More than a decade ago, IBM spent the dot-com boom making sure it made money selling to start-ups. In the current tech boom, it says there’s more to gain from partnering with the start-ups than just selling to them. In those days the Armonk, N.Y.-based computing giant scrambled to release a rack-mountable server that would meet the needs of dot-com companies, said Jim Corgel, who was then the general manager of IBM’s Net Generation business but now manages its relationships with independent software vendors and developers.

A panel of three IBM SmartCamp 2010 finalists, including Streetline CEO and President Zia Yusuf, discuss their companies and experience during SmartCamp.

BMW iVentures officially opened the doors to its New York office this week, and inaugurated their new space with a panel discussion on digital technology and mobility. The $100 million fund has already seeded UK-based Parkatmyhouse.com and MyCityWay, which will lease space in BMW’s trendy West Village office. The firm plans to invest primarily in urban mobility technologies to solve the transportation needs of the future. But the hot topic of the evening was, of all things, parking.

Gerry Mooney, General Manager of Global Smarter Cities at IBM, details how IBM and entrepreneurs are working together to reach the IBM vision of Smarter Cities 2.0.

I was in attendance at last night’s launch party for BMW i Ventures in Manhattan’s West Village. You can get a good idea of how serious this auto maker is in their new venture fund and startup incubator from their … hor d’oeuvres. There were at least 4 different pesto spreads–artichoke, basil, and a purplish beet mixture–which were documented with little cards. BMW understands Manhattan food culture, clearly. And based on the speakers, they definitely grok its number one gripe … parking and traffic.

FOSTER CITY, Calif. and NEW YORK, New York – February  1, 2012 – Streetline, Inc. today announced that the New York City Department of Transportation (NYCDOT) has deployed Streetline’s sensor-enabled Smart Parking system along Arthur Avenue in the Bronx as part of a pilot project along with two other vendors. This week’s installation is being conducted by the New York City Department of Transportation to test the use of sensor technology to provide real-time parking availability to motorists.

Streetline’s Smart Parking platform uses sensors embedded in the pavement to detect when open parking spaces are available. Utilizing Streetline’s mobile app, Parker™, motorists will eventually be able to access parking availability information within the initial pilot area. Utilizing sensors to detect occupancy, Parker by Streetline provides the location and general availability of parking spaces through the use of web-enabled devices, such as a smartphone, PC, or tablet. Once parked, motorists can use the app’s built in timer to help keep track of how much time is left on the meter, or pull up walking directions to help find their parking space when they need to return to their vehicle.

“We are excited to partner with New York City DOT to test this innovative service for locals and visitors to NYC,” said Zia Yusuf, CEO of Streetline. “We applaud New York City for exploring and implementing Smart Parking solutions that can not only transform how people park, but also address the critical need to reduce traffic and pollution.”

About Streetline, Inc.
Streetline’s mission is to make Smart Cities a reality through the use of sensor-enabled mobile and web applications. As the leading global provider of Smart Parking solutions for cities, airports, universities, private garages, and consumers, Streetline’s pioneering technology connects citizens with critical information to improve the way they live and work, while making cities more efficient and lessening their environmental impact.

Streetline is a privately held company headquartered in Foster City, Calif. with Smart-Parking deployments in California, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Texas, Utah, and Washington D.C. The company was recently named one of Fast Company’s 10 Most Innovative Companies in Transportation, as well as IBM Global Entrepreneur of the Year.

For more information contact:
Annika Jensen
Phone: 415-516-3530
annika@sparkpr.com

Visitors and residents to benefit from real-time guided parking and reduced traffic congestion

FOSTER CITY, Calif. – January 26, 2012 – Streetline today announced plans to expand its sensor-enabled mobile and web-based Smart Parking platform to select markets throughout Europe. Technology veteran and former SAP Senior Vice President Asdrúbal Pichardo will spearhead efforts to enable Streetline’s entry into the European market.

As part of the expansion, Streetline plans to launch its integrated Smart Parking platform, including its free smartphone app Parker™– giving Europe’s residents and visitors real-time insight for finding open parking spaces, while enabling European cities to make smarter and more timely decisions related to their parking and transportation systems.

