"Sipark" - The world's largest Parking Guidance System is in the making at Munich Airport

The target is to equip 9150 parking spaces with individual space monitoring and integrate a central parking space management system by the year 2009. Sipark has been in operation in Terminal 2's multi-storey car park since August 2001. So the world's largest parking guidance and management system encompassing more than 15,000 integrated parking spaces is currently in the making at Munich Airport. The project is worth 1.7 million euros.

An ultrasound sensor will be installed above every parking space in the multi-storey car parks at Terminal 1, to detect reliably whether the parking space is occupied or not. This information will be transmitted to the central parking space management system, informing the operator how many and which spaces are free at any given moment. This eases the management task and optimizes capacity utilization, while drastically reducing the time spent by the driver looking for a space. As soon as a vehicle passes through the car park entrance the guidance system directs the driver reliably along the shortest route to the next available unoccupied parking space. Around 200 dynamic LED display panels will be installed throughout the multi-storey car parks for this purpose and be connected to the management system via a Simatic S7-based controller.

Aside from individual space monitoring, the solution installed at Terminal 1 will also include zone and aisle counting. This means that any vehicles still en route to a parking space are also acquired by the system which avoids guiding too many drivers into a sector that only contained a few unoccupied spaces when the car entered the car park. Current occupancy of the multi-storey car parks is displayed on electronic information panels on the access lane to assist drivers with their decision on the way to the terminals. The Sipark system will be installed successively in the multi-storey car parks of Terminal 1 up to the year 2009 during normal operation.

The Sipark combined guidance and parking space management system for multi-storey and underground car parks is a modular solution using standardized applications proven in industry. This means the system can be expanded flexibly. Sipark is currently being installed at seven airports, including Düsseldorf, Cologne/Bonn and Toulouse.

About Siemens Intelligent Traffic Systems

Thanks to its many years of experience in markets all over the world, Siemens ITS / Traffic Control Systems is able to offer extensive international know-how and proven technical platforms in the field of traffic control and traffic guidance systems.

As an integral part of the Industrial Solutions and Services Group with an orientation towards the solutions and projects business, this division is focused above all on the segments of traffic control, traffic guidance systems, tntelligent transportation systems and parking.

This basis enables us to supply economic and technical solutions that cater to the requirements and specifications of individual countries, regions and population centers. To meet this demand, ITS employs a workforce of 2,400 people worldwide who are working to expand our leading position in this market.

One of the central tasks of Siemens ITS is to integrate different technologies and services into solutions for modern traffic management that will increase mobility on the roads.

Intelligent transportation systems made by Siemens ITS achieve this holistic approach of combining different technologies for the registration, processing and transmission of a variety of traffic data by providing an integrated traffic management system for all road users.