Currently, many cities have Low Emission Zones (LEZ), which are defined as areas of cities where access to certain vehicles is restricted due to their high degree of pollution due to polluting gas emissions. Therefore, one of the aspects to be taken into account at 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 the quality of life of citizens. And, moreover, it is an action that has entered into force in 2023 in the Law on Climate Change and Energy Transition.
Barcelona was the first city to implement a ZBE to restrict the access of the most polluting vehicles, which are those that do not have the environmental sticker of the Dirección General de Tráfico (DGT). And those with stickers or labels B and C 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 traffic times.
However, with the aforementioned 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 zones. This is where Urbiotica’s smart parking solutions come into play, which are specifically designed for Park&Ride areas. With these systems, we want to provide the keys to facilitate parking management in the EPZs of these municipalities.
What does the Climate Change and Energy Transition Law say?
The Climate Change and Energy Transition Law 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. And it sets a binding target for the reduction of net greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by at least 55% by 2030 compared to 1990 levels.
This state legislation applies on a mandatory basis to Spanish cities with a population of more than 50,000 inhabitants, including the Canary Islands and the Balearic Islands, as well as municipalities with more than 20,000 inhabitants that exceed the permitted levels of pollution and, therefore, do not comply with minimum air quality requirements.
All of them will have to have ZBEs in less than two years and these mobility restrictions for the most polluting vehicles can be a problem for citizens. The reason is that not everyone has easy access to public transport and they need their vehicles to commute to their jobs in the city from the suburbs.
Faced with the question of how to effectively manage parking in the context of Low Emission Zones, it is important to note that when implementing LEZs, cities often offer citizens park-and-ride areas, also known as Park&Ride. These areas allow drivers to park their vehicles before accessing the LEZ using alternative forms of transportation. This is where Urbiotica’s solutions can make a big difference.
Our solutions are designed to facilitate parking in Park&Ride zones, providing real-time information on occupancy and guiding drivers to available free spaces. By making the use of these zones easier and more efficient, we incentivize their use, thus promoting sustainable mobility and contributing to the objectives of climate change and energy transition laws.
Technologies to manage parking lots in Low Emission Zones
With this legislative context, we have to talk about the existing technologies to manage the dissuasive parking areas in the surroundings of the ZBE and that will serve the cities to achieve the objectives. Especially when in the mentioned cases, these areas of circulation and restricted access to the most polluting vehicles is mandatory.
Guidance solution for Park&Ride installations
In this regard, it is worth mentioning the guidance solution for Park&Ride facilities or park & ride facilities located on the outskirts of cities for drivers to park there and go to the city center by public transport. Generally, these parking lots are located near bus or train stations to facilitate transfer and promote the use of public transport.
Through the digitization of park-and-ride lots, drivers are encouraged to use them thanks to a better parking experience. With real-time information, transmitted through digital panels or Apps, about the areas with parking availability, they park easily and quickly. This will favor citizens’ adherence to these multimodal mobility methods.
Park&Ride
Occupancy detection systems in park-and-ride lots.
The system used by Urbiotica’s Park & Ride solution is based on two forms of detection that are differentiated according to the characteristics of the parking area and are complementary:
-Equip the entrances and exits of the parking lot through U-Flow VISIO cameras that carry out the capacity control by counting entrances and exits. The spot-by-spot detection software uses Artificial Intelligence to detect in real time the entry and exit of vehicles from a well-defined parking area. This technology can also perform spot-by-spot detection in its U-Spot VISIO version.
- Install U-Spot sensors for square-by-square detection, which are stand-alone 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 over 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 entrances and exits is implemented for a general detection of the space, and an individualized detection system is added to this system on a space-by-space basis 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 spaces for specific uses.
The information collected by the system is sent to the U-Admin platform to report the availability of these spaces. In this way, the guidance solution provides a complete and accurate view of parking space usage, adapting to the particularities of each location.
Advantages of solutions to improve mobility in EPZs
These two technological solutions, which aim to optimize mobility and vehicle management in Park & Ride areas, have a number of advantages:
- Encourages the use of Park & Ride zones.
- Decrease in vehicle traffic in the city center and related pollution. Satisfied citizens.
- Reduces the time spent looking for a free parking space.
- The user parks in an agile and planned way. Improves the drivers’ experience.
- Stimulates local commerce by facilitating access to the center.
- Lower levels of GHG emissions and environmental and noise pollution in cities.
Therefore, due to the obligation to implement LEZs after the approval and entry into force of the European Climate Law and the Climate Change and Energy Transition Law, Public Administrations must look for reliable and quality technological alternatives to manage Low Emission Zones parking lots effectively. These technologies that we have explained in this article are reliable solutions to achieve the environmental objectives at stake.
