Are you late for an appointment? Perhaps it’s raining and you want to find the closest parking space to the door? Are you new to a city and don’t know where to park the car? Or maybe you’re trying to catch the next flight out to Chicago and need to park your car quickly. XM ParkingLink, a new service integrated with your car’s navigation system, will guide you to the best parking space in the house.
XM Satellite Radio, Standard Parking Corporation, and Quixote Transportation Technologies have recently announced that they are collaborating to develop a real-time parking information service for vehicle navigation systems.
The concept for this service, XM ParkingLink, was first demonstrated at the Intelligent Transportation Society (ITS) World Congress in San Francisco in November of 2005. Using a vehicle’s navigation system, XM ParkingLink shows drivers up-to-the-minute space availability at designated Standard Parking facilities using color-keyed icons to indicate the percentage of available spaces in each facility. The three industry leaders, XM, Standard Parking and Quixote, are now collaborating to develop a national capability for the concept with the objective of bringing the service to market.
XM Satellite Radio was the first to bring up-to-the-minute traffic information to on-board vehicle navigation systems via satellite with the award-winning XM NavTraffic service, the new standard for real-time traffic information. The XM ParkingLink concept builds on the rapid success of XM NavTraffic, which is currently available in 31 major U.S. markets and offered on select models from Acura, Cadillac, Lexus and Infiniti and by leading aftermarket navigation systems. In addition to data services like XM NavTraffic and XM WX Satellite Weather, the XM platform already provides an unmatched combination of over 170 channels of the best entertainment and information.
“XM already leads the industry in providing continuously-updated, location-specific information where drivers need it most – in their vehicles,” said Roderick MacKenzie, XM VP of Advanced Applications and Services. “Working together with industry leaders in parking facility operations and parking infrastructure design is a logical next step in bringing consumers yet another convenient in-car service – the ability to save time and fuel by identifying available parking spaces on their vehicle’s navigation screen.”
Together, XM Satellite Radio, Standard Parking and Quixote offer unmatched expertise in every category required to introduce a truly national parking information capability. XM’s satellite-based technology leadership and automotive manufacturer partnerships provide the consumer touchpoint, while Standard Parking Corporation has the infrastructure footprint and scale and Quixote delivers the sensor technology.
Standard Parking Corporation, one of the nation’s largest providers of parking and transportation management services, operates more than 1,900 parking facilities comprising over one million parking spaces in approximately 300 cities throughout North America. It manages the parking operations at airports, sporting and entertainment event venues, retail and mixed-use properties, hospitals, medical centers and various other high-profile metropolitan locations. Accordingly, Standard Parking has the footprint and scale necessary to create a national parking network in support of the ParkingLink initiative.
Through its Ambiance In Parking approach, Standard Parking seeks to enhance the overall experience of its parking customers. The focus of the ParkingLink technology reinforces that philosophy by providing real-time information designed to help drivers readily find available parking spaces that meet their specific parking needs.
James A. Wilhelm, President and CEO of Standard Parking, stated, “Our constant focus on developing services that provide clear value to our parking patrons is served by the ParkingLink concept, which addresses our parkers’ increasing need for reliable information that helps eliminate uncertainty, avoid frustration and save time before they even reach our parking facilities. It is especially gratifying to participate in a development that will enhance the image and stature of the parking industry as a whole, and we look forward to welcoming other property owners and parking operators into the ParkingLink network.”
Quixote Transportation Technologies has developed and installed specially designed sensors, embedded in road networks and parking facilities, which capture the traffic flow into and out of a parking facility to determine space availability. Standard Parking will begin the process of installing the Quixote sensors across its national network of parking facilities.
“We are proud to partner with XM and Standard Parking for this significant opportunity,” said Leslie J. Jezuit, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Quixote Corporation. “One of Quixote’s major objectives is to reduce traffic congestion with our intelligent transportation systems. We believe that bringing real-time parking information to motorists furthers that objective, and we have already installed sensor equipment at over 150 parking facilities around the country. The ParkingLink concept offers motorists the potential to travel a more direct route without worrying that they may be turned away because the parking facilities are full.”
Read more about this new service called XM ParkingLink:
XM ParkingLink to help you find that last empty spot
XM ParkingLink Coming Later This Year
Make parking more efficient with XM’s ParkingLink
XM ParkingLink to help you find that last empty spot
About XM Satellite Radio
XM (Nasdaq: XMSR) is America’s number one satellite radio service with more than 6.89 million subscribers. Broadcasting live daily from studios in Washington, DC, New York City, the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville, Toronto and Montreal, XM’s 2006 lineup includes more than 170 digital channels of choice from coast to coast: the most commercial-free music channels, sports, talk, comedy, children’s and entertainment programming; and the most advanced traffic and weather information. XM, the leader in satellite-delivered entertainment and data services for the automobile market through partnerships with General Motors, Honda, Toyota, Hyundai, Nissan, and Porsche, is available in more than 140 different vehicle models for 2006. XM’s industry-leading products are available at consumer electronics retailers nationwide. For more information about XM hardware, programming and partnerships, please visit http://www.xmradio.com.
About Standard Parking Corporation
Standard Parking Corporation (NASDAQ: STAN; www.standardparking.com) is a leading national provider of parking facility management services. It provides on-site management services at multi-level and surface parking facilities for all major markets of the parking industry. The Company’s diversified client base includes some of the nation’s largest private and public owners, managers and developers of major office buildings, residential properties, commercial properties, shopping centers and other retail properties, sports and special event complexes, hotels, and hospitals and medical centers. In addition, Standard Parking manages over 105 parking-related and shuttle bus operations serving more than 60 airports, including Chicago O’Hare International Airport, Cleveland Hopkins International Airport and Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. The Company also provides a range of ancillary on-street and off-street parking services to satisfy a wide range of parking-related needs for its clients.
About Quixote Corporation
Quixote Corporation, (NASDAQ: QUIX; www.quixotecorp.com), through its wholly-owned subsidiaries, Quixote Transportation Safety, Inc., Quixote Traffic Corporation and Quixote Transportation Technologies, Inc., is the world’s leading manufacturer of energy-absorbing highway crash cushions, electronic wireless measuring and sensing devices, weather forecasting systems, computerized highway advisory radio transmitting systems, intelligent intersection control systems, automated red light enforcement systems, flexible post delineators and other transportation safety products.