Solutions for the management of parking spaces in loading and unloading areas

The boom of online deliveries and fraud saturate and complicate the current management of parking spaces reserved for loading and unloading.

Urbiotica proposes solutions to the misuse of loading and unloading areas. Detectamos que usuarios están incorrectamente aparcados y generamos alertas cuando se descubre un mal uso de las zonas de carga y descarga.

If you want to know more about the control of parking spaces for loading and unloading, we tell you how to improve it.

Parking problems in areas reserved for carriers

The cuts that have taken place in the loading and unloading areas, added to the growing problem of online delivery and the fraudulent use of the parking spaces, has led cities to implement technological solutions to facilitate the control and use of these reserved spots, with the aim of curbing chaos and congestion.

The parking spaces reserved for loading and unloading are for the use of transporters. Their purpose is to facilitate the work of delivery drivers and to relieve urban traffic in areas with complicated circulation and a shortage of parking spaces. The good use and respect of its use regulations favor fluid mobility and therefore, the general well-being for all in the cities.

The reality of loading and unloading areas in cities

According to thestudy of the Sustainable Mobility Index of the Capitals of Provinces of Spain prepared by Idencity in collaboration with AECOC (association of manufacturers and distributors), the urban distribution of goods can represent up to 40% of the total traffic in the cities.

If we add to this the boom in online shopping in recent years and its exponential growth generated by the COVID-19 pandemic, we are talking about a ”huge boom” in parcel delivery in cities.

Local governments are trying to adjust and adapt to this new reality by looking for solutions to speed up an essential service for both citizens and businesses, but at the same time trying to prevent this giant wave from damaging mobility and the local sustainability plans.

The situation forces cities to look for alternatives so that city centers do not collapse and that, in turn, these deliveries can be carried out successfully.

The situation in Alicante

The city of Alicante has 1,228 places for loading and unloading, and still not enough space to deal with the growing impact in terms of parcel delivery. They have implemented several solutions to alleviate overcrowding in the loading and unloading parking lot, such as ”the last mile”.

What it is it about? The last mile tries to make the last stretch of delivery through other means of transport, such as the bicycle or even walking. Despite this, none of the initiatives tested so far meet all the demand.

f we add the bad use of the loading and unloading areas to this exponential growth in the delivery of parcels, we obtain a very detrimental situation for the mobility in the centers and for the good operation of the cities.

The occupation of these places by unauthorized cars results in vehicles double-parked causing traffic issues and chaos. Drivers are harmed by excessive traffic and difficulty in reaching their destination.

Another important factor to take into account is the pollution indicators, which threaten the municipalities that try to meet their targets for reducing pollutant emissions.

On the other hand, citizens are dissatisfied by the chaos in their environment and suffer from excessive noise and polluting air.

You might be interested in: Loading and unloading parking control solution

And where do the delivery drivers park if the loading and unloading area is occupied?

In addition to the problems with the population and the pollution indicators, we should also talk about the situation of the distributors of goods. Nowadays, being a delivery man is not an easy task . They have to daily deal with cuts in loading and unloading areas, time restrictions and with people that park where they are not allowed to, as well as theft and job insecurity.

In the last decade, more than 3,000 loading and unloading spaces have been cut in Barcelona. Transporters or freight forwarders need to find a free place in the loading and unloading areas close to the delivery point in order to meet the required delivery times and customer expectations. Once parked, they also have to deal with the time constraints imposed on the reserved areas, which are sometimes insufficient to meet the delivery deadline. They work with established times for each delivery and when they do not find free spaces to park to make their deliveries with agility, they have no choice but to resort to unauthorized options.

Testimony

“’Once I even got a ticket. The loading and unloading places were occupied by unauthorized cars that were having breakfast at the bar and refused to remove the vehicle. As I couldn’t park in the loading and unloading area, I had to leave my vehicle wherever and I got a fine, while the others were not penalized”.

Jesús Estarlich. Deliverer

Urbiotica’s solution for parking problems in loading and unloading areas

Achieving compliance with the regulations of loading and unloading places is essential to obtain fluid mobility in cities and a good coexistence between citizens and services.

The key to success is to apply the necessary technology to the process that allows efficient control of the use of the loading and unloading places by authorized users and the immediate penalization when infractions occur.

Urbiotica’s solution for controlling the spaces reserved for loading and unloading consists of identifying the users parked in each space and generating alerts when fraudulent use is detected. It allows to drastically reduce violations and increase vehicle rotations in the parking spaces, favorably impacting availability.. It allows to drastically reduce violations and increase vehicle rotations in the parking spaces, favorably impacting availability.

This increased availability is transmitted to the authorized users through ParkTime, increasing the possibilities and speed of finding a free parking space. On the other hand, the real-time visualization of alerts allows optimizing control operations and resources for this management, being able to prioritize the areas with more violations. When the user feels he’s being controlled, he tends to respect the regulations. It has a clear pedagogical effect which is the key to achieve more sustainable mobility.

Several Spanish cities have already implemented solutions to improve the performance and use of loading and unloading zones in their localities. There are already 2000 smartly managed parking spaces and international projects on the way.

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Read more about the comprehensive solution for controlling the use of reserved parking spaces

Other links of interest:

Urbiotica

Urbiotica’s smart parking solutions

Smart Parking Success Stories

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