In the summer and during the weekends, Saltholmen is an important place for the city’s citizens and tourists. From here, the ferries of Gothenburg depart to the beautiful, popular islands of Bränno, Aspero and Köpstadsö.

Parking bays equipped with floor mounted wireless sensors and the integration with the Gothenburg’s P-IN parking management system have resulted into less congestion, reduction of emissions and a better parking service and thus a more customer satisfaction. The City of Göteborg Parkerings AB asked the Swedish traffic management provider Infracontrol to come up with a clever solution which makes the available parking spaces in Salthomen easy to find and, furthermore, a solution which is easy to integrate with the existing P-IN parking management system. The wireless parking sensor system Sensit, developed by the Dutch technology company Nedap, provided the answers for the requirements of the City of Göteborg Parkerings AB.

Sensit, consists of wireless parking sensors that detect in real-time whether or not a single parking bay is occupied and for how long it has been occupied. The parking sensor system is robust and specifically designed for parking in challenging on-street environments.

For both the City of Göteborg Parkerings AB and its citizens and tourists, the introduction of the parking management system P-IN offers great advantages. With dynamic information about the availability of parking spaces, the existing parking capacity is utilised better. P-IN reduces search traffic, which is positive for the traffic situation, the safety and the environment. For example, if motorists, driving to Saltholmen, are informed by signs along the road about the fact that Saltholmen’s parking lots are fully occupied, visitors will avoid going all the way to Saltholmen and will decide to park the car in Langedrag instead.

In the city centre of Gothenburg itself, motorist have experienced the P-IN as a very effective parking guidance system for many years already. Research has shown the positive impact on the accessibility of the city and the reduction of emissions. Now, this system is extended with real-time information from wireless parking sensors to guide motorists to available parking spaces on Saltholmen.

Johanna Einarsson, Project Manager at Infracontrol, says that as a result of the positive effects, this solution will be introduced in other cities in Sweden. She briefly explains: "The occupancy information is collected by Infracontrol Online, transmitting the number of available parking spaces to the dynamic signs along the roads. The parking information is also accessible for administrators via the Internet and their smart phone."

Johanna Einarsson continues: "The monitoring system consists of multiple functionalities, including alerts that will be send in case of operational issues, and different parking parameters, such as: whether or not a single parking bay is occupied and for how long it has been occupied."

The city of Gothenburg developed a parking app. With this app, motorists can easily find the nearest available parking spaces. Additionally, the actual number of available parking bays is presented on a map. Motorists can also get more detailed parking information: parking rates on different times, the number of pay and display machines nearby and the possible payment methods. Using the built-in route navigator, motorists can also be guided from their current location to the selected parking space.