Parking guidance and information systems

As urban traffic problems become even more complex, the simple, small-scale parking lot guidance systems used heretofore are no longer adequate for solving urban traffic problems caused by the lack of parking spaces as cars driven by would-be shoppers, office workers, and tourists drive around looking for an empty lot or parking spot. These problems have created a demand for highly sophisticated large-scale systems that collect and disseminate parking lot information over an entire urban area. Such large, high-function systems were introduced in 1988 in the three cities of Toyota, Kurashiki, and Takasaki. Among these, this paper describes the advanced Toyota parking guidance and information system, which collects and presents not only parking lot information but also urban area congestion information and even highway regulation information