Intelligent transport comes a step closer
The constant stream of headlines about oil prices has made many people think hard about their transport choices, but the fact is that the systems themselves are riddled with problems: congestion, danger, inefficiency and more.
Trying to solve these problems requires a lot, in what’s known as Intelligent Transportation Systems - integrated, hi-tech networks aimed at improving efficiency and dealing with common transport issues.
One recent example of an ITS is the small, driverless pods at the new Terminal 5 at London Heathrow Airport ; and now the New Scientist reports on another system aimed at alleviating parking problems and being put into practice by Streetline in San Francisco.
By using wireless sensors, city dwellers will be able to access an online map showing precisely where there are free parking spaces.
The devices include a magnetometer that picks up the change in the magnetic field caused by a parked cars. False positives are possible, so there’s also an array of other sensors within each device to monitor parking spaces. There are no details yet on exactly what those sensors are.
The network is impressively easy to set up. "Cities can simply glue the [devices] to the street and have a working system almost instantly," says Jim Reich, the vice president of engineering at Streetline, the company behind the new system.
There’s a lot going on in ITS, which is getting increasing traction among planners and thinkers in the area - in fact, these are the sorts of innovations that are likely to be discussed later this year at the Intelligent Transport Systems World Congress , which will be held in New York later this year.
Comments
Arnold Kling Jul 29, 2008 at 7:33 pm
It would be much more intelligent if those parking places were not free. Free parking is a huge subsidy to automobiles. It is highly dysfunctional. This just adds to that subsidy.
Bobbie Jul 30, 2008 at 12:21 pm
“Free” in this sense, I think, means “empty parking space”.