Dive Brief:
- Arlington County, Virginia, is launching a municipal smart parking initiative to help drivers quickly find on-street parking, reduce traffic congestion, improve road safety and curb greenhouse gas emissions, according to an emailed statement Thursday.
- The county has partnered with eleven-x, a wireless IoT and smart city vendor, to install approximately 5,000 sensors in on-street parking spaces, allowing drivers to use signs and an app to get real-time information about parking availability at a given location.
- “The goal of the pilot is to improve the user experience with metered parking spaces in two key commercial and multifamily residential corridors,” an Arlington County spokesperson said in an email. “This will also help to reduce the negative impacts associated with the search for metered parking (cruising, double parking, going somewhere else to do business, etc.).”
Dive Insight:
According to eleven-x, local officials can use the system’s data to better understand parking trends such as occupancy and use patterns, parking space utilization, hot spot indicators and more. The company claims the system will be fully up and running this summer.
“The demand-based pricing module will provide tools to influence parking behavior through dynamic pricing. Additionally, through the curbside management feature, parking managers can develop a digital twin of the physical curb and overlay pricing options, as well as occupancy thresholds, to test the outcomes of various policy initiatives,” eleven-x said in an emailed statement.
Arlington County has launched a community outreach campaign to inform residents about the pilot, the Arlington County spokesperson said, including a dedicated website with a frequently asked questions section, updates and other information. It also created a demonstration test site at the Courthouse Plaza parking lot to showcase the technology. The county is doing door-to-door outreach to local businesses about the project, the spokesperson said.
Chicago; Philadelphia; Pittsburgh; Oakland, California and other U.S. cities are turning to curb management solutions like smart parking metering and loading zones to ease traffic congestion, reduce parking violations, streamline parking enforcement and alleviate other issues caused by inefficient parking and loading.
