The T.O. EcoParking App
- The Institute of Mobile Technologies
- Mobiles Without Borders
Intro: What is T.O. EcoParking App?
- T.O. EcoParking App is one component in an intelligent transport system that will enable a reduction in energy use, pollution and traffic jams. As Toronto becomes a connected city, a GPS-based system will direct drivers to the nearest available parking space. The T.O. EcoParking App will enable fast, flexible personalized transport to respond more efficiently to customer needs.
- T.O. EcoParking offers a practical solution to drivers looking for parking spots with the ultimate goal of benefiting society through the direct reduction of harmful environmental pollutants.
- T.O. EcoParking works by collecting and distributing real-time information about where parking is available so that drivers can quickly find open spaces.
- Reducing traffic by helping drivers find parking benefits everyone. Less time spent circling means less emissions and more parking availability, which makes Toronto’s streets less congested and safer.
- T.O. EcoParking educates drivers about how to make an environmentally friendly decision during their daily activities by informing drivers about the additional gas consumed and pollution generated by choosing one route, or mode of transportation over another.
Challenge: Environmental Impact
Well organized and densely populated cities have contributed to their own economic efficiency, environmental quality & social cohesion. However, managing the environmental impact of such cities remains a challenge. This challenge is intensified in a city such as Toronto where there is a high dependency on automobile transportation and where the mass transit system is underdeveloped.
Toronto’s high rate of automobile use means that we have higher oil consumption, which means more metric tons of carbon dioxide pollution, are spewed into the air. The necessary conclusion is that Torontonians need to be more attentive to reducing greenhouse gases.
It has been estimated that approximately one third of downtown drivers are clogging streets as they circle the block looking for a parking spot. Each one of us has experienced this frustration or the frustration of the congestion caused by others trying to find a parking spot. Admittedly, this is irritating. More importantly however, one must realize that congestion leads to more congestion. This means that the pollution generated and the gas consumed by that circling vehicle is not limited to that vehicle. Rather, the pollution effect is exacerbated because the resulting congestion means that even more gas is consumed and even more greenhouse gases are being released by the cars trapped in the congestion.
Opportunity:
Sharing Resources:
Directly Reducing Emissions
Sharing resources is an effective way of reducing gasoline consumption and the resulting pollution. New York City sets an excellent example. New York facilitates the highest mass transit use in the United States. Gasoline consumption in the city is at the rate the national average was in the 1920s and greenhouse gas emissions are a fraction of the U.S. national average, at 7.1 metric tons per person per year (below San Francisco, at 11.2 metric tons, and the national average, at 24.5 metric tons). New York City accounts for only 1% of United States greenhouse gas emissions despite housing 2.7% of its population.
Toronto’s mass transit system is hardly comparable to New York’s. Nonetheless, more efficiently sharing the resources that are available to Torontonians is an effective solution to the challenges facing a densely populated city and facilitates environmental sustainability. Indeed, parking spots are shared amongst Torontonians, however, they are not shared in an optimal way. Optimizing the sharing of this resource is an ideal way to ensure a more sustainable model of living together.
The Role of Mobile Phones:
- Toronto has an unrealized opportunity to benefit from the more efficient use of its parking spaces. The necessary condition to optimize the sharing of Toronto’s parking space is delivering the right information about that resource at the right time and to the right people.
- Prior to the ubiquitous use of smart phones, there was no effective way to deliver the right information, to right person, at the right time.
Today, mobile technologies make it possible to deliver the right information, to right people, at the right time and through the right channel.
Solution – The T.O. EcoParking App
- The T.O. EcoParking app is a smart phone application that allows real-time information to reach drivers directly, telling them where parking is available. This will help drivers find parking with less hassle.
How it works
- Wireless sensors will be installed in on-street parking spaces to track when and where parking is available on a space-by-space and minute-by-minute basis. Sensor data will be uploaded wirelessly to the data feed, making this information available to the driver via the smart phone application. The app has a map that will show which blocks have open places (blue) and which blocks do not have available places (red). Educating drivers about their contribution to pollution.
