Barrier-Free Smart Car Park

About the city. Singapore is considered a world leader in security, smart mobility, healthcare, and administrative services. To develop and improve mobility, Singapore has implemented smart, traffic-related solutions, as well as policies that discourage car ownership.

Goal

The aim of the project is to help motorists overcome the problems encountered in conventional parking systems while providing parking operators with significant savings in operating and maintenance costs, as well as key ideas for using parking spaces.

Implementation period. The Smart Car Park System started operating in 2020.

Fact

• According to the URA (Urban Redevelopment Authority), from 2016 to 2018, an average of about 260,800 notices were issued each year for illegal parking.
• With more than 600k cars in Singapore, approximately 1 in 2 cars will receive a fine for illegal parking each year.

Solutions

The Smart Parking System is a contactless and barrier-free Parking solution developed by the Electronics arm of ST Engineering. Paired with the GoParkin mobile application, the system integrates technologies such as Automatic Number Plate Recognition, data analysis, and mobile payment technologies to help motorists overcome problems encountered in conventional parking systems while providing parking operators with significant savings in operating and maintenance costs, as well as key information about their parking usage.

The Smart Car Parking System is the University’s latest initiative in line with its vision of an NTU Smart Campus to use digital and technical solutions to create a better learning and living experience at the University.

To take advantage of Smart Car Park features, motorists must register via the GoParkin mobile app and provide the necessary credit/debit card details and information to their account. When motorists use Smart Car Park, their registered license plate will be recognized, ensuring they can easily enter and exit. The correct Parking fee will be calculated at check-out and billed to their account.

The system also aggregates parking data and provides real-time parking occupancy information via the GoParkin app. Motorists are shown the nearest available parking spaces with car park rates, which saves them time searching for available parking spaces. Drivers can also conveniently apply for and pay for seasonal Parking via the app.

Challenges

During the implementation, it became clear that using automatic number plate recognition technology is more cost-effective compared with the conventional electronic parking system, which uses the In-Vehicle Unit and CashCard for processing parking fee payments.

Team

NTU Singapore and ST Engineering

Timeline

A barrier-free Smart Parking System has started operating in three parking lots on NTU’s main campus in Jurong. The system will be gradually implemented in all 59 Parking lots on University’s campuses, including Novena and one North, and will cover more than 4,000 parking spaces when completed by the end of 2021.

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