Last week, we spent a couple of days with our industry at ParkEx. It was a great opportunity to interact with other members of our industry, engage in insightful talks and learn about evolving trend within our industry. Here are our top 3 trends from ParkEx.

1) Data

There was a key focus on data and how organisations can use data to optimise parking capacity, revenue streams and make drivers lives easier. The talk ‘Linking It Together’ spoke about utilising the different data sources available to improve customer experience from the perspective of both commercial customers and drivers. Here, we can see a push towards comprehensive applications of data to help improve the customer experience such as providing a platform that drivers are able to choose which parking app they wish to pay with or offering turn-by-turn guidance powered by sensors and AI. At Cleverciti, we offer a comprehensive platform that aligns different data sources, providing insights that allow our customers to be more agile with their parking solutions.

2) Collaboration

A continuing trend in the industry is collaboration with 3rd party providers. We saw many instances where organisations collaborated to find innovative solutions to challenging problems. As the environment we operate in changes, with more suburban parking, environmental concerns and changing vehicle requirements such as EV’s, new solutions are required to resolve these challenges. Collaboration is one way of helping to move the industry forward. We have collaborated with several industry partners to resolve issues or challenges they were facing. Find out more here. Want to find out more about what we can do to help resolve your parking issue? Contact us here to start the conversation.

3) Safety

Safety is at the forefront of the industry. Whether it be personal, vehicle or property safety, several players are bringing focus to safety and what we can do to help improve safety. An interesting talk ‘Women In Parking’ looked at both the careers of women in parking but also what we can be doing to improve the safety of women who use carparks or parking spaces. This was coupled with personal and property safety with talks focusing on fire risk in parking structures and protecting frontline enforcement officers. This provided insight into another area of focus for the industry and challenged thinking of what safety means.

44.6% - is the increased payment rate of motorists parking in the Nippes district of Cologne. Since Cleverciti implemented its state-of-the-art smart parking guidance system in the city of Cologne last year in collaboration with energy provider RheinEnergie, the project has received a lot of positive feedback - and now the first concrete results are in to prove the success of Smart Parking. While the original goal was to reduce parking search traffic in order to reduce CO2 emissions and at the same time increase the quality of life for residents, the statistics also show that installing a smart parking system increases willingness to pay and can therefore have a direct financial benefit for the city.

COLOGNE’S SUCCESS STORY WITH SMART PARKING

As Germany's fourth-largest city, Cologne is not only one of Cleverciti's most prominent installations, but also one of the most comprehensive intelligent parking guidance systems in the world. In order to reduce search traffic in the lively district of Nippes and thus improve the quality of life for residents and attractiveness for visitors as well as reduce climate-damaging CO2 emissions, all 800 parking spaces along the streets around Neusser Strasse are detected with Cleverciti's modern overhead sensors with regard to free and occupied parking spaces. The information is then displayed directly on-site at 27 central intersections via Cleverciti Circ® LED displays. Drivers thus receive real-time information on the location and number of available parking spaces. The concept of luck to find a parking space is a thing of the past and is replaced by data-based directional guidance. The Cleverciti Sensors do not collect any personal data in the process. The system has been active since June 1, 2020. In October 2020, the parking system was supplemented by a mobile app called "ParkPilot Cologne". This provides information on the parking situation in Cologne-Nippes before arrival, including the availability of special parking spaces such as e-charging parking spaces. At the same time, you can be navigated directly to the next available parking space or to the optimal parking space for the destination you enter. Once you arrive at the parking lot, you can pay the parking fees by selecting a mobile payment provider within the app itself

With the project, which is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure, the city of Cologne and RheinEnergie have taken a major step toward Smart City and Smart Mobility using forward-looking technologies.

Read the full case study here.

INCREASED PAYMENT RATE = REAL FINANCIAL BENEFIT

The first figures are in! And they are indisputable proof of the positive effects of a modern smart parking system:

• The payment rate in Cologne-Nippes among those who have to pay for parking (excluding drivers with residents' passes or other permits) increased from 38.6% to 44.6%

Since the deployment of the smart parking system, the payment rate has increased significantly - proving that a smart parking system can be a significant financial benefit for any city.

“This is a very positive development, especially in the period of just over a year. It shows that drivers are happy to use our service - and are willing to pay for a parking system that makes their daily lives easier.”

— Thomas Hohenacker, CEO of Cleverciti

INCREASED UTILIZATION OF EXISTING PARKING SPACES = MORE REVENUE

In cities, available space is regularly in short supply. The goal must therefore be to make the best possible use of existing resources. A parking guidance system can be used to locate the last available parking spaces. The good news is that the increase in willingness to pay for parking has been accompanied by an increase in utilization:

• Utilization of parking spaces rose from 85% to 92%.

AMORTIZATION OF INVESTMENT IN ONLY ABOUT 2 YEARS

Based on the study results, in Cologne-Nippes, 520 monetized parking spaces with a fee of EUR 2 per hour result in an increase in parking revenue of 100,000 Euro per year (approx. 200 Euro per parking space) for the city of Cologne.

It is noteworthy that for this positive increase in revenue, no new parking spaces had to be created and no price increase was necessary. The key change in the area was the introduction of the smart parking system, which, thanks to Cleverciti's sensors and displays, navigates people to the nearest available parking space and makes optimal use of the available parking spaces.

• The increased revenue means a payback period of less than 2 years for the investment in the Cleverciti smart parking system.

The cost of the system includes operation, monitoring and remote maintenance by Cleverciti.

ADDITIONAL POSITIVE EFFECTS FOR THE CITY

As mentioned before, the original goal of the cooperation between the City of Cologne, RheinEnergie and Cleverciti was to reduce parking search traffic in the Nippes district. Was it successful? It certainly was:

• Over 145 test drives on December 20 and January 21 showed an impressive 45% reduction in parking search time

This involved comparing trips with information about the location of available parking spaces with purely random directional decisions without information at three locations. The results show the benefits of information and the potential for reducing parking search traffic and thus CO2 emissions simply by providing data, without any prohibitions at all. Since nearly 30% of all car traffic in cities is due to parking search, this is a crucial step towards a greener city.

Sustainability is one of the most important issues of our time. Cities that embrace a sustainable future now will be the winners of tomorrow.

Every smart city strives to become climate neutral. With the help of the latest technologies, cities can take an important step in this direction.

