San Mateo Launches Smart Parking Technology from Streetline and Cisco

SAN MATEO, Calif., Dec. 4, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Drivers in downtown San Mateo can now more easily find available on-street parking spaces, as well as the locations of parking garages and lots, thanks to a new Smart Parking system unveiled today by the City of San Mateo with the help of Streetline, Inc. and Cisco. Using sensors and a free consumer app called Parker™ from Streetline—and the intelligent networking technology platform from Cisco—motorists will be able to view real-time parking availability in downtown real-time parking availability of 135 on-street parking spaces in downtown San Mateo near the intersection of 3^rd Avenue and B Street. 

"I'm pleased that San Mateo was chosen for this project to bring innovative parking technology to our city," said Larry Patterson, Director of Public Works for the City of San Mateo. "This tool is consistent with San Mateo's strong technology industry and is an example of the City's commitment to efficiently managing parking to support our downtown." 

Sensors embedded in the pavement of the selected parking spaces detect when a space is available. Cisco's smart routers communicate with Streetline sensors to aggregate sensor data and the same time communicate with Streetline cloud center to deliver the availability of the parking spots. The intelligent network platform captures the data and publishes it into Streetline's free mobile application, Parker, which displays real-time availability of these on-street spaces as well as locations of off-street parking garages and lots along with other information such as pricing and enforcement hours. 

"By deploying this cutting-edge Smart Parking technology, San Mateo has taken a great step towards becoming a Smarter City," said Zia Yusuf, CEO of Streetline.  "We are pleased to be working alongside Cisco to bring this technology to San Mateo and hopefully resolve one of the most pressing concerns facing today's cities – parking."

Some of the notable features of the Parker by Streetline app include:

• Real-time availability of select on-street parking spaces to guide consumers to spaces; Parker updates automatically when a car is parked or leaves
• Hands-free voice navigation system that safely guides drivers to parking facilities using an audible cue when available parking is nearby
• Ability to toggle between availability and price, including real time updates as prices are changed or updated
• Easy access to rates, hours and time limits for both on-street spaces and off-street parking facilities metered and on-street parking where available
• Ability to enter an address or search by points of interest including airports, universities, shopping centers, featured neighborhoods, transit and hospitals
• The ability to enter an address within Parker and view parking options nearest to that destination
• Mark areas on the Parker map to keep track of where a car is parked (and later get guidance back to the car), set reminders, take a picture of a car and take notes about the location. Parker also saves parking history data for easy access later

Streetline is a global provider of Smart Parking solutions for cities, airports, universities and private garages, while Cisco is the worldwide leader in networking that transforms how people connect, communicate and collaborate.  The deployment coincides with the upcoming holidays, designed to test technology that can make finding parking in downtown San Mateo easier for residents and visitors just in time for the holiday season.

"Smart Parking services such as the projects being launched today in San Mateo and San Carlos have the potential to significantly reduce congestion around key downtown areas, and create a completely new experience for city visitors, businesses and residents," said Wim Elfrink, executive vice president, Industry Solutions and chief globalisation officer, Cisco. "Using the intelligence of the network as a way to connect what were previously unconnected areas opens up a number of new service opportunities for developing smarter communities.  In Paris for example, the average motorist spends 4 years of their life just trying to find a parking space.  Our belief is that the network can provide a smarter way to address this challenge, and help create new ongoing monetization streams for city government."

The technology is designed to not only help people find spaces, but also to help reduce traffic congestion and improve parking management.  Nationwide, experts estimate that 30 percent of urban traffic is caused by motorists looking for parking.  Additionally, vehicle emissions resulting from drivers looking for parking are so closely linked that a year-long study found that drivers in a 15 block district in Los Angeles drove in excess of 950,000 miles, produced 730 tons of carbon dioxide and used 47,000 gallons of gas searching for parking.  By reducing the time spent looking for a parking space, San Mateo hopes to reduce traffic, emissions, and driver frustration in the downtown area.    

"Parking is important to the success and vitality of our downtown," said Jessica Evans, Executive Director of the Downtown San Mateo Association.  "This technology will help customers find parking more easily and attract more people to enjoy all that downtown San Mateo has to offer." 

About Streetline, Inc.
Streetline's mission is to make smart cities a reality through the use of sensor-enabled mobile and web applications.  As the leading global provider of Smart Parking solutions for cities, airports, universities, private garages, and consumers, Streetline's pioneering technology connects citizens with critical information to improve the way they live and work, while making cities more efficient and lessening their environmental impact.

Streetline is a privately held company headquartered in Foster City, CA with Smart Parking deployments in Germany and across the United States including California, Delaware, Florida, Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, South Carolina, Oregon, Virginia and Washington, DC.  The company was named one of Fast Company's 10 Most Innovative Companies in Transportation, as well as IBM Global Entrepreneur of the Year.  In October 2012, Streetline was named a finalist for the prestigious 2012 World Technology Awards.  For more information on the company visit http://www.streetline.com

For more information and to download the free Parker app, please visit www.theparkerapp.com

About Cisco
Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) is the worldwide leader in networking that transforms how people connect, communicate and collaborate. Cisco's Smart+Connected Communities help transform physical communities to connected communities that can help realize sustainable economic growth, enable environmental sustainability through resource management and operational efficiencies, and enhance the way we live. 

For more information visit: http://www.cisco.com/web/strategy/smart_connected_communities.html. 

More information about Cisco can be found at www.cisco.com

SOURCE Streetline, Inc.