Introduction
The initial momentum on smart cities was focused around solving the specific problems of cities, problems that have been critical for a long time. We could call that an application-centric approach to smart cities. This was the case for urban mobility, particularly car mobility. Smart parking solutions were soon identified as important projects for improving parking options in cities, particularly in city centres.
Currently, the application-centric approach to smart cities is coexisting with a holistic one. In the latter, the city is seen as a system of systems. A smart city platform provides the intelligent backbone to the city on which each system can then be addressed through applications such as smart
parking. Simultaneous to this report, Beecham Research is also publishing a study on the nature of smart city platforms – seen as a category of IoT platforms – and their role in current smart city projects.
To complement this, this report focuses on current trends in smart parking solutions. The reason for that is that in current smart city projects, whatever the project approach is, smart parking remains a key application.
The raison d’etre of smart parking projects
In 1900, just over 10% of the world’s population lived in cities; this figure has now passed the 50% mark. The United Nations anticipates that the number of city dwellers will reach 6.3 billion by 2050, or 70% of the population. As in any age in the history of humanity, cities remain centres
of business and industry, produce wealth and innovation, and compete with one another as they have always done.
City authorities are therefore concentrating on projects that will make their cities work better in a number of ways through the use of modern communications and information technologies. Whilst transit systems are a vital part of city business and activities, parking is a major problem for cities of all sizes. In busy areas, shortage of spaces causes motorists to circulate needlessly to find a space; it is estimated that 30% of petrol is wasted in this manner. It is also claimed that one quarter to one third of urban traffic is composed of motorists looking for a parking space. A global survey of commuters in 20 international cities conducted by IBM found that in 2011, nearly six out of 10 drivers had abandoned their search for a parking space at least once and drivers have spent an average of nearly 20 minutes in pursuit of a spot.
Hence vehicles circulating whilst looking for parking place in a city are a significant source of congestion, time wastage, petrol use and emissions. This situation is only getting worse.
Some Stats
The UK Climate Change Act (2008) specifies a goal of 80% reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, and carbon dioxide is a major component of these emissions.
A report from the London Assembly said that air pollution in the City was below EU quality targets, and may have contributed to the deaths of about 3,000 people in 2005.
Traffic and transport account for some 25% of carbon dioxide emissions, of which private cars contribute 60%.
Today more than 50% of the world’s population lives in or near a city. As cities already generate 70% of energyrelated greenhouse gas emissions, this figure is set to rise further.
The number of passenger vehicles in the world is forecast to double by 2035.
The European Commission estimates that economic losses due to traffic delays total a €150 billion per year in Europe.
Based on calculations in Barcelona, Spain, a million drivers spend an average of 20 minutes every day looking for a parking spot, producing 2,400 tons of CO2 emissions.
According to Deteq, there are 33 million cars in the UK, and this number is expected to rise to 40 million by the next decade. There are only 13 million parking spaces and parking is one of the leading causes of congestion
Parking revenues are some of the best earners for councils in the UK, reaping £601 million from parking in 2012; it is estimated they may collect £635 million in 2013. Parking meters are a major source of revenue for cities as are fines, but businesses complain that strict enforcement reduces their earnings. 307 of the 359 UK Councils are said to have had a surplus on their parking activities.
In France, there are some 1.3 million regulated parking spaces of which around half are metered. According to one source, as much as one third of potential parking fees/revenues are lost to the city by motorists avoiding payment. The cumulative loss in revenues is significant, as would be a reduction of these losses.
According to a joint report from the Centre for Economics and Business Research and INRIX, more than £426 million is wasted on fuel alone a year in the UK. In addition, the cost in terms of lost time due to traffic congestion is estimated at £491 per car commuting household per year.
The report compared congestion in three European countries. In 2011, a total of 39.2, 40.8 and 39.2 hours per vehicle were wasted idling in the UK, France and Germany respectively. The total annual idling costs per carcommuting household in the UK, France and Germany were €566, €645 and €533 respectively; these costs being a result of the direct impact of traffic on drivers in terms of wasted time and fuel as well as indirect costs – which include the costs of items purchased in the City.
An October 2013 ConsumerLab study commissioned by Ericsson asked city dwelling smartphone users to evaluate new service concepts related to the areas of city life they are most and least satisfied with. Among other things, they looked for a contextual mobile city service that
provided location-based information from local authorities. The issues they were least satisfied with communication with authorities, and with traffic; traffic was the number one source of dissatisfaction in cities.
The items listed above link parking-related congestion to a number of problems; alleviating parking congestion in the immediate term would therefore:
- Reduce air pollution – which is recognised as being a leading cause of respiratory illness
- Reduce congestion
- Reduce frustration for motorists and loss of working time
- Increase business turnover for merchants in congested urban areas
- Release precious city real-estate occupied by underused parking spaces
- Increase parking revenue yields
- Augment or reduce enforcement personnel as needed.
In the longer term, information gleaned from smart parking projects would help cities optimise their parking pricing and policies. A mixture of the right data and the right policies and interventions could make traffic run more smoothly. The results of smart parking trials in the US have already helped cities there to match parking fees to demand patterns, as well as aiding city managers in communicating the value of these changes to merchant associations and the wider public.
Looking even further ahead, the same information could further assist in the future planning of transportation resources, e.g.
- improving public transport and other services in areas where parking space is at a high premium. According to economists, public transit solutions use significantly less land while moving a greater number of people than private vehicles
- developing better parking design solutions
- understanding the movements of people and vehicles in the city, according to time of day, day of week
- developing better traffic modelling and control systems, and road safety measures
- devising ways of reducing capital and operating costs; identifying cost savings by better management of road assets
- Creating useful city apps for the future which would use data from sensors; these could include central planning and control systems.
All these improvements constitute ways to convert cities into ‘smart cities’, where operations and business will run better and more smoothly. This will be achieved through large networks of sensors collecting data, supported by clever information systems. This will in turn allow systems to be
joined up and ultimately deliver more valuable insights. Cities will be able to deliver services to their citizens that are unimagined today.
