Parking has been a real issue in the urban areas as it can be difficult for many to find parking spots in public places, especially malls and retail stores. This also leads to higher fuel consumption and recurring problems with traffic congestion. However, other than those, the market for smart parking system is also driven by factors such as increased consumer preference for comfort and luxury, and increased competition between OEMs to offer driver assistance features.

According to Markets & Markets, the smart parking market is projected to grow at a CAGR of 17.94% during the forecast period, to reach a market size of USD 5.25 Billion by 2021 from USD 2.13 Billion in 2015.

Smart parking solutions use an array of low cost sensors to enable easy parking. These sensors can also be easily incorporated into the traffic infrastructure. However, apart from these sensors, video Analytics can also play a huge role in optimizing smart parking solutions.

Let’s take the example of a shopping mall or a full-fledged retail store, where finding a parking spot can be difficult during peak hours. So, it becomes important for businesses to implement a solution that ensure comfort to their customers. On the other hand, implementing video analytics can also help you gain valuable insights which will help improve the process and eliminate discrepancies. Let’s take a look at how Video Surveillance can play a vital role in smart parking.

• If video analytics features are implemented in the smart parking system, firstly it enables constant monitoring of all the vehicles present at a parking facility. Any suspicious activity can be tracked and appropriate actions can be taken before the person enters the premises of the store.
• License Plate Recognition can help track any vehicle that is stolen or used for any criminal activity. Under normal lighting conditions, the camera captures the license plate of a vehicle entering the parking facility and can match it with a database to see if the vehicle is stolen or used before for any suspicious or criminal activities.
• With the help of Object counting, the parking manager will be able to get a count of how many parking spots have been occupied and how many are vacant.
• Blind spot analysis differentiates a shadow from the real object thus making the object detection accurate and being able to clearly identify open parking spots.
• The data acquired from video surveillance can also be used to improve the entire experience for shoppers. The data collected can give insights into the peak times in traffic, and the average time spent by the shopper during his visit among others. This will help the store and the parking attendants to be well-prepared in advance during peak hours.
• VMS integration with smart lights also can help yield more benefits. The smart lights integrated with the VMS system will only trigger when it detects motion, thus helping in saving energy costs.
• Having a mobile application for your store or mall, where privileged customers can book their parking spots can also help the parking manager to anticipate the traffic beforehand. It also provides the power of easily navigating and searching for their car after shopping.

Providing hassle-free parking can also be an encouragement for shoppers, who might want to visit your store more often because of the smooth experience from start to finish. So incorporating video analytics to Smart Parking can yield greater benefits to help your business succeed.