The deployment of SmartPark guides drivers to available parking spaces in the City of Westminster, making life easier for drivers, lowering congestion and cutting vehicle emissions.
The diverse nature of Westminster and the many people who live, work and visit creates high demand for the limited parking space available.
Half a million vehicles enter the eight square miles of the City of Westminster each day and with only 12,000 parking spaces this can mean that 30% of all traffic is drivers looking for an available place to park, while 15% of spaces are vacant because drivers are unaware of their location.
The associated problems of traffic congestion and poor air quality are often compounded by the amount of time motorists take to drive around the city searching for a suitable place to park their car.
In October 2014 Westminster City Council went live with Smart Parking’s SmartPark solution, an integrated package of leading edge technology that provides drivers with real-time information on unoccupied car parking spaces.
The deployment includes a network of over 3,400 in-ground vehicle detection sensors which register whether each parking bay is occupied or vacant. This information is relayed live to the SmartCloud platform - Smart Parking’s powerful car parking management software tool that collates and analyses the data.
The information is fed instantaneously to ParkRight, a simple to use app which drivers can install on their smartphone. The driver then uses ParkRight to identify the best available space and receive clear, precise, GPS-based directions to get them to it.
As well as making life easier for motorists, the SmartPark system is also hugely beneficial to the Council as SmartCloud’s dashboard affords them data and reporting that not only shows real-time information and statistics, but allows them to map trends vital for future planning.
What we’ve got now is an infrastructure in Westminster which is providing accurate and good quality data and for us that is incredibly valuable information.
Head of Service Improvement & Transformation
Westminster City Council
The functionality of the SmartPark system means that motorists now have a much better chance of finding a parking space quickly and easily, reducing the amount of time spent idling and circling. It also increases occupancy in previously under-used bays, ensuring a better driver experience and reducing the number of parking overstays.
Developed in-house, SmartCloud is our sophisticated, powerful and innovative web-based service platform that gathers and processes information.
Smart Parking has extensive experience working with councils and municipalities across the globe, most of which have a smart city initiative that includes a smart parking system as an integrated component.
Using our SmartCloudAPI interface, our tailored service pack provides you access to real-time information and events on your site.
These provide an IoT gateway in a single unit, allowing hundreds of different devices to connect and providing areas of open connectivity called SmartZones.