Garage owners throughout Europe will also have the ability to use ParkEdge™, an easy-to-use, web-based parking information platform that empowers parking providers around the globe to self-publish real-time parking availability, capture reservations, and run promotions via Parker. With ParkEdge, parking garage owners, cities, universities, airports, shopping centers, and other parking providers can easily reach motorists in real-time via mobile devices and online with the click of a mouse.

According to a study by the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy, European cities are increasingly turning to advanced parking technologies to address traffic congestion, make streets more livable, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Further, a recent IBM global survey showed that drivers in 20 international cities face a daily struggle in finding a parking space – spending an average of nearly 20 minutes in pursuit of a parking spot.

Streetline’s patented Smart Parking platform detects the presence of a car through a network of ultra-low power wireless sensors located in individual parking spaces. By downloading Parker onto a smartphone or compatible tablet, consumers can access real-time parking availability – with icons noting more than four spaces available (plenty of parking), more than two spaces available (some parking), or less than two spaces available (limited parking). The app can also deliver information about parking space time limits, pricing, and whether meters take credit cards or coins. With Parker, motorists also have the option to register and pay for parking in participating cities via mobile payment.

The expansion into Europe builds on the company’s growing presence in the United States which includes Smart Parking programs in California, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Texas, Utah, and Washington D.C. Streetline partners in North America include ACS, IBM and Siemens.

IDC Government Insights estimated the new Smarter Cities information technology market opportunity at $34 billion in 2011, increasing more than 18 percent per year to $57 billion by 2014.

“We are looking forward to launching our fully integrated offering into the European market which gives cities a turnkey solution to Smarter Parking,” said Zia Yusuf, CEO of Streetline. “With the majority of the world’s population now living in metropolitan areas, city streets and transportation systems are being strained to the breaking point. By applying advanced technologies to address parking, we can start to make cities smarter and more efficient – helping both consumers and the environment.”

About Streetline, Inc.
Streetline’s mission is to make Smart Cities a reality through the use of sensor-enabled mobile and web applications. We bring together all aspects of parking management technology in one integrated system – from street-level sensors to mobile apps, analytics, and parking management software. As the leading global provider of real-time parking solutions for cities, airports, universities, private garages, and motorists, Streetline has recorded more than 40 million parking sessions.

Streetline is a privately held company headquartered in Foster City, Calif. The company was recently named one of Fast Company’s 10 Most Innovative Companies in Transportation, as well as IBM Global Entrepreneur of the Year. For more information visit: www.streetline.com.

For more information contact:
Annika Jensen
Phone: 415-516-3530
annika@sparkpr.com

NYC DOT is partnering with three tech firms – including Streetline, Inc. – to launch the Parking Availability Technology pilot, testing state-of-the-art equipment that will wirelessly transmit real–time parking information to users. DOT is embedding sensors in 177 parking spots along Arthur Avenue and East 187th Street in the Bronx that can detect whether a parking space is vacant. If successful, the pilot has the potential to ease congestion by giving information on how many spaces are available on a particular block, reducing the amount of time spent cruising for a spot.

Analytics Emerges as Key Technology to Solving Urban Challenges

ARMONK, NY – 25 Jan 2012 - Technologies that enable skin cancer detection on a mobile device, help commuters avoid traffic, and deliver better shopping experiences will be on display next week at the IBM (NYSE: IBM) SmartCamp Global Finals competition for entrepreneurs. These are just a few of the innovative solutions from startups that are working with IBM to improve the life of citizens around the globe

IBM SmartCamps are designed to help entrepreneurs bring innovative new solutions to market quickly by providing mentoring and access to advanced technology and expertise. The nine finalist startup companies will meet with IBM and the venture capital community from Jan. 31 to Feb. 2 in San Francisco to vie to be named the IBM Global Entrepreneur of the Year. The finalists, with solutions designed to solve problems facing cities, were selected from nearly a thousand startup companies that applied to IBM startup events in 2011.

