In cities, up to 40 percent of CO2 emissions in the transport sector are emitted when searching for a parking space. To reduce emissions and make parking in cities less stressful, some cities are now testing AI-powered smart parking systems.
Driving into the city center – who hasn’t wasted up to 30 minutes looking for a parking space in this situation, only to arrive at their destination completely stressed? In some German cities, so-called smart parking is currently being tested to solve this problem.
The concept: What is smart parking?
Smart parking is intended to make it easier to find parking spaces in city centers and in large parking areas. In the new concept, sensors are attached to the existing infrastructure – such as street lights and house walls. The sensors were trained to recognize cars and forward information about available parking spaces to a platform. Drivers participating in the program can register on the platform as looking for a parking space and are directed to a free parking space via digital street signs.
Less stress and fewer emissions: What are the benefits of smart parking?
Some German cities are currently in test phases for such smart parking systems, including Düsseldorf and Pforzheim. The introduction of the new technology would make sense for several reasons: First of all, around 40 percent of CO2 emissions in cities arise when looking for a parking space, said Patrick Brüning from Stadtwerke Düsseldorf to the editorial network Germany (rnd). Reducing these emissions would make a major contribution to environmental protection. But that’s not all. If smart parking works smoothly and once you get used to it, the new technology also significantly reduces the stress factor for drivers – as well as traffic noise in residential areas, the time it takes to look for a parking space and the costs that are currently incurred when looking for a parking space Fuel consumption occurs.
Equal treatment and costs: Why isn’t there smart parking everywhere yet?
In fact, smart parking – so far – does not only bring advantages: First of all, the still very new technology is quite expensive, which is why many cities currently cannot afford to introduce it across the board, according to the rnd. This disadvantage could resolve itself as the technology is better tested and becomes more marketable.
But according to rnd, there is another problem, namely accessibility. Because: The purpose of Smart Parking is that those drivers who take part in the program find a good parking space more quickly. However, as long as not all road users can automatically and easily use smart parking – for example because they have never learned how to use the technology due to their age – there is a risk of systematic advantage.
Until a good solution is found for this problem and the municipalities can raise the money for the investment, drivers in German cities will probably have to wait a while for the new technology.
Editorial team finanzen.net
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