Searching for a car parking space can waste valuable time. What’s more, slow paper ticketing systems can cause congestion as drivers queue to enter and leave. Organisations such as retail companies, private businesses and public authorities should consider a smart parking solution to tackle these challenges head on. Intelligent parking guidance and smart entrance/exit control can ensure efficient, free-flowing parking at all times, while improving the user experience.
Parking can be a major chore for shoppers and commuters alike. Hunting around for a free space wastes time, which is frustrating at the start of the working day for commuters, and a disruption to the shopping experience for retail customers. Parking lots that are close to town centres or attached to popular retail and entertainment facilities can be especially problematic. During rush hour or times of high customer flow, congestion can build at entrances and exits, resulting in lengthy queues.
Given the extent of customer frustrations – and the rising costs of land on which parking lots are situated – organisations must make the most efficient use of the space available. In fact, those who succeed in doing this can potentially turn parking into a competitive advantage.
Smart parking solutions
State-of-the-art smart parking solutions can improve the management, security and profitability of parking lots, thanks to an array of new and intelligent features.
Simpler entrance and exit management
Smart parking solutions can integrate the latest barrier technology with industry-standard automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras, to make entering and leaving parking lots much more efficient. By rapidly identifying vehicles and sending this data to the barriers, intelligent cameras can speed up vehicle flow and can minimise queues, improving the productivity of the whole parking site. When it comes to payment for parking, organisations can also integrate an ANPR system with a third-party ticketing system, to make the customer experience even smoother.
Intelligent parking guidance
Parking guidance cameras can automatically monitor the availability of spaces. One camera can have visibility of multiple spaces, and intelligently detect if there is a vehicle in each one. This information is sent to a guidance terminal, which then calculates how many spaces are occupied or available and informs customers via parking guidance screens installed at critical junctions of the parking lot.
In addition to this, a dynamic lighting indicator system can be incorporated to guide drivers straight to available spaces, helping to ensure they can always park their cars quickly.
‘Find My Car’
A holistic smart parking solution can also improve driver safety and offer them peace of mind, by helping them to locate their cars efficiently when they return to the parking lot. Using touch-screen Query Kiosks located at the entrances, drivers can simply enter their license plate details to locate their vehicle on a schematic floor map. The system can also give them the shortest and quickest route to it.
