I attended the British Parking Awards 2014 as the guest of Landor LINKS, publisher of Parking Review and also of the print edition of my book ‘Peak Car: the Future of Travel’. The worlds of parking and of traffic overlap, of course, although those of us concerned with travel and transport tend not to pay much attention to immobile vehicles. Nevertheless, you can’t make a trip by car unless you know you can park at your destination – this limits car use in city centres where parking is strictly controlled. And people driving around looking for a parking space can contribute significantly to traffic congestion.
I learned about these services, which seem helpful
Parkopedia provides details of parking spaces in 40 countries.
SmartPark provides drivers with real-time information about unoccupied on-street car parking spaces using sensors set in to the parking bay – being trialled in London in Westminster and Camden. Drivers can use a mobile phone app to find which nearby spaces are free.