A pilot project aims to streamline car parking in car parks beyond Prague's borders by creating a database of car parks and expanding the functionality of the PID Lítačka application. It will navigate drivers to the nearest available parking space, which will prevent unnecessary trips to already occupied parking lots. The contract with the ICT Operátor (OICT) for the implementation and trial operation of the parking data integration system was approved by the Prague City Council at its meeting on Monday.
The system will also provide data on parking capacity utilisation for local authorities in planning future P+R parking capacities and the associated utilisation of local roads. At the same time, these open datasets will be published in the Prague-based OICT Golemio data platform.
"We continue to develop smart solutions that will make it easier for drivers heading to Prague to plan their journeys and increase their comfort. The new system will also help to reduce the number of cars in the city, increase the use of public transport and reduce the environmental burden of car traffic in our city, which is in line with the Climate Plan for Prague. Up to 300,000 people commute from the Central Bohemian Region to Prague every day," says Prague Mayor Zdeněk Hřib.
"Our flagship is the Prague data platform OICT Golemio, which plays a crucial role in the project. It will transmit all the data in real time, primarily to the PID Lítačka mobile app, but also to other mobile apps that drivers and other passengers use to plan their journeys to the capital. Thanks to the data collection, the participating cities will be able to monitor the utilization of individual parking lots and react to the situation more easily, for example, to optimize environmentally friendly forms of transport or to adjust the basis for spatial or strategic decision-making," informs Tomáš Barczi, the General Director of OICT.
The benefit of the project lies in the fact that the maximum possible information will be expanded to include the total and current capacity of parking lots that are being built in the Central Bohemian Region, as well as other data such as the price of parking. This will make it easier for drivers to plan their journeys and choose the connecting Prague Integrated Transport connection. Most importantly, it will help them decide where to park so that they do not drive to full parking lots and waste time looking for free parking spaces near their destination. This can significantly help to reduce the number of cars arriving in Prague, improve the capacity utilisation of public transport (especially the backbone railway lines), contribute to traffic flow, reduce the environmental burden caused by car traffic and reduce the wear and tear on infrastructure.
The Moje Praha (My Prague) and PID Lítačka applications already use data on the occupancy of P+R car parks, but only in the territory of the metropolis, and through redirection to the TSK (Technical Administration of Communications ) payment system they also use the possibility of cashless payments of parking fees in Prague's paid parking zones. The OICT will use this experience to improve the efficiency of car parking in car parks in the Prague catchment area, which is defined by the territory of Prague, the Central Bohemian Region and its neighbouring districts.
The pilot project will have 4 phases and will last 33 months. The first phase will focus on establishing cooperation in the integration of car parks as well as preparing the data platform. The provision and integration of car park data as well as extending the functionalities of the PID Lítačka application is part of the second phase. Pilot operation and testing will be the focus of the third phase and the final phase is for trial operation.
