Reducing Parking Space Search Time and Environmental Impacts: A Technology Driven Smart Parking Case Study

Over the last half century, the proportion of humans living in cities has dramatically risen from around a third to just over half. As cities continue to rise in popularity, demand for basic services such as transportation increases. The automobile has been the dominant method of inner city transportation for many cities across the globe, resulting in increased congestion and air pollution. As the demand for transportation rises, so does the number of vehicles, which leads to greater competition for publicly available parking spaces. Use of land for parking can be an inefficient use of space, and it is expensive, both in terms of real and opportunity costs. Addressing these issues requires cities to more effectively manage their public on-street parking spaces and road network infrastructure. The ParkUs solution discussed here provides one parking and infrastructure management approach, with potential benefits for citizens, businesses, and cities.