Parking technology Joined-up thinking Can parking technology be an enabler for smarter urban areas? Kenny Scouller, senior sales manager at Flowbird, finds out he worlds of parking, transportation and payment technology are increasingly converging as urban areas embrace new opportunities through digital systems. Increasingly, solutions are informed by big data. Smart analytics are helping towns and cities meet the demands of growing urbanisation through strategies aimed at reducing pollution, easing congestion, encouraging social cohesion and economic development, and protecting revenues. But, now, we are entering a new digital era, where there will be greater integration of technology to meet the needs of end users, as well as local authorities and operators. At one level, cloud-enabled terminal services are allowing authorities to monitor pollution, introduce emissions-based charging and run hyperlocal marketing initiatives. At another, apps are becoming increasingly customer intuitive: Flowbirds global app now offers midparking-session top-ups, datapredicted space availability, and pedestrian return-to-car navigation. In addition, contactless and digital payments for parking, alongside cash, are commonplace and starting to feature in account-based ticketing platforms. T a single interface, while simultaneously creating streamlined market access for scheme owners and operators. However, MaaS relies on a digital architecture that can manage these data interactions securely. Flowbird has developed StreetSmart, a modular platform that can connect all the parking and transportation systems across a town or city in one holistic solution. It links together hardware the terminals that are on and off street; software a modular, cloud-based platform that manages all transaction data and end-user entitlements, such as permits linked to mobility; and analytics a module that helps track performance, identify marketing trends and optimise revenue. In addition to parking, the platform can manage user entitlements for leisure, bus travel and events. This centralisation of data also enables authorities and operators to optimise traffic flows through better parking strategies, improve transport scheduling relative to user habits, and optimise resource management. StreetSmart is already linking together all data related to parking, public transport and traffic management Building blocks Flowbird believes these innovations along with transport ticketing and shared vehicle networks (including EV) are building blocks to delivering Mobility as a Service (MaaS). With MaaS, the vision is to integrate parking, transportation and other services through a unified management gateway. This will make it easier for consumers to plan, book, access and pay for private and public travel-related services through Belgium gets smart In Brussels, StreetSmart is already linking together all data related to parking, public transport and traffic management, helping to turn the vision of a smart city into reality. Critically, the platform integrates with eight mobile-phone payment solutions, not just Flowbird technology, and manages 200,000 resident permits. This ensures that customers are given the greatest possible choice when it comes to selecting services. The result of all this innovation will be a new digital era in which parking is viewed in the context of smart mobility, as an enabler for the social, economic and environmental goals of towns and cities. 28 britishparking.co.uk PN Apr20 pp28-29 Flowbirds Feature.indd 28 24/03/2020 14:17 Local