Westerville, OH: Shifting Demand to Underused Off-Street Parking
Shifting Demand to Underused Off-Street Parking
Westerville, OH at a Glance
Location: Westerville, Ohio
Status: Active since 2019
Deployment: 393 in-ground sensors in public off-street lots near the city's busiest areas
Applications: Real-time parking availability, EV charging space availability, utilization data
Driver app: Westerville Parking
The Challenge
Westerville's on-street spaces near its busiest areas were heavily used, while nearby public lots often went underused. The city wanted to shift demand toward off-street parking and make its electric vehicle charging spaces easier to find.
The Deployment
Fybr installed 393 in-ground sensors across the city's public off-street lots. Drivers see open spaces, including EV charging spaces, in real time through the Westerville Parking app, and the city receives real-time and historical occupancy data through management dashboards.
The city also uses the occupancy data to study residential parking patterns in its public surface lots. At the city's request, sensors in some spaces were installed beneath brick pavers to keep them out of view.
"As part of our ongoing initiatives to improve traffic flow and enhance the experience for both residents and visitors in Westerville, we've recently partnered with Fybr to install smart parking sensors. These sensors have been placed in several off-street parking lots located near our busiest areas. The city wanted to highlight the availability of parking in these often underutilized lots. We observed that drivers frequently circle the most popular spots, sometimes unnecessarily, and we believe that providing real-time data has helped alleviate some of these issues."
-Nathan Lang, PE, City Engineer, Westerville, Ohio
Sources
Westerville Parking app (Google Play)