A high-tech smart parking system — which can automatically tell drivers when coveted spots are open — will soon debut in The Bronx’s congested Little Italy section, The Post has learned.
By winter, the streets of Arthur Avenue near Fordham University will be equipped with a trial run of 250 hockey-puck sized sensors that will be buried under the streets that can tell when a car is parked above. The sensors then link up with an app on motorists’ smartphones, telling drivers when a spot is unoccupied and giving GPS directions to the space.
Georgia-based StreetSmart Technology LLC signed a deal this week with the city for the pilot program.
About 100 sensors will be tested in a municipal lot, and 150 are on the street. Each sensor covers one spot.
Department of Transportation officials want to determine if the “pucks” can operate buried beneath snow, ice and road salt.
“It’s all about parking managers finding the most effective way to use space,” said StreetSmart co-founder Gerry Seitz.
“Everybody benefits from this, municipalities, motorists and merchants.”
New York DOT officials said the sensors will not be used for enforcement.
“This test is just the latest way we’re using technology to make our streets smarter and to make it easier to get around town,” said Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan.
The trial is costing the city nothing, but it’s up to the DOT to decide when it will begin.
“We’re picking up the tab,” said StreetSmart managing agent Kirby Andrews.
Additional reporting by Jennifer Fermino