International Transportation (67) 1 | 2015 44 PRODUCTS & SOLUTIONS Smart Parking Sensors upside down - Managing parking with a twist Siemens tests overhead radar detection to monitor parking spaces and bring smartness to the city On-street parking management, parking sensors, radar detection, Smart City, intelligent street lights A growing number of cars faces a limited number of parking spaces: the noise and emissions generated by the increasing amount of cars searching for parking spaces make this tendency noticeable in many city centers. This demonstrates the need for extensive parking management systems. Parking management solutions based on intelligent sensor networks can increase eiciency, and additionally equip a city with the infrastructure that is required for other Smart City applications. Authors: Julia Hetz, Marcus Zwick M ost drivers are familiar with the problem caused by the shortage of city center parking spaces - searching for parking is frustrating and costly and once a driver has found a suitable parking space, he would rather not give it up. However, the shortage of urban parking spaces is not just a problem for the drivers themselves: Drivers searching for parking account for around one third of inner-city traic, and they create traic jams, noise and emissions. This also results in a stopand-go efect which further negatively impacts the environment as well as levels of traic. Public parking also plays an important role for municipal authorities that goes beyond the problem of drivers searching for a parking space. The availability and prices of parking have an inluence on the modes of transport chosen by city dwellers and visitors. Therefore parking management is a determining factor for the achievement of traic and environmental objectives. Parking management and planning - the importance for cities Public parking can generate additional revenue for the city and make it more attractive to businesses and residents: Businesses beneit from nearby parking for their customers, and resident and underground parking spaces improve the appeal of a residential area. In order for the parking area provided to be able to stand up to comparison with an alternative use, e.g. one which is more lucrative or improves the cityscape, it is essential for the area to be optimally utilized and for costs to at least be covered. Initial solutions have only partly resolved the-problem In recent years, a diverse range of innovative solutions has been developed with the aim of reducing the time spent and the number of vehicles searching for a parking space. Online parking encyclopedias provide information on the locations and prices of car parks and registered parking spaces worldwide, and peer-to-peer applications enable private individuals to post information online regarding rented parking spaces or parking spaces that have just become available for drivers searching for parking. Concepts such as using vehicle-integrated sensors or loating car data to make predictions regarding parking availability and incorporating these into driver assistance systems and navigation apps are currently being tested. However, these solutions alone have not provided cities with the parking planning and management support that is required in the long term. Availability predictions based on unique information collected are often incorrect due to changes in the cityscape that can occur on a daily basis. Real-time parking navigation can help drivers search for parking spaces at their destination, but it cannot create free spaces where there aren’t any. And even businesses with private parking spaces cannot provide enough additional parking to resolve the original problem caused by the shortage of parking. Parking management systems based on infrastructure sensor technology ofer a broad range of options As a result, current pilot projects are focusing increasingly on parking management systems with sensors built into the infrastructure for continuously determining the occupation status of parking spaces. Data Figure 1: Overhead radar sensors that can invisibly be integrated in street light heads are the solution’s core. All igures: Siemens International Transportation (67) 1 | 2015 45 Smart Parking PRODUCTS & SOLUTIONS collected is used to guide drivers to vacant parking spaces but is also evaluated for the purpose of controlling and monitoring supply and demand in respect to city center parking. At present this data is predominantly being gathered through the use of infra-red or magnetic ield sensors in the ground. Siemens also regards this approach as a promising solution and is currently developing an integrated smart parking system, which stands out from existing systems, mainly due to its innovative sensors. The core of the solution is a sensor network based on overhead radar sensors (igure 1), which reports the occupation status of parking areas and neighboring areas to a parking control center (igure 2). End user applications such as navigation apps or multimodal route planners can call up real-time and statistical data from the parking control center and distribute the data to road users via smartphones, tablets or navigation systems, thus optimizing route planning or the search for parking spaces (igure 3). The intuitive central software detects recurring parking space situations at certain times. Therefore the navigation to free parking spaces can take calculated predictions into account, and the navigation system can reroute the driver to an area with currently a higher availability of parking spaces long before the driver even starts to look for an actual parking space. This reduces the demand for parking on the one hand - with people switching to alternative modes of transport in view of the predicted shortage of parking spaces at their destination (igure 4) - and it distributes vehicles more efectively on the other. Information can also be conveyed to drivers via traic guidance signs. At the same time, information on parking violations, e.g. parking in bicycle lanes or on emergency access routes, can be distributed accordingly to the parking control center in order to assist monitoring personnel (igure 5). For the purpose of parking management, information on the occupation of parking spaces can also be incorporated into urban planning. A high level of transparency regarding the actual use of parking spaces increases the ability of area-speciic parking control and pricing (igure 6). This- in turn allows control of parking supply and demand by, for example, restricting the maximum parking time, charging prices based on parking time in each case or having diferent prices for diferent groups of users, e.g. discounted parking for residents. Parking violations can be detected automatically by comparing the parking space occupation data with payment information relating to the associated parking areas. This information can help monitoring personnel to optimize route planning and thus assists in improving the eiciency of parking management. Depending on the city‘s strategic intentions in each case, the same level of monitoring success can be achieved at a reduced cost, or alternatively the level of monitoring can be increased while costs remain the same. The intensity of monitoring has an impact on the payment behavior of drivers using parking spaces and is a determining factor in respect to the efectiveness of pricing and parking regulations as an instrument for controlling the demand for parking. An RFID solution can be added to the sensor system: In the case of vehicles which have been itted with RFID tags, userrelated authorizations such as resident, disabled, electrical vehicle or shared-car parking permits can be detected