The NYC Department of Transportation is piloting a program in the Bronx that uses in-ground sensors to monitor the location of available parking spaces.
The pilot’s aim is to test how the sensors survive the harsh NYC winter, standing up to a variety of factors including snow plowing, daily street sweeping, underground utilities, electromagnetic interference and general traffic.
For the pilot, sensors will detect a parked car using infrared and/or magnetometer sensing. They transmit the data to wireless gateways mounted on street light poles, which kick the information to cellular and wireless networks and ultimately, back to the Department of Transportation. Once the project goes full scale, that data would then be made available to the general public.
If the initial test passes, the program will expand to the other boroughs of the city next spring.