URA explores satellite solution for car parks in Singapore

The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) of Singapore is looking at the use of the global navigation satellite system (GNSS) as a solution for better planning and management of car parks in Singapore.

An URA spokesperson was quoted by Today Online as saying the agency will explore whether the GNSS can be used to determine if a vehicle has entered a parking lot and, hence, be able to assess occupancy and demand for car parking.

The authority manages and administers around 46,000 parking lots in Singapore and has outsourced car park enforcement patrolling functions since 2005 for the collection of parking charges.

Certis Cisco, the present service provider, is deploying about 80 parking wardens daily to patrol car parks and, on average, the URA has issued more than 780,000 parking notices in the last three years.

The system, which is similar to the US Global Positioning System (GPS), is expected to eliminate or reduce the enforcement of patrolling because of the automated collection of parking charges. GNSS trial tests will be conducted at six parking lots over a period of time to understand the feasibility of the solution.

Tyrone Lopez, Metro Parking managing director, said the Singapore market is unique compared with other countries as it relies on an electronic parking system, similar to the electronic road pricing (ERP).

The Land Transport Authority indicated that the GNSS will replace ERP, which would result in a change in the management of off-street parking sites, he added. According to Lopez, the system will be capable of catering to the presence of foreign vehicles.