“The ingenuity and innovation from the startup community is key to addressing the complex challenges cities and citizens face,” said Jim Corgel, general manager of entrepreneur programs at IBM. “These nine SmartCamp finalists represent the best new technologies from around the world. We will continue to work with them to help bring their solutions to market faster so that together, we can build a smarter planet.”

Cities around the world are facing growing challenges. According to the United Nations, the global population is expected to reach 9.3 billion by 2050, with most of the growth occurring in urban areas. This rapid population increase requires new approaches to complex challenges cities face such as aging infrastructure, the need for better healthcare systems, traffic and overpopulation. IBM is working with a new generation of entrepreneurs, helping to drive the creation and development of new ways to address these challenges with advanced technologies such as analytics, cloud computing and mobile computing.

As the world becomes more connected through trillions of sensors, the ability to transform data into insight that can better monitor, manage and predict potential issues and opportunities is critical. Each startup participating at the SmartCamp Global Finals has created software that is designed to analyze large volumes of data. The finalists are:

• BitCarrier: BitCarrier’s traffic management solutions analyze real-time traffic information, providing current travel times, estimations on congestion rates and accident alerts (winner, SmartCamp Barcelona).
• C-B4 Context Based 4Casting: CB4 has created a context-based system for identifying and analyzing hidden data patterns in large-scale data warehouses. The system is particularly suited to the retail trade and customer relations management (winner, SmartCamp Tel Aviv).
• ConnectM: ConnectM’s machine-to-machine technology uses advanced analytics to collect information from disparate systems to provide business intelligence. The solutions are developed specifically for the telecommunications, utilities and transportation industries (winner, SmartCamp Bangalore).
• IDXP: IDXP’s consumer behavior solution installs sensors in stores and shopping carts to help retailers understand consumer behavior (winner, SmartCamp Rio de Janeiro).
• Localytics: Localytics’ real-time analytics service provides makers of mobile phone and tablet applications with a better understanding of peoples mobile application preferences and tendencies (winner, SmartCamp New York City).
• Palmap: Palmap’s mapping solution provides mobile users with instant information for indoor activities such as navigating airports and shopping malls (winner, SmartCamp Shanghai).
• Profitero: Profitero helps online retailers maximize profits via competitor analytics (winner, SmartCamp London).
• SecureWaters: SecureWaters’ patented technology continuously monitors, detects and identifies toxins in surface water. An early warning alarm system alerts clients to potential issues (winner, SmartCamp Austin).
• SkinScan: SkinScan’s mobile application enables users to scan the moles on their bodies to measure skin cancer threat levels. They also offer a cloud infrastructure for medical histories of patients and doctors (winner, SmartCamp Istanbul).

Speakers at the IBM SmartCamp Global Finals will include California Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, leading venture capitalists and investment bankers including Bill Reichert, Promod Haque, Guy Kawasaki, and John China, IBM Watson Solutions General Manager Manoj Saxena, and Gerard Mooney, general manager of IBM Smarter Cities.

Past winners from IBM SmartCamp competitions have captured the attention of the venture capital community with nearly $50 million in investments, and have expanded to new global markets. For example, Streetline, which was named 2010 IBM Global Entrepreneur of the Year as the winner of the 2010 SmartCamp World Finals, received a $15 million round of venture capital funding, and built several new products including a smart parking analytics offering based on IBM Cognos platform. The solution is a combination of Sensor and Software applications from Streetline and IBM that allows a city to reduce congestion by quickly matching citizens with vacant parking spots. CEO Zia Yusuf will share his experiences with this year’s SmartCamp finalists, along with other past SmartCamp winners.

People can vote for their favorite finalist to determine the People’s Vote Award winner for the IBM SmartCamp Global Finals. To view each of the finalist videos and to vote, visit: http://asmarterplanet.com/blog/2012/01/ibmscf_main.html.

