238 | PARKING
IoT: the enabler for smart mobility The Internet of Things is rapidly changing the market of smart city concepts – an evolution that will have a huge and lasting impact. Is this the enabler that will lead to a large-scale rollout of wireless parking sensors? Words | Milou Post, Nedap, Netherlands
Over the years, Nedap has contributed to the optimization of traffic flows in hundreds of cities and other environments, such as university campuses, large airports and retail shopping centers. The company has developed a smart parking sensor that detects in real time whether or not a specific parking bay is occupied. This can help to reduce time spent by motorists searching for available parking spaces in cities, as well as enabling full utilization of existing parking capacities. Less ‘search traffic’ and optimized navigation can also lessen pollution and contribute to a sustainable and cleaner city environment, which is important because more than half of the world’s population already lives in urban areas. Many people living in these areas are already familiar with the enormous levels of congestion – some of which is caused by drivers looking for
Intertraffic World | Annual Showcase 2018
available parking spaces – in large cities and public spaces. One urban district that has identified and is acting upon this problem is the Turkish city of Izmir. As part of a city-wide implementation of a smart traffic management system, 2,000 parking spaces in Izmir are equipped with Nedap’s smart parking sensor system, Sensit. Thanks to this system, the vehicle occupancy of individual parking spaces in the streets of this Turkish city can be closely monitored. Motorists are guided to available spaces based on real-time information. In addition, all paid, time-restricted and disabled parking zones are monitored to ensure that they are not violated.
New trend: Internet of Things The development of wireless sensors to enable smart parking solutions is still limited.
The main reason that this technology has not yet been fully embraced by the majority of cities is unfamiliarity with the benefits that the technology can offer and the great return on investment that can be achieved. Most municipalities are looking for solutions that are cost effective as well as future proof, but reviewing all available technology and advantages and disadvantages of products and services on the market is challenging. Nedap also follows technological advancements in the industry and continuously seeks options and opportunities for product improvements. One of the current trends is the emergence of several dedicated networks for battery-operated sensors and devices that are part of the Internet of Things (IoT). Equipping these networks with smart sensors potentially turns a city with a traditional infrastructure into a smart city, without a great deal of effort. Common city issues such as traffic jams, the time-consuming search for parking facilities, damaged streetlighting, overflowing waste bins, and other challenges, are typical complaints mentioned by authorities who are contemplating the potential benefits that IoT can bring to their cities.
Connected data Cities have to become smarter and more connected in order to keep up-to-date with the technologies that their residents and visitors use in their daily lives. The IoT may very well be the enabler for this. With the IoT, wireless communication and data can be exchanged between devices without human interaction. Data can then be collected and converted to relevant information for city representatives. Nedap strongly believes that this enriched information will be vital for managing cities in the near future. If all
