An electronic parking sign which allows variable messages to be updated, informing users about kerbside restrictions and other useful hyperlocal information such as temporary changes has been unveiled by technology company Grid Smarter Cities.
The sign gives the city flexibility over how it chooses to manage and allocate scarce street space.
The company says the innovative sign is gaining regular recognition and interest internationally as well in the UK market. The parking e-sign will be presented at the Intertraffic event next week in Amsterdam by Netherlands based Coding the Curbs, who led a pilot with the Grid Smarter Cities platform and smart sign in Amersfoort in late 2021.
“Cities around the world are facing growing pressure to reduce congestion, improve air quality and decarbonise transport whilst at the same time having to deal with a massive growth in demand for the curb from freight servicing and delivery activity as well as ride hailing, food pick-up and drop-off,” commented Grid’s CEO and Founder Neil Herron states. “Reduced kerbside real estate due to increase in micro-mobility ‘kit’, cycle lanes, pedestrianisation and outdoor dining also reduces capacity. This challenge presents an opportunity to apply smart yet simple solutions and once articulated and presented, the flexible and dynamic management of kerbspace seems so obvious. In ten years’, time we will look back and muse that kerbspace used to operate as a first come first served battleground rather than in a planned and organised way. We look forward to continuing to work with companies like Coding the Curb to bring ‘smart’ to the city.”
‘’Cities are going to get more crowded, accessibility is decreasing, and there’s more and more need for curb space management. At Intertraffic we will be demonstrating a smart but simple solution designed to enable dynamic flexibility at the curb. The solution comprises a smart sign and platform,” added Martijn Pater of Coding the Curbs.
“Essentially it’s an agenda for space. You can reserve slots. It’s basically a Google agenda for a parking space. There isn’t one solution to all the thousands of curb space-related problems. If you think about how complex cities are, and how complex every single street is, there are a thousand different challenges on every street. What we’re doing with Coding the Curbs is thinking about what kind of challenges are we going to tackle and what do we need in order to tackle them. We are of the opinion that if a solution works in one city, it follows that it works in another. So what you want is actually a scalable product that is replicable in thousands of cities globally.’’
Grid Smarter Cities says it is reimagining how we think about the kerbside. Grid’s innovative, digital kerbside management solution, named ‘Kerb’ enables a normally tightly restricted city asset to be opened up for a multitude of purposes that support the community, businesses and the environment. Now, the Kerb app & booking system can be used alongside an intelligent parking e-sign to pre-book city parking bays. The parking e-sign may also be used to assimilate and relay the existing street parking regulations, displayed on the regulatory plate that accompanies the sign.
(Picture – Grid Smarter Cities)
