Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council and Smart Dún Laoghaire have launched an accessible parking trial in the south Dublin harbour town.
Internet of Things (IoT) sensors will be deployed on each of the town's 37 accessible parking spaces to help motorists find available nearby parking spots in the largest trial of its kind in Ireland.
The sensors will connect to the Park Magic parking app to provide the public with real-time information on location and availability for free, and the data will also be made available on the open-source accessibility database Access Earth platform to maximise engagement
The 12-month accessibility project will see the council and Smart Dún Laoghaire, the smart city research programme made up of figures from government, academia and industry as well as local residents, collaborate.
The data produced will detail accessible parking space usage and length of stay, which will help the council to determine the effectiveness and viability of the locations of the spaces.
In Association with
The council has also partnered with Cellnex, which will ensure consistent connectivity in the dense urban area through Low–Power, Wide-Area Network (LoRaWAN) gateway installed on County Hall to facilitate this and three other IoT trials Smart Dún Laoghaire have in the area.
"As our towns develop it is important that they are inclusive with services made available to blue badge users in particular. Innovation projects like this will improve life in Dún Laoghaire for all of its citizens," said Cllr Lettie McCarthy, Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council Cathaoileach.
Stephen Brady, the council's head of IIT, said the project would "eliminate additional unnecessary time for accessible users spent in the car circumnavigating the town looking for parking, delivering clear social and environmental benefits."
Dr Conor Dowling, programme manager for Smart Dún Laoghaire, said the aim of the project was to "promote a new way of using technology to inform the deployment and management of infrastructure, using sensor data to drive our decision making.”
(Pic: Justin Farrelly)
