Since 2008, leading Semiacs, the municipal company managing 17 parking lots, Benoît Kandel, also the First Deputy Mayor of Nice, presented the results of three years of activity and the upcoming implementation of the smart parking project, a patent developed in collaboration with the company Sude.
It was an opportunity to tell the Mayor of Nice, present by his side, that the objectives of this three-year plan, namely: Renovating the parking lots (now all equipped with LED lights), security (thanks to comprehensive video surveillance), and the installation of smart parking (see below), had been achieved with a 16% increase in revenue.
It was also an opportunity for Benoît Kandel to highlight the collaboration and team spirit of all the personnel (140 people) led by Pierre Alonzo, the general manager of Semiacs.
A new step, certainly ambitious, but also innovative in method since the patent for this application remains the property of the City of Nice, which will be able to disseminate it to other municipalities with consequent economic benefits.
This operation is part of the 2011–2015 Global Parking Plan. It is one of the most innovative and ambitious measures aimed at improving vehicle parking conditions in the city center of Nice.
The implementation of this solution will allow better management of urban space through SEMIACS, a Mixed Economy Company owned 80% by the municipality, responsible for on-street parking and managing the 17 structured car parks of the City and its subsidiary SUDE (Urban Parking Development and Study).
It concretely involves the development and installation of a set of sensors, transmitter kiosks, and a comprehensive data management system that will allow urban space management actors, but more importantly, users, to obtain in real time information such as:
the status of parking spaces on public roads;
traffic status;
information on public transport schedules, the presence of taxis;
pollution;
meteorological data…
With their mobile phone or GPS, users will be directed to an available parking spot in the city center or to a structured car park. Indeed, currently, even during peak parking times, 8% of spots remain available. Users will also be able to obtain information on the fastest and safest means to get from one point to another in the city.
This system will allow contactless payment, a technique on which the City of Nice is a pioneer, but also to inform municipal services in real-time of vehicles exceeding the parking time limit.
What is beyond the project’s name?
Initially, it is necessary to consider the typical parking issues:
- It takes an average of 30 minutes to find a parking spot in the city center.
- 25% of city center traffic is related to the search for a parking spot.
Moreover, in France, 70 million hours per year are spent by motorists searching for a parking spot.
Parking and Sustainable Development
When 20 to 25% of vehicles circulating at peak times are looking for a parking spot, it is evident that parking policy is critically important in daily life.
Today, mastering the use of the car in the city appears indispensable to reduce pollution and improve quality of life.
Indeed, during the latest measurements, it has been observed that several major traffic routes regularly display nitrogen dioxide levels above the 40 mg per m3 recommended by the World Health Organization, with the aim, of course, to go below this level, which would save more than a hundred human lives each year, according to the regional health agency.
We can gradually achieve this by encouraging the use of public transport (urban transport network master plan) and simultaneously implementing a comprehensive parking plan 2011-2015.
Improving parking means streamlining traffic, improving air quality, and also reducing noise pollution.
The proposed solutions
- A set of sensors installed in the road allowing real-time knowledge of parking status, traffic, and environmental quality.
A multi-service kiosk for overall public service management on the road.
A set of e-Services to better inform users and municipal service agents.
What is the purpose of the multi-service kiosk?
Parking payment;
Electric charging;
Transport intermodality: Autobleue, Vélo Bleu, tramway, bus, taxis…
Information on the city (services, tourism, …)
Emergency stop point
Emergency services
Kiosk for sales and promotional offers
What are the goals of this development?
- Favor quicker turnover and short-term parking (blue zones, quick stops…)
Improve circulation and access to the city center by continuously informing users on the conditions of parking and traffic.
Fight against chaotic parking and the non-compliance with rules for regulated parking areas: drop-off zones, parking near public buildings, Vigipirate plan…
Highlight “long-term” vehicles through comprehensive statistics provided by the system.
Reduce CO2 emissions linked to searching for a parking space or stopping behind a delivery vehicle (30 to 60% of urban road traffic emissions).
Facilitated and fairer payment (payment for actual parking time).
Search for available parking space on Smartphone, GPS, and by SMS: real-time, guided to the space, itinerary calculations based on various criteria (including intermodality).
Contactless payment.
Better information for users on the services offered by the City.
Security: Reallocation of part of the control agents to other tasks (more presence on the ground, in shopping areas, pedestrian zones…).
Support for merchants as a direct link will be established between the parking ticket and a purchase in a downtown shop, leading to partial or full coverage of the parking cost.
Timeline
This experiment will start on about a hundred spaces on Boulevard Raimbaldi, then expand in June 2012 to cover the entire Notre-Dame District (sector 1), aiming to cover the entire city of Nice by the end of the first semester 2014.
