Enhancing parking in four Catalan cities
The Challenge
Many cities across Catalonia face a common challenge: ensuring that Park & Ride facilities near train and bus stations are used exclusively by commuters. In places like Les Franqueses del Vallès, Cardedeu, Vic, and Malgrat de Mar, these parking areas are essential for facilitating seamless multimodal transport. However, unauthorised use by non-commuters often leads to a shortage of spaces for those who genuinely rely on public transport. This issue reduces efficiency, increases congestion, and discourages sustainable travel.
The Solution
To tackle this problem, Parkunload developed and implemented a Smart Park & Ride system in these four Catalan cities. The solution leverages Bluetooth-based validation technology to ensure that only verified commuters can park near transport hubs.
Key innovations include:
- New app version: features improved screens for managing and validating Park & Ride parking sessions.
- Bluetooth-based validation points: installed at train and bus stations to verify commuter status.
- Enhanced communication plan: digital content and support materials to improve citizen engagement.
- Big Data analytics: provides real-time insights into parking sessions and user behaviour.
- Improved enforcement tools: a dedicated app for parking officers to monitor compliance.
Making an impact
The Smart Park & Ride system has demonstrated significant positive impacts in its initial deployment:
- Better parking availability: increased by 50%, ensuring more spaces for commuters.
- Reduction in emissions: between 20% and 50% reduction in CO2 and NOx, contributing to improved air quality and public health.
- High user adoption: over 2,000 users and 3,000 vehicles have used the system, with a total of 22,000 parking sessions in six months.
- Enhanced user experience: A clear reduction in support tickets, particularly during early morning hours
Lessons learnt
- User engagement is key: providing clear digital content and support materials improved citizen understanding and acceptance of the system.
- Technology enhancements improve compliance: the new Bluetooth-based validation points significantly improved the accuracy of commuter verification.
- Scalability is feasible: the success of this initiative has led to plans for expansion to at least four more cities, with potential international applications.
The Smart Park & Ride solution demonstrates how technology-driven parking management can support sustainable urban mobility by ensuring that infrastructure is used efficiently. The combination of digital validation, real-time monitoring, and enhanced user engagement provides a replicable model for cities aiming to optimise Park & Ride facilities and encourage public transport usage.