Smart parking plays an essential role in the way to smart mobility and infrastructure. If at the same time there is more revenue for the city from parking fees, all the better!

---

Smart parking - the essential piece to your Smart City strategy.

📥 Download the Ultimate Smart City Parking Guide here

---

Smart tourism makes a smart city

Smart tourism plays a key role in the development of smart cities, as initiatives to attract tourists can cause a significant increase in people and cars in even the smallest of towns. Smart solutions, such as smart parking, can make a good destination into a great destination. 

Smart tourism in short

According to the European Capital of Smart Tourism Initiative, a smart tourism destination is:

“A destination facilitating access to tourism and hospitality products, services, spaces, and experiences through ICT-based tools. It is a healthy social and cultural environment, which can be found through a focus on the city’s social and human capital. It also implements innovative, intelligent solutions and fosters the development of entrepreneurial businesses and their interconnectedness.”

Smart tourism vs. Smart parking

Tourism causes traffic influx in popular tourist destinations resulting in rush hours with more and more people searching for parking spaces. Smart parking solutions detect parking space availability in real-time, helping to optimize on-street parking around busy areas. 

The average tourist aims to park their vehicle in the city center or as close to major tourist attractions, such as beaches or ski resorts, as possible. The resulting search traffic not only increases congestion and traffic hazards but also influences the quality of life for residents and visitors alike. Smart parking solutions help reduce search traffic by providing turn-by-turn guidance navigating drivers to the most convenient (nearest) parking space.

The average driver spends ten to twenty minutes each time they search for a parking space—a waste of time and a serious stressor with a negative environmental impact. Smart parking solutions can remedy the situation and considerably enhance the experience that smart tourism provides. 

Smart tourism in practice

Public-private partnership is essential when running a smart tourism initiative. A public-private partnership means that two or more public and private organizations make a long-term arrangement to work together. In other words, governments and businesses come together to complete a project or to provide services to the inhabitants. A great example of a public-private partnership is the project that Cleverciti did in collaboration with the tourism agency of the Lübeck Bay, where smart parking sensors were placed near the local beaches to measure occupancy and availability and guide the visitor to the nearest available spot. This project was honoured with the German Tourism Price 2020. 

Other examples of smart tourism initiatives are a public water fountain locator as part of a tourism website, or an app that offers city tours with audio to be downloaded on the visitor’s own device. The great thing about smart tourism apps: they are not dependent on seasonality. 

Want to know more about smart tourism? Read our article on the 7 future trends of smart tourism here. 

If you would like to know how to turn your city into a smart tourism destination, then book a meeting with one of our smart parking experts by clicking the button below. 

We love to say that parking hasn’t changed in 100 years. Until Smart Parking, finding a parking space has always been based on pure luck. Will I find a pole to tie my horse up to? Will I find a parking spot to park my car? But then Smart Parking came along and revolutionized parking completely. It started out with simple ground sensors and moved to sophisticated overhead sensors that eliminated the element of luck. Smart Parking as we know it has evolved into ingenious sensory guidance systems, leading drivers effortlessly to the nearest available parking spot, while saving time and money, improving quality of life, and reducing emissions substantially. Pretty impressive, wouldn’t you say? We’ve come a long way, and we are confident there is a lot more to come. But first, let’s look back at how it all started. 

Above mentioned milestones have influenced (smart) parking directly. But, of course, that were more important milestones that indirectly played a role in the development of smart parking as well. 1886, for example, is regarded as the birth year of the modern car when German inventor Karl Benz patented his Benz Patent-Motorwagen. By 1900 mass production of cars was well underway in France and the US. Without the existence of cars, no smart parking. In 1920, forerunners of automated parking systems (APS) appeared for the first time in big American cities like LA, Chicago, New York, and Cincinnati. The Paternoster system, as is depicted in the image above, was applied for the first time in real-life on Chicago’s Monroe Street in 1932. Between 1940 and 1950 the US built more and more APS, some of them still in use today, such as Bowser, Pigeon Hole and Roto Park. In 1951, the first-ever driverless parking garage was built in Washington D.C. The UK followed in 1961, when the Auto Stacker is installed in Woolwich, London, which was - at that point - still quite hard to operate.

The US interest in APS lessened slightly in the 90s, while more technically advanced APS appear in Europe, Asia and Central America. In the late 90s, Japan even became the world-leading production country for APS with over 100,000 automated parking spaces per year. 

Early 2000, the (smart) parking sensor technology is really starting to take off, especially in malls and shopping centers. The first robotic garage is build in 2002 in Hoboken, New Jersey. Simultaneously, the use of GPS for smart parking solutions is mentioned in scientific research for the first time.

The history of Cleverciti

In 2012, Cleverciti enters the smart parking stage, initially under the name of “Schlauerparken”. Three years in, the company has already grown a lot, more and more people have joined the team and the company needs a more international name to better fit the international ambitions of the team. First international clients of Cleverciti go live, including Dubai in the UAE. 

In 2016, Cleverciti got awarded with Deloitte’s prestigious Technology Fast 50 Award and over a dozen other international awards, for their innovative parking solutions using high-tech sensors. Cleverciti launches the world’s most comprehensive turn-by-turn guidance solution in Cologne, Germany, in 2020. Early 2021, a smart tourism project in Lübeck Bay that includes Cleverciti’s smart parking guidance system gets awarded with the Deutscher Tourismuspreis 2020.

And the best is yet to come….

More information about Cleverciti’s history can be found here.

Want to have a chat with one of our smart parking experts about what the future of smart parking looks like? Schedule a demo below.

As more and more smart cities emerge all over the world, smart tourism is becoming increasingly important. The difference between the two? Smart cities focus primarily on improving the lives of their residents, whereas smart tourism initiatives are focused on pleasing visitors, whilst also enhancing the quality of life for local residents.

A key aspect of any smart destination is the integration of ICTs into physical infrastructure (Gretzel, Sigala, et al., 2015). When a tourism destination gets smarter, the tourists’ needs and demands are expected to be fulfilled more efficiently to create a better tourist experience. Smart apps and products are implemented across the user’s experience to accommodate the visitors that come to explore their city, such as virtual 3D city maps, LED-animations to illuminate iconic buildings, tourism websites with smart apps such as a water fountain locator, but also something as ‘simple’ as creating free Wi-Fi network accessible around the city. 

