- Pisa and Deutsche Telekom launch smart city pilot project to optimize inner city parking
- Intelligent parking guidance system installed to avoid traffic jams and reduce CO2 emissions
- Big data service analyzes historical traffic data
The lengthy search for a free parking spot will soon be a thing of the past in the Italian city of Pisa: Today marks the launch of a smart city pilot project to test an intelligent parking system and analyze historical traffic data via a big data service. The system will help motorists in Pisa to find a free parking space easier and quicker than before, as well as pay for it via their smart phone.
The city of Pisa has joined forces with Deutsche Telekom and its partner firm Kiunsys to install the new smart city service on Piazza Carrara, located directly on the banks of the river Arno. Sensors on the floor of each parking spot detect whether they are free or occupied. Several data units collect the information and send it over the mobile network to the city's server infrastructure. The information is then displayed on indication panels which guide drivers to a free space. The solution is also integrated in Pisa’s existing Tap&Park app which drivers can choose to download to take them directly to a free parking space and even pay for it via the app.
"The new parking system integrates seamlessly into our intelligent transport system (ITS)," says the mayor of Pisa, Marco Filippeschi. "It eases the flow of traffic and helps to cut CO2 emissions." Pisa has been working rigorously for many years to implement a smart mobility policy as part of its Sustainable Energy Action Plan. Filippeschi underscores its importance, saying that: “the pilot project is a big stride for Pisa towards improving its traffic situation over the long term. Indeed, drivers looking for a parking space make up some 30 percent of inner-city traffic. So the easier it is for them to find a spot, the less traffic there will be.” Pisa is not only one of the main tourist destinations of Italy, but also an important university and public services city with three universities, an important hospital at European level and the main airport of Tuscany. Pisa attracts around 90.000 vehicles per day on its roads.
"We firmly believe that the right way to becoming a smart city is to have open standards and take a collaborative approach," says Jürgen Hase, Vice President, Machine-to-Machine at Deutsche Telekom. "That's why we are particularly pleased to be part of this joint project with our partner company Kiunsys and the City of Pisa - a leading member of the European ITS standardization network POSSE."
Pisa has already been using a range of modules from Deutsche Telekom's partner company Kiunsys for several years. These include the Tap&Park app for mobile payment of parking charges, 30,000 RFID parking badges - known as "PisaPass" - and INeS Cloud management software. "The modular solution can digitally map all processes relating to parking facility management and traffic in the city," says Tiziano Di Sciullo, Sales Manager at Kiunsys.
As a result, Pisa has already been collecting traffic-related data over the past few years which will now be analyzed as part of the pilot project. The partners hope to gain a deeper insight into how the traffic infrastructure is used, which will benefit traffic planning in future.
Deutsche Telekom AG Corporate Communications Tel.: +49 (0) 228 181 - 4949 E-mail: media@telekom.de Media representatives can find further information at www.telekom.com/media and www.telekom.com/photos http://twitter.com/deutschetelekom
City of Pisa Francesco Paletti Tel.: +39.340.8361110 or +39.50.910483 E-mail: f.paletti@commune.pisa.it www.commune.pisa.it
Kiunsys Paola Ponticelli Tel.: +39.320.9756533 E-mail: paola.ponticelli@infomobilitysuite.com http://www.kiunsys.com/ www.twitter.com/kiunsys
About Deutsche Telekom Deutsche Telekom is one of the world’s leading integrated telecommunications companies with 142 million mobile customers, more than 31 million fixed-network lines and over 17 million broadband lines (as of December 31, 2013). The Group provides fixed-network, mobile communications, Internet and IPTV products and services for consumers, and ICT solutions for business and corporate customers. Deutsche Telekom is present in around 50 countries and has approximately 229,000 employees worldwide. The Group generated revenue of 60.1 billion euros in the 2013 financial year - over half of it outside Germany.
About Kiunsys Kiunsys designs and develops innovative solutions for the management of sustainable mobility - Smart Urban Mobility, Smart Parking and City Logistics. Applying cloud, sensing and RFID technologies with an Internet of Things/Internet of Everything viewpoint and a clear focus on innovation and return on investment, Kiunsys answers the specific needs of municipalities and public companies responsible for the management of urban mobility, parking and City Logistics. Thanks to the constant commitment in developing innovative and concrete answers to the needs of the cities, Kiunsys is already one of the leading players in Smart City scene at national and European level.
About Pisa’s Sustainable Energy Action Plan In November 2010, the Municipality of Pisa agreed at the Covenant of European Union Mayors to achieve the goal of reducing CO2 emission by more than 20% within 2020. The Sustainable Energy Action Plan is the document adopted by the Municipal Assembly in May 2012 to reach this objective. It foresees several different areas of action , including: • Effective energy standards in new buildings - higher than those foreseen at national level; • Mobility policies directed to increase Public Transport • The development of studies and analysis concerning River Navigation; • The use of renewable energies • The approval of Sustainable Building Municipal Regulation shared with other Municipalities of the “Area Pisana” (Cascina, Calci, San Giuliano Terme, Vecchiano, Vicopisano and, Pisa itself) • A policy of green purchasing • The increase of the locally based electric energy production as well the use of geothermic energy; • Increased involvement of citizens through awareness campaigns.