AppyWay and Getmapping
One significant problem that travellers in the UK face is finding available parking, particularly within cities, where spaces are limited and often may not meet the exact needs of the driver, either in terms of cost or location. There are three important questions that every motorist has to ask as they plan a journey: Where do I park? Is there a space? How do I pay?
The eight minutes on average it takes every day to find a space in a city like Birmingham are part of life’s everyday irritations, but they also cost the economy an estimated £373 million every year in wasted time, fuel and emissions. Additionally, the SMMT estimates congestion for vans alone costs the UK economy over £6.5 billion annually. Transport is key to a successful economy and therefore availability of real-time, valuable information is vital.
Predikt is the first commercial parking proposition in the UK that uses 5G technology. Through an app, drivers are able to rely on accurate predictions and 3D mapping that highlights the best parking options for them, before they set off on their journey, Predikt cuts down journey times by providing a scalable, accurate and reliable, predictive parking availability solution. An industry estimate shows this could cut up to 30% of journey times and miles driven in city centres, saving time, money and helping the environment by reducing time spent circling to find a space.
Predikt does this by equipping multiple vehicles with the capability to transfer availability data simultaneously and in real time via a dedicated image capture device – the GetCam. Using connected vehicles fitted with the device, rather than individual bay sensors, the proposition offers a significantly more efficient and affordable way to capture the availability of the kerbside.
This method however, places substantial pressure on the technology Predikt uses to collate the parking data as the solution is reliant on the transfer and analytics of multiple large image files for processing. By embracing 5G technology, Predikt reduced latency in parking predictions to as little as 21 seconds end-to-end for a run of bays, successfully delivering real time and accurate availability to drivers 92% of the time tested.
The imagery captured could also be used to derive more data analytics, such as traffic conditions, obstacle detection, rubbish detection and the potential for real time street surveys. Links can also be made with other transport options, such as rail, bikes and scooters. Adopted at scale this will make on-street parking more efficient, optimising the city’s revenues, facilitating business, and enhancing the use of a digital kerbside.
The project begun in September 2020 and concluded in 2021. Appyway and GetMapping now endeavour to continue the work with customer focussed testing of the app camera in future projects and other vehicle services in 2022, building on the findings making it easier for UK drivers to find available parking.