To watch the final presentations from the companies and hear from venture capitalists and entrepreneurs at the event visit: www.livestream.com/ibmsoftware on Thursday, Feb. 2, 2012. Live blogging of the event will be available at www.asmarterplanet.com. Join the conversation on the event, entrepreneurs and technologies that make the planet work better at: People for a Smarter Planet on Facebook at http://on.fb.me/9S1Jp8, and on Twitter at #IBMSmartCamp.

Learn more about IBM SmartCamp and the finalists in a video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zChnWYjTdL4&f.

More information about IBM SmartCamp Global Finals is available at http://www.ibm.com/press/us/en/presskit/36585.wss. For more information about the IBM Global Entrepreneur initiative, please visit http://www.ibm.com/isv/startup. For more information on the IBM Venture Capital Group, please visit http://www.ibm.com/venturecapitalgroup.

Drivers hunting for elusive street parking soon will have instant access to a map showing availability in some parts of Downtown Indianapolis and Broad Ripple. The free application is called Parker — and sensors recently installed in nearly 500 parking spots that can pick up the app should go live by the end of January.

By 2050, the world’s population is projected to be more than 9 billion, with roughly 70% of people residing in urban areas. With more people flocking to cities, there is an urgent demand for smarter, more sustainable cities.

In the United States, buildings make up 70 percent of all energy use, and almost forty percent of all carbon dioxide emissions. Rethinking how buildings use energy is an essential issue of our time, and many have taken on the challenge of retrofitting energy hogs– to save money, to make cities more efficient, and to help the planet.

Forget street smarts. Roosevelt Island is getting smart streets. The 147-acre East River island hopes to create between 200 and 300 parking “smart spots” as part of an effort to attract more residents, tourists and a proposed engineering college, officials said. The island’s management team has just completed a year-long trial of 34 “smart spots” along West Drive near the island’s only subway station.

When you travel today — whether by car, bus, rail, plane or bike — technology made your trip safer, faster and cleaner than in the past. That technology may have been obvious to you (hybrid vehicles, GPS) or not (traffic light synchronization, interstate weigh-in-motion for trucks). Yet our transportation network can be much, much safer, efficient and cleaner.

Streetline CEO Zia Yusuf interviewed for The CEO Show hour-long call-in special, which features some of Silicon Valley’s tech industry heavyweights each week.

What is a parking spot worth? A small fortune, nothing, and everything in between. It all depends on the time of the day and how desperate you happen to be at the moment, according to Zia Yusuf, president and CEO of Streetline, which has created a system for tracking, and ultimately auctioning, open parking spaces in urban centers.

Many promising executives derail sometime during their careers, often because they weren’t very good at office politics. Not playing the political game is often seen as a good thing, even a badge of honor. Some managers see it as proof of their integrity. They are going to succeed because of job performance alone. They couldn’t be more wrong. Research finds that a person’s political skills are key to building a successful career—for the good of both themselves and their company.

Streetline’s Parker™ App Awarded Runner-up in Transportation Category

FOSTER CITY, Calif. – Oct. 17, 2011 – Streetline, Inc. has been named a 2011 runner-up for The Wall Street Journal Technology Innovation Awards. Streetline was recognized in the transportation category for its smartphone app Parker™ that delivers real-time information on available parking spots nearby.

The Wall Street Journal received over 600 applications from companies, organizations and individuals in 31 countries. An independent panel of judges from venture-capital firms, universities and other organizations and companies assessed the entries based on whether the innovation breaks with conventional ideas or processes in its field, whether it goes beyond marginal improvements on something that already exists, and whether it will have a wide impact in its field or on future technology. From that pool, the judges chose a total of 35 winners and runners-up in 16 categories.

“Streetline is honored to be recognized as a leading technology innovator by such a prestigious publication,” said Zia Yusuf, president and CEO of Streetline. “With the launch of Parker, we introduced the first fully integrated consumer smart parking platform that not only helps consumers easily find and pay for available parking, it also helps them access parking data – such as location and hours – for facilities across the US.”

Streetline’s patented smart parking platform detects the presence of a car through a network of ultra-low power wireless sensors located in individual parking spaces. By downloading Parker onto a smartphone or compatible tablet, consumers can access real-time parking availability – with icons noting more than four spaces available (plenty of parking), more than two spaces available (some parking), or less than two spaces available (limited parking). The app also delivers information about parking space time limits, pricing, whether meters take credit cards or coins, and space capacity for select off-street parking facilities including structures and lots.