- The T.O. ParkSmart app uses text-to-speech functionality so that the incoming messages are read to the driver aloud while the user is driving. It will also allow the user to use voice commands to reply to incoming messages.
- The app allows users to track down their car. The user may note the location of their car or take a photgraph of the location of the car when they park. When the user returns, they simply look at the satellite image that shows both the user's current location and the car's location. A parking meter alert feature will also be included to enable users to avoid tickets.
- The T.O. ParkSmart app will have a built-in feature to educate the public about how to make environmentally friendly decisions during their daily activities. Presently, drivers use various tools (i.e. smart phones apps, in-vehicle navigation systems, GPS units and websites) to map a route from one point to another and to obtain directions. It is common for the users base their mapping decision on various preferences, such as the shortest distance or the shortest time, avoiding busy highways, and avoiding toll roads. Presently, these common preferences do not include an option that informs the user about how much pollution they generate by taking one route instead of another. Admittedly, certain routes use more gasoline, which generate more pollution. This feature will allow users to select routes that contribute the least amount of pollution, or to choose a different type of transportation. It will also allow the user to see how choosing public transportation as an alternative to driving affects their contribution to pollution. For example, users will be able to see the difference in the pollution generated by: choosing public transportation or car pooling instead of choosing to drive their car. They will also be able to see how driving during different times of the day impacts on how much pollution is generated. Travelling during a non-rush hour period means less traffic, less stopping and less pollution.
Measuring Impact
- It is estimated that the T.O. EcoParking application will reduce traffic related pollution in Toronto at minimum by 25%.
- Data on whether users make a pollution-reducing choice with regard to their daily travels is information that will be easily obtainable through the T.O. EcoParking app educational feature.
Community Involvement
The App will facilitate the creation of Green Teams, namely, groups of people in various communities committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The Green Team initiatives is a way to allow communities and/or businesses to implement environmental goals while creating synergy and fostering team spirit. Green teams typically are groups of people representing different communities. They can be self-selecting or hand picked or some combination of the two. The Green Teams will compete on a weekly/monthly/yearly basis to achieve the greatest reduction in emissions. Reduction in emissions may be realized by spending less time circling to find a parking space, using fuel more efficiently or choosing a more environmentally friendly mode of transportation or route. The app will collect and compile data from each Green Teams and provide periodic reports to the competing Green Teams on the choices made, for example, to use an alternate mode of transportation. One important advantage of this approach is that groups of people from different parts of the city can come together to help solve an environmental problem, meet goals and achieve social change.
The T.O. EcoParking app and its features will enable a direct reduction of urban climate emissions by:
- educating the public about the environmental friendliness of using public transportation; and
- decreasing transportation distances and hence gas consumption, which results in a direct reduction of urban climate emissions.
Appexiom Inc. (app design including user experience etc, & technical development)
The Institute of Mobile Technologies (research, education & consulting)
The Institute of Mobile Technologies (IMT) is a leading educational, research and consulting institute on mobile technologies based in Toronto, Canada.
IMT has developed the first program of its kind in mobile technology – the Mobile Technology Management Program (MTMP) in partnership with the Ted Rogers School of Information Technology Management at Ryerson University, and other partner universities around the globe.
As part of its mission to use technology for social change, IIMT has also partnered with Engineers Without Borders,Toronto, to make its knowledge and expertise available to thousands of students, scholars and experts living in developing countries to more effectively design, develop and implement mobile technologies to address a range of challenges, from access to education, information delivery to rural areas and other initiatives such as healthcare services.
Mobiles Without Borders
Mobiles Without Borders will assist in pollution calculations and engineering relating to the the app.
Mobiles Without Borders is a joint initiative of Engineers Without Borders* (Toronto) http://www.ewb.ca/en/whoweare/index.html and the Institute of Mobile Technologies and was created in response to an increasing need to implement mobile technologies in an effort to achieve social, economic and infrastructure development in Africa and other parts of the world.
