Operational efficiency Joined-up thinking Louise Parfitt chats to Appyway founder Dan Hubert on putting the soul back into parking, the advances of better data for the green agenda, and the joy of climbing mountains ay-as-you-go parking is good for the high street. Its also good for the soul. People are not worried about overstaying so they spend longer in town and thats more money for the local economy. When I last spoke to Dan Hubert in 2019, AppyWay had just launched a trial of its Smart City Parking with Harrogate Borough Council and North Yorkshire County Council. It was a success and in 2021 was extended for another two years. AppyWay installed 2,156 smart sensors in on-street and off-street parking bays. When a motorist drives into a space, they start a parking session via the AppyWay app that automatically ends when the car drives away. The data is key providing the motorist with availability information, and giving the council space usage and demand facts that will help guide its integrated transport strategy. There are fewer miles driven because people know where they can find parking, which saves P about 50,000kgs of carbon each year, says Hubert. Although its good to see money going into electric vehicles, in our decarbonisation drive we should also put money into the critical infrastructure because we can reduce the carbon output of our existing 40 million vehicles just by giving them better data. Data is king Recognition of the importance data plays in effective parking and mobility management has increased during the past few years. Recently, a global parking specification based on Alliance for Parking Data Standards specifications was adopted by the International Organization for Standardization. This, coupled with the National Parking Platform (NPP), means we are one step closer to being able to join up payments, information and technology into one service. Also, the intrinsic value of the kerbside became even more apparent during the pandemic and data is key to the smart use of this asset. The agile response of many councils Parking and highways departments are starting to recognise the value in optimising their operations from parking capacity to improving air quality based on having one digital ledger of truth to use the space in different ways enabled through the emergency temporary traffic regulations orders added to this recognition. But Hubert says there is still a way to go to get complete buy-in, not helped by the rather slow response of government on the issue. There is an increasing appetite for a more joined-up approach, says Hubert. Parking and highways departments are starting to recognise the value in optimising their operations from parking capacity to improving air quality based on having one digital ledger of truth. The search for nirvana AppyWay has mapped 14,000km of Londons restricted kerbside and has enough data to manage the kerbside in 500 UK towns. Every driver needs the answer to three questions: Where can I park? Is there a space? and, How can I pay? Once you have those answers you can be a fully optimised, fully compliant vehicle, which is paving the way for connected and autonomous vehicles, Hubert says. If you can unlock four inches of kerbside space and put that information into the hands of a driver, you can educate them before they depart so they know where to park or load. Companies that use the AppyWay platform, such as Morrison Energy Services, have seen the number of aborted jobs reduced dramatically 44 PN June 2022 pp44-45 Appy Parking.indd 44 24/05/2022 11:49