KevinFromTexas
Dec 16, 2006, 11:15 AM
From the Austin American-Statesman
http://www.statesman.com/business/content/business/stories/technology/12/16/16techpark.html
Technology
Can't find a parking spot? It may get a lot easier
Companies explore new ways to use technology on the road.
By Bob Keefe
WEST COAST BUREAU
Saturday, December 16, 2006
With holiday shopping in high gear, you can bet that finding a decent parking spot at the mall will be as frustrating as ever.
Take heart: In the future, technology might make it easier.
Car makers, communications companies and high-tech firms all are working on ways to let you electronically find, reserve and pay for designated parking spots, and then automatically park your vehicle in them when you get there.
A lot of the effort is aimed at "George Jetson" consumers willing to pay for the latest gadgets.
But also helping drive technology into the otherwise mundane business of parking are high gasoline prices, environmental issues, congestion and rising real estate prices.
"I don't know how many people on a typical day . . . are looking for a place to park, needlessly using up gas, causing pollution and delaying my drive home," said Neil Schuster, president of the Intelligent Transportation Society of America, which advocates better transportation systems.
Technology "is not only part of the solution, it's a key part of it," Schuster said.
Already, airports and many major parking companies have deployed electronic car-counting devices that let approaching drivers know how many parking spaces are available in a lot and where they're located.
In-car GPS navigation systems, meanwhile, can guide drivers to surface parking decks.
Oncoming technology is much more far-reaching, even though there are a few speed bumps between here and there.
Some of the concepts in the works:
•Finding parking spots.
Coral Springs, Fla.-based Nav4 Technology Inc. plans to test a system in New York next year that would embed cheap radio-frequency identification tags in parking spots.
Using their cell phones, drivers could zero in on the transmitters as they circle the block. As a bonus, drivers could also use their phones to find their car if they forget where they parked.
Nav4 Technology Vice President Ehud Mendleson says the idea is still not ready for deployment. But "the technology is not the problem," he said. "The problem is how do you do it and who pays for it."
XM Satellite Radio is further along with what it calls its ParkingLink system, which it is testing in Washington, Los Angeles, Chicago and Detroit.
XM plans to link up with parking lot operators who would beam information on empty spots to XM subscribers, just as they can get traffic information today.
Spokesman David Butler said that because of delays in reaching agreements with parking lot operators, no date has been set to roll out the service, which would probably cost subscribers a few extra dollars per month.
•Reserving and paying for parking spots.
Internet companies in several big cities now offer online databases that can be used to find, reserve and pay for designated parking spots in advance.
Other outfits, such as Cambridge, Mass.-based SpotScout Inc., are planning to take the concept to mobile phones.
SpotScout's service would let users of Web-enabled phones or hand-held computers search for parking spots by typing in their destination and then sort by price, location or type.
Using SpotScout, homeowners could put their driveway or private parking spot up for the highest bid at peak times, such as during sporting events or festivals.
Cell phones can also be used to pay for parking.
ParkMagic, an Irish company, just announced an agreement with a Verizon Communications Inc. subsidiary for a U.S. service that would let subscribers use their mobile phones to pay for metered parking in some cities.
After setting up a prepaid account, ParkMagic users could dial a number that would activate a small dashboard-mounted terminal they get with the service. The terminal would keep track of the amount of time they're parked and debit their account.
Other cell phone companies are working on ways for users to make "micropayments" for parking by simply waving their handsets in front of sensors embedded in meters or parking lot exit booths.
•Parking your vehicle.
Lexus' new LS 460 sedans do the seemingly impossible: They parallel-park themselves.
Using sensors and a wide-angle camera, models with Lexus' optional Advanced Parking Guidance System measure the size of parking spaces and then automatically turn the steering wheel and back the car into a space with the push of a button.
Bundled with navigation packages and in-car entertainment systems, the system can add $3,800 or more to the price of the cheaper, $61,000 LS 460 model. The option costs an extra $700 on the $71,000 LS 460L model, which comes standard with many of the other features.
High price aside, the most interesting car option in decades is extremely popular, Lexus spokesman Sam Butto said.
In coming months, Lexus plans to significantly increase the number of LS 460s that it makes with the option because of high demand.
"I think we were a little surprised that interest has been as high as it has been in this feature," Butto said.
Electronics giant Siemens AG and other auto industry suppliers are working on similar systems.
Some companies are taking the idea of automated parking to another level — literally.
Clearwater, Fla.-based Robotic Parking Systems Inc. is one of several companies trying to build automated parking garages across the country.
With Robotic's technology, drivers pull their cars into an elevator-like lift at the garage entrance. The system raises the cars and moves them to designated spots.
Robotic spokesman Jeff Faria said the system is safer, more compact and more efficient than traditional parking garages.
But problems with the company's only garage so far, built for the city of Hoboken, N.J., have kept Robotic's big idea in the basement.
In the four years since opening, the garage has dropped two cars, one because the car was positioned incorrectly and one because a driver opened the trunk of his new Cadillac with his remote while it was being moved, the company said.
