Cities with a dense population face different mobility problems that need to be solved to ensure smoothly flowing traffic. Optimizing public space in densely populated cities is thus an obligation for public administrations and companies developing solutions and technologies in this field.
The more the inhabitants in a city, the more vehicles on the roads, leading to more traffic jams, air and noise pollution, stress, and poor quality of life for citizens. This affects not only residents but also to the seasonal visitors in more tourist cities whose urban centers and areas leading to tourist sites or beaches suffer from heavy traffic jams.
Whether for smart tourist destinations or for optimizing public space in cities densely populated all year round, digitization through advanced technologies is the most reliable solution. The aim is to reduce the number of vehicles circulating in search of parking spots and to prevent the improper use of reserved parking spots, thus improving the traffic flow.
At Urbiotica, we want to talk about several advanced technology solutions aimed at this specific point: smartly and efficiently managing mobility in cities’ public space without high economic costs.
Solutions for optimizing public space in crowded cities
In a constantly changing world, cities face the challenge of adapting to the demands of climate change. This means turning lanes and parking spots into green areas, bicycle lanes, and parking areas for electric vehicles. However, this transition poses additional challenges in densely populated areas, where little parking is available and more space is allocated to services such as loading and unloading, charging points for electric vehicles, taxis, and areas for people with reduced mobility.
Solution of guidance to areas with parking availability
The solution of guidance to available parking, which has been successfully implemented in the city of Rosario (Argentina), has significantly reduced traffic congestion by directing drivers to vacant parking spots. This solution uses U-Spot sensors and a guidance application that informs drivers about free parking spots, resulting in fewer vehicles searching for parking, increased citizen satisfaction, improved mobility in the city center, and lower air pollution.
Guidance solution for Park&Ride zones
The Park&Ride solution encourages the use of deterrent parking areas by providing real-time information on the availability of parking spots and guiding vehicles to free spots with the aim of reducing traffic and pollution in the city center. Based on a robust communication infrastructure, this solution offers unique and highly reliable parking spot detection and entry/exit counting systems for established parking lots. Its easy integration with other multi-modal platforms and its range of services make it a complete solution for efficient management of these areas.
Urban parking guidance
Efficient loading and unloading solution
This solution focuses on optimizing operations in loading and unloading areas to prevent traffic congestion and the misuse of such spaces. This is achieved by guiding deliveries to available spots and applying alert-based controls to prevent misuse. This has been shown to reduce violations, improve the management of loading and unloading time, reduce the monitoring costs, and ensure fewer double-parked vehicles. A successful case in Castellón (Spain) shows how this solution increases compliance with regulations and improves traffic flow, benefiting both the city and the users of loading and unloading areas.
Pay-to-park control solution
Implementing a pay-to-park parking spot system in high-demand areas significantly improves compliance with regulations and efficiency in monitoring them. It alerts wardens and local police in the event of violations or time overruns, thus optimizing the costs of surveillance and reducing parking fraud. It also increases vehicle turnover, improves urban mobility, and reduces the time spent looking for parking. The solution ranges from vehicle detection to managing applications and variable signage panels, and it stands out for its robustness, reliability, and easy integration with other parking systems through modern, standard APIs.
Free Time-Limited Parking Control Solution
This aims to improve the management of time-limited parking areas and ensure compliance with established regulations. It alerts wardens or local police when parking sessions overrun the time allowed, improves urban mobility, and promotes access to local retailers. The solution uses single-spot parking sensors and offers tools such as mobile applications for users and real-time alerts for control and planning. Its versatility and easy integration make it complete and effective for free time-limited parking control.
Benefits of optimizing public space in densely populated cities
We mentioned this at the beginning of the article, but to conclude, we want to explain in more detail the main benefits of optimizing public space in densely populated cities with these and the other digital solutions we have just listed.
Improvement and organization of urban mobility
Densely populated cities are characterized by the large number of vehicles on the streets, and it is estimated that 30% of these vehicles are searching for a parking spot. For this reason, the improvement of urban mobility depends on the good use of available technology to ease traffic congestion in cities by guiding users to areas where parking spots are available, and good control to avoid misuse of regulated parking.
Optimizing public spaces in cities is essential to avoid major traffic jams that only inconvenience all drivers and citizens. The present and the future must be based on Smart Mobility.
Pollution in cities is reduced
Encouraging quick parking for vehicles looking for a parking spot on the street or in a parking lot is another priority. It is estimated that up to 30% of traffic in cities is vehicles looking for a parking spot. So, alongside the first benefit, the technology reduces vehicles’ circulation time and lowers pollution in cities.
There are two types of pollution: first, greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions, one of the reasons for the establishment of Low Emission Zones (LEZ); and secondly, the noise of engines and horns when there are traffic jams or inefficient mobility in urban areas. The more stress for drivers, the more noise and the worse quality of life for everyone. This is all mitigated with the technology we have explained.
It supports economic activity
And thirdly, business economic activity is favored by allowing quiet pedestrian movement and efficient loading and unloading for transportation company employees.
This can be achieved through measures such as the pedestrianization of central urban areas or the implementation of time-limited parking areas in tourist towns, such as Calpe, which is one of those smart destinations mentioned at the beginning of the article.
These time-limited parking solutions also stimulate vehicle turnover, which in turn increases parking spot availability. In short, optimizing public space in densely populated cities is possible thanks to advanced solutions and technologies, such as those mentioned in this article by Urbiotica. We firmly believe that digitalization is unstoppable and that the main goal of any technology is to simplify, improve comfort, and promote people’s health. In this context, the priority is to achieve sustainable, orderly, and smart urban mobility.
