Smart Parking IoT

Smart parking solutions use Internet of Things (IoT) technology to monitor the availability of parking spaces throughout a city and to let drivers know where open spaces can be found. The sensors found in smart parking IoT solutions may use magnetometer, optical, infrared, radar or LiDAR technology to sense the presence of vehicles in smart parking spaces. Cities may also use video cameras and algorithms based on crowd sourced information, cellular location data and payment data to determine where parking may be found.

For drivers, the biggest benefit of smart parking IoT technology is the ability to find parking quickly and easily, and to pay for parking with a mobile app rather than with coins. Smart city parking technology significantly reduces the frustration citizens feel when parking is scarce, and it enables drivers to be more productive by spending less time searching for open spaces.

For cities, the benefits of smart parking IoT systems are even more profound.

• Increased revenue. Smart parking IoT technologies enable cities to increase income from parking by turning spaces over faster and enabling dynamic pricing (where cities can charge more for high-demand locations or times of day) and through more effective parking enforcement and increased parking compliance.
• Improved business vitality. Smart parking IoT systems support local businesses that depend on foot traffic by making it easier for drivers to find parking in order to patronize businesses in the city rather than suburban neighborhoods.
• Reduced traffic congestion. By limiting the need for drivers to spend time scouring neighborhoods for parking spaces, cities can reduce the amount of traffic on city streets, alleviating congestion and allowing public transportation and emergency response vehicles to make their way through the city more easily.
• Fewer vehicle emissions. Less time spent searching for parking means fewer pollutants are released by cars.
• Easier cash management. Smart parking IoT technology enables cashless payment, eliminating the need to collect and process large volumes of coins.
• Elevated reputation. Cities that deploy an IoT parking system – including airport smart parking and smart parking garages – are seen as more attractive and forward-thinking, enhancing their reputation among tourists, residents, businesses and employers.

Implementing smart parking IoT technology

Smart parking IoT solutions not only require state-of-the-art sensors and cameras, but a powerful data analytics platform that can transform mountains of real-time data streaming in from sensors all over the city.

Additionally, a smart parking system must use a variety of interfaces that communicate useful intelligence gleaned from sensor data. For drivers, this means mobile apps and vehicle navigational systems that show where open spaces exist. For traffic managers, parking enforcement officials and city planners this means dashboards, reports and alerts that provide both real-time information and historical data that can help to plan for the future infrastructure required to serve parking demand.

Ultimately, all of these technologies rely on a high-performance network that can connect sensors and data management platforms without latency or network failure. Any lag or hiccups in network performance will inevitably translate into parking problems, mitigating the benefits of smart parking IoT systems.

The right network infrastructure must offer not only fast speeds and high bandwidth, it must provide diverse options for connection as smart parking IoT devices may require wired, wireless or cellular connectivity protocols. For a growing number of smart cities nationwide, Spectrum Enterprise is the network infrastructure provider of choice.

Spectrum Enterprise: a partner for smart parking IoT infrastructure

Spectrum Enterprise is a trusted technology partner to many smart cities in the U.S. With more than 840,000 miles of fiber network infrastructure, Spectrum is already positioned to provide the connectivity solutions that are the foundation of many smart city technologies.

To support the needs of smart parking IoT systems and other smart technologies, Spectrum Enterprise provides:

• Symmetrical connection speeds up to 100 Gbps for cities, governments and enterprise clients on a two-way fully interactive digital network.
• Gigabit connections for homes and businesses within areas serviced by Spectrum.
• WiFi hotspots across the nation that will soon add technology to enable wireless connection speeds up to 1 Gbps.
• Spectrum Mobile, a mobile service built on one of the country’s largest LT cellular networks.

Learn more about Spectrum Smart Cities at www.spectrumsmartcities.com.