Parking & Access Control

Colin Sowman discovers how the latest systems can boost productivity and reduce conflict in parking enforcement. Parking enforcement is something of a ‘Cinderella’ service for local authorities: while necessary to keep the roads open and the traffic flowing, it is an expensive operation and can be loss-making. It is also labour intensive and parking enforcement officers are routinely verbally abused and sometimes physically attacked. Some authorities are now looking to automate parking enforcement in orde

Designed with some of the most challenging parking environments in mind, especially shopping centres and transport hubs, the WPS ParkAdvance system is built around a new IP-based operating system architecture that enables it to simply and directly connect with multiple technologies being deployed in car parks both now and in the future.

Los Angeles and San Francisco are among the US cities opting to use variable-rate parking to make it easier to find a parking space. Los Angeles is piloting LA Express Park, program covering a 4.5 square-mile area of downtown using technology to match on-street parking prices with demand. The objective is to ensure that between 10 and 30 per cent of the parking spaces on each block are open throughout the day. Smart meters and sensors compile occupancy and payment data and based on that information, a pr

Xerox and Holland Container Innovations (HCI) are the joint winners of the 2014 Promising Innovation in Transport Award, awarded by the International Transport Forum at the OECD, an intergovernmental organisation for the transport sector with 54 member countries. Xerox receives the award for its Merge system, a city-wide sensor-based, smart parking solution that reduces traffic and congestion through guided parking with demand-based pricing. HCI receives the award for their 4FOLD ISO-certified foldabl

Ericsson has been chosen by Telefonica Vivo to integrate the smart parking and smart lighting for its digital city project in Aguas de Sao Pedro, Brazil. Collaborating with leading technology partners, Ericsson will be responsible for providing smart lighting and smart parking solutions and system integration. The design, installation and rollout of the project are all included in the scope of the agreement, as is responsibility for managed services, including operations and maintenance, once it has bee

UK company Green Gate Access Systems has installed the UK’s very first solar barriers at the entrance to a 350-space car park at Warwick Hospital. The two ‘up and down’ barriers are operated via a key code for known users, with a GSM interface linked to the hospital’s facilities office for visitors without a key code. The barriers are powered via 24V solar panels installed at each barrier, with an encoder safety device, underground induction sensor and infra-red beam, to ensure they do not come down on

Austrian traffic technology group Swarco has acquired the APT group of companies, creating one of the largest traffic and parking management systems businesses in Europe.

The US City of Indianapolis has seen an increase in revenue as a result of selecting ParkIndy, a public-private partnership between the city and Xerox to modernise its coin-operated parking meters. The City has collected US$2.7 million more in parking meter revenue and reinvested more than US$12 million in infrastructure improvements, including sidewalk and road and bridge enhancements, since shifting parking meter operations to ParkIndy in 2010.

Following its recent acquisition of TDC Systems in the UK, Q-Free is to acquire Slovenian company Traffic Design, an acquisition that reflects a continuation of Q-Free’s strategy to strengthen its business within Advanced Transportation Management Systems (ATMS). Traffic Design was established in 1990 and is the market leader in traffic management, parking systems and tolling in Slovenia. The company has installed traffic management and parking systems nationwide and is the operator of the country’s tol

Premier of Ontario, Canada, Kathleen Wynne has announced the Ontario government's plan to build a seamless and integrated transportation network across the province, Moving Ontario Forward, to create jobs, boost productivity and help every part of Ontario grow and prosper. The robust plan would put in place dedicated and substantial funding for public transit and transportation infrastructure. It would make nearly US$26.4 billion available over the next 10 years for investments in priority infrastructure