automatically (igure 7). If the RFID system is used as an electronic identiication system at the same time, the parking management system enables the implementation of minute-based billing and cashless payment for parking. In Figure 2: The Siemens integrated smart parking system reports the occupation status of parking areas and neighboring areas to a parking control center. Figure 3: The parking control center distributes the occupation status to road users via smart phones, tablets or navigation systems. Figure 4: A navigation system can use the information to suggest alternative transport options and guide drivers to park-and-ride facilites. International Transportation (67) 1 | 2015 46 Products & solutions Smart Parking order to do so, the occupation of the parking space detected by the parking sensors will be compared with user information recorded by the RFID system. Billing of the amount owed is initiated automatically as soon as the vehicle leaves the car park. The conventional payment process is not afected in any way, therefore any motorists who have not signed up to the automated payment system can continue to pay using their preferred method of payment. Synergy efects can be achieved by linking the parking control center to related systems such as a traic management system: Information collected by parking sensors can be incorporated into strategic trafic management systems, and information on the general traic situation can be used to ine-tune parking predictions. It is also useful to link parking data with information from public transport: By taking account of real-time public transport departure times and parking information, multimodal route planners can recommend switching to public transport at suitable locations. Overhead radar sensors are eicient and open up a wide range of possible applications In addition to overhead radar sensors, the Siemens system can also integrate other types of sensor and sensor technologies, enabling the system to be optimally adjusted to suit the individual requirements of a particular urban area, e.g. by using ground sensors where shading restricts the view from above. The idea of monitoring the street mainly from above rather than below stems from the drawbacks which were discovered when taking a closer look at the previous ground sensor-based solutions ofered on the market. As overhead sensors are not only able to detect individual parking spaces, but can also monitor larger areas, the investment in the individual sensors required can be allocated over multiple parking spaces. In addition, the occupation of the parking space can also be reliably detected in the case of lexible use by vehicles of diferent sizes, enabling the available parking space to be fully utilized. Drivers can be sent information on free parking spaces according to the length of their vehicle. With ground sensor-based solutions, the additional beneit of being able to monitor the areas adjacent to selected parking spaces can only be gained by installing numerous additional sensors or additional systems. In view of the costs and risks associated with parking situations which jeopardize safety - e.g. where cyclists have to deviate into the traic in order to avoid a vehicle that is double-parked or where tramlines are blocked by vehicles negligently parked at an angle - overhead monitoring can provide clear added value. As overhead sensors are easy to install on or in street lights, there is no need for major interventions into the infrastructure as long as a continuous power supply is available. If the introduction of a sensor-based parking management system is carried out at the same time as a retroit to LED lighting, then there will be no additional costs for the installation of the sensors. Sensors mounted at height are less susceptible to vandalism or accidental damage, e.g. caused by construction machinery, and will not be afected if work is carried out on the road surface. The beneit of using radar technology compared to optical overhead systems is that objects detected cannot be identiied so that the privacy rights of individual road users remain protected. Radar sensors can be easily calibrated and can therefore be installed with relatively little efort. They are also not afected by fog, rain, changing light conditions or winter weather. Thanks to its technical and physical robustness, the Siemens system delivers reliable data and distinguishes itself by its high availability. From smart parking management to-a smart city By installing the described sensor network on its streets, a city will then also have the option to choose from a wide range of other Smart City applications. In principle, an overhead radar sensor can detect not only vehicles but also other stationary and moving objects. The traic monitoring capability of the hardware already installed can be expanded simply by making adjustments to the software. For example, the speed, size and direction of travel of bicycles and people as well as envi- Figure 5: Parking violations can be transmitted to the parking control center in order to assist monitoring personnel. Figure 6: The system provides cities with valuable real-time and statistic information on the use of parking areas. International Transportation (67) 1 | 2015 47 Smart Parking PRODUCTS & SOLUTIONS ronmental changes can be detected and utilized in traic management, for controlling street lighting or in public transport and urban planning. The sensors send data to the control center via a communications network, which can also open the door to other Smart City applications. Gateways and local computing capacities can be used by numerous other sensors for the purpose of processing and sending data, for example enabling environmental data to be linked to traic management, or street lighting to be adjusted based on the weather and light conditions. Collaboration with customers and partners turns the technical concept into a marketready innovation The solution developed by Siemens and designed for basic smart parking applications was irst demonstrated during winter 2014/ 15 at the test site in Munich and is due to be launched in the public domain this summer as part of an initial pilot project. The development is being funded by the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety. In particular, the project takes into account the use of parking detection for monitoring parking spaces designated for electric vehicles while recharging and includes the additional integration of semi-public parking. The innovative concept for reducing parking pressure in the city can make it easier to ind a parking space. Furthermore, it can also provide support beyond the use case “parking” by helping with traic management as well as the intelligent use of cities and their infrastructure. It focuses not only on turnover optimization for the city, but above all on the reduction of traic and emissions together with the citizens’ safety. Siemens has demonstrated the technical possibilities on ofer - application and implementation in the future will mainly be shaped by cities and society. ■ Julia Hetz, MSc Marketing Innovation Manager, Siemens Mobility julia.hetz@siemens.com Marcus Zwick, Dipl.-Wirt.Ing. Head of Innovative Mobility Solutions, Siemens Mobility marcus.zwick@siemens.com Figure 7: With RFID tags, such as for resident parking zones, parking permits can be detected automatically. The English language edition of Your contact person for advertising: Tim Feindt • +49 (0) 40 23 14-2 0 • tim.feindt@dvvmedia.com NEW! Trade fair distribution: • eCarTec 2015, Munich International Transportation 2/ 2015: Publication date: 01 October 2015 Ad-deadline: 31 August 2015 International Transportation 2 7