Drivers may now be able to save time finding a parking space downtown with the click of a mouse.
The Calgary Parking Authority has launched a system that keeps a realtime tally of available stalls in all seven of its parkades so drivers know before they head downtown what the chances of finding a spot are.
“It’s added convenience,” said general manager Troy McLeod.
“I think it might provide additional comfort for those coming downtown, especially those who don’t come downtown often.”
The CPA has a parking guidance system (PGS) to count available spots using devices at the entries and exits of parkades and sensors in the stalls.
The information is kept up to date in the operations control centre, and the CPA realized it could share the information with the public fairly easily and at essentially no extra cost, said McLeod.
Updates will be made approximately every 30 seconds, he said.
The service also allows Calgarians to receive automatic updates on computers or phones that are equipped with Internet Explorer 7 of higher.
They can subscribe to the feed with a Really Simply Syndication (RSS) reader, but with Alberta’s new distracted driving legislation to launch in a week, motorists are reminded not to check updates while they are driving.
The CPA has 5,327 stalls between its seven parkades, approximately 23% of which are open for hourly or daily parking.
Parkade availability updating is the first step in a larger plan to provide Calgarians’ access to parking information.
The CPA is working with a city agency to develop an iPhone application — expected to debut this fall — that would include the stall counts, but also other features including the ability to a make parking payments.
As well, historical parking data for on-street parking will be uploaded daily on the parking authority’s website starting this fall.
McLeod said the CPA does not have realtime information for its 2,300 on-street spots downtown, but can provide drivers with an idea of which areas tend to be busiest at which time of day.
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