Many cities now have Low Emission Zones (LEZs), which are defined as areas of cities where access to certain vehicles is restricted due to the amount of their pollutant emissions. So one of the aspects to be taken into account in this point is how to manage parking in LEZs.
Because this is one of the measures that cities have been taking for years to reduce pollution and improve air quality and citizens’ quality of life. It is also an action that came into force in 2023 in the Climate Change and Energy Transition Act.
Barcelona was the first city to implement an LEZ to restrict access to the most polluting vehicles, which are those that do not have the environmental sticker of the Dirección General de Tráfico (DGT). And those with B and C stickers or labels have some kind of restriction to access and circulate in these zones.
Those restrictions applied to vehicles with B and C labels vary. Although they can access Low Emission Zones, their circulation may be limited during certain periods of high pollution or at specific peak times.
However, with this law, up to 149 Spanish cities will have to have a Low Emission Zone, according to data from the National Statistics Institute (INE). In this context, it is crucial to efficiently manage parking within these areas. This is where Urbiotica’s smart parking solutions come into play, which are specifically designed for Park&Ride areas. With these systems, we provide the keys to facilitate parking management in these towns or cities’ LEZ.
What does the Climate Change and Energy Transition Act say?
The Climate Change and Energy Transition Act has been passed following the approval first of the European Climate Law, which aims for climate neutrality and for the European Union to achieve negative emissions from 2050 onwards. It sets a binding target for the reduction of net greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by at least 55% by 2030 compared with 1990 levels.
This state legislation is mandatory for Spanish cities with a population of more than 50,000 inhabitants, including the Canary Islands and the Balearic Islands, as well as towns with more than 20,000 inhabitants that exceed permitted pollution levels and therefore fail to meet minimum air quality requirements.
All of them will have to be equipped with LEZs within two years and these mobility restrictions for the most polluting vehicles may be a problem for citizens. The reason is that not all of them have easy access to public transport and need their vehicles in order to commute to their jobs in the town from the suburbs.
On the question of how to effectively manage parking in the context of Low Emission Zones, it is important to keep in mind that when implementing LEZs, cities often provide citizens with Park&Ride areas. These zones allow drivers to park their vehicles before entering the LEZ on alternative forms of transport. This is where Urbiotica’s solutions can make a big difference.
Our solutions are designed to facilitate parking in Park&Ride areas by providing real-time information on occupancy and guiding drivers to available free spaces. By making these zones easier and more efficient to use, we encourage their use and thus promote sustainable mobility and contribute to the objectives of climate change and energy transition laws.
Technologies to manage parking in Low Emission Zones
Against this legislative background, we have to talk about the existing technologies to manage park and ride facilities around the LEZs and which will help cities to achieve their objectives. Especially when, in the cases mentioned above, these areas of circulation and restricted access on the most polluting vehicles is mandatory.
Guidance solution for Park&Ride facilities
This includes the guidance solution for Park&Ride facilities or disuasory car parks on the outskirts of cities for drivers to park there and travel to the centre on public transport. These car parks are generally located near bus or railway stations to facilitate transfers and promote the use of public transport.
Through the digitalisation of park-and-ride facilities, their use by drivers is encouraged through a better parking experience. With real-time information about available parking areas, transmitted via digital panels or Apps, they can park quickly and easily. This will encourage citizens’ adherence to these multi-modal mobility methods.
Park&Ride
OCCUPANCY DETECTION SYSTEMS IN DISUASORY CAR PARKS
The system used by Urbiotica’s Park&Ride solution is based on two forms of detection that are distinguished by the characteristics of the parking area and are complementary:
- Equipping the entrances and exits of the car park with U-Flow VISIO cameras that control capacity by counting vehicle movement. The space detection software uses Artificial Intelligence to detect the entry and exit of vehicles from a well-defined parking area in real time. This technology can also perform single space detection in its U-Spot VISIO version.
- Install U-Spot single space detection sensors, which are independent flush-mounted sensors with different communication options adapted to each project and customer’s specific needs.
- U-Spot M2M sensors that communicate over the mobile network (NB-IoT), and are particularly suitable for dispersed locations.
- U-Spot 3.0 sensors that communicate via the LoRaWAN protocol, ideal for low-power, wide-area networks.
The two systems complement each other perfectly. For example, what often happens is that the guidance solution based on counting entries and exits is implemented for a general detection of the space, and individualised detection is added for spaces reserved for special use, such as spaces for Persons with Reduced Mobility (PRM) or for charging electric vehicles. In this way, the information transmitted to users also includes the availability of specific usage spaces.
The information collected by the system is sent to the U-Admin platform to inform about the availability of such places. In this way, the guidance solution provides a complete and precise overview of the use of the parking space, adapting to the particularities of each site.
Advantages of solutions to improve mobility in LEZs
These two technological solutions, which aim to optimise mobility and vehicle management in Park&Ride areas, bring a number of benefits:
- They encourage the use of Park&Ride zones.
- They reduce vehicle traffic in the city centre and its related pollution. Satisfied citizens.
- They reduce the time it takes to find a free parking space.
- Users park in an agile and planned manner. They improve the driver experience.
- They stimulate local trade by assisting access to the centre.
- Lower levels of GHG emissions, air and noise pollution in cities.
Therefore, due to the obligation to implement LEZs following the approval and enforcement of the European Climate Law and the Law on Climate Change and Energy Transition, Public Administrations must look for reliable and quality technological alternatives for the effective management of Low Emission Zone car parks. These technologies that we have explained in this article are reliable solutions to achieve the environmental objectives at stake.
