XM shows off concept for tracking parking lot openings

Well XM isn't just content to tell you where to go, what the traffic will be like, and how much the weather will suck when you get there, (oh yeah, and they play some music too) no, they're going to tell you where to park now with their concept system that tracks the percentage of open spots on a lot and beams the info to your XM equipped car. They've teamed up with Nu-Metrics and InfoGation to figure this out, and the idea sounds well and good, but not only will you need to install this yet to be developed technology in your car, but there won't be any data until parking lots start installing all of the equipment they'll require to track open spaces. So we're not really planning on seeing this happen for a good long while, but we sure wouldn't mind the convenience if or when it does, not one bit.

[tallfella @ Dec 19th 2005 2:31AM]

What's the point? When you get to a car park, it will either tell you it's full or it's still vacant, now if it's a multi-storey carpark, you still have to follow the slow ramp to towards the top until you use your EYES to spot one, how is a percentage of "open space" going to matter to anything? You get there but you still have to FIND the bloody car park space!

If only the mapping system in GPS can show actual empty space's location and drive you there without doing anything will it becomes revolutionery - that I think will be a long long way off.

[GeneMack @ Dec 19th 2005 2:31AM]

Actually, tallfella, I think you missed the point of why this is great. With this system, you know what parking lot to go to BEFORE you get there. It elminates having to drive from parking lot to parking lot, trying to find one that isn't full.

Say I was driving from my suburban home to a football game in downtown Detroit. There are literally hundreds of lots I can park in. If my NAV system could tell me which ones had spaces available (in real time), then I could map my route accordingly (there are many different routes you can take, depending on where you plan to park.)

This would be a very helpful system - at least in a place like Detroit.

[Swendor @ Dec 19th 2005 2:31AM]

I don't know if anyone here has seen one, but BWI Airport near Baltimore has a new nifty parking garage which employs a similar system. It doesn't use GPS or anything like that, but when you drive onto X level there are numbers on the ceiling that will show you how many spaces are on that level. Then when you actually drive down the rows there are markers on eech one that shows you how many are there. When a space if full a red light is on, vacant is green. This is by far the best parking garage system I've ever seen.

[Jake @ Dec 19th 2005 2:31AM]

I have a slight problem with this idea in practice. XM signals typically need line of sight to the sky. So unless it's an uncovered, single story parking lot it's probably not going to be too effective.

Existing cars within the lot wouldn't be able to beam their location information out either.

[Bible and Apologetics Teacher @ Dec 19th 2005 2:31AM]

I see how this could be useful for some folks, since shopping centers and many malls still have single-story, uncovered lots.

[Joe Zobkiw @ Dec 19th 2005 2:31AM]

This will never take off. Parking lots (not garages so much but maybe so) are cash cows. If I owned a parking lot that consisted of some pavement and some paint, why on earth would I invest tens of thousands of dollars to add sensors to track available space? They better hope the parking lot owners can make more money once these devices are installed otherwise they won't be. I think this is pie in the sky.

[perezhilton @ Dec 19th 2005 2:31AM]

in europe, most cities have this information service....

[Rory Bigger @ Dec 19th 2005 2:31AM]

In Frankfurt there are already huge signs on major roads that display the number of parking spaces left at a variety of lots, so I don't see it being too out there.

[pf @ Dec 19th 2005 2:31AM]

Why bother? You'll still have to listen to all the same crap that you hear at an FM station. There will be nothing cutting edge, nothing with bite, just your every day standard "ClearChannel says this is cool" nonsense. YAY. Parking! Lets all get XM.

[camron @ Dec 19th 2005 2:31AM]

stop hating on xm people. They have good service and this technology will benefit someone because I doubt they would develop anything if there is not a market for it.

[james @ Dec 19th 2005 2:31AM]

why use XM?

This would be very easy to impliment relatively inexpensively with current technology on large parking lots like shopping malls.

Use a low-power radio transmitter similar to what small colleges use for campus radio stations that barely cover the campus. Broadcast on a approved FM frequency and post signs everywhere stating "tune to (whatever) for parking information".

They can use cheap webcams on the lights to see open spots and they wouldnt even need live operators, they can run a program that could see all the parking spots and identify if there's a car parked there or not, then just broadcast something like "5 open spaces in Lot B, 9 open spaces in Lot 5, (etc)", maybe even follow it with a number if each space is numbered. Thing's like snow might through it off though, but usually large malls try and get their lots cleaned off ASAP.

Oh, and it could double as a security system, since you'd have cameras with a view of every inch of the lot.

[Greg @ Dec 30th 2005 10:16AM]

Yeah Swendor. That system at BWI airport is awesome. Every parking garage should incorporate that. Hell, busy malls at xmas time would be a good place to start.