The only traffic Jam in Amsterdam is made of cherries
Intertraffic in Amsterdam which took place from 20th to 23rd of March 2018 was the largest this kind of event gathering 30.000 traffic and mobility professionals from all over the world. Exhibitors representing 140 countries were showcasing the latest solutions in the field of infrastructure, traffic management, smart mobility, safety and parking.
Parking domain was represented by over 130 companies! This reflects also the growing smart parking industry estimated to be worth (only in Europe) 19.02 billion U.S. dollars by 2025. From the perspective of revenue management Smart Parking is an important factor allowing additional monetization from parking facilities and optimizing prices dynamically, regardnig to occupancy rates.
Intertraffic ITSUP Arena – speech by Marek Stawiński
This and other benefits of smart parking solution were presented by Marek Stawiński at Intertraffic ITSUP Arena and discussed during the following panel session. The main focus of the workshop dedicated to new mobility solutions was the wide-scale deployment opportunities through partnerships of startups with cities, local governments and corporates. The EIP-SCC Sustainable Urban Mobility Action Cluster offers supports to scale up in other locations by matching with other initiatives under the umbrella of European Commission, like E-Vehicles for Smart Cities and Communities, Intelligent Mobility for Energy Transformation, Urban Air Mobility, Alternative Fuels Special Vehicles, as well as a bunch of other programs dedicated to tackling congestion and harnessing big data for the benefits of urban mobility.
The ITSUP event was moderated by Dr Henriette van Eijl – Directorate General for Mobility and Transport in the European Commission. The workshop was participated by among others: Tamara Goldsteen and Edwin Mermans coordinating The New Mobility Services initiative, Prof. Lutz Heuser – CEO of [ui!], Casimir Ortlieb (CEO of e.GO Digital), Nuno Ribeiro (Ubiwhere), Jason Warwick representing Sharing Cities Programme (Urban Integrated Ltd), Christophe van der Maat (MobilityMoveZ), Niki Sie (Juuve).
Parking contributes to sustainable mobility scheme
EkinnoLab company and its flagship product NaviParking, were presented by the Founder – Marek Stawinski and followed by the panel discussion. The main idea of the Marek’s speech referred to the necessity of abandonment old-thinking approach (i.e. parkings reserved only for facility users) and opening parking facilities to public. This would not only save drivers time and alleviate traffic caused by parking but also it would contribute to reduction of greenhouse gas emission.
Some cities invest vast amount of money for building new parkings what could be avoided by unlocking existing parking spots assets and using parking data hub directly from users’ smartphones. Data analytics combined with intelligent parking management systems, geo-tracking and machine learning techniques could optimize the whole user’s trip plan in a city assuring any unnecessary, not-sustainable mobility is taking place.
Tasting Traffic Jam and testing Bough Bikes
Showcased at the fair innovative mobility solutions gave a chance to discuss possible common business synergies, among others in cooperation with global parking management systems providers who came to Intertraffic even from Asian markets.
We spotted also some innovative vehicles as the solar-powered car Stella Vie developed by students at the Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) or the wooden bike (by Bough Bikes) promoted by an appealing (and tasty) concept of the Traffic Jam – made of cherries. This initiative, supported by Netherlands Bicycle Partnership, offered the passers-by a jar of confiture to demonstrate traffic in Amsterdam is not so bad.
NaviParking branded car – next one will be electric
At the time we were attending Intertraffic having big vision in our minds, Orange published the news that NaviParking was selected to take part in Orange Fab acceleration programme.
As a result, over the next twelve weeks we will work on a common with Orange project for one of the Polish cities. New adventures ahead!
Iwona Skowronek