The Wall Street Journal Technology Innovation Award winners will be honored at a dinner and awards ceremony on November 8 in conjunction with the VentureWire FASTech conference in Redwood City, California. For more information, please visit http://fastech.dowjones.com/.

Attendees to the 18th World Congress on Intelligent Transport Systems that is being held from October 16‐20, 2011 can visit Streetline at Booth #1445.

About Streetline, Inc.

Streetline’s mission is to make smart cities a reality through the use of sensor-enabled mobile and web applications. We bring together all aspects of parking management technology in one integrated system – from street-level sensors to mobile apps, analytics, and parking management software. As the leading global provider of real-time parking solutions for cities, airports, universities, private garages, and motorists, Streetline has recorded more than 40 million parking sessions.

Streetline is a privately held company headquartered in Foster City, Calif. The company was recently named one of Fast Company’s 10 Most Innovative Companies in Transportation, as well as IBM Global Entrepreneur of the Year. For more information visit: www.streetline.com.

For more information, contact:

Streetline, Inc.
Annika Jensen
415-516-3530
annika@sparkpr.com

From computing systems to wireless, the most innovative technologies by category. The Innovation Awards judges chose winners in 16 categories this year.

New Web-Based Parking Information Platform Empowers Parking Facilities to Self-Publish Real-Time Availability, Offer Reservations, and Run Promotions via Market-Leading Smartphone App, Parker™

LAS VEGAS – Oct. 4, 2011 – Streetline, Inc. (www.streetline.com) today announced the introduction of ParkEdge™, an easy-to-use, web-based parking information platform that empowers parking providers around the globe to self-publish real-time parking availability, capture reservations, and run promotions via Parker™, the market-leading consumer parking guidance app for smart phones, compatible tablets and in-car navigation systems. With ParkEdge, parking garage owners, cities, universities, airports, shopping centers, and other parking providers can easily reach motorists in real-time via mobile devices and online with the click of a mouse.

Parking providers can get started today by going to www.parkedge.com. Today’s announcement was made at the National Parking Association 60th Annual Convention and Exposition being held October 3-6 at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, NV.

“ParkEdge provides an entirely new way to reach motorists, maximize occupancy, and enhance facility operations,” said Zia Yusuf, president and CEO of Streetline. “This solution does more than simply capture basic location and rate information. ParkEdge puts operators in control to manage and self-publish their rate and policy details, post real-time occupancy, offer reservations, and push special offers directly to motorists online and via the Parker app – within minutes.”

“The launch of ParkEdge by Streetline today continues the exciting evolution of smart parking,” said Mark Schulz , a Founding Partner of Fontinalis Partners and the former President of International Operations  for Ford Motor Company. “The ParkEdge parking management platform enables parking providers to manage their parking assets end-to-end and engage directly with consumers through Streetline’s Parker consumer application – this is a win-win for all.” Streetline’s integrated parking management platform now covers both sensor enabled on-street parking and private off-street parking – this combined capability will provide parking providers and consumers with an extraordinary ability to create and share value.

ParkEdge – A Parking Information Platform
With the introduction of ParkEdge, garage owners now have a tool to proactively publish and control the information that is shared with motorists. In crowd-sourced approaches, the information presented to consumers about a particular parking facility may or may not be accurate – and some guesswork is often left up to the motorist. With ParkEdge, the garage owner or operator can control their own information and what is presented about their facility and when. ParkEdge empowers the facility owner to reach out to the right consumer, at the right place, at the right time. And, with the Parker app, motorists can know that the parking data they’re receiving is reliable so they can find the best parking solution based on dynamic parameters such as price, availability, location, amenities, and more. Motorists can download the free Parker app onto their iPhone by visiting the iTunes Store.

