Bay Sensor Technology

Parking Bay Sensors

A European first: Find a space on-street, as new parking app goes LIVE!

Throughout October 2012, you can download an app that, for the first time ever in Europe, will allow you to see if an on-street parking space is available on an individual road.

Before you even leave home, you can use the free app to check the availability of spaces in Savile Row, Sackville Street, Jermyn Street and St John’s Wood High Street.

Following a successful testing period,  the app is now available for phones and tablets on the Apple Store and Google store – just search “ParkRight” to download.

If the next stage of the Bay Sensor trial continues to be a success, the council will evaluate it and decide if the scheme can be rolled out city-wide.

About the project

The ground-breaking project is part of a range of initiatives the council is looking at to help address the ongoing congestion problem in the capital. Making real time parking information available to people coming in to the city, as well as businesses managing deliveries, makes it easier and quicker to find a parking space.

Click here to see the BBC London News report.

The sensors technology to deliver this exciting project is being supplied by Town and City Parking Ltd and has been developed by their parent company Car Parking Technologies Ltd.  

Bay sensors have now been installed on the streets listed below:

Benefits and future of the scheme

In addition to making it easier to find a parking space, other potential benefits to be investigated include:

· Pre-booking of bays including loading or coach bays

· Variable tariffs or parking incentives during off-peak periods

· Changing the classification of bay types to make them shared use, i.e. residential and paid for

· Data-sharing with business, for example, loading/coach bay or West End parking space availability and parking spaces.

· To help tackle fraud and mis-use of certain bay types, such as disabled badge, taxi ranks or coach bays

· The ability to manage electric charging bays and pedestrianised zones

Feedback from the pilot will be used to decide whether there is a case for a city wide roll out of the scheme.

The success of the pilot will be based on the following criteria:

· Real time parking availability on a smartphone application

·Links with the council’s existing Pay by Phone system and its smartphone application

·Real time data available to Traffic Marshals to help them direct motorists to available parking space around the city

·Analysis of the amount of space and its utilisation

·Accuracy of sensors and the ability to provide real time information of space within the locations

Please send your comments to: baysensors@westminster.gov.uk