New app known as ‘Find and Pay’ predicts where there’s a free space
Having to search for a place to park when out and about could soon become a thing of the past thanks to a new app which can predict where free spaces are to park.
The smart new app known as ‘Find and Pay’ uses huge data, predictive analytics and machine learning to help drivers find a free space in quick time in congested urban areas.
The company behind the technology, Easy Park, claim their new app could reduce the time it takes for a driver to find a free space by up to half and it could be introduced to cities across Britain in the not too distant future.
New app known as ‘Find and Pay’ predicts where there’s a free space © Copyright Maigheach-gheal and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.
The Stockholm-based company has invested in 10 years of research and development into the first actual predictive parking technology, at a cost of around £88million so far.
The smart app uses data from parking payments and other sources to build an accurate parking probability map of every area in a city at any time of the day.
Users of the app are then provided with a destination route that will take them down the streets with the highest chance of free parking spaces.
A display via a ‘Find-o-Meter’ will tell the driver what the chances are of there being a free space in a chosen location.
Motorists will also be able to pay via the app and top up if time is running down on their parking space.
The ‘Find and Pay’ app will launch in Stockholm this September and will be introduced to 30 other major European cities at the end of the year, with London and New York following in 2018.
Johan Birgersson, CEO of Easy Park said: “Today’s navigation options take you to your destination, but fall flat when you need to find somewhere to park. It’s a very frustrating experience when you get where you need to go, but simply can’t park your car – Find and Pay solves this significant challenge for motorists.”
The firm also believes the new app could help to reduce emissions in major cities by thousands of tonnes.
According to reports, the average driver is thought to spend over 2,500 hours looking for a free space over a lifetime.
Large scale beta testing is underway for the ‘Find and Pay’ app, with more than 500 testers spread across 31 cities to test, certify and increase predictive accuracy.
Once the system is rolled out for public use, its self-learning algorithms will carry on improving as time goes on, thanks to continued testing and user feedback.
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