Importance of Smart Parking in Smart Cities Other Services

The rising traffic congestion is an unavoidable condition in large and growing metropolitan areas around the world, from Los Angeles to Tokyo and from Cairo to Sao Paulo. Peak-hour traffic congestion is an intrinsic result of the way modern societies function. It stems from the widespread desires of people to pursue certain goals that naturally overload existing roads and transit systems every day. Everyone hates traffic congestion, and it keeps getting worse, in spite of attempted remedies. Traffic congestion is not mainly a problem, but rather the solution to our basic mobility problem, which is that too many people want to move at the same time each day. 

This ever-growing traffic congestion and unpredictability in the parking availability and payment have enforced the need for Smart Parking Systems. A Smart Parking Technology will help optimize parking space usage, improve the regulation of the parking operations and help smoother traffic flow. The parking industry is worth $24-25 billion dollars, including parking facility management, billing and collection, enforcement, and other additional services. Almost 3000+ companies are providing services to the commercial parking lots and garages industry, with combined annual revenue of more than $8 billion. To change a culture that has been existing for several centuries is an enormous task. The incorporation of technology in this method is a change in culture that will take time to establish.

Benefits of Smart Parking: 

1. Smart Parking Technology combines the use of sensors, street lights, smart navigation systems, and online payment platforms to transmit information to drivers and parking lot operators. The real-time data collected by the sensor system is translated into actionable insights on smart parking applications. These are then used by drivers to take the least congested route, get an overview of the parking options, and make payment at the touch of a button.
2. Smart Parking isn’t about creating more parking spaces but making it easier for drivers to quickly locate existing ones such that time spent on the road is significantly reduced. Drivers cruising around a parking lot worsen traffic since they drive slower than those that aren’t looking for parking and are more at risk of being involved in an accident as one in every five accidents occur in and around a parking lot. It isn’t hard to imagine distracted drivers accidentally colliding with other vehicles. 
3. Smart Parking eliminates distractions by reducing the traffic by making it easier to locate empty parking spaces which lower the risk of distracted driving. With the use of sensors that detect whether space is empty or occupied and lights that indicate this, smart parking technology can help drivers locate spots. Rather than scan for empty spaces, drivers can easily evaluate the availability through red and green lights. This would also help them plan their parking maneuver, which warns the driver behind that they are going to pull into space. 
4. Smart parking reduces traffic congestion by making the process of parking much faster. If the city planners installed sensor lights on every space, drivers could get off the road quickly by understanding the availability of a parking spot in advance. Parking facilities can also list the number of spaces available at the entrance with sensors constantly updating the figures, thus ensuring drivers always have the latest information and save commute time.

Smart parking systems will clearly improve our commutes by transforming the parking and reduce traffic to make our cities more livable. Hence, they are one of the important components of transportation in a smart city.

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