Mobiles Without Borders provides a platform to connect organizations involved in development with experts in the field because this is an important factor in supporting various developement projects.
The goals of the Mobile Without Borders are:
1. Form a platform to connect experts in mobile from developed countries to their peers in Africa and other developing countries for technology and knowledge transfer;
2. Support start-ups and businesses involved in mobile operations in Africa; and
3. Provide educational sessions and seminars on mobile applications in development to both Toronto professionals and development partners in Africa.
Volunteers, organizations and companies interested in participating in the MWB projects can join by visiting http://www.inomobitech.com/index.php/contacts
*Engineers Without Borders
Engineers Without Borders (EWB) is a movement of professional engineers, students, overseas volunteer staff, and supporters across Canada. Together, EWB is almost 50,000 strong. Whilte EWB strongly focuses on Africa, at home, it leverages a network of 34 professional and student chapters to create lasting change across Canada. EWB engages Canadians, our government, companies, and universities on a widespread scale, to build their connections to Africa and make choices that better promote and contribute to human development.
Short-Term
There will be both a free and paid version of the T.O. EcoParking app.
A free version will provide general information about a user’s pollution contribution based on time of day, type of vehicle and route selected. In addition, to help the user save time and energy other useful information may also be included such as: gas prices and weather information as a “travel gadget” to encourage frequency of use of the app.
The paid version of the app will include premium features. This will generate revenue to support the project. The paid version will provide more valuable information to the user. For example, when the app is launched, it will inform the user where parking spots are available in a given location. Users will immediately realize the benefit of using this information. A one-time fee for downloading the app will be outweighed by the benefits of users knowing that they are being environmentally responsible, as well as saving time and gas and frustration.
As a short term solution, we suggest using sensors to connect wirelessly to a central database to only report availability of parking spot wherever the sensor is installed. This is a cost-effective and feasible project in light of the availability of the sensors and focusing on a single functionality.
In the meantime, the network created can be used as the foundation of smart infrastructure to collect information for the city for future projects.
Long-Term
Ideally, in the long term, the T.O. EcoParking app would like to work jointly with the city of Toronto to implement the next generation of smart metering, which collects environmental data to be processed and used by city authorities and citizens. Radio frequency identification tags (RFID) that are able to collect various types of data (i.e. temperature, available parking spots, etc.) could be used for this purpose.
It is anticipated that this type of “smart infrastructure” (i.e. more efficient and environmentally friendly systems for managing infrastructure) will translate into large reductions in energy use, greenhouse gases emitted and the consumption of natural resources.
It is important for cities to take steps now to start thinking about and implementing smart infrastructure for efficient allocation of Toronto’s city resources. For example, eventually, when the app becomes more integrated with the city services, the city can base pricing of the parking spots though smart metering and hence price the parking spots according to the demand and supply of the area. Clearly, this requires a long-term plan involving a larger investment and contribution by several different departments and agencies of the city.
Comments
Non-profit partnership and emissions
Hi - this is a very interesting idea - and thanks for putting it up early to get us going. I think you've captured a lot of common feeling with respect to the frustrations of urban parking - especially in super-congested downtown areas. One thought I had though is that with respect to regular commuters - they likely have a parking strategy already set up - they know where to go and what time they have to get there to get a spot at the best prices. So maybe your clientele is going to be folks who are doing other than regular work/commuting trips in congested areas - do you think this is valid?
I'm not very clear on who your non-profit partner is in all of this, and what their role is - can you please elaborate?
Also, I feel quite unconvinced of your claim that use of this application could reduce urban transportation related emissions by at least 25 percent - I'd love to be convinced, though - so maybe you can provide some further info?
Shoup
The proposal focuses on an area where there's alot of room for improvement - not only is cruising for parking wasteful of resources, it's also frustrating.
Note that the Shoup article says "between 8 and 74 percent of the traffic was cruising for parking" NOT 74%. That's a huge range.
