Parking Radar

I am going to preface this post by saying that it is unlikely to be implemented in existing cities due to expense.

However, I do think it is worthwhile to consider because parking in the city can really suck.

A lot of cities are using or considering WiMax or similar systems (essentially city wide WiFi). However, this could serve as a backbone for the city to serve up lots of information about local conditions (as I write this traffic information comes to mind first).

Sensors built into road curbs, on posts next to parking spaces, or in the road itself could detect if a car is currently parked in a particular spot. The way that these sensors would work depends on where exactly it is installed (in the road vs next to it) but is more of a technical discussion. The information gathered by the sensors could then be made available over a WiMax network.

A GPS system in a person's car could be capable of taping into the WiMax network and finding out where the nearest available parking spot is located. If the system was really

So basically GPS systems could tell you where to find parking spots to let people avoid playing the 'search for a spot' game.

Of course it doesn't have to be a GPS. A small radar that shows direction and distance to the nearest location using the network could be made as well.

There are three major issues with such a system:
1) There would be significant cost associated with installing the system, especially in an already existing infrastructure.

2) The system would need to be installed city wide for it to really catch on in popularity. If it was only installed in particular neighborhoods or along certain streets people could not be certain that it would be giving them the nearest spot and it would become unreliable. If drivers are going to trust a Parking Radar, more of the city (at least the areas where parking is an issue) must be supported than unspotted.

3) Unless a standard was decided on (there are methods of large area wireless networking other than WiMax for example) it could quickly become problematic if every city had a slightly different system. Either it would increase the cost of the GPS or some systems would be Chicago compatible while others may be 'New York' compatible. Now this issue is not necessarily a major road block. Several states have their own types of automated highway toll payment systems and for the most part its fine. People spend most of their time in the state they live and people spend most of their time in the city that they live (or are near).

If there are cities close to one another they could work to make sure their systems interoperate just as neighboring states have done with their toll systems.


Now issue number 1 is the big one. This cost is made even worse if a wide area wireless network does not already exist in the city. Of course it is not necessary to use a wireless network. There may be better technical solutions (such as delivering the information over cell networks). But even still, the cost of just the sensors alone would likely be pricey.

Now this cost could be mitigated in several ways. The city could charge for the use of the Parking Radar Service. Basically they would sell permission to use the data available on the Parking Radar Network. If they wanted to maximize profit they could charge differing fees based on a person's address. For example people in the suburbs could be charged less than people who live downtown because they would not be using it as frequently. Of course pricing is an entirely different issue.

By charging for the use of the service they could reduce or perhaps even eliminate the installation and upkeep cost for the system. In fact, depending on demand, I could actually conceive of a city making a profit on such a system.