Although there are additional benefits in using monitoring systems to determine exactly which parking bays are occupied at any given time, it is possible to provide a comprehensive level counting and parking guidance system for multi-storey car parks without the expense of monitoring individual bays.

Vehicles can be monitored entering and leaving the car park as well as passing between levels and zones. This allows the system to evaluate the number of vehicles currently on each level (as well as the overall total for the car park). By comparing this data with the number of parking bays on each level, it is possible to determine how many spare bays there are. This information can be presented to customers as they enter the car park and at each decision point within the car park (e.g. at junction with a ramp leading to the next level).

A single stand-alone counter module can provide up to four separate counters with simple incrementing and decrementing inputs from vehicle detectors such as Nortech’s loop detectors. The loop detectors are connected to road loops buried under the entrance and exit lanes and on each ramp between floors (see note).

The count data is stored locally in non-volatile memory and is made available to the NorParc management software over a network connection. The NorParc software runs on a standard PC and is implemented as a server/client system where the server maintains communication with the counter modules and manages all of the counts plus associated data, and the client provides the user interface, retrieving data from the server as necessary.

NorParc software can control a networked level counting and guidance system with up to 128 physical counters plus an unlimited number of ‘virtual’ counters. Virtual counters compute data from other counters to produce summary information such as spaces within a particular zone or total available spaces. The data can be used to provide on-screen data and drive variable message signs located around the parking facility.

The variable message signs will typically show the number of available spaces on each level (or a total of spaces on all levels above) and will be placed at the bottom of each ramp as well as at the main entrance.  

The NorParc counting management software can manage up to 128 physical counters with an unlimited number of virtual counters. Up to 256 different count values can be displayed on variable message signs around the car park.

Note: We recommend the use of dual-channel loop detectors linked to 2 loops in each lane. ‘A-B’ logic should be enabled (a feature of Nortech’s dual-channel loop detector). This allows the direction of the vehicles to be determined, thereby avoiding miscounts due to drivers reversing out of an entrance after being detected as entering the car park, or by drivers entering via an exit lane or leaving via an entry lane.

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