ParkEdge empowers parking providers to:

• Self-publish and update facility, rate and policy information including early bird rates, payment methods, monthly parking, amenities and special services, or availability of electric vehicle charging stations or oversize spaces.
• Push real-time occupancy updates to motorists within minutes.
• Create and manage advertising campaigns and special promotions, and post to Parker using easy-to-use templates. Promotions can be pre-scheduled or launched immediately and can be purchased in individual day or week increments.
• Offer and manage advance reservations.

For reservation-taking garages and lots, ParkEdge helps fill open parking spots through an easy-to-use online and mobile reservation service. This system not only streamlines the reservation and the parking inventory management process, but also allows parking operators to a build robust patron database for loyal customer recognition and targeted e-mail marketing.

For parking providers that rely less heavily on reservations as a part of their day-to-day business, ParkEdge also provides the ability to offer online reservations on an ad hoc basis (e.g., for special events, preferred guests and/or corporate clients).

ParkEdge supports multiple users and enables an owner or operator to create sub-accounts for managers and other key personnel. These sub-accounts are set up with restricted access to pre-determined pages and input fields.

Parking providers can get started by going to www.streetline.com/parkedge for more information or www.parkedge.com to register and immediately start posting facility information. ParkEdge Basic is available free and can be accessed through any Internet-enabled computer, smartphone or tablet. Once registered, parking providers can also access and update their ParkEdge profile and facility information via mobile phone at www.myparkedge.com.

Attendees at the National Parking Association 60th Annual Convention and Exposition being held October 3-6 at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, Nev. can visit Streetline at Booth #422.

About Streetline, Inc.
Streetline’s mission is to make smart cities a reality through the use of sensor-enabled mobile and web applications. We bring together all aspects of parking management technology in one integrated system – from street-level sensors to mobile apps, analytics, and parking management software. As the leading global provider of real-time parking solutions for cities, airports, universities, private garages, and motorists, Streetline has recorded more than 40 million parking sessions.

Streetline is a privately held company headquartered in Foster City, Calif. The company was recently named one of Fast Company’s 10 Most Innovative Companies in Transportation, as well as IBM Global Entrepreneur of the Year.

For more information visit: www.streetline.com

# # # 

Media Contact:
Streetline Inc.
Annika Jensen
Phone: 415-516-3530
annika@sparkpr.com

]]> http://www.streetline.com/2011/10/parking-providers-get-on-the-map-with-parkedge-by-streetline/feed/ 0 http://www.streetline.com/2011/10/streetline-launches-smart-parking-app-parker%e2%84%a2-in-sausalito-calif-2/ http://www.streetline.com/2011/10/streetline-launches-smart-parking-app-parker%e2%84%a2-in-sausalito-calif-2/#comments Mon, 03 Oct 2011 22:40:48 +0000 Streetline http://www.streetline.com/?p=2251

Visitors and residents to benefit from real-time guided parking and reduced traffic congestion

FOSTER CITY & SAUSALITO, Calif. – Oct. 3 2011 – Streetline, Inc. today announced that the city of Sausalito, Calif. has deployed its smart parking platform, including its free smartphone app “Parker” – giving the city’s residents and visitors real-time insight for finding open parking spaces in this picturesque waterfront community.

The new program gives visitors to Sausalito the ability to download Streetline’s free app “Parker” onto their iPhone, Android or compatible tablet and see an instant map showing real-time availability of 530+ spaces along local streets and in parking lots – with icons noting more than four spaces available (plenty of parking available), more than two spaces available (some parking), or less than two spaces available (limited parking). The app also delivers information about parking space time limits, pricing, and whether meters take credit cards or coins.

“Located just north of San Francisco, Sausalito is known for its many beautiful views and scenic hillside locations. Due to the limited parking availability during summer weekends, special events and holidays, Streetline’s guided parking app ‘Parker’ is an invaluable service for visitors and residents of Sausalito to find downtown parking,” said Sausalito Police Lieutenant Kurtis Skoog. “Streetline’s Parker’ app will let both residents and visitors know exactly where they can find downtown parking and eliminate the need to drive from lot-to-lot looking for an open space.”

