Nedap Identification Systems has deployed a smart parking system at one of the busiest bus stations in Singapore, providing incoming drivers with information on available bays for their buses.
Serving over 400,000 passengers every day, Singapore’s woodlands regional bus interchange is the third biggest bus station in the city/state. While this regional bus interchange is undergoing alteration works, a temporary interchange was introduced, with the depot taking over operations in March 2016 and serve passengers for three years.
The temporary station has been equipped with the latest technology, including CCTVs placed above queue berths to alert interchange operators to crowds, so they can adjust bus arrivals accordingly. However, the interchange’s operators required a smart bus parking system for an efficient traffic flow around the site due to the large number of vehicles entering and exiting the facility.
Local systems integrator, Eaglevision Software Pte Ltd, installed Nedap’s SENSIT smart parking platform to offer real-time occupancy information of all individual bus parking spaces at the station. This real-time information enables easy guidance of incoming buses to the nearest available parking space. Nedap’s SENSIT smart sensors have been installed in individual parking spaces to easily guide bus captains to the nearest available parking bay. A large electronic panel shows the number of available parking spaces, so bus captains know exactly where they can park at the moment of arrival. The bus parking bays for 51 articulated buses and 10 rigid buses have all been equipped with SENSIT sensors.
Nedap’s SENSIT system consists of wireless bay-mounted sensors that detect the vehicle occupancy status and duration of parking at individual bays. Sensors mounted in the surface of individual parking bays detect vehicle presence and sends that information to a central server. Parking occupancy information can be used to guide motorists to available parking spaces, to increase traffic flow in cities and decrease pollution.
For the Singapore deployment, the bus parking bays have been fitted with the SENSIT IR vehicle detection sensor, which features dual detection technology using both InfraRed (IR) and electro-magnetic field technologies. Nedap’s Flush Mount electro-magnetic sensor have been installed at the bus drop-off points, with both types of sensor wirelessly connecting with the SENSIT back-office platform. The smart bus parking system helps to boost safety at the interchange, as it reduces the likelihood of two drivers heading for the same parking lot. It also saves bus drivers the trouble of looking out for available parking, and can save them about three minutes from the time they arrive at the interchange.
James Wang, director of R&D at Eaglevision, commented, “SENSIT has proven to be a very highly accurate and stable solution, ensuring smooth traffic flow in a very busy traffic installation.”
Melvyn Teo, business development manager at Nedap, “It is great to see the results of this smart bus parking solution in Singapore, as Asian city bus terminal are always extremely busy and managing traffic is a real challenge.”