Time for us to take a look at some of the future trends of smart tourism:

1. Accommodate booking beforehand

The way people like to book things is changing - more and more people book accommodations but also activities before leaving their homes. If anything, what Corona has taught us is that time is precious and nothing is self-evident, therefore people want to make sure they are getting the experiences they want by planning and booking more beforehand. This also works for planning ahead on location; in the north of Germany, in Lübeck Bay, the local tourism office has implemented sensors at the entry and exit points of a few adjacent beaches that can be tracked in real-time by its guests, and again at the nearby parking lots. Let’s say, for example, that you were planning to visit Timmendorfer Strand, but the live ticker on the website shows you that the beach at Scharbeutz is actually a lot less busy today. You might want to adapt your plan and go there instead. 

2. Utilize the current BYOD-culture

Some tourist operators do this already, and the tourist operators that aren’t should consider facilitating the BYOD-culture (‘Bring Your Own Device’) by making tours accessible from a visitor’s smartphone. People are glued to their phones and tablets these days and generally like to use their own devices to explore a city. Create an app to guide visitors through the city for example, by showing them on a map where the next public restroom is. This is the type of information a tourist would benefit greatly from. 

3. Wearable technology

Wearable technology is enhancing the tourist experience in large destinations. Smart watches and tech wristbands can do anything from opening your cabin door on a cruise to downloading your boarding pass on a plane or even voice activating local directions. 

4. Explore new technologies

As is shown by the examples above, technology makes tours more accessible: Recent advancements in audio technologies like Listen Technologies’  Navilution® Wi-Fi, an automated GPS multilingual commentary system, are proving a win/win for both visitors and tour operators. Navilution also allows tour operators to collect, analyze, and share passenger information, making their job of building stronger sales and marketing solutions considerably easier and more powerful, plus enhancing the guest experience.

5. Accessibility & Inclusivity

 Accessibility of a city and its points of interests can, for example, be enhanced by smart technologies through creating maps with wheelchair-friendly routes and access points. Where accessibility has always been and will always be an important topic, inclusivity is perhaps a rather new development that is gaining importance quickly in life, and in tourism. The great thing about technology and apps is that it’s available to anyone with a smartphone; regardless of race, gender, income level, sexual orientation. A nice example of inclusive tourism are beacons placed at touristic sights that Amsterdam uses to let tourist signs translate themselves into different languages. 

6. Sustainable travel

Smart cities have the potential to be much more sustainable than non-smart cities. Same goes for tourism. People don’t want to feel guilty about going on a trip. They want to still enjoy traveling, but limit the negative effects on climate as well. A very simple example of sustainable smart tourism is: if you do a city tour with an app, no flyers, paper maps, or other receipts and tickets are required; hence, you’re saving paper. Sustainable travel is a field where smart initiatives such as a smart waste collection or smart parking can come into play. More and more cities are creating mobility hubs outside of the city center with good public transport connections to the inner city and/or rental bike stations or rental e-scooters. Additionally, smart parking sensors are currently applied already to monitor and optimize the use of e-cars. And that’s only the very beginning…

7. Open data

Where Europe is mainly utilizing smart solutions in order to show innovation and create a competitive edge compared to other destinations, Australia takes a different approach and focuses on smart governance and specifically open data. A concrete example: Tourism Australia and Virgin Airlines partnered together to understand user journeys and assist in trip planning by sharing data such as destination interests in order to provide personalized airline deals and offers. 

Want to talk to a smart parking expert to see what they could do to transform your city into a smarter tourism destination? Book a demo by clicking the button below. 

The Cleverciti team is expanding. Meet: Andrew LaMothe. 

Andrew LaMothe is the newest Clever Citizen after joining Cleverciti as Senior Director of Enterprise Sales for North America. Prior to Cleverciti Andrew led Passport’s Enterprise Sales efforts on the West Coast after navigating the acquisition of NuPark by Passport in 2018. Prior to his time at Passport (NuPark), Andrew held executive-level sales roles at PayByPhone Technologies overseeing the West Region. Andrew has also had the honor of contributing to the National Parking Associations’ “40 under 40” as their first chairperson and a Board position for SWPTA. 

His combined experiences have given him an understanding of the role parking technology plays in the lives of people it touches and the value it creates for partners that adopt it. When asked “what is the highlight of your time in the parking industry prior to Cleverciti?” Andrew replied, “The highlight of my career has been the ability to form so many relationships. I’ve been on amazing teams at great companies which have allowed me to make connections and solve problems for people all over the world. I’m grateful to begin this next chapter with Cleverciti to share the most impactful technology I’ve seen to date.”

Cleverciti is excited to welcome Andrew on board and we wish him a great start in the team!

Want to find out more about Cleverciti’s smart parking solutions? Schedule a demo with one of our smart parking experts by clicking the button below.

Cleverciti recently announced a new smart parking guidance installation coming up in El Monte, California, tailored to downtown commuters and visitors. The installation is aimed to support local businesses, reduce emissions and traffic in the suburb of Los Angeles. 

The project began in March 2021 and will be completed in July 2021. Cleverciti’s technology will be deployed at El Monte’s Main Street and MetroLink parking lots, as these are two of the busiest and most congested areas of the suburb.

Cleverciti’s turn-by-turn guidance signage covers over 400 parking spaces and is accompanied by the Cleverciti App that is available to drivers through a mobile device. The app shows in real-time where available parking spaces are in the chosen areas. 

Around El Monte’s Metrolink and Main Street lots, Cleverciti Circ® 360 LED signs, installed on existing lampposts, display live parking information in 360 degrees, leading drivers to the nearest available parking space.

Better access to the Main Street parking lot will allow residents and visitors to enjoy downtown restaurants, retail shops, and more, which in its turn will boost the local economy. Better access to the Metrolink parking lots makes the commuters’ journey into the downtown area a lot more enjoyable and easy. Cleverciti’s information on parking space availability in combination with Metrolink’s data on the capacity on the train is meant to make the choice for commuters to take the train an easy one; while reducing vehicle miles traffic, greenhouse gas emissions, and traffic congestion. 

Cleverciti is very excited to work with the city of El Monte to support local small and medium-sized businesses, while also improving the quality of life for residents and visitors. 

