To make parking a hassle-free task, the Vijayawada Municipal Corporation is all set to launch the long-awaited “smart parking” initiative. It comes handy for those looking to park for a longer period at busy locations.
Due to the increasing vehicular traffic finding a place to park vehicles, particularly cars, has turned a painful and time-consuming task of late.
The initiative enables any mobile user on the move to check for availability of space offered by the civic body. The K.R. Market, the Rajiv Gandhi Park, the NTR Complex and the Besant Road are among the 20 prime parking areas identified by the civic body.
The app “Parkinslot” could be downloaded from Android and iOS application stores, developed by Chennai-based Smart Parking India Pvt. Ltd., the firm that bagged the contract for maintaining and operating the city’s parking space offline and online. “The smartphone application shows real-time availability of space close to the user’s location. Users need to pay and book a slot on the application which would later provide navigation service,” VMC Estate Officer Ch. Krishna Murthy said.
“Users should pay through the app for advance booking after selecting an available slot. Other motorists who directly arrive at the parking lot can pay in cash or through payment apps,” Smart Parking India Pvt. Ltd. CEO T. Vinay Krishna said.
Mr. Krishna said users need to register on the app on their mobile and vehicle number and the available parking lots and their occupancy status will be shown on a map based on the expected time of arrival (ETA).
The real-time space availability is updated via IoT-enabled sensors placed on the surface of each parking space. However, not all parking lots are IoT enabled now and they will be manually updated by the parking lot attenders. Mr. Krishna said there was scope for parking of about 15,000 motorcycles and 3,000 cars at the select areas.
The firm charges ₹10 per motorcycle and ₹30 per car for three hours, officials said.
The status of all the lots would be integrated with the civic body’s dashboard. The firm has been asked to go ahead with the operations from August 16.