SmartEye, SmartRep, Parking Meters and PayMyPark

Wellington City Council deploy over 3800 sensors and the newly developed PayMyPark smartphone app across it’s CBD

The challenge

    Wellington CBD is at the centre of the New Zealand and a popular tourist destination which encompasses parliament buildings, sandy beaches and a working harbour. A fair, efficient parking management system is an essential component of making a visit to Wellington enjoyable for visitors, fair to residents and profitable to local businesses.

    Up until August 2016 drivers in the Capital have been paying for their parking sessions through nearby parking meters, returning to their car to display a ticket and then ensuring they are back in time before the ticket runs out, a sometimes stressful and annoying task.

    In the backoffice, Wellington City Council has been managing parking through traditional methods: officers would patrol time-restricted areas, identifying overstays with the dated chalking method and issue infringement notices. Not only a tedious, time consuming and mundane task for parking enforcement officers but also an inefficient one as not all infringing vehicles can be identified.

Our solution

    Following a successful trial in early 2015, August 2016 saw Wellington City Council go live with Smart Parking’s SmartPark solution, and parking payment appPayMyPark.

    The deployment includes a network of over 3,800 RFID equipped SmartEye vehicle detection sensors which register whether each parking bay is occupied or vacant.

    The information is fed instantaneously to the PayMyPark app, a simple to use app which provides drivers with real-time parking availability, guides them to free spaces and allows them to pay for the parking session straight from their smartphone device and extend their time remotely.

Data is then relayed live to SmartRep, Smart Parking’s powerful cloud-based software tool, which collates and analyses the data and will be used by the Council to understand how drivers use it's parking spaces - a vital resource in planning further improvements to Wellington’s parking systems.

HOW DOES IT WORK?

    Once parked, drivers simply enter the bay number into the app and press ‘start’ then continue at their leisure. Upon return to the vehicle they then select the ‘stop’ function therefore only paying for the time they use. Smart Parking’s infrared sensors automatically detect when a car arrives and relays the information to PayMyPark alerting the application of the cars arrival and departure.

     Drivers are also given the option to pay in advance. If they return before their parking session has expired they will receive a refund for the remaining minutes to their parking account.

    The app will also generate alerts when time is running low, and will allow the user to top up the parking session from anywhere.

The benefits

    1.By providing real-time parking availability functionality motorists now have a much better chance of finding an available and suitable parking space quickly and easily, reducing the amount of time spent idling / circling; increasing occupancy.

    2.The introduction of PayBySpace technology means drivers just pay for the time they need and it’s done. No need to return to their vehicle to display a receipt. Not only does this improve the driver experience but it also indirectly helps local businesses by improving access to the CBD.

    3.Real-time and historic data from SmartRep gives Wellington City Council the accurate information they need to access and implement more convenient ways to park in the Capital.

“SmartEye”射频识别设备，“SmartRep”管理平台，停车计时器和“PayMyPark”支付软件
惠灵顿市政厅在CBD部署超过3800个传感器以及最新开发了“PayMyPark”智能手机应用程序。

一、所面临的挑战——停车问题

    惠灵顿CBD是新西兰的首都，同时是一个很受欢迎的旅游景点，它有着国会大厦、沙滩以及港口。一个便捷、高效的停车管理系统是游客们愉快访问惠灵顿的一个重要组件,也能造福居民和给当地企业带来盈利。
    到2016年8月为止，首都的司机们都只能通过附近的停车计时器来支付他们的停车费，并回到他们的车辆处取到收据，然后要确保他们能在这张票耗尽之前及时赶回来，有时会很有压力和一些麻烦事。
    惠灵顿市政厅依旧采用的是传统的停车管理方法：执法人员只能在一定的时间内进行地区巡逻，用着过时的方法识别停车超时的车辆并贴上罚单，执法人员只能做些简单的任务，繁琐，费时，而且这样一种低效率的方法并不能识别所有超时停车的车辆。

二、我们的解决方案

    继2015年早期一次成功的试验，惠灵顿市政厅在2016年8月考虑采用智能停车场的智能停车方案,同时应用“PayMyPark”支付软件支付停车的费用。
    该方案部署一个包含3800多个RFID（无线射频识别 ）设备“SmartEye”和车辆检测传感器的网络，用来检测每个停车位的占用情况。
    美联储可以即时的掌握“PayMyPark”应用程序的支付信息,使用如此简单的应用程序,可以为驾驶员提供实时的停车信息,让他们拥有自由选择的空间,并允许他们通过智能手机等远程设备直接支付停车费用，从而节省时间。
    所有的数据都将上传至“SmartRep”管理平台,智慧停车的强大之处是基于云计算的软件工具,它把停车的数据整理和分析后，将由市政厅整合重要的资源，在规划上进一步改进惠灵顿的停车系统。

三、它是如何工作的呢?

    汽车一旦停进停车位，司机只需进入应用程序进行排号，然后按下“开始”按钮，便可继续做在他们的事情，然后在返回到车时选择“停止”功能即可，因此只需要支付他们使用的时间所产生的费用。智能停车的红外传感器会自动检测车辆动作和继电器的情况并提醒 “PayMyPark”应用程序汽车是抵达或离开。
    司机也可以点击预付选项，如果他们在所设时间到期前回到车内，系统会将所剩时间的余额退还到他们停车帐户。当所设停车时间过低时，“PayMyPark”应用程序会提醒用户，允许车辆停放在任何地方。

四、智慧停车技术的优势

    1、通过实时提供停车信息的实用功能，现在驾驶员便能很快的找到一个可用的和合适的停车位,减少了花费在等待或不断绕行的时间，也提高空车位的利用率。
    2、智慧停车技术的引入意味着驾驶员只需要为他们所停车的时间付款就可以了，不需要再回到他们的车辆领取收据，这不仅提高了驾驶员的停车体验，也通过提高对CBD的访问，间接地帮助当地企业。
    3、惠灵顿市政厅能从“SmartRep”管理平台获取实时和历史数据，为他们找到在首都停车更快捷的方法提供准确的信息。