Assignment 2 - Reader Response on Smart Parking Systems (Revised 4/12/2020)

In the article “IoT based Smart Parking for Smart Cities”, Joshi (2020) discusses the need for a smart parking system that will effectively reduce the time spent to find a parking space. Smart parking uses sensors to detect vacant parking spaces, which will then push the data to the cloud to provide ease of accessibility to users finding a lot. The data collected could also provide insight into the “correlations and movements of users”, which can be translated to potential business opportunities such as app developments and better traffic flow in the future. Joshi also mentions that the implementation of an Internet of Things (IoT) gateway will allow data to be “analyzed and managed from a remote-control center in real-time”, increasing efficiency and granting admins ample time to rectify faults promptly. The challenge, however, is for IoT solutions to transfer the necessary data to the cloud without discarding any current assets, utilizing minimal resources, and increasing the return of investments (ROI) of the parking systems. The article presents a well-balanced view in which smart parking can benefit from the introduction of IoT, but lacks elaboration on the utilization of a mobile application for payments and the high upfront costs of a smart parking system.

The first weakness is the lack of elaboration on the utilization of a mobile application for payments. This can be seen in well-developed countries, where users are actively engaged in their smartphones on buses, trains, etc. For example, San Francisco was one of the pioneers to implement smart parking pilot projects to manage the city’s bustling traffic conditions. The projects used a dynamic pricing model to regulate the number of cars in the vicinity, with “prices ranging from a minimum of 25 cents to a maximum of $7 per hour” (Xiong, 2018). The implementation of such systems yielded substantial results showing that users were less inclined to look for parking lots with high parking fees, thus effectively reducing the amount of traffic congestion around the city areas.

Secondly, a smart parking system is pieced together in different stages, requiring multiple costs to build and provide regular maintenance. A group of researchers from the Polytechnic University of Milan implemented a simulation model of a smart parking system in Milan’s metropolitan districts and it showed strong positive results when considering large samples. According to Mangiaracina et al. (2017), the project consisted of 80,000 sensors connected via an IoT gateway, 1,200 parking meters, and a mobile application to guide drivers to the nearest parking space. The results found that cars and trucks were able to save an average time of 30% and 40% respectively. Overall, the project would have made a return of its 11 million investment value in approximately two years, derived from its discounted payback period (DPP).

However, another recent study done by the University of Delaware found that it was not cost-effective to implement such systems in the whole city of Newark (Xiong, 2018). The study calculated the net present value (NPV) of actualizing such a plan to be -$65.5 million, indicating that the project would not turn positive in its entire project lifetime. The study concludes that it is not justifiable for cities to prioritize the transition to smart cities in the current situation. While there are significant social and economic benefits to having parking systems, the turnover and maintenance costs involve hefty budgets, which most cities are hesitant to commit.

In conclusion, the implementation of IoT systems in smart parking has shown to positively impact the lives of many users. The benefits of a parking system greatly outweigh the costs of implementing and maintaining it, which would draw more attention and investors to create a sustainable and profitable model for all stakeholders.

Reference

Joshi, R. (2020, February 14). IoT based smart parking systems for smart cities. HIOTRON. https://www.hiotron.com/smart-parking/

Mangiaracina, R. M., Perego, A. P., Tumino, A. T., Miragliotta, G. M., & Salvadori, G. S. (2017). Smart parking management in a smart city: Costs and benefits, 2017 IEEE International Conference on Service Operations and Logistics, and Informatics (SOLI), pp. 27-32, doi: 10.1109/SOLI.2017.8120964.

European Environmental Agency. (2019, April 18). CO2 emissions from cars: facts and figures (infographics). https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/headlines/society/20190313STO31218/co2-emissions-from-cars-facts-and-figures-infographics

Surpris, G. S., Liu, D. L., & Vincenzi, D. A. (2014, October). How much can a smart parking system save you? Human Factor and Ergonomics Society. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/280213474_How_Much_Can_a_Smart_Parking_System_Save_You

Xiong, X. X. (2018). Cost-benefit analysis of smart cities technologies and applications. University of Delaware. 

https://udspace.udel.edu/bitstream/handle/19716/23818/Xiong_udel_0060M_13359.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

Revised on 4 December 2020.