I'd lke to see more information on how the sensors work and how weather tolerant they are. What happens in rain and snow?
Logistics
This is an excellent point. These sensors will have to be very sturdy in order to survive. Rather than a sensor, is there another way that car parking spots could be monitored.
I'm just talking ideas out loud here. Is it possible that rather than sensors, there could be an app that you can say you have left a parking space, that one has become available, and the GPS within the phone would pinpoint the location, to show people looking for a spot nearby that a space had become vacant? I'm sure there are many flaws to this idea, as I say, I'm just thinking outloud.
Correction and Evaluation Criteria
Hi- very cool idea and thanks for coming on board ClimateSpark!
Just wanted to let you know that in the "How will you ensure your project is self supporting within five years?" section there is a grammatical error "Long-Term Ideally, in the long term" to correct.
Also, this is something to think about. One of the evaluation criteria is "Community Connection- link the broader community to provide impetus for engaging a broader and/or more diverse group of people in the climate solutions conversation". How does your venture plan to do this?
ROI
A great idea, and who wouldn't want to know where your parking space was ahead of time?
I see lots of roadblocks. First, you need to have "Green P" on board. Second, what about street parking? Third, what's the revenue model... and could the sale of an app ever provide enough revenue to cover the massive investment required to track all those parking spaces?
More financial crunching would help me with this.
The Parking Paradox
I love the idea of knowing where parking is available, and have seen examples of municipally run counting signs in other countries (such as the one at Yorkdale Mall).
An issue I see brewing is that you need to be on your cell phone to use an app, presumably because you can't find a spot. Since using your cell phone while operating a vehicle is illegal, you'd need to pull over to use it. But, you can't find a place to pull over (parking spot!) so you're stuck!
Of course we can advocate carpooling as a way to break the paradox, but is there a solution this proposal could put forward?
Could there be a way to integrate with GPS?
Once data was gathered and trends identified, could the app become a website to give an estimate as to whether a space will be available by the time one drives there from a home computer?
Partnerships
I think it would be great to see a partnership with your organization and others, like Bixi, that are working on the other piece of the puzzle here: getting cars off the road all together in the downtown core!
Traffic in Toronto
I think this idea has great potential. Any reduction in the amount of time that car engines are turning over is of course a positive thing. I would have to agree with Matt in the sense that there must be a considerable financial investment in order to set up this project. In order for people to have faith in the application a large number of parking spots would need to be fitted with sensors. I think people would be disheartened if they passed a parking spot that was free and not indicated on the app because the spot was not part of this program. Having said that, I think that this is an excellent idea, and one that has far reaching potential in terms of monitoring traffic in general in Toronto. I love the idea that this app will also provide information on the benefits of taking public transit over driving.
Could some service be built in that would allow people that have free parking spots to rent them out for times of the day when they are not using them? Also, would this just apply to curb side parking, or to private ventures? There would be a big incentive for those that own parking spaces to install this system as, potentially, it would ensure that their spots were always full.
Some problems
I see a few problems with this idea:
- If it's easier to find a spot, you are encouraging people to drive.
- Not everyone has a smartphone and only a small number of smartphone users will download and use such an app.
- Using an app while driving is not a good idea and would be illegal in Ontario (http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/story/2009/10/23/cellphone-ban.html)
- Toronto moved away from fixed parking spots in order to fit more cars in. Where would you put the sensors.
- Cost. There's approx. 17,500 on-street metered parking spots in Toronto. To be conservative, say you try to take on just 10,000. Say with luck and hard work you could create a wireless sensor for $500. That's $5,000,000 just in sensors. Add network costs, administration, maintenance, etc. (more millions).
This proposal is questionable at best. You may reduce carbon output, but only at peak times. It is a very costly proposal--you could do much better for the money. For $5M you could buy carbon offsets for about 1 billion pounds of carbon. Costly, inefficient and possibly illegal. I think this is a bad idea.
Are you putting the App before the horse?