“We are excited to introduce Streetline’s ‘Parker’ app to Sausalito,” said Zia Yusuf, president and CEO of Streetline. “As a popular destination for Bay Area residents and visitors, we applaud the City’s efforts to make life easier and more convenient for its residents and visitors. Implementing smart parking programs like Streetline’s are a key step in creating more efficient, intelligent, and sustainable cities.”

Parking Reinvented
Streetline is revolutionizing how cities reduce congestion and emissions by tackling a key, but often overlooked, source: drivers searching for parking. Experts estimate that 30 percent of urban traffic is caused by motorists looking for parking. Additionally, vehicle emissions resulting from drivers looking for parking are so closely linked that a year-long study found that drivers in a 15 block district in Los Angeles drove in excess of 950,000 miles, produced 730 tons of carbon dioxide and used 47,000 gallons of gas searching for parking. [*Based on 2007 study by Professor Donald Shoup, University of California, Los Angeles]

Streetline’s patented smart parking platform detects the presence of a car through a network of ultra-low power wireless sensors located in individual parking spaces. By accessing real-time parking availability via Parker, motorists can quickly and easily find and pay for available parking based on location, time limit, and price, while significantly decrease emissions produced while searching for the perfect parking spot.

To download Parker for free, please visit the Android Market or the iTunes Store.

About Streetline, Inc.
Streetline’s mission is to make smart cities a reality through the use of sensor-enabled mobile and web applications. As the leading global provider of smart parking solutions for cities, airports, universities, private garages, and consumers, Streetline’s pioneering technology connects citizens with critical information to improve the way they live and work, while making cities more efficient and lessening their environmental impact.

Streetline is a privately held company headquartered in Foster City, Calif. with real-time smart parking deployments in California, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Texas, Utah, and Washington D.C. The company was recently named one of Fast Company’s 10 Most Innovative Companies in Transportation, as well as IBM Global Entrepreneur of the Year.

For more information contact:
Annika Jensen
Phone: 415-516-3530
annika@sparkpr.com

Considering that traffic congestion has been an ongoing theme during my week in Bangalore, it only stands to reason that parking follows. IBM just released its first-ever parking survey, and Bangalore made the top, or near the top, on a couple of key metrics. It was first in terms of most parking tickets issued, and second (only to New Delhi) in terms of cities where drivers argued most over parking spaces.

A new survey from IBM has confirmed what city managers, travelers and commuters already know from everyday experience: finding a parking space in a big city can be a frustrating and sometimes futile chore. And the problem isn’t confined to the U.S. — it’s an issue around the world.

Cities can use analytics to manage congestion, improve parking efficiency and makes it easier to find parking

ARMONK, N.Y. and SAN FRANCISCO, 28 Sept. 2011 – IBM (NYSE: IBM) and Streetline, Inc. today announced a collaboration to help cities of all sizes reduce congestion, better manage parking availability and resources and put information at people’s fingertips to find parking faster.

Combining information management and advanced analytics from IBM with data gathered from parking sensors and applications from Streetline will allow cities to make smarter and more timely decisions related to parking and their transportation systems. Officials will be able to use this Smarter Parking solution to better understand parking patterns so they can improve citizen services, optimize revenue and more effectively allocate city resources.

Around the world, commuters deal with the daily struggle of finding a parking space. In fact, experts estimate that this causes 30 percent of urban traffic congestion. A global survey of commuters in 20 international cities conducted by IBM found that in the past year, nearly six out of 10 drivers had abandoned their search for a parking space at least once and drivers have spent an average of nearly 20 minutes in pursuit of a coveted spot.

IBM and Streetline will help cities deal with some of the toughest transportation challenges they face around parking. In the future, insight from the historical and real-time data being gathered can help cities become more proactive in anticipating how parking and their transportation network interacts with other city services and plan accordingly from how it might affect economic development and merchant services to how to appropriately schedule mass transit to how best to plan around infrastructure projects or special events.

