Skip to main content

Smarter parking project kicks off in Pisa

The search for a free parking spot will soon be a thing of the past in the Italian city of Pisa thanks to the launch of a smart city pilot project to test an intelligent parking system and analyse historical traffic data via a big data services. The system will help motorists in Pisa to find a vacant parking space more easily, as well as pay for it via their smart phone. The city has joined forces with Deutsche Telekom and its partner firm Kiunsys to install the new smart city service. Sensors on the f
June 25, 2014 Read time: 3 mins
The search for a free parking spot will soon be a thing of the past in the Italian city of Pisa thanks to the launch of a smart city pilot project to test an intelligent parking system and analyse historical traffic data via a big data services. The system will help motorists in Pisa to find a vacant parking space more easily, as well as pay for it via their smart phone.
 
The city has joined forces with 4194 Deutsche Telekom and its partner firm Kiunsys to install the new smart city service. Sensors on the floor of each parking spot detect whether they are vacant. Several data units collect the information and send it over the mobile network to the city's server infrastructure. The information is then displayed on indication panels which guide drivers to a free space. The solution is also integrated into Pisa’s existing Tap&Park app which drivers can choose to download to take them directly to a free parking space and even pay for it via the app.

With a thriving tourist industry, three universities, an important hospital and the main airport of Tuscany, Pisa attracts around 90,000 vehicles per day on its roads.

"The new parking system integrates seamlessly into our intelligent transport system," says the mayor of Pisa, Marco Filippeschi. "It eases the flow of traffic and helps to cut CO2 emissions."

Pisa has been working for many years to implement a smart mobility policy as part of its Sustainable Energy Action Plan. Filippeschi underscores its importance, saying that: “the pilot project is a big stride for Pisa towards improving its traffic situation over the long term. Indeed, drivers looking for a parking space make up some 30 per cent of inner-city traffic. So the easier it is for them to find a spot, the less traffic there will be.”
 
"We firmly believe that the right way to becoming a smart city is to have open standards and take a collaborative approach," says Jürgen Hase, vice president, Machine-to-Machine at Deutsche Telekom. "That's why we are particularly pleased to be part of this joint project with our partner company Kiunsys and the City of Pisa – a leading member of the European ITS standardisation network POSSE."
 
Pisa already uses a range of Kiunsys modules including the Tap&Park app for mobile payment of parking charges, 30,000 PisaPass RFID parking badges and INeS Cloud management software. As a result, the city has already been collecting traffic-related data which will now be analysed as part of the pilot project. The partners hope to gain a deeper insight into how the traffic infrastructure is used, which will benefit traffic planning in future.

Related Content

  • April 20, 2022
    Tallinn maps urban bike use
    Estonian capital's citizen data collection drive is part of European Bicification project
  • June 5, 2015
    Siemens installs truck parking information system
    With the number of heavy goods vehicles on Germany’s roads growing, German automobile association ADAC reports that most truck drivers struggle to find parking up to six times a week. Another study finds there is already a shortfall of almost 11,000 truck parking spaces across the country’s autobahn network. However, new truck parking information system which provides real-time data on parking space occupancy at rest areas is now available to help drivers plan ahead and aim for a specific parking locatio
  • March 19, 2015
    Car parking and parked cars need not be a technological black hole
    David Crawford mines the potential of joined-up parking. Drivers conventionally see parking as an isolated, often frustrating, action; but collectively their attempts to find a space impact hugely on traffic flows. But new analyses of parking events look set to deliver real benefits to motorists and cities alike. Initiatives getting under way around the world are highlighting the advantages of connecting up parking events and – eventually - parked cars. The hoped-for results include not only enhanced urban
  • May 10, 2013
    Smart parking app revisited
    The Streetline Parker 4.0 parking guidance app for the iPhone features one-click turn-by-turn voice navigation, updated design, and more than 23,000 parking garage locations. Developed by US-headquartered smart parking specialist Streetline Parker 4.0 features a clean, updated design; an easy-to-use side panel menu; and one-click turn-by-turn voice navigation, enhancing the hands-free capabilities of the app. Utilising data from Streetline's real-time sensor network in more than thirty-five locations global