Amtab, the municipal company that manages Bari’s public transport and 6 city park-and-ride facilities on behalf of the city, opened a public tender at the end of 2022 to renovate the Polipark facility: the largest Park&Ride in southern Italy, with 2,000 spaces spread over 7 floors (6 above ground and 1 basement) that serve the growing demand for efficient intermodal interchange between private and public bus transport.
The tender called for a modern, digitised solution whose technology would integrate with the MUVT city mobility app, and with an info-mobility and video guidance system with smart sensors to facilitate navigation of the facility and reduce access time. The high turnover of spaces - more than 7,000 transits per day - also eases traffic congestion to the adjacent Polyclinic hospital car park, which can be reached through a dedicated special bypass gate lane equipped with number plate recognition.
For Amtab, it is of utmost importance to provide a smooth service to those who leave their cars for the bus, and to make vehicular access control operations to the Polyclinic area even safer and more efficient so that only those who are authorised enter the hospital perimeter: emergency vehicles, security vehicles, vendors, and ER users.
For added security, all entry and exit lanes are equipped with LPR (Licence Plate Reader) cameras and an exit filter system with two Magnetic barriers so that only one vehicle exits at a time (anti-bypass system). UHF readers and LPR technology on each gateway identify contracted users (hospital staff and providers) and occasional users temporarily passing through the Polyclinic and then parking at the Polipark.
HUB Italia has implemented a complete technological solution for the Polipark, combining the robust Jupiter system with advanced digital transit and authorisation management, which interfaces seamlessly with the JMS software platform of the adjacent Policlinico facility - also equipped with a Jupiter solution.
The hardware component includes slim Jupiter stations on the entry and exit runways; compact Selea cameras for number plate recognition and UHF readers for contracted users; an exit filter system with two Magnetic barriers that ensures the orderly exit of only one vehicle at a time; a progressive info-mobility system, with an Agla external VMS with five lines of dynamic LED information, followed by 190 Quercus signs in the centre of the inner lanes, suggesting the most efficient route to each floor, thus avoiding circling; a video guidance system with more than 500 sensors with Quercus camera on the ceiling, indicating the occupancy status or category of the two stalls to the right and two stalls to the left: the sensor colours red (if occupied), green (if vacant), yellow (to indicate spaces with permission for people with disabilities), pink (more spacious spaces for families), and blue (electric charging).
To pay the parking fee, the dedicated self-payment area has three automated pay stations with traditional and contactless payment options, as well as the lifesaving FindMyCar function on the touchscreen: simply type in the number plate to find the stall number and floor. The number plate captured by the incoming LPR camera is communicated in real time to the JMS digital management platform, which associates the rate with it based on the duration of the stop and the location informed by the overhead sensors.
Polipark staff work with JMS to monitor the entire facility, intercept and troubleshoot problems in the lane, assist users with the integrated intercom system, and finally analyse the performance of the facility with customised reports and analysis - all from the centralised control room, where there are also two manual checkouts and J4M validation devices, which in the future will offer neighbouring establishments the possibility to validate parking for their own end customers.
On the ground floor of Polipark is the bypass gate, the only point of vehicular passage to the existing car park of the Polyclinic, access to which must be strictly controlled to minimise the risk of congestion and obstruction to vehicles heading to the Emergency Department. To ensure that only those who are authorised enter the perimeter, HUB Italia has integrated the Polipark’s JMS management system with the ad hoc developed Polipass digital platform, which allows any vendor under contract with the Polyclinic (e.g., external plant maintenance services) to accredit and transit through the specific authorised gates.