The increased utilisation of parking guidance systems (PGS) in shopping centre and destination location carparks is a testament to their benefits. The core purpose of a PGS is increased productivity and an improved customer experience, using directional signage and sensor lighting to indicate availability. This reduces the amount of time cars are circling carparks to find somewhere to stop.

For many carpark owners, this ability to optimise assets efficiently and reduce emissions, whilst improving the experience of their customers, makes investment in a parking guidance system well worth it.

Which is why an extension of the concept detailed in this article caught our eye. It details a research project in the beachside town of Rye on Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula that will use sensor technology on a small scale to create a smarter city.

As a tourist destination, Rye experiences congestion during holiday periods and weekends. Using sensor technology and historical data, the project is trialling (among several other things related to the tourist experience) guidance of traffic during peak times. Far from being limited to large parking precincts, sensors and directional signage will be used to broadcast parking availability throughout the town and direct drivers towards it using the least congested route.

Not only does this efficiently cut emissions and reduce congestion, it positively impacts the visitor experience by providing local parking knowledge to reduce circling and parking search time.

It also benefits local government and business. When tourists know in advance their visit will be smooth and congestion free, they are much more likely to make the trip – optimising council assets and supporting local business.

In the future, the research leader of the Rye project envisions sensor technology and its associated data being used for bigger, more complex environments. Cities such as Sydney and Melbourne will be able to utilise their resources and infrastructure efficiently;

“Using data can help city planners to be more predictive. For example, they will be better able to anticipate the numbers of people coming and going and help them determine how many parking spaces will be required, or if more parking spaces are necessary.

It can show how many people are overstaying in their parking spots in certain areas because they might require longer time periods to park, due to the scarcity of street parking in the CBD…

[and] road and public transport authorities will be able to utilise data from the traffic to ease up traffic congestion and develop a system to warn ahead of time that there are problems, enabling individuals to respond in real-time.”

This article shares some startling statistics around traffic inefficiencies, citing a cost of $19.2 billion per year in LA and $33.7 billion in New York, on time wasted sitting in traffic congestion on their roadways. This doesn’t include any costs around energy consumption or emissions.

The case appears to be clear – from a single carpark to a smarter city, the core purpose and benefits of parking guidance systems and sensor technology remain the same – increased productivity, reduced emissions, time efficiency and happy customers.

With increasing car park guidance technology, exploration into self-driving cars and a shift towards electric cars, it’s reasonable to ask what the future of parking looks like.

With, as this article points out, state and local governments reducing the number of parking bays available whilst ensuring tram tracks, public transport options and bicycle lanes are appearing more readily, one could be forgiven for thinking our reliance on cars is in decline. One would be wrong – the number of registered vehicles grew in every state apart from the Northern Territory last year.

So why are we reducing the number of car parks while demand for cars in Australia continues to rise?

According to urban planners interviewed for this news piece, the number of cars will reduce over the coming decade as millennials delay getting drivers licences, the population moves away from outer suburbs towards urban centres and the demand for ride-sharing services such as Uber continues to rise.

As we observe the conflicting views about what will happen to the demand for cars over the coming years, what enthuses us at Park Agility is bringing to market improved technology based solutions for the car parking industry. As both of these articles suggest, there is room for improved management of parking with use of innovative technologies that assist with reserving bays, optimising parking spaces that already exist, with allowing online booking and payment opportunities – before a journey has even begun and with better precinct signage and guidance- to avoid endless circling around city centres to find somewhere to park. Not only do these solutions assist the driver (or driverless car, as the case may be), but also promotes time efficiency, optimises the car parking asset, makes for happy and returning customers to the parking site and, most importantly, reduces air pollution as cars know immediately where to go in order to stop.

This article from the US suggests it is critical for developers to look at innovative parking solutions now, to be able to adapt and implement new intelligence and new technology. It goes a step further, planning the physical layout of future parking facilities: “futuristic parking garages should have two key facets: increased floor to floor space and level floors… recommends parking garages have a 15-foot gap between each floor, so they can be repurposed later on as residential, retail, office, or loft areas.” The article goes on to suggest that if the future sees demand for car parking rise, not fall, this design could then morph into double layered parking given the height is already there.

So what does the future look like? We know there will be new innovations and improved parking asset technologies. But will there be more cars or less? Will there be driverless cars or more ride sharing?

Watch this (parking) space!

We read with interest articles such as this one that comment on the future of electric vehicles in Australia and the conditions required for a sustainable uptake.

For electric vehicles to become the norm there appears to be three conditions that must be met

– Price parity with petrol cars

– Availability of models to choose from

– Availability of infrastructure to overcome the fear of ‘range anxiety’

The first two conditions are on our doorstep. Price parity with petrol cars is expected by the early to mid-2020s and there are already around a dozen electric car models to choose from in Australia, with more projected to be on their way.

The third area, availability of infrastructure, is where electric vehicles and car parking assets meet. With a need to allay ‘range anxiety’ and also provide a convenient charging solution, are car parks a realistic option?

The parking industry is certainly not averse to innovation, and discussions continue around how best to improve customer experience within car parks. With services such as car washing; valet parking; uber and taxi ranks; click and collect parking options; and parking guidance used to contribute to UX, why not electric vehicle charging as well? But not just for shoppers.

Currently there are limited spaces for electric vehicles with charging options in many shopping centre car parks. And wayfinding signage to direct drivers to those specific bays is sparse. The convenience of leaving a car to charge whilst doing shopping is sound. But what about the vast number of ride sharing vehicles that are also on the hunt for a charge?

Perhaps petrol retailers will step in to provide charging? Uber/ride share drivers will take a break, grab a coffee, a paper and top up their car battery’s charge. This article discusses it in depth. But it may also be an option for car parks to offer this service. With ready access to amenities, cafes and retail outlets coupled with parking guidance to locate available charging stations, the fast turnaround of charging bays could transform the parking industry into a power supplier as well as its existing value as a property asset. There are details still to be nutted out: the speed of charging, battery loads and, of course, revenue and cost models.

But as the up-take of electric vehicles accelerates, charging bays and accompanying customer experience offerings have the potential to become a point of difference. Will your car park business model leverage it?

We shared this article on LinkedIn several months ago which outlines the issues our road networks face: congestion, road quality, the slowing decline in our road death toll, the impact commutes have on the mental health of drivers and now, a looming issue with funding as the rise of electric vehicles sees a fall in the fuel excise revenue the government receives.

Road reform is a hot potato for politicians– a long term overhaul is required as the fuel tax from the bowser benefits those who can afford more fuel efficient cars and places more of a burden on those who must drive decades old cars that guzzle fuel.

As the article shares, the revenue the government receives from fuel excise is almost equal to what is spent on road infrastructure. With the increased popularity of electric cars that don’t rely on expensive fuel, that revenue is set to decrease unless the national roads policy is addressed. That policy structure had various ideas raised as a solution, including motorists being charged based on the kilometres they travel, a congestion tax to deter entry into busy areas during peak times and possibly an emissions or air quality tax.

Unfortunately the government has recently announced it is shelving the inquiry into road reform citing its complexity and long term nature so for now, the status quo remains.