Read the full press release here:

Last Wednesday, on April 14th, our CEO Thomas Hohenacker & COO David Parker spoke Sofa Summits - Smart City Summit on:

"The Fastest Path to a 15-minute City. How Cologne Cut Parking Search by 45% to Minimise Congestion"

The talk, as part of the Sustainable Cities - Transportation and Mobility Track, was focused on one of the world’s most innovative and modern parking guidance systems for residents and visitors that was installed in the Cologne district of Nippes last year. The first results of the project have shown parking search time decrease by 45%.

We were joined by a long list of leading and innovative smart cities, such as the City of Rome, Hannover, Barcelona, Amsterdam, Zürich, Helsinki, Rotterdam, Göteborg, Dortmund, Winterthur, Lahti, Geneva, Dublin and Madrid, to name a few. 

During the event, several overall polls were released for all attendees to weigh in on - when asked what was the main goal for their smart city, 50% of the respondents answered with ‘sustainability’, 47.1% with ‘quality of life’ and 2.9% with ‘innovation’. 

We are happy to see major smart cities prioritizing sustainability and citizen quality of life — 2 facets we have seen improve quickly with the deployment of smart parking, like the case in Cologne.

We’d like to thank all attendees for joining and for their active participation, and for making the event successful. 

If you missed it, but would like to hear more about the installation in Cologne, please find the presentation deck or watch the live session recording below.

Read the slide deck that was used during the presentation:

Or watch the full recording:

As the US is slowly emerging from the pandemic state, traffic in American cities is picking up again and soon public parking spaces in public areas will be occupied once again. The big question on people’s minds: how can we make sure this ‘transition’ back to normalcy does not lead to more chaos than before? Tech Journalist from the UK, Arti Loftus, (pandemictechnews.com) interviewed our COO David Parker about post-pandemic parking management.

“In many cities, parking areas are a widely poorly-utilized asset whose full potential value is not well understood,” said Parker when asked about the potential value parking spaces hold. In addition to that, approximately 30% of all traffic is search traffic. Eliminate the driver’s need for circling, and you see an immediate improvement to the local environment, eliminating unnecessary emissions.

Cleverciti has come up with advanced smart city parking solutions to ensure a seamless return to normalcy for shoppers and commuters, such as the Cleverciti Circ® 360 that wraps around lampposts and provides real-time guidance to the nearest available parking space. The Circ can be connected with other Cleverciti technology, like the Cleverciti Sensor, which applies AI technology to monitor the overall occupancy status of parking spaces. 

With these smart parking applications, Cleverciti takes away the need to circle around a block over and over again until you find a parking spot, leading to a smooth, stress-free arrival experience. This does not only benefit the drivers, but also the businesses around and organizations such as parking operators, cities or civic authorities, as they maximize their return on parking assets and drivers will no longer be discouraged and eventually leave, due to driving around wastefully in search of a parking spot. 

David Parker recently spoke at The Frontier Conference, on a panel called, “Emerging Digital Economies of Cities”.

The short answer is: yes, they can be (even more sustainable than non-smart cities). The longer, more complex, answer is: Smart cities have the potential to make a significant contribution to urban sustainability, by using information and communication technology (ICT) to gather urban data and improve performance and management.

How? By applying smart solutions such as smart parking, smart lighting, smart building, air quality monitoring, refuse collection, renewable energy, water infrastructure, and energy grids. In fact, smart parking has turned out to be one of the fastest and easiest solutions to achieve sustainability in a city.

But what do we mean exactly by the term “smart solutions”? A smart solution is a general term commonly used to describe systems that combine innovative information and communication technologies (e.g. Internet of Things), and apply them in all aspects of life, such as smart devices (TVs, phones), but also smart offices, cars, or even complete cities. It is possible to apply smart solutions in such a wide range because most smart solutions are based on the use of sensors. Sensors come in all shapes and sizes and can be installed almost everywhere and in/on anything. 

A concrete example of a smart solution that helps cities control their carbon footprint and reduce their CO2 emissions is air quality monitoring. Monitoring air quality in cities helps in assessing the level of pollution in relation to the ambient air quality standards. It can provide cities insights on how to actively reduce their emissions. A solution like this can lead to 10-15% fewer greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

In order to build successful smart city solutions, three key steps are necessary (Source):

1. The technology base has to include networks of connected devices and sensors, such as smartphones connected by high-speed communication networks

2. Smart applications and data analysis capabilities are used to translate the raw data gathered from these devices and sensors into alerts, insights, and ultimately, actions

3. A wide adoption of applications and usage by cities, companies, and the public, together with the effective management of data, is needed to inspire better decisions and behavior change

In a study from June 2018 on smart cities, McKinsey Global Institute investigated how technology can deliver a better quality of life, including an analysis of smart applications that will be relevant for cities through 2025. Findings indicate that smart technologies could improve key indicators such as health, security or cost of living by 10–30% once introduced and that using the current generation of smart city applications could effectively help cities make significant or moderate progress toward meeting 70% of the Sustainable Development Goals.

Another great example of a smart solution that helps cities improve their environmental impact is smart parking. Did you know that 30% of all emissions that are caused by traffic are due to parking search traffic? Can you imagine the amount of emissions we would ‘save’ if we are able to guide drivers to the nearest parking spot, without having to circle around the block over and over again?! This is why we came up with a variety of smart parking solutions, such as a smart parking guidance system that uses overhead sensors that can be mounted onto existing lampposts, or a curb management system that helps cities manage the curb effectively. 

Smart parking is extremely important for the development of smart cities and part of the reason why smart cities tend to be more sustainable than non-smart cities. 

To us at Cleverciti, it is perfectly clear that smart cities are the future and we are eager to contribute to a better and more sustainable future by developing the best smart parking solutions for our customers around the world. Curious to see how our smart parking systems can be applied in your city? Schedule a demo below and talk to one of our smart parking experts now: 

This year’s edition of the world-renowned tourism fair ITB Berlin took place online from March 9th to March 12th. On March 10th, Cleverciti and the Tourism Association of the Lübeck Bay took the stage on Expo Stage 2 to talk about our successful project in one of Germany’s most touristic regions on the North Coast, where we tackled the high traffic increase in summer with an ingenious smart parking system that benefits both tourists and locals. The speaker panel consisted of Thomas Hohenacker, CEO and Founder at Cleverciti, David Parker, COO at Cleverciti and Paul Stellmacher, Deputy Board Member of Tourism Association “Lübecker Bucht”. 

