We propose a new “smart parking” system for an urban environment. The system assigns and reserves an optimal parking
space for a driver based on the user’s requirements that combine proximity to destination and parking cost, while also
ensuring that the overall parking capacity is efficiently utilized. Our approach solves a Mixed Integer Linear Program (MILP)
problem at each decision point in a time-driven sequence. The solution of each MILP is an optimal allocation based on current
state information and subject to random events such as new user requests or parking spaces becoming available. The
allocation is updated at the next decision point ensuring that there is no resource reservation conflict and that no user is ever
assigned a resource with higher than the current cost function value. Implementation issues including parking detection,
reservation guarantee and Vehicle-to-Infrastructure (V2I) or Infrastructure-to-Vehicle (I2V) communication are resolved in
the paper. Our system can save driver time, fuel and expense, while reducing the traffic congestion and environment
pollution. We also describe a deployment and testing pilot study of the system in a garage at Boston University
On a daily basis, it is estimated that 30% of vehicles on the road in the downtown area of major cities are
cruising for a parking spot and it takes an average of 7.8 minutes to find one [1]. This causes not only a waste of
time and fuel for drivers looking for parking, but it also contributes to additional waste of time and fuel for other
drivers as a result of traffic congestion. For example, it has been reported [2] that over one year in a small Los
Angeles business district, cars cruising for parking created the equivalent of 38 trips around the world, burning
47,000 gallons of gasoline and producing 730 tons of carbon dioxide.
Over the past two decades, traffic authorities in many cities are building so-called Parking Guidance and
Information (PGI) systems for better parking management. PGI systems present drivers with dynamic
information on parking within controlled areas and direct them to vacant parking spots. Parking information may