unknown if modern technology is completely equipped to get rid of
our parking woes forever. However, it is safe to assume that it can
definitely contribute to a more efficient and safer parking system.

9. The future of smart parking:
As per a recent survey, 42% of people who participated in it voted
in favor of smart parking systems. With the help of IoT
applications and other technology, real time parking maps are
likely to become commonplace.
It is estimated that by 2035, 2 billion cars will be on the roads.
Millions of dollars are wasted globally in the absence of timely
parking space. The world is in need of smart parking solutions
now more than ever. With innovations in this field, drivers will be
able to book parking spaces beforehand and plan and commute a
trip, thereby increasing the comfort of city residents while
bringing down time and resource waste significantly.
Smart parking apps can further contribute to urban planning by
helping governing authorities to identify areas with sufficient car
parking space vis a vis those which do not. This extremely
valuable information can help plan a city’s overall development in
the future and cater to the growing dependency on reliable and
easily accessible parking spots.

10. Content Source: Quora
Contented By: Mindfire Solutions