Smart app based on street sensors to alert drivers of vacant parking space

Driving around aimlessly searching for an empty parking space may soon be a thing of the past if the new app which can find a parking space well in advance and intimate driver is effective enough. Soon street sensors will provide all latest of information regarding availability of parking space which users will be able to access through their smartphones, iPad or tablets. This information will be available to Westminster’s traffic marshals who are standing by to assist motorists locate vacant parking spaces.

This is for the first time that such an exercise is being undertaken. The system works on the basis of small glass dome shaped sensors which are embedded in each parking bay which signals when it is empty or occupied or which vehicle has been parked over and above its allotted time period. The information of vacant parking bays is sent directly to motorists through mobile phones or Wi-Fi so that motorists can directly drive over and occupy that space without time consuming searches being undertaken.

Not only this, drivers can also make parking payments over their smartphones which can also be prepaid to save further time and effort. The system will undergo two months of trial before it is put into practice on a full time basis. It is currently in use in San Francisco and has peaked the interest of Westminster Council in London which charges upto £4.40 per hour of parking.