Intelligent Car Park Routeing for Road Traffic

The twin problems of congestion and inner-city parking limitations affect many cities. One solution is to promote the use of Park and Ride sites. However, for effective use of the sites, drivers need to know where the sites are and which is the “best” site to use. This work introduces a methodology to pinpoint and guide drivers to the best Park and Ride site from their current location. While drivers may be able to obtain traffic, car park location and free space data individually, the information is not usually coordinated. By fusing up-to-date details of traffic jams, roadworks and accidents coupled with free parking spaces and combining this with a novel route weighting methodology, we are able to ensure that intelligent information is displayed to guide drivers. The method uses optimised data structures and proprietary scoring measures to ensure it is fast and accurate. The method provides a simple and low cost solution through the use of existing technologies to display information to drivers