“Successfully Managing Overtourism with an Award-Winning Parking Guidance solution”

As will be touched on later, this has turned out to be an exceptionally successful project for all parties involved. 

After short introductions, the speakers kicked off by briefly sharing the challenge at hand:

• Lübeck Bay is a top regional tourism destination, only 1 hour away from Hamburg

• It has 3 million annual visitors of which 1.5 million day visitors are drawn towards the beautiful beaches

• The area is filled with overcrowded hotspots with lead to massive congestion

• There is actually plenty of free parking space in lesser-known areas along the coast

• All of this was exacerbated by COVID as local tourism and social distancing became the number one priority. 

To solve these challenges, a traffic light system was deployed for the beaches and the surrounding parking areas, within an app called “Strandticker.de”. With Strandticker, visitors get steered to “green” areas and steered away from “red” and “yellow” areas. How? By showing a traffic light on a map of the tourism area. The data for the traffic lights come from beach occupancy sensors, installed at all entry points to the beaches, and parking occupancy sensors, installed at all parking areas along the beach. The acceptance of this app has been absolutely overwhelming! Since the launch in 2020, a staggering 400,000 unique users adopted the app with 4 million views within the app store. 

Reduce parking search

As for parking specifically, the main challenge in Lübeck Bay was to steer cars directly to the nearest and best parking space, instead of visitors driving to one of the most known parking areas, just to find there is no space anymore and then parking in illegal areas instead.

As said, this led to a simple “traffic light” system for both the beaches and the parking spots, where the visitors can see the exact occupancy status at a glance, quickly finding available parking and make better decisions on their way to the beach. The parking sensors are updated in near real-time which means that a few seconds after the car has parked, the sensor marks the spot as ‘taken’. 

Award-winning solution

This concept recently won two coveted Deutscher Tourismuspreis 2020 awards - 2nd Prize overall, and the People’s Choice Award. Reason enough for all parties involved to expand the system regionally! 

Future expansion

Next year, the system will be expanded to cover more locations within Scharbeutz and more cities throughout Lübeck Bay. In addition to that, more digital guidance will be added at key decision points to cover 100% of the driver experience in the area. And last but not least, the currently isolated data sources will be combined together to establish a predictive element: “If I leave Hamburg now, will there still be space in 1 hour?” Cleverciti is thrilled to partner with Lübeck Bay on this project and is looking forward to what is still to come.

After the audience learned a bit more about the project and its success, a few more questions came up in the Q&A section:

Why was parking guidance so important in solving the challenge at Lübeck Bay?

Though it is not often said, parking search actually is an immense cost to society, as is shown by these (rather shocking) numbers:

• 6.8 billion hours per year are wasted due to parking search, 

• 28 million metric tons CO2 is emitted per year (that’s 1.3 billion trees!) due to parking search,

• 132 billion dollars are lost per year and,

• 30% of all traffic is unnecessary*. 

*In the US, UK & Germany alone. 

Source: Innix Parking Pain Study & Donald Shoup: “The High Cost of Free Parking”

Why Cleverciti?

The next question was: why did the Tourism Association pick Cleverciti to handle their parking challenge? Cleverciti, as is illustrated by the case in Lübeck Bay, offers an accurate, real-time, per-space detection system in combination with turn-by-turn guidance to the nearest space. How? By using Cleverciti Sensors & Cleverciti Circ 360®. Each is easy to install and compatible with all public safety and privacy concerns as the sensors only transfer the GPS location of the cars. Also, both are installed on existing infrastructure, which reduces deployment costs. 

What is unique about Cleverciti’s parking guidance system?

What makes Cleverciti stand out among other suppliers, is our system combines all existing parking data, meaning, not only data from garages but also on-street and off-street parking. This is the key factor to reducing traffic & emissions. 

Where can you currently find Cleverciti’s parking guidance systems?

Cleverciti is operational in 20 countries around the world. Also in major tourism destinations: in the heart of Dubai, Banff Canada, and now also in Lübeck Bay to name a few. The sensors and digital signage have therefore proven themselves to perform equally well in all types of environments and weather conditions.

Wrapping up

After answering a few more questions from the audience, Mr. Stellmacher had one final thought he wanted to share with the audience:

“Visitor guidance systems using parking sensors; it’s very simple, they just work. It’s existing technology put together in a new way that is worth your consideration.”

Interested to learn more about the project in Lubeck Bay? Read our recently published case study going into detail on the project. 

Or watch the full ITB presentation below:

On March 16th, Cleverciti, Element Energy, Trojan Energy & British Parking Association co-hosted the webinar: “The road to electrification: how parking data can assist Local Authorities with electric transition and beyond.”

The speaker panel consisted of:

• Chris Heddle, Country Manager UK & Ireland at Cleverciti

• David Parker, COO at Cleverciti

• Sarah Clements, Senior Consultant at Element Energy

• Hugh Mackenzie, COO at Trojan Energy

• Julian O'Kelly, PhD, Head of Technology, Innovation and Research at the British Parking Association (BPA)

During the webinar, which was attended by 52 representatives of local authorities from the UK, Chris Heddle from Cleverciti took on the role of moderator and lead the conversation around the switch to electric vehicles in cities and how smart parking can help local authorities during the transition. After introducing all members of the speaker panel, Mr. O’Kelly was the first to kick off by directly addressing the topic at hand: the fact that the transport & mobility sector is not nearly as far advanced in terms of reducing carbon emissions as they should be, especially in these times of increased volumes of delivery services, such as Amazon. Electric Vehicles (EV) are, in the eyes of the BPA, a large part of the solution. That is why the BPA is working with the government to support a National Parking Platform; a publicly owned, national facility that enables Parking Operators (public or private) to communicate digitally with service providers, covering data like occupancy or payments & reservation information. Parking space, in the eyes of Mr. O’Kelly, should be approached in the future as mobility space. 

The next speaker, Ms. Clements from Element Energy, which is a consultancy that only works on low and zero-emission projects with local authorities (LA), gave an example of a project that they did to support LAs on their road to electrification: an analysis for the Birmingham city council to assess taxi demand to determine where charging points should be located. This is only one of the means of support that LAs can receive on their journey to electrification.

