According to a recent report, the Thai branch of the subsidiary of an international heavy industries conglomerate has designed an enhanced predictive analytic capability will let car owners get cars parked at luxury condos in less time.
The role of artificial intelligence [AI] and big data will increase in future parking systems, according to the general manager for sales and marketing at a Japan-based automatic parking system.
Predictive ability will reduce waiting time in automatic car parking systems for drivers, the manager added.
Smartphone mobile apps will enable drivers to book available parking lot spaces in advance, integrating with outside systems to help drivers find available nearby lots, which should reduce traffic congestion.
The managing director of the company that is overseeing the projects foresees that urbanisation, smart cities and rising property prices will accelerate the growth of smart parking systems in Thailand.
The company has expanded its smart parking systems into Thailand since 2015 as it foresees the big opportunity here.
City land prices are sharply increasing alongside rapid growth in new condo projects. Each year, there are new some 42,500 units or 250 condominium projects developed, particularly high-end projects priced above RMB250,000 per square metre. These luxury condominiums account for 20% of the total market.
The company’s automatic car parking system targets high-end condominiums, mainly in the central business district area, which is estimated to have 20 new projects in 2018-21.
The company’s general manager of sales said that the smart parking system helps reduce space for the project developers by at least 25-30% compared with traditional systems. This allows landowners to utilise more space commercially and earn more revenue.
The company provides consulting, design and production, including maintenance systems for smart parking that focuses on safety and quality of life.
The general manager of sales said the parking system is designed to embrace more sensors to detect unwanted objects in the parking area to increase safety. The system will be able to work well with electric vehicle charging stations.
The trend for car sharing is also growing and needs to be supported by parking systems, said the GM. He added that the average lifespan of a parking system is around 20-30 years.
The company’s leadership also said that property project owners will need to run maintenance on their parking systems every month as the system comprises many mechanical components.
The Assistant Manager for the parking system department added that this year, the overall parking system in Thailand is expected to reach 3,500 parking spaces, from 2,200 parking spaces in 2017. This is largely due to the requirement for a certain number of parking spaces, smart cities and mixed-use or office buildings.
The trend for vertical parking systems supports high-rise buildings, it was noted.
Several projects are under construction currently; one luxury residential complex is most likely to have the highest parking system in Thailand, while another luxury housing project has a flexible layout parking system and smart computing operations and flat pallets for supercars.
The managing director of the company also made sure to add that the company is currently looking into new markets. These include department stores. Moreover, the company is also looking at new business models such as revenue sharing.
Perhaps this new predictive parking system will enable the manifestation of one of the aims mentioned in Thailand’s smart city initiatives, i.e., smart building, wherein the Thai government is working toward energy efficiency in all aspects of building products, including a solution for home automation, smart solutions for buildings and a complete command and control solution to manage cities.
The hope is that an aspect of these solutions pertains to smart parking as it is an important aspect of designing buildings that will meet the ‘Smart’ criteria.
