The five most commonly used car detection technologies within the parking guidance system domain are : Infrared; Magnetic Resonance; Ultrasonic; Laser / LiDAR; and Cameras.

It will of course be the case that individual decision makers will have their own experience and preferences that come into play when selecting which sensor to buy for a particular project or site .Yet few individuals have solid experience with all five of the above sensors.

Each sensor type comes with its distinct advantages and disadvantages. When it comes to the operating environment into which they may be installed, their respective attributes merit careful consideration. It is important to recognise, particularly with larger more complex sites, that rarely can a single sensor type meet the complete requirements of a site and maintain a consistently high degree of accuracy across all areas of that site. As an example, a camera may be perfectly good for 100% of the site 22 hours of the day, but terrible across 10% of the site’s area that is impacted by sun glare at sunrise and/or sunset.

Park Agility is an experienced team with a sound working knowledge of each of these sensor types. We also have one of the largest installation bases of Parking Guidance Solutions (PGS) in Australia. In order to achieve our stated goal of 99.9% accuracy across the entire site, it is a ‘No-Brainer’ for the Park Agility team to undertake a site-specific Parking Guidance Solution design that takes into consideration varying surface areas, environmental and lighting conditions, as well as a range of other factors and then recommend one or more different sensor technologies.

As best we know, Park Agility is the only Parking Guidance System company in the market that has experience with all five sensor technologies and has integrated all five into its PGS Management System. At Park Agility: Accuracy Matters!

Contact us if we can help with your site.

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The ability to move people around urban areas efficiently is essential for access to jobs, education, healthcare, and other essential services.

Cities around the world are facing increasing traffic congestion, which leads to longer commute times, reduced productivity, and increased air pollution. Difficulty in finding available parking spaces only adds to increased congestion, wasted time and fuel. The use of personal combustion engine vehicles is a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions and climate change, which in turn has adverse impacts on public health and the environment.

Public transportation options may sometimes be inadequate, making it difficult for people to get around efficiently and affordably; and safety and accessibility concerns on public transport are also challenges.

Smart cities see the need to address all these challenges with a comprehensive approach that considers the needs of all users and promotes sustainable and efficient options. Smart mobility solutions, such as intelligent transportation, parking systems and shared mobility services, can help improve urban mobility and create more liveable and sustainable cities.

There are several reasons why parking guidance solutions are growing in popularity:

They optimise parking space utilisation By using real-time data to guide drivers to available parking spaces, they help to reduce the time spent searching for a spot thus reducing traffic congestion and emissions.

They enhance user experience By providing real-time information about parking availability, location, and pricing through mobile apps or digital signage, drivers can plan their parking before arriving at the destination and avoid frustration, improving their experience.

They increase parking management efficiency contributing to reduced costs in running a parking facility. Examples include scheduling changed availability for particular parking categories to increase bay volume at peak times; reporting of overstays in real time; and implementation of automatic payment facilities.

They provide data for future planning Asset owners can use reporting and monitoring tools for future planning, peak period management and revenue optimisation.

Managing the challenges modern cities face is an ongoing priority and integrating parking technology as one part of a smart city’s solutions can efficiently and cost effectively reduce some of their impacts.

By using inductive loops, when vehicles drive through a passageway its magnetic field changes and sends a communication signal to indicate movement in or out of a parking facility.

There’s a common perception that magnetic resonance loops are not an accurate way to count vehicles, however the reality is that they can be used to great effect. When people say this form of car counting doesn’t work, it’s typically not the metal loop in the ground being referred to, rather the sensitivity of the software trying to analyse the activity that is being tracked.

There are a number of traffic scenarios that are difficult to count with low tech solutions – for example wide passage lanes that allow a two-way flow of vehicles, but with no structure in place to separate the lanes. Cars will often drive straight through the middle of the two lanes if there is no oncoming traffic, which triggers three or four loops, instead of the normal two. This creates a count challenge for low tech solutions that cannot interpret the data correctly.

The loop counting solution developed by Park Agility avoids these problems and delivers car counting capabilities with 99.9% accuracy. By designing our own electronics board and writing our own firmware and software, complex traffic scenarios can be configured into the constant analysis of activity across loops and multiple count points.

In addition to being highly accurate, it is more often the case that loops will be a lower cost to install than other car counting technologies and a lower cost to maintain over their lifetime. The solution is also robust – able to work 24 hours a day, 7 days a week in all weather conditions unlike some other sensing technologies. A solution such as this is perfect for local governments and asset owners that have open air car parks they wish to count to put real time bay availability information on wayfinding signage in order to help reduce congestion in local precinct areas.

Lasting for a decade plus, a magnetic resonance loop counting solution represents excellent return on investment. They are also quick to install with less downtime for the car park, meaning customers and operations are not disrupted for a lengthy period.

Highly accurate and with data delivered to dynamic wayfinding signage in real time, Park Agility’s loop counting solution is an easy win for relieving parking congestion in busy areas.

Talk to us today about your car park counting solution requirements.

Up to 30% of congestion is caused by people looking for parking spaces* and precinct signage that can display wayfinding and parking bay availability data accurately and in real time not only contributes to cutting the emissions that this congestion and circling creates, it also immediately improves the customer experience.

Park Agility’s Cloud-based solutions, ability to integrate with existing systems and options for communicating means that data can be collected from multiple car park sites – both indoors and outdoors – and shared to signage located at decision points throughout a car park to assist motorists.

Static signage is no longer the only option, with closer pitched and more capable signs that offer numerous pieces of information optimising the investment in parking technologies. This sign located in Bankstown Sports Club’s car park incorporates bay availability numbers, parking categories (EV and disabled), directional arrows and a ticker-tape style dynamic message. Easily edited, the messaging can include club marketing and promotions, community safety messages or anything else an operations team may wish to share with their customers.

When it comes to signage, Park Agility’s motto is simple: any size, any content, anywhere.

For site tours, quotes, technical specifications and trusted advice, get in touch.

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* JamesBuczkowski, Ford’s Director of Electrical and Electronics Systems Research andAdvanced Engineering. Cited by Biggs, T. (2015). Sydney Morning Herald.

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