By Todd Tucker

The Smart City. It has been the goal of urban planners and municipal leaders for years. When planners and politicians picture a smart city, they see an urban environment where technology and data collection improve the quality of life and the sustainability and efficiency of city operations.

For many communities, the most important manifestations of smart city planning revolve around mobility and parking. If visitors to an urban center can get to their ultimate downtown destination quickly, directly, and safely, the benefits are significant. Roads become less congested and, as a result, safer; the quality of life improves because of this reduced congestion; and local businesses are more likely to thrive because it’s easier for patrons and employees of local businesses to get downtown.

Smart city success is built on technology, and parking technology is the key. Specifically, parking guidance technology. Drivers need to park and making it easier to park will dramatically reduce congestion on city streets. There are several apps serving Canada that can provide basic information about where parking is available in a given city and how much it costs. But most are missing an essential element: occupancy data. These apps aren’t as useful as they could be if they don’t tell users whether there’s parking available in the parkade they’re choosing.

That’s why parking guidance technology is the driving force behind smart city parking planning. The technology already exists, and it’s up to Canada’s cities to implement those technologies.

The Power of Data

Smart cities run on data—data about where parking is available at that moment. The technology to produce the data is available, but so far, most cities and private parking owners haven’t taken full advantage of it.

Parking guidance technology makes it easy to collect and share data. The most obvious type of data it collects is the real-time occupancy data that drives smart city applications. But it also provides additional types of valuable utilization data. For instance, it tells owners and operators how full their parkades and lots are in a given time period. It can break down utilization trends by day, week, or time of day. It can also tell them which parts of their parking facilities are most popular, and which tend to be avoided by parkers. This is all very valuable data that can inform owners’ operational and strategic planning choices. The more you know, the better the decisions you’ll make to operate facilities more effectively, efficiently, and profitably.

So, how can cities or private owners establish smart city networks? The first step is to get their parking lots and parkades connected with parking guidance technology. In selecting a guidance technology, there are some fundamental considerations to be addressed:

First, choose a single parking guidance system and make sure that the technology you use can communicate with all the parking lots and parkades in your network. You want to make sure that your parking guidance system is collecting utilization data from all your sites so you can make informed management decisions about your network as a whole.

Next, make sure that the parking guidance system you choose offers an app that drivers can access to see how many spaces you have in each of your lots and parkades. Preferably, the app can be downloaded to users’ smart phones or even to their dashboards. That way, when they open your app, they can see where parking is available, how many spaces are available at that moment, and how much it will cost to park with you. And if your entire system is connected, every spot that you have available across your system will be visible.

This is a tremendous customer amenity because it eliminates the stress drivers experience when they drive downtown without knowing whether they’ll be able to find convenient parking—or any parking at all. And it provides a simple way for them to compare parking facilities to find the one that best meets their needs. By providing such a convenient parking experience, the technology also helps generate user loyalty. If drivers know that they’ll be able to find affordable and convenient parking with your app, they’ll turn to your app first every time.

Make sure, too, that your parking guidance app can be white labeled. You want your branding on the app, not your parking guidance provider’s. You’re trying to build brand loyalty, and it is essential to be able to promote your brand with the app.

These rules apply to both public parking facilities and private parking owners.

Expanding the Parking Grid

Both municipal and private parking owners should also be focused on expanding the grid. For municipalities, that means collecting occupancy data from all
parkades and lots, regardless of whether they are privately owned or part of the city’s parking network.

The first step in accomplishing this is to select a parking guidance technology partner with an agnostic platform with APIs to allow the municipal system to integrate with other systems. City planners should be working to establish city-wide parking grids that provide a complete look at the parking situation either throughout the city or in specific parts of it.

Cities should also encourage private owners to use platform agnostic technology and APIs so their parkades and lots can be included in the municipal parking app. In fact, some cities in the United States already require parking owners to install parking guidance technology that can be connected to the municipal parking grid. But this shouldn’t take much prodding. Every private owner should want their parking facilities included in the city app because if they aren’t on the app, they are going to lose money.

Making a Connection

Parking data is a powerful resource, both for creating smart cities and for managing individual parkades and parking networks. And with the proliferation of parking technology and the growth of automated parking, data is everywhere. But it only has value if it’s collected and used sensibly.

When it comes to creating smart cities, parking guidance is the essential technology that makes it possible for people to find available parking quickly, conveniently, and safely. Cities should be connecting their parking facilities to city-wide grids with parking guidance systems offering easy-to-use apps and APIs to integrate with other systems. And they should be encouraging private owners to implement guidance technology with APIs so they can connect their parkades and their parking facilities to the city’s parking grid. The result will be city-wide smart city networks that improve the quality of life, support local businesses, and improve the bottom lines of public and private parking facilities.

About the author:

Todd Tucker is president of Parking Logix.
He can be reached at ttucker@parkinglogix.com