**Pavel Kubícek ˇ 1, Dalibor Barton ˇek 2,\* , Jiˇrí Bureš <sup>2</sup> and Otakar Švábenský <sup>2</sup>**


Received: 2 February 2020; Accepted: 31 March 2020; Published: 3 April 2020

**Abstract:** Over the last few years, there has been a significant increase in people's dependence on passenger and freight transport. As a result, traffic infrastructure is congested, especially in big city centers and, at critical times, this is to the point of traffic collapse. This has led to the need to address this situation by the progressive deployment of Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS), which are used to optimize traffic, to increase traffic flow, and to improve transport safety, including reduction of adverse environmental impacts. In 2018, the first results of the C-Roads Platform which is a joint initiative of European Member States and road operators for testing and implementing C-ITS services in light of cross-border harmonization and interoperability (C-ROADS) Czech Republic project were put into operation in Brno, closely related to the international initiative to support the data structure for future communication between vehicles and intelligent transport infrastructure. A system of transport organization and safety was introduced in the city of Brno, which manages key information and ensures central management of partial systems of transport organization and safety. The most important part of this system is the parking organization system discussed in this article. The main objective was to streamline the parking system in the city center of Brno and in the immediate vicinity by preventing unauthorized long-term parking, ensuring an increased number of parking places for residents and visitors by increasing the turnover of parking. The aim of the research was to investigate (i) the possibility and optimal use of Geographic Information System (GIS) technology for resident parking system solutions, (ii) the integration of Global Satellite Navigation Systems (GNSS) satellite data and image data collected by cameras on the move and (iii) the possibility of using network algorithms to optimize mobile data collection planning. The aim of our study is to design and optimize the integrated collection of image data localized by satellite GNSS technologies in the GIS environment to support the resident parking system, including an evaluation of its effectiveness. To achieve this goal, a residential parking monitoring system was designed and implemented, based on dynamic monitoring of the parking state using a vehicle equipped with a digital camera system and Global Satellite Navigation Systems (GNSS) technology for measuring the vehicle position, controlled by spatial and attribute data flow from static and dynamic spatial databases in the Geographic Information System (GIS), which integrate the whole monitoring system. The control algorithm of a vehicle passing through the street network works on the basis of graph theory with a defined recurrence interval for the same route, taking into account other parameters such as the throughput of the street network at a given time, its traffic signs and the usual level of traffic density. Statistics after one year of operation show that the proposed system significantly increased the economic yield from parking areas from the original 30% to 90%, and reduced the overall violation of parking rules to only 10%. It further increased turnover and thus the possibility of short-term parking for visitors and also ensured availability of parking for residents in the historical center of Brno and surrounding monitored areas.

**Keywords:** GIS; monitoring; resident parking; transport

#### **1. Introduction**

Brno is the second largest city in the Czech Republic and has about 500,000 inhabitants. Every major metropolis faces the challenges of security, housing, cleanliness and transport. Modern information technology, smartphones and other devices are already an essential part of the daily life of citizens and can contribute to the optimization and streamlining of many processes affecting urban life. Brno is also a university city with a strong support for science, research and development, represented by more than 100 scientific research institutions. The most important are, for example, medical and research centers covered by Masaryk University or technical research centers under the auspices of the Brno University of Technology. Brno has the ambition to be a modern city that uses modern technology and thus applies information technology to many areas of social life. The map portal [1] provides an on-line basic map of the city, as well as many thematically oriented map sets, such as, in the area of spatial planning, price maps, 3D building models, temperature maps, maps of water resources, georisk maps, etc. The basic maps relating to the city of Brno can also be found at the geoportal [2].

In the last few years, there has been a significant increase in people's dependence on passenger and freight transport. Increasing traffic has a negative impact on the environment and is also energy intensive. Due to the increase in traffic intensity and density, communications are often very close to capacity. The mobility of people and things is now in the process of fundamental changes, triggered by the rapid development of information and communication technologies and services supporting mobile connectivity. The rapid deployment of mobile digital technologies is also changing the way we provide traffic information or current changes that affect traffic. Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) are used to optimize transport, increase traffic flow and improve transport safety and reduce its impacts. [3]. Transport in Brno is provided by trams, buses, trolleybuses and trains. Brno has a public international civil airport providing flights to 25 countries across the world, capable of handling up to 557,000 passengers per year.

The proposed system of parking regulation in the center and adjacent parts of the city of Brno is designed to be conceptually consistent with a higher project Transport Organization and Security System (SOBD) supported by a project of the European Union [4]. The subject matter of the information system is the management of key information and central management of future sub-systems of transport organization and safety. Such sub-systems include, e.g., parking regulation systems in the historical center of Brno, parking (for residents, visitor parking, parking lot on the outskirts of the city with good connection to public transport, parking houses, barrier systems), speed measurement, junction control, vehicle weighing and parking systems with payment terminals. The software part of the information system supports activities and manages data in the areas of information management and rules related to transport organization and security, authorization management (e.g., parking privileges), management of information provided by sub-systems (e.g., measurement results), compliance assessment, detection and reporting suspected violations, billing and statistics.

The sharp increase in traffic density, especially in large cities, causes problems with parking of vehicles both in historical centers and in adjacent areas. This situation can no longer be solved extensively, i.e., by increasing the number of parking spaces, or even in a classic way, e.g., by regulating parking via members of the municipal police. Therefore, methods were sought to make the parking system in Brno more efficient using modern technologies.

The main objective of this project is:


The result of the project is a system that automatically monitors the situation of parking in Brno based on a suitable planning algorithm, and automatically evaluates data from the field based on parking rules, and creates and sends offense documentation to the police for further investigation.

Prior to the launch of the parking monitoring system addressed in this article, no similar automated or semi-automated system was in operation to meet the above objectives.

The aim of the research was to investigate (i) the possibility and optimal use of Geographic Information System (GIS) technology for resident parking system solution, (ii) the integration of Global Satellite Navigation Systems (GNSS) satellite data and image data collected by cameras on the move and (iii) the possibility of using network algorithms to optimize mobile data collection planning. The aim of our study is to design and optimize the integrated collection of image data localized by satellite GNSS technologies in the GIS environment to support the resident parking system, including an evaluation of its effectiveness.

Integrated collection of satellite positioning data and image data to deal with parking regulation in large cities due to high traffic density is a topical issue. It is common to use information technology and to collect and evaluate image data acquired mainly by static cameras. The use of satellite-based collection of photographic data in larger areas by mobile cameras, their integration with GIS technology and subsequent evaluation of data as a basis for regulation of parking by authorities is not yet a commonly used technology. Moreover, it has its pitfalls, which were the subjects of our solution.

The system was expected to significantly increase the economic yield from parking areas, reduce the overall rate of parking violations, increase turnover and thus the availability of short-term parking for visitors and residents in the historical center of Brno and the monitored surrounding areas.

The introduction of the parking monitoring system has completed the construction of the Static Object Base Data (SOBD) system as a partial important data structure contributing to the future possibility of using smart communication between vehicles, which is the subject of the transnational project C-ROADS.
