New Wireless Smart Parking Sensor Technology From Streetline Being Deployed On Roosevelt Island Soon - Latest Example Of Cutting Edge Urban Planning Technology Being Used On Roosevelt Island

PSD Officer Issuing Tickets In Southtown

An innovative new parking solution using wireless smart technology is coming to Roosevelt Island.

During the September Roosevelt Island Operating Corp. (RIOC) Operations Committee Meeting, RIOC Director Jonathan Kalkin presented a trial plan to place sensors underneath the 30 new parking spots to be created on the West Channel Road (facing Manhattan) from 415 Main Street just up to the Blackwell Turnaround.

 Image of New Parking Spaces On Main Street West Channel

To accommodate the new parking spaces, the West Channel Road will no longer be a two way street but traffic will only travel in a Northbound direction. (More information on the traffic pattern change available from this post and included traffic study)

When will the additional parking spots and wireless sensors be installed on the new one way West Channel? According to Mr. Kalkin:

Both events should occur in the next few weeks

Streetline is the company installing the wireless Roosevelt Island parking sensor system and issued the following press release today.

Streetline Inc. today announced that the Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation (RIOC) will deploy Streetline's sensor-based smart parking solutions on New York's Roosevelt Island, part of the borough of Manhattan. Roosevelt Island is creating new "smart" parking spaces next to Roosevelt Island's subway and historic tramway.

The innovative program, which marks Streetline's entry into the East Coast market, aims to help Roosevelt Island better assess its parking management policies, give citizens and visitors a better parking experience, and address traffic congestion.

The new "smart" parking spaces will be outfitted with Streetline's patented parking system which includes ultra-low power sensors that communicate with one another to deliver valuable real-time information, such as how long a car is parked and when a car enters and leaves a parking space.  The initial system also lays the foundation for smart parking meters allowing for easier payments and better pricing.

Due to the limited size of Roosevelt Island, street parking is increasingly difficult for visitors and residents, and double parking and short meter times continue to put a burden on business of local shops.  By deploying Streetline's sensors, Roosevelt Island will have the ability to better assess its parking situation and make the changes necessary, such as adding more parking or changing pricing, so they can begin to provide a better parking experience.

"We are excited to have been selected by Roosevelt Island to help address their parking needs with our smart parking solutions," said Zia Yusuf, CEO of Streetline, Inc. "We applaud their forward thinking strategy and their dedication to utilize new technologies to manage parking for their historic city. By beginning the process of deploying Streetline's sensors, Roosevelt Island is setting the stage for a new world of efficiency and improved services for its citizens."

The Roosevelt Island program will initially deploy Streetline's smart parking "starter kit" which consists of patented hardware and software. The hardware includes ultra-low power mesh networks and vehicle-occupancy detection sensors which are embedded within each parking space.

The software includes applications for parking policy management enabling dynamic pricing and motorist guidance systems.  Parking meter integration, which will be deployed later in the program, enables additional applications for enforcement, maintenance and collections.  The fully hosted software as a service (SaaS) platform is web based and includes 24/7 uninterrupted vehicle occupancy information.  

"We are proud to partner with Streetline and be the first East Coast market to adopt this innovative new technology," said Jonathan Kalkin, director of the Roosevelt Island Operating Corp of the State of New York. "This is the first phase to a hopefully larger deployment of smart parking technology around our streets and parking facilities that will provide citizens and visitors of Roosevelt Island a more convenient way to find and access parking."

Here's a You Tube Video showing how the Streetline parking sensors work in San Francisco.

You Tube Video of Wireless Parking From Streetsline

RIOC Director Kalkin adds:

Roosevelt Island presently has a number of parking issues. Parking in Motorgate is too expensive for short term parking, parking on Main Street is supposed to be for dropping off and picking up items and therefore it is limited to a maximum of forty five minutes. Some areas of the Island like Southtown are limited to two hours. However, if you walk the street you will see many cars parked there for more than twice that period or all day. Some of them have placards that are suspect, and many just feed the meter indefinitely.

As a result, if a person wants to drop off items at their place or just wants to have a friend in for a cup of coffee, parking becomes impossible. In addition, that person has to either drive around the island to look for a space which leads to additional pollution and traffic congestion, or drives all the way down to Motorgate and pays a hefty fee to park for that short period. All of these factors are a strain on Main Street and our residents and visitors.

We want to encourage parking for its intended purpose, want to make sure that parking period of time is reasonable, and we want to relay that information to the residents or visitors. We also want to utilize more spaces by the hospitals on the weekends and evenings (when they are usually empty) and in front of Southtown, but want these to be used efficiently.

The information that parking is available ahead can be shown with signage on the street, on the internet, and on mobile devices. We can lower the price of short term parking at Motorgate to encourage the use of the facility for that purpose. Public Safety officers can flag vehicles electronically that use illegal placards and most importantly a vehicle in violation will be shown on their mobile devices so they can spend their time more efficiently serving the community or directing traffic on the street.

Our sensors will be embedded below ground so you won't see them. This is a trial that will eventually be integrated with our parking meters as well. This test phase is the start of several transportation and operations projects that we will be examining over the year like electric car charging stations powered by solar and east river tidal energy , bike sharing, LED energy efficient lighting, tap cards and mobile payments for the red bus and parking, arrival time clocks and information signs at the bus shelters and Tram stations, a SeeClickFix Island 311 system,  a Solar Hybrid Ferry, Island Park WIFI Internet,  and a new Director of Transportation to make it all come together.

As the new Chair of the Operations Committee, I am excited to work with our dedicated team at RIOC and our tireless board members who help make this all possible. Roosevelt Island will lead the city and now the country with innovative solutions to our daily problems, making this place an even better place to live and work.

Just another example of the latest in cutting edge urban planning technology being tested on Roosevelt Island.