The Beecham report examines a number of ongoing smart parking trials in major cities from Birmingham to Moscow, using road-mounted sensors in busy shopping or tourist centres.  Drivers use smartphone apps to access data collected from these sensors and analysed in central IT systems to produce a map of free spaces. In the near future, automotive manufacturers will make this feature available from their in-car telematics displays.

Dr Therese Cory, the principal author of the report, said: ‘Early smart parking apps may appear to be a novelty, but they are just the start and alleviating parking congestion could deliver major benefits by helping to eliminate time wastage, cut petrol consumption and reduce harmful exhaust emissions. We can learn from these relatively circumscribed smart parking initiatives to shape future, larger scale smart city projects to drive further productivity and prosperity.’

The report also highlights the dual challenges faced in:

• Fine tuning the Machine to Machine (M2M) value chain to work well at the lowest cost
• Enabling small companies with state-of-the-art technologies to engage with large traditional bodies such as City departments and public services providers, where specialised skills are often needed to enable these partners to work together.

The report also looks at noteworthy results gained from trials so far and explains the stages and multidimensional factors needed to successfully deploy smart parking projects.

‘For some cities, keeping traffic moving and providing hassle-free parking is the main aim; while for others, maximising revenues by matching parking fees to demand patterns and driver habits will be a key driver,’ said Therese Cory. ‘Lessons learned from smart parking initiatives should augment the understanding of how cities operate and how their citizens behave in order to move towards a truly smarter city.’

For more information on Smart Parking for Smarter Cities, please go to: http://www.beechamresearch.com/download.aspx?id=37