“Today, there is a massive amount of transportation data available that can help cities alleviate congestion and improve transportation services, such as parking,” said Gerry Mooney, general manager, global Smarter Cities, IBM. “It’s critical for cities to be able to turn this data into information and insight so they can anticipate and avoid situations that cause congestion, while simultaneously improving the services they provide citizens and businesses.”

“Parking is one of those universal challenges that most people around the globe can relate to,” said Zia Yusuf, president and CEO of Streetline. “With this fully integrated offering, cities now have a turn key Smarter Parking solution that can produce tangible results and happier citizens.”

Parking Reinvented
As the majority of the world’s population moves to metropolitan areas, key city systems, including city streets and transportation systems, are being strained to the breaking point. Additionally, vehicle emissions resulting from drivers looking for parking are so closely linked that a year-long study found that drivers in a 15 block district in Los Angeles drove in excess of 950,000 miles, produced 730 tons of carbon dioxide and used 47,000 gallons of gas searching for parking.*

The Smarter Parking Starter Kit, being announced today, is a pre-integrated solution that includes instrumentation, connectivity and intelligence. This solution is designed to help cities “get out of park” and improve parking services, optimize operations and help reduce congestion. By leveraging advanced technologies from IBM and Streetline, cities will be able to:

• Provide real-time information to allow citizens and visitors to find parking more easily;
• Gather, analyze and act on information about parking resources and services to optimize revenue;
• Analyze real-time information to better model and anticipate problems to reduce congestion, more appropriately price parking based on demand and provide enhanced services to citizens;
• Integrate real-time information from on-street and off-street parking to enable collaborative decision making for rapid response to events, changes in parking availability and demand.

Streetline’s patented smart parking platform detects the presence of a car through a network of ultra-low power wireless sensors located in individual parking spaces. This information is then made available in real time both to the city, as well as to consumers via Parker™ a free smartphone app via the iTunes Store or Android marketplace.

Using this real-time parking data combined with advanced parking analytics built on IBM Cognos, cities can then tap into this information to understand important factors including hourly occupancy, occupancy by block, parking duration, and trends by area.

Streetline was named the winner of the IBM SmartCamp World Finals and IBM Global Entrepreneur of the Year in November 2010. Today’s announcement is the result of work Streetline has been doing with IBM’s Venture Capital Group to grow their business and uncover new ways to work together.

About IBM and Smarter Transportation
IBM works with cities, governments and others around the world to make their transportation systems smarter. Smarter transportation systems can help traffic and public transit systems flow more smoothly, anticipate and improve congestion in advance, reduce emissions and increase the capacity of infrastructure.

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About Streetline, Inc.
Streetline’s mission is to make smart cities a reality through the use of sensor-enabled mobile and web applications. As the leading global provider of smart parking solutions for cities, airports, universities, private garages, and consumers, Streetline’s pioneering technology connects citizens with critical information to improve the way they live and work, while making cities more efficient and lessening their environmental impact.

Streetline is a privately held company headquartered in San Francisco, Calif. with smart-parking deployments in California, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Texas, Utah, and Washington D.C. The company was recently named one of Fast Company’s 10 Most Innovative Companies in Transportation, as well as IBM Global Entrepreneur of the Year. Streetline was selected from more than 600 SmartCamp entries worldwide based on its outstanding technology, innovative business plan, and alignment with IBM’s Smarter Planet strategy. For more, read a Smarter Planet blog post and watch this video on Smarter Parking.

For more information visit: www.streetlinenetworks.com.

Note to journalists and bloggers: For a video and graphics, please visit http://www.thenewsmarket.com/ibmparkingsurvey.

*Based on 2007 study by Professor Donald Shoup, University of California, Los Angeles

For more information, contact:

Sara Delekta Galligan
IBM Media Relations
415-545-6715
sdelekta@us.ibm.com

Annika Jensen-Lamka
Streetline Media
415-516-3530
annika@sparkpr.com

IBM (IBM) has partnered with privately-held Streetline to develop a system that tracks parking patterns in an effort to help municipalities improve congestion. Under the terms of the agreement, Streetline’s patented smart-parking platform would be used to detect the presence of a vehicle through a network of wireless sensors located in individual parking spaces.