Skip to main content

Xerox introduces smart grid parking system

Merge, a technology from Xerox provides municipalities with a central management system to manage parking operations, integrating hardware and software to provide real-time information about coin collections, meter maintenance, enforcement and occupancy by applying real-time data to solve parking issues. According to Xerox, Merge is the first system to fully integrate and provide analytics on all aspects of metered and off-street parking programs. Merge is built on an open architecture platform that enables
May 21, 2013 Read time: 2 mins
Merge, a technology from 4186 Xerox provides municipalities with a central management system to manage parking operations, integrating hardware and software to provide real-time information about coin collections, meter maintenance, enforcement and occupancy by applying real-time data to solve parking issues. According to Xerox, Merge is the first system to fully integrate and provide analytics on all aspects of metered and off-street parking programs.
 
Merge is built on an open architecture platform that enables cities to plug and play any field technology or software system that manages parking operations – from parking space sensors and meters to handheld devices as well as the internet, smart phones, and dynamic message signs for real-time parking guidance.

Merge is also equipped with Xerox’s proprietary dynamic pricing engine that can be used to recommend parking rates based on historical data as well as adjust parking prices by predicting demand using data from current conditions.

“For the first time, parking managers have immediate visibility into what is happening on their streets,” said David Cummins, senior vice president of Parking and Justice Solutions, Xerox Transportation. “Now municipalities can make data-driven decisions on everything from meter collections to rate structures – improving performance and creating additional revenues.”
 
In Los Angeles, Merge is deployed as part of the City’s LA Express Park program, where Xerox’s algorithm-driven pricing model sets parking prices based on supply and demand, helping improve parking turn over and space availability and provide a better experience for drivers.
 
“Merge integrates both our back-end parking systems and in-field parking technology,” said Dan Mitchell, senior transportation engineer, City of Los Angeles, overseeing LA Express Park. “The central management capabilities provide valuable insight into our total parking environment and the open platform allows us to be flexible in sourcing suppliers.”

Related Content

  • December 17, 2014
    Smart parking at London Underground
    Transport for London (TfL) is to implement a ‘smart parking’ system at 31 of its off-street car parks that support key locations across the London Underground network. 1,500 of Smart Parking’s RFID-equipped SmartEye vehicle detection sensors, linked via SmartLink data transmitters into the company’s SmartRep management application, will be installed across TfL’s off-street car park network. The five-year agreement, which will include the provision of equipment, maintenance and hosting, will enable car pa
  • October 7, 2014
    TransCore to develop bay area express lane network
    TransCore is to develop, integrate, and maintain a network of express lanes on behalf of San Francisco’s Metropolitan Transportation Commission’s (MTC) Bay Area Infrastructure Financing Authority (BAIFA). The competitively procured US$54.6 million project will see 90 miles of existing high occupancy vehicle (HOV) converted lanes into express lanes on I-680, I-880 and I-80. The aim is to improve connectivity by closing gaps in the existing HOV network and improve freeway efficiency by making the best use
  • January 30, 2012
    Virtual traffic management centres, a new direction in traffic monitoring
    David Crawford picks up a new direction trend in traffic monitoring The surprise winner in the Traffic Management Centre (TMC) category of the recently-announced 2011 OSMOSE (Open Source for MObile and SustainablE city) Awards for European innovations in urban transport, is the Danish city of Aalborg - which doesn't have a TMC. Alternatively, one might consider its 'virtual' TMC as a signpost for the future in medium-sized cities.
  • May 22, 2012
    Video developments in automatic incident detection
    David Crawford reviews technological progress with automatic incident detection Highway safety problems are likely to intensify given recent predictions of future traffic growth across the world. In the United States, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reports that currently over 30,000 deaths and 1.5 million injuries occur as the result of accidents on the nation’s roads each year. These figures will increase with the number of kilometres travelled each year in the US expected to gr