Mr. MacKenzie from Trojan Energy, the company that produces the Flat & Flush Connector, shared with the audience how their EV charging solution works. The connector is a charging point that is located a few centimeters from the edge of the curb and is hidden in the pavement. When a user accesses its personal lance, the charger rises and is ready for use. In addition to that, Trojan recently teamed up with Cleverciti, to tackle another challenge concerning on-street charging without EV-only bays: the blocking of parking spaces by non-EV vehicles. That is why they decided to install Cleverciti Sensors on lampposts along the street, that monitor every moment to see if a parking space is available. This data is used in an app for EV drivers, that shows them exactly which spaces are available in real-time, giving them a clear parking advantage over non-EV drivers.  

Last but not least, Mr. Heddle, on behalf of Cleverciti, shared how parking data can assist LAs with electrification and beyond. The parking pressure today is huge: 95% of the time a car is parked and 44 hours of time is wasted by people in search of a parking space. In addition to that, 1.3kg CO2 is emitted by parking search and 23.3 billion Pounds are lost due to parking search. As a result, 34% of the drivers will resort to negative behavior. Smart parking helps overcome this challenge, for example by applying Cleverciti’s sensor technology that monitors and stimulates compliance. By providing the Cleverciti App that can be integrated into payment or city apps, Cleverciti is aiming for maximum adoption by the local drivers, reducing traffic and emissions. 

It is safe to say that when you combine EV infrastructure with smart parking data, that is when the puzzle truly comes together. By combining both you can encourage correct use of space, incentivize EV drivers to vacate EV bays when fully charged, notify EV drivers of charging bays becoming available, etc.

Of course, this is not all that was talked about. Wish to find out more? The full recording of the event can be viewed below:

Wish to know more about smart parking and its role in the road to electrification? Schedule a demo with one of our smart parking experts by clicking the button below. 

107 hours—that is how much time drivers in the U.S. spend looking for a parking space. In Europe, numbers vary between 60 and 90 hours per year. This is not only a colossal waste of time, but it also negatively impacts the environment and causes enormous economic losses. When drivers are unable to find a parking space, 34% resort to either parking their car illegally or canceling their planned activity altogether. 

Smart parking can remedy the situation. As a study pitting drivers using smart technology to find their parking space against those relying on sheer luck has shown, those using smart parking systems spent 43 percent less time driving. Innovative parking systems can be employed in a number of different environments, four of which have been outlined below. 

Smart Parking Use Case #1: Tourism Destination

While tourism is vitally important for many economies and regions around the world, popular destinations often struggle with an onslaught of visitors during the high seasons. One of the side effects is an increase in traffic, affecting not only a destinations’ popularity among visitors but also severely disrupting inhabitants’ daily lives. Visitor flows need to be steered in a way that tourists can easily find parking spaces at their destination while not decreasing the quality of life for inhabitants. 

The German “Tourismus-Agentur Lübecker Bucht” sought to devise a concept that would direct the 1.5 million day visitors per year along the coast efficiently. Those visitors usually head for the parking lots closest to the beaches, which fill up rapidly. Next, drivers will search aimlessly in adjacent parking lots or residential areas, inevitably causing congestion and traffics jams. 

To remedy this problem while also lowering CO2 emissions and providing a less stressful environment for residents and tourists alike, the tourism agency together with Cleverciti implemented a parking system to monitor real-time occupancy of parking lots close to a popular beach. This smart parking system allows visitors to find out ahead of time whether there are still parking spaces available and directs them to alternative parking areas if necessary. 

Read the full case study here. 

Smart Parking Use Case #2: City 

With a large number of people relying on personal vehicles in their daily lives, cities often suffer from traffic jams and congestion, many of which are caused by parking search. This not only lowers the quality of life in cities but also impacts the environment negatively, with almost 30% of carbon emissions being caused by parking search traffic. According to research, one car circling around while looking for available parking emits approximately 1.3 kilograms of carbon dioxide. 

The city of Cologne, Germany, had a similar problem in one of its liveliest districts with drivers spending large amounts of time on their parking search. Together with Cleverciti, the energy provider RheinEnergie aimed to improve quality of life and reduce emissions in the neighborhood by implementing a smart parking system in Cologne-Nippes. 

As part of this system, Cleverciti Sensors monitoring the availability of parking spaces as well as LED display relaying relevant parking information to the drivers were installed. This resulted in previously unused parking spaces now being used optimally, thus providing a valuable service for Cologne’s citizens and generating additional income for the city. 

Read the full case study here.   

Smart Parking Use Case #3: Office

For corporate campuses that service a large workforce, communication is critical to the effectiveness of a smart parking solution. In many cases, drivers lack accurate guidance that helps them find available parking under time pressure. 

EnBW, one of Germany’s biggest energy providers, had a similar problem in its office locations in Stuttgart and Biberach. In both locations, the parking situation was confusing with employees often having to spend valuable time on their parking search. In addition, there was no comprehensive parking data available to support intelligent infrastructure decisions. 

Cleverciti developed a comprehensive parking guidance system for both office parking lots, helping to reduce parking search times significantly by providing real-time occupancy data per single parking space that is used to feed into the EnBW parking app. This greatly improves the overall work environment while also saving on working time and reducing harmful vehicle emissions. 

Using existing infrastructure to install the Cleverciti Sensors that monitor the parking spaces meant that no extra installation costs were incurred. Cleverciti’s end-to-end solutions also include remote maintenance and other services, meaning that internal administrative efforts are minimized. 

Read the full case study here.  

Use Case #4: Train Station

Many cities around the world are trying to promote local train services and incentivize citizens to use public transport instead of their personal vehicles in the hopes of reducing traffic and harmful vehicle emissions. Especially in rural areas taking the train to work often includes a short car ride to the train station, which means that parking spaces have to be readily available. However, the challenge lies in finding a parking space at the train station quickly and easily while under time pressure. Unnecessarily long parking search times can be a reason for people not to take public transport at all.

The municipality of Kerken in Germany wanted to tackle this challenge: Its proximity to major cities meant that many inhabitants commuted to work daily but found it difficult to find available parking spaces ahead of their train journey. 

Municipality officials worked together with Cleverciti to remedy the situation, implementing a comprehensive parking service that supplies drivers with accurate information regarding the availability of parking spaces ahead of time and diverting them to alternative parking should their initial destination be fully occupied. 

