City of London coat of arms

The Problem

The historic financial district of the City of London is a 2.9 km² area in the centre of London that is home to just over 9000 residents. Whilst the number of permanent residents is low, more than 300,000 people commute through, work in, or visit the City of London everyday.

For vulnerable road users this poses a unique challenge, locate and navigate to blue badge parking whilst driving through one of the busiest square miles in the world.

The City of London Corporation, the City’s local authority, is determined to make improvements to kerbside access for accessibility impaired drivers.

Challenge: improve the experience for blue badge holders and expose kerbside data

AppyWay parking sensor in the ground showing disabled parking availability

Smart Sensors

AppyWay deployed 188 smart parking sensors throughout the City of London, one for every blue badge parking bay.

The sensors provide real-time availability and occupancy data of every accessibility bay.

AppyParking app on a mobile phone showing Blue Badge disabled parking availability

AppyParking Mobile App

Using the free AppyParking mobile app, accessibility impaired drivers can now see the locations of every blue badge bay in the City. Not only that but the app offers real-time availability of these bays.

In addition to the location and availability of accessible bays, the app also shows the location, rules and prices for all on and off-street parking in the Square Mile. Motorists can link through to commonly used navigation apps such as Waze or Google Maps from the AppyParking app and drive directly to the parking space of their choice.

City of London real-time parking data insights dashboard

Insights

For the City of London Corporation, the real-time occupancy data is fed into our Insights tool. It gives the Parking Services Team the ability to see exactly how the accessible bays are being used and view parking data in one centralised system.

The data will better inform future parking and transport policy decisions that impact kerbside access for vulnerable road users and improve enforcement operations.

The Benefits

Real-time availability

Blue badge holders can easily check for available spaces before they set off and navigate directly to them, saving time finding a spot.

Enhanced user experience

With visibility of all accessible spaces across the City of London, including operating hours and restrictions, blue badge holders will enjoy a much improved experience.

Opportunity to optimise

With rich utilisation insights, the local authority have the opportunity to optimise operating hours and tariffs to reflect demand patterns and traffic management objectives.

Testimonial

“An important part of our Transport Strategy is to use smart technology to improve accessibility in the Square Mile. With almost 200 accessible parking bays available for use, we want all City visitors to travel comfortably and confidently while feeling welcome and safe – and partnerships such as these will be essential to achieving that goal. Together we are making the car-parking experience as user-friendly, and navigable as possible, saving the time and frustrations for those who need it most.”

Alastair MossChair of the Planning and Transportation Committee, City of London Corporation

“I think it’s fantastic that the City of London Corporation have collaborated with AppyWay to bring their innovative technology to bear in supporting greater kerbside access for Blue Badge holders across the Square Mile. This scheme should become the norm so that Blue Badge holders can visit city centres and local high streets filled with the confidence they’ll have a convenient place to park.”

Helen Dolphin MBEDirector of People’s Parking

Thriving cities, from the kerb up

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