BY PETE GOLDIN
time parking availability data for the past 16 years. Unfortunately, those signs are now 16 years old, and Dublin is undergoing an essential VMS technology upgradewith the implementa- tion of a new parking guidance system.
Dublin faces several challenges with the legacy
VMS. First, the signs use electromechanical parts that are extremely difficult to obtain for replacement. The old signs also are limited to text displays and cannot display graphics. This makes multilingual messaging a necessity, which further complicates administration. In addition, the oldVMS system uses a proprietary
serial communication protocol, which has limitations in terms of bandwidth, and requires the use of leased com- munication lines and dialup modem technology, which is costly tomaintain and repair.
Leveraging New Technology Advancements Dublin’s new parking guidance system will consist
of three main components: car park out-stations, variable message signs and parking guidancemanagement system (PGMS) software. All existing car parks in the Dublin system maintain
Signs like this one in Dublin will be upgraded when new contract is issued by the city.
an inductive loop, raisable boomor similar technology for detect- ing the entrance and egress of
vehicles.The newsystemwill con- tinue to use these devices. New out-stations will be installed on- site at each car park to collect and process the information relat- ing to inbound and outbound traffic and occupied spaces. All variable message
signs in the systemwill be replaced with the latest sign technology. Dublin’s newVMS system will be a LED (light emitting diode) display, which is highly efficient
and
continue to be used, with replacement signs, and several new locations also will be selected. Dublin is taking advantage of full-matrix technology to
designed to operate in a low power mode. The LED display also will adjust automatically to ambient light conditions to further reduce power requirements. The benefits of LEDare a significant advancement over sig-
There are 16 private car park operators on the system, and they all will have an opportunity to be included in the new system.
nage options from the mid-1990s, when Dublin’s firstVMS sys- temwas put into operation for parking guidance. Dublin’s new parking guidance system will feature 24 full-
matrix variable message signs, which will be strategically placed throughout the city. Many of the previous VMS locations will
22 MARCH 2010 • PARKING TODAY •
www.parkingtoday.com
ensure maximum visibility for the motorists, with a larger view- ing area comparedwith previous signs, and optimumpixel quali- ty and height of charac- ters. The signs also offer internal
shader-plate
assemblies for viewing in full sunlight. The LED signs meet the optical standard
EN12966-1
NTCIP Communication Protocol. In addition,
flexible text size options, which were not available before. The full graphic capabilitywill allowDublin to avoid displayingmul- tilingual content. All theVMS functionalitywill be remotely accessible by the
PGMS,whichwill also provide the following improvements over the previous system: message storage, message scheduler, inci- dentmanagement, and faultmanagement and reporting.
full-
matrix technology offers Dublin pictogram and
Dublin Upgrades Par D
UBLIN, IRELAND, KNOWS the value of variable message signs (VMS) for parking guid- ance. In fact, the city has employed signs displaying real-
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