I like this idea but I think you need more work up front, and the app would be the icing on the cake. This proposal would feel much stronger with Green P and the City of Toronto in as committed partners to pilot-test this idea. Once you're playing with parking spot sensors and GPS, I think you're also open to parking meter-free systems that allow drivers to set up accounts and pay only when the GPS tells the City that their car is parked there. I admit this isn't my idea...I think I've read about this somewhere else. In any case, if you want this for stree parking, you'll absolutely need the City to be on board from on installation and maintenance perspective. If on private lots, you'll need them to partner.
Price-point
Parking is a significant factor which can be used to leverage urban emission reductions. The Canadian Urban Institute just held a session focused on parking featuring the author of a new book called The High Cost of Free Parking; see Christopher Hume's aritle from the Toronto Star (ClimateSpark's Headline media sponsor!) http://www.thestar.com/news/article/1012740--hume-it-s-time-to-charge-the-real-cost-of-parking There have been some new downtown condos which had to get concessions to reduce the number of parking spaces since residents really don't need them. There have been initiatives to buy back employee parking spaces. So, targetting parking is key, central and strong lever. Seems to me that only making parking easier to find does not creat the structural conditions for real emission reduction, and could miss an opportunity.
How could this venture fit into a multi-tactic strategy to: restrict amount, increase cost, AND make it easier to find. What kind of business model required? What partners? You've got a lot of enthusiasm for the focus, and hopefully ClimateSpark community can help strengthen the proposal.
Co-Development
There is a fair amount of work being done in this area and to my understanding at least one jurisdiction is piloting. Demand for this service has been studied and is encouraging as is emission reduction analysis.
Identification of collaborative partners needed to execute and revenue generation referenced
Parking and Sensors
Please quantify. How many street parking spaces are availalbe in downtown Toronto; what are the boundaries? I share the concern about drivers on phones while driving. And has climate been taken into consideration - show removal, show covering sensors, damage to sensors?
Forget street parking, map Green P and other parking. There's a revenue base!
Great project
Great service to get around in town.
If you can add additional service for those who don't own car and come to town by bus, by subway or by airline and want to have freedom to move around the town, you can add other means of personal transportation for that freedom such as bixx bicycle, in town car share, or tricycle personal transportation for fun and convenience.
Great Potential
Mobile is becoming a consistant use in daily life. Having an App at that make life easier related to parking is always a bonus. The potential for this App is limitless especially in downtown areas where parking is already a mess.
Keep the App localized to the downtown core where parking is hard to find in general (i.e. the Entertainment and Business districts). This would give the App the chance to target professionals as well as a younger crowd, Apps are meant to be accessable day and night. It would be great to be able to cater to the day-time worker and the night-time socializer.
in and out quickly
I would love this idea to take off and work, I hate looking for a spot
You need to show me real time studies on emission reduction, then I KNOW for sure that it will make the difference it looks like it could.
Not so sure....
Parking lots are hectic and unsafe during the holiday season and other peak shopping times. Drivers with the app frantically rushing to a spot and competing with others patrolling the lot makes me skeptical aspecifically with respect to safety issues for pedestrians.
Not sure, how to use this resource while concentration on driving? Will drivers be able to distinguish between permit parking spaces, and timed spaces i.e maximum time allowed?
Financial Strategy: Bootstrapping and your Lead Customers
Please read below.
I’m excited to see so many entrepreneurial proposals on ClimateSpark. I especially like the model of social ventures that can sustain themselves by creating their own revenue and be less dependent on grants or gifts.
In my own experience starting and building several companies, I’ve often employed “bootstrapping” techniques so I’m not dependent on external capital (VCs, etc.). One technique I’ve used successfully is to recruit one or more “lead customers” who pay me up-front for a service (e.g., consulting or something they need right away), which gives me the capital to build my product or capability for them. The big advantages: cash up-front (or early); a real customer to help make sure my design is something they’ll want to buy; and a great partner to test ideas with as I’m getting off the ground.