To that end, Cleverciti Sensors were installed on several lampposts, some of which had to be equipped with battery-powered solutions to provide electricity 24/7. These sensors monitor the parking area and provide accurate information about the availability of parking spaces. 

Read the full case study here. 

Want to know more about our smart parking solutions? Click the button below and schedule a demo with one of our smart parking experts directly.

Suppliers of smart parking sensors worth mentioning are Nedap, EnSight and Cleverciti. 

First of all, it is important to define: what makes a good sensor? A good sensor is:

• reliable in all weather conditions

• detects vehicles even in floating parking space rather than (only) detecting individual parking bays

• easy to install, on existing infrastructure

Cleverciti Sensor

Cleverciti, a global company with offices in the US and UK and headquarters in Munich, Germany, has managed to harness the power of edge computing, artificial intelligence, and deep learning to provide a smart parking solution that shapes the streetscape of smart cities. The Cleverciti Sensor measures the exact position and size of open parking spaces, supplying drivers and parking operators with highly reliable, real-time information on available spaces.

With a range of up to 220 degrees, the Cleverciti Sensor can cover up to 100 parking spaces through edge computing, IoT & AI technology. It does not have to be installed in-ground but instead makes use of existing infrastructure and can be mounted on lamp posts, masts or buildings. Depending on the surroundings, the installation of one sensor takes less than one hour. Should the needs change, the sensors can easily be relocated.

Data captured by the sensors is updated every three seconds, allowing real-time detection of available parking spaces. Processing of the data occurs within the sensor itself, meaning that no video leaves the sensor. This not only minimizes bandwidth costs but also ensures that the smart parking system is fully compliant with privacy regulations. In addition, data transmissions are fully encrypted.

Would you like to see for yourself? Then click below and schedule a demo by one of our smart parking experts.

From the invention of the first parking meters, parking technology has come a long way, allowing today’s users to independently navigate the entire parking experience. As technologies continue to advance and parking behavior changes, smart parking is bound to evolve as well. Let’s take a look at the smart parking developments we can expect to see in the future. 

1. Increased Efficiency of Parking Systems

The present generation of parking systems offers basic automation, offering users information on the occupancy status of parking spaces and enabling automated ticketing and payment. Within the next ten years, however, users will expect an increase in the efficiency of parking systems. This will entail, among other things, direct guidance to an available parking space and real-time information about other mobility solutions in the vicinity. 

2. Growing Shared Mobility Market

As much as 50% of current car owners predict that shared mobility services will replace private car ownership—mainly because car sharing is, in many cases, cheaper and more sustainable. The shared mobility market is expected to be valued at $619.5 billion by 2025, which is bound to also impact smart parking. 

3. Including Increasing Mobility Mix in Smart Parking

As transportation systems become more and more integrated, parking operators will have to take a variety of transport options into account. Drivers will need accurate and real-time information on mobility solutions ranging from cars and ride-shares to scooters, public transport, and bicycles. 

4. Reducing Emissions with Smart Parking Systems

As cities around the world set out to reduce their harmful emissions, smart parking will be an increasingly important part of environmental initiatives. Deploying a citywide smart parking solution is the fastest way a city can reduce its traffic congestion—and with that, its emissions. Other changes such as a switch to more electric vehicles or more efficient air conditioning and building insulation require many years of changes in consumer behavior, while smart parking shows its effects almost overnight.  

5. Increasing Analysis of and Need for Parking Data

As parking requirements change, parking operators will have to analyze changes in parking behavior. In-depth analyses require data. Smart parking systems will therefore not only have to provide reliable services to users but also generate accurate data on parking behaviors, peak hours, etc. 

6. Restructuring Parking Spaces to Accommodate Autonomous Vehicles

With the rise of autonomous vehicles, parking spaces will have to be replanned and restructured to accommodate their needs that differ from those of conventional vehicles. They will change the usage of cars in general and parking modalities in particular with their self-parking features and robotic valet parking. 

Download our full guide to smart cities and the future of smart parking by clicking the button below. 

Atlanta, March 5th 2021 - A smart parking system devised and implemented by Cleverciti is set to reduce parking search in Redwood City by 45%. As businesses, restaurants, and entertainment venues are set to reopen, Redwood City is expecting an increase in parking demand in its Central Business District, where drivers have had to search for parking for up to 30 minutes during peak times before the pandemic forced businesses to close.

Parking demand has dropped by 90% and now stands at 50%, illustrating just how hard Redwood City’s stores, theaters, and restaurants were hit by the pandemic. “We’re really focused on the 3 R’s: respond, restore, and reimagine,” says Jessica Manzi, Redwood City’s senior transportation manager. “As economic activity picks up in the coming months, this program is going to help support our businesses.”

By reducing parking search times, people will have more time to shop, dine or simply run their errands faster, freeing up parking spaces for the next customers more quickly. 

A network of Cleverciti Sensors will identify on-street parking, surface lots as well as parking garages. LED signs will provide turn-by-turn directions to the nearest available parking space. The smart parking system is set to launch in the summer. 

Watch the news segment from ABC7 Bay Area about the case in Redwood City below:

Silicon Valley is known for widespread early adoption of the latest and greatest technologies for businesses and consumers, but one area of the Valley has yet to undergo a tech makeover: parking. Sure, there are mobile apps for metered parking, faster routes to avoid traffic, and time travel tracking apps, but what about the basic act of searching for parking itself? In an area where the population is dense, private vehicles are popular, and fuel emissions are of great concern, the raw issue of parking can deliver positive, meaningful outcomes for communities, businesses, and the environment. 

We are thrilled to share a newly formed partnership with Redwood City’s Central Business District which will help catapult the area’s parking into the 21st century. 

What does this mean exactly? Imagine driving to the Redwood City Business District and, rather than leaving early to maneuver congestion and circle the blocks to look for parking, you pulled into town, looked up and digital signage directed you right to an available spot. No more aimless searches, wasting time, and getting frustrated. No more needless emissions from idling vehicles. 

Cleverciti’s solution will feature space guidance for seven surface lots, eleven garages, and over 4,500 parking spaces. It will integrate with the city’s mobile app, PayByPhone mobile payment provider, and IPS Multi-space pay station, ensuring a connected and seamless experience across the city’s full parking ecosystem.