Recently, Hoboken city leaders voted to bring in an outside company to try to fix what it says are software problems and other issues at the garage.
http://www.statesman.com/business/content/business/stories/technology/12/16/16techpark.html
Technology
Can't find a parking spot? It may get a lot easier
Companies explore new ways to use technology on the road.
By Bob Keefe
WEST COAST BUREAU
Saturday, December 16, 2006
With holiday shopping in high gear, you can bet that finding a decent parking spot at the mall will be as frustrating as ever.
Take heart: In the future, technology might make it easier.
Car makers, communications companies and high-tech firms all are working on ways to let you electronically find, reserve and pay for designated parking spots, and then automatically park your vehicle in them when you get there.
A lot of the effort is aimed at "George Jetson" consumers willing to pay for the latest gadgets.
But also helping drive technology into the otherwise mundane business of parking are high gasoline prices, environmental issues, congestion and rising real estate prices.
"I don't know how many people on a typical day . . . are looking for a place to park, needlessly using up gas, causing pollution and delaying my drive home," said Neil Schuster, president of the Intelligent Transportation Society of America, which advocates better transportation systems.
Technology "is not only part of the solution, it's a key part of it," Schuster said.
Already, airports and many major parking companies have deployed electronic car-counting devices that let approaching drivers know how many parking spaces are available in a lot and where they're located.
In-car GPS navigation systems, meanwhile, can guide drivers to surface parking decks.
Oncoming technology is much more far-reaching, even though there are a few speed bumps between here and there.
Some of the concepts in the works:
•Finding parking spots.
Coral Springs, Fla.-based Nav4 Technology Inc. plans to test a system in New York next year that would embed cheap radio-frequency identification tags in parking spots.
Using their cell phones, drivers could zero in on the transmitters as they circle the block. As a bonus, drivers could also use their phones to find their car if they forget where they parked.
Nav4 Technology Vice President Ehud Mendleson says the idea is still not ready for deployment. But "the technology is not the problem," he said. "The problem is how do you do it and who pays for it."
XM Satellite Radio is further along with what it calls its ParkingLink system, which it is testing in Washington, Los Angeles, Chicago and Detroit.
XM plans to link up with parking lot operators who would beam information on empty spots to XM subscribers, just as they can get traffic information today.
Spokesman David Butler said that because of delays in reaching agreements with parking lot operators, no date has been set to roll out the service, which would probably cost subscribers a few extra dollars per month.
•Reserving and paying for parking spots.
Internet companies in several big cities now offer online databases that can be used to find, reserve and pay for designated parking spots in advance.
Other outfits, such as Cambridge, Mass.-based SpotScout Inc., are planning to take the concept to mobile phones.
SpotScout's service would let users of Web-enabled phones or hand-held computers search for parking spots by typing in their destination and then sort by price, location or type.
Using SpotScout, homeowners could put their driveway or private parking spot up for the highest bid at peak times, such as during sporting events or festivals.
Cell phones can also be used to pay for parking.
ParkMagic, an Irish company, just announced an agreement with a Verizon Communications Inc. subsidiary for a U.S. service that would let subscribers use their mobile phones to pay for metered parking in some cities.
After setting up a prepaid account, ParkMagic users could dial a number that would activate a small dashboard-mounted terminal they get with the service. The terminal would keep track of the amount of time they're parked and debit their account.
Other cell phone companies are working on ways for users to make "micropayments" for parking by simply waving their handsets in front of sensors embedded in meters or parking lot exit booths.
•Parking your vehicle.
Lexus' new LS 460 sedans do the seemingly impossible: They parallel-park themselves.
Using sensors and a wide-angle camera, models with Lexus' optional Advanced Parking Guidance System measure the size of parking spaces and then automatically turn the steering wheel and back the car into a space with the push of a button.
Bundled with navigation packages and in-car entertainment systems, the system can add $3,800 or more to the price of the cheaper, $61,000 LS 460 model. The option costs an extra $700 on the $71,000 LS 460L model, which comes standard with many of the other features.
High price aside, the most interesting car option in decades is extremely popular, Lexus spokesman Sam Butto said.
In coming months, Lexus plans to significantly increase the number of LS 460s that it makes with the option because of high demand.
"I think we were a little surprised that interest has been as high as it has been in this feature," Butto said.
Electronics giant Siemens AG and other auto industry suppliers are working on similar systems.
Some companies are taking the idea of automated parking to another level — literally.
Clearwater, Fla.-based Robotic Parking Systems Inc. is one of several companies trying to build automated parking garages across the country.
With Robotic's technology, drivers pull their cars into an elevator-like lift at the garage entrance. The system raises the cars and moves them to designated spots.
Robotic spokesman Jeff Faria said the system is safer, more compact and more efficient than traditional parking garages.
But problems with the company's only garage so far, built for the city of Hoboken, N.J., have kept Robotic's big idea in the basement.
In the four years since opening, the garage has dropped two cars, one because the car was positioned incorrectly and one because a driver opened the trunk of his new Cadillac with his remote while it was being moved, the company said.
Recently, Hoboken city leaders voted to bring in an outside company to try to fix what it says are software problems and other issues at the garage.