What’s your bootstrapping strategy? Have you tried to develop “lead customers” for your product or service? Have you talked to potential customers ? What are you doing to get cashflow from them early, so your idea can gain traction?
I would be worried drivers
I would be worried drivers will be so busy listening to the voice they won't be paying attention to their driving. Parking spots get taken so fast by the time one drove there chances are it would be gone anyway esp. if everyone had the app. Interesting therory. Would be great if the named spot could somehow be saved for the person wanting it-- such as a reserved light flashing??
This would likely work in a condo setting or business with its own parking, as only residents/workers would need to park if no assigned parking was done and it would save them time looking for a spot.
Clearly expressing your business value – Mock Press Release
Each proposal in ClimateSpark is bringing a valuable community based idea forward to help with energy conservation and the reduction of carbon emissions
Centennial College, School of Communications Media & Design, Corporate Communications and Public Relations Class of 2012 will be working on a set of mock press releases, in anticipation of this proposal being one of the 20 to be selected on October 31 to continue to ClimateSpark Ignite Phase 2.
If you would like to be interviewed as part of the mock press release development process, please send a note to Professor Barry Waite, [email protected] by Friday October 21, 2011.
If you choose not to be interviewed, the mock press release will be developed based on Information currently posted in the description of your idea, as well as information gleaned from the various comment interactions.
In response to "Not so sure..."
This app can save time, gas and reduce pollution all at once. With this app being localized in Toronto we simply need a means help the community use it responsibly, such as a points program strategy. Here's an article of a similar app Google created called "Open Spot":
http://www.switched.com/2010/07/12/googles-open-spot-app-shares-open-parking-spots-awards-much/
Being in the Advertising industry in the digital and online side has allowed me to be exposed to new upcoming companies that specialize in digital/online, mobile and Seach Engine Optimization practices. Mobile companies such as "Joomo", created by Plastic Mobile, can create simple and user friendly apps that can be tablet compatible as well.
This tablet compatiblity option can be a huge factor in capturing audiences with the increase in tablet purchases to get a better demand rate for the app.
Great potential
I think this proposal has great potential. I find myself travelling by car to the city often and always find it difficult to find parking. I think this app can be beneficial to people like me who are unfamiliar with the city and would like their commute to be as quick and painless as possible. Traffic is a huge headache, parking should be the easy part. This project can reduce emissions because it will reduce the amount of time in the car driving around searching for parking. That is important.
In addition, I believe you have set out your goals and objectives well, I can picture your project in my head, which is important for proposal writing.
Like a lot of people, I believe partnering with the Green P serivce and the City of Toronto is a great idea. Green P is a widely used service in Toronto and is very established here. Partnering with them will expand your venture greatly.
Although I do agree that this can reduce emissions in the city, I think you should show that with statistics and research in your proposal to establish your propoal even furhter. A little evidence never hurt.
Love this idea
This proposal immediately spoke to me (and I'm sure many other Toronto drivers). I think this is a great time to launch this idea considering many people are switching over to smartphone technology if they have not already done so in the past few years. I often avoid driving in downtown Toronto because of traffic and what seems to be lack of parking. However, with this app, parking spots would be easier to find in the busy streets of Toronto. I try and take the TTC to avoid running late, but it seems with the constant delays, this app may get me driving downtown more often.
It is mentioned that a free and a payed for version of the app will be available. Will the app continue to have a price point once it joins up with the city of Toronto? Perhaps once the project grows a free version might be available for all users to ensure all users can get the same benefits?
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Toronto Traffic Worst in Canada
Toronto Traffic Worst in Canada -
http://www.thestar.com/news/article/1044026--toronto-remains-worst-canad...
The Toronto Board of Trade warned the current gridlock crisis will only worsen. The Board predicts a “carmageddon” in 20 years when another 1 million cars will be on GTA roads. It doesn’t help that most Torontonians ride to work in four wheels: more than 70 per cent of commuters drove to their job in 2006, the most recent data available.