“Redwood City has made it a priority to innovate and improve its transportation systems, this includes the parking infrastructure. We must think more creatively and more holistically about parking and its daily interaction with Redwood City’s patrons; it plays a critical role in the future of mobility and in supporting our local economy, ensuring easy access to many of our small businesses,” said Christian Hammack, Parking and Transportation Demand Manager, RWC. 

“We partnered with Cleverciti Systems because they developed a comprehensive solution that considers everything from improving air quality to providing drivers with an extraordinary service and data.”

We are thrilled that Redwood City is modernizing its parking and setting the bar for other cities to follow suit! 

For the full press release and visuals, you can download here:  

Munich, February 19th 2021 - Cleverciti is proud to announce the publication of the Ultimate Smart City Parking Guide 2021. When you say smart city parking, you say Cleverciti. That is why we’ve decided to gather all the stats and put down our knowledge and share it with you through this essential Smart City Parking Guide. The complete guide can be downloaded here. 

Why an Ultimate Smart City Parking Guide?

Because smart cities are becoming both increasingly popular and important. Smart cities are the future and smart parking plays a vital part in the development of smart cities. It’s time to shed some light on the challenges that (smart) cities face and how smart parking can help conquer those.

What can you expect from the Ultimate Smart City Parking Guide 2021?

Our aim is to share our knowledge with regard to smart cities, smart parking and new mobility (smart city mobility), and to shine a light on the role smart parking solutions play to support your smart city design.

What’s inside the Ultimate Smart City Parking Guide 2021?

• A detailed analysis of the challenges that cities face today

• Real solutions that tackle these challenges

• The influence of climate change on the development of smart cities

• Insights into the future of smart cities in 2021 and beyond

• The role of smart parking in the development of smart cities

• Emission reduction due to smart parking

• Concrete use cases of smart parking solutions in smart cities

• Insights into the future of smart parking

Download the guide now.:

Here is a sneak preview:

According to the UN, more than half of the world’s population live in urban areas, with numbers expected to rise to up to 60% by 2030. This means that urban settlements already housing millions of people in megacities such as Delhi, Tokyo, Mexico City, and Shanghai are projected to grow further.

This trend in urbanization goes together with unique challenges, such as increasing costs of living, lack of adequate and affordable housing, environmental and infrastructure issues as well as public transit and traffic networks that are not fit to cater to an increasing number of inhabitants.

Smart cities provide solutions that focus on using technology, data, and information to improve the quality of life, spanning from publicly accessible administrative services and smart housing to smart mobility solutions. In smart cities, data is used to reduce the negative side effects of living in densely populated areas, which can range from environmental pollution to stress-related illnesses.

Real-life Example: Smart Parking

With an increasing number of people living and working in cities, the number of commuters and people traveling by car, bicycle, public transport or on foot also continues to grow. Congestion in most large inner cities is already common, with people spending as long as 20 minutes or more looking for available parking spaces. This not only adds to already congested urban areas, but it also increases emissions and environmental pollution. Smart parking solutions such as modern AI-overhead sensors mounted on lampposts and walls can provide real-time data on free parking, allowing drivers to navigate to the nearest parking space quickly and efficiently.

In cities where the center is chronically congested, alternative parking spaces outside the inner city area can relieve the parking situation. Real-time data on available parking spaces can make it more appealing for drivers to park their cars there and use alternative means of transport to travel the last few miles towards their destination.

Smarter Cities for a Smarter Future

Other areas where smart cities can help improve the overall quality of life include smart housing, smart administration, and smart infrastructure. With environmental pollution already being an issue cities are aiming to tackle, smart infrastructures can make cities eco-friendly by creating sustainable structures for supplying electricity, gas, and hot water.

Curious to see how Cleverciti’s smart parking solutions contribute to smart cities worldwide? Then click below and schedule a demo with one of our smart parking experts.

In Lübeck Bay, a popular tourist region on the northern coast of Germany, Cleverciti has helped to effectively steer the visitor traffic flow by implementing Cleverciti Sensors and the Cleverciti Cockpit to monitor and generate real-time data for over 100 parking spaces along the coastline. 

Scharbeutz

The customer

With approximately 1.5 million overnight stays and 1.5 million day visitors per year, Lübeck Bay is one of the most popular tourist regions in Germany and one of the top destinations in the German state of Schleswig-Holstein. Due to its close proximity to the city of Hamburg, it is a beloved trip for people that want to escape city life and enjoy some quality time at the beaches of Scharbeutz and Timmendorf. The Tourismus-Agentur Lübecker Bucht is responsible for the promotion and sustainable development of tourism along the entire stretch of the coast. The agency is made up of representatives of three adjacent municipalities – Scharbeutz, Neustadt, and Sierksdorf – to enable a coordinated smart tourism approach.

The case

Lübeck Bay welcomes a high volume of guests especially in the summer, resulting in traffic congestion as tourists search for available parking spaces. One of the main challenges of the area is the lack of information regarding the occupancy status of the various parking lots near the seaside. The local tourism agency wishes to manage the visitor flow alongside the coast more efficiently. To be able to do that, Cleverciti was selected to implement smart parking systems to monitor the real-time occupancy status of two parking lots near a popular beach.

The Cleverciti solution

Cleverciti monitors approximately 100 parking spaces divided over two parking lots via 9 overhead Cleverciti Sensors, which were easily installed to the existing lamp posts. The occupancy data generated by the smart parking sensors are made available to the tourism agency via the Cleverciti Cockpit, a comprehensive parking management dashboard. 

Cleverciti Sensor in use in Lübeck Bay

“Cleverciti has implemented the project in an excellent way. They have fully responded to our wishes and needs and have delivered high quality. We are looking forward to the next steps,” says Paul Stellmacher, Deputy Chairman of the Tourismus-Agentur Lübecker Bucht.

The result

The Cleverciti parking system was installed and deployed quickly and easily. The operation of the sensors is now running without any administrative or operational effort by the tourism agency. The live parking data is integrated into various websites, reducing parking search time for tourists and improving the quality of life for local inhabitants. 

In addition to that, the Tourismus-Agentur Lübecker Bucht has been awarded the German Tourism Award 2020 for its concept to better direct visitor streams. The agency was one of five nominees out of 158 applicants. Due to its ongoing success, the Cleverciti system will be rolled out to other parking lots in Lübeck Bay.

Download the full case study below.