贴心服务——宝马停车预报功能

    当人们苦苦寻找街边车位时，受影响的可不只是沮丧的司机们。

    在人口密集的地区，司机们寻找车位时要平均耗时20分钟，这也影响了城市的机动性。交通堵塞，公共运输速度缓慢，即便是行人也会因汽车和大巴挡住人行横道通行受阻。Frost & Sullivan的一项分析显示，美国司机每年在寻找停车位方面平均要耗费55小时，给消费者和地方经济带来的时间和燃料损耗折合近6亿美元。

    上周，交通数据公司Inrix携手宝马在底特律车联网展会上发布了停车预报功能，它能帮助司机寻找宝贵的街头停车位。

    本次大会上展示的是安装在一辆宝马i3上的研究原型，它能通过从一些可监测来源（如移动支付公司、实时停车信息和车联网分享服务）抓取数据，来预测哪里可以停车。实际上，Inrix为了进行准确的预报，要综合更多的数据来源。

    Inrix解释说，某些汽车可能会有免费停车证，还有一些司机可能停完车不交费。而且在很多城市，只有特定时段的停车需要付费。Inrix也在挖掘来自与其合作的导航和交通应用提供商的实时数据，这是一个由2.5亿辆车和设备组成的庞大网络。

    在宝马车型中，这项停车预报功能名为iPark，相关信息可在控制面板中显示。与谷歌地图中的交通应用相似，彩色横条标志着街头停车成功几率，按停车位充足情况从绿到红显示。面板中显示的信息还包括收费价格、停车和许可限制以及政策规定。如果路内车位没有了，司机将被引导至路外停车场。

    The search for those coveted open on-street parking spots affects more than the frustrated person behind the wheel.

    In densely populated areas, the hundreds of drivers who spend an average of 20 minutes looking for an open parking space also impact urban mobility. Traffic backs up, public transportation slows—even pedestrians are impeded by cars and buses blocking crosswalks. One analysis by Frost & Sullivan found drivers waste an average of 55 hours a year looking for parking, costing consumers and local economies nearly $600 million in wasted time and fuel.

    Traffic data company Inrix and BMW unveiled a predictive parking feature at a connected car show in Detroit this week that can help drivers find those elusive on-street parking spots.

    The research prototype, which was on display in a BMW i3 at the TU-Automotive Detroit conference, is able to predict parking availability by capturing data from some predictable sources— mobile payment companies, real-time parking information, and connected car-sharing services. Inrix went a step further, however, for an accurate prediction, looking to even more data sources.

    As the company explains, vehicles might have passes that permit free parking or some drivers might park without paying. And in many cities, payment is only required during certain hours. The company also taps into the real-time data supplied by its massive network of 250 million vehicles and devices—information it has access to from navigation and traffic application providers who partner with Inrix.

    The predictive parking feature, which will be branded as iPark in BMW cars, displays the information on the car’s dashboard. Just like the traffic feature in Google Maps, color-coded bars indicate the probability of open street parking, ranging from green (meaning lots of spaces) to red. Pricing, parking and permit restrictions, and policy rules will also be displayed. If on-street parking in unavailable, drivers will be directed to off-street parking locations.

    Inrix和宝马表示，将进一步改进供量产车型使用的研究原型。首批启用服务的包括欧洲阿姆斯特丹、科隆和哥本哈根城区，以及美国旧金山、西雅图和加拿大温哥华。Inrix表示，该服务将于年底拓展至23个城市。

    目前，宝马等主要汽车生产商正在移动性项目上投入更多时间和资金，停车预报功能只是案例之一。各项新功能令驾驶和停车变得有趣，也让传统意义上拥有汽车的概念发生了一些改变。例如，自2011年以来，宝马集团就一直在研究如何减少人们寻找空闲车位的时间。第一批解决方案已于2012年投入使用，其中包括高级停车服务，即司机可以预约城市中的停车位。

    2013年，德国汽车公司戴姆勒（梅赛德斯-奔驰生产商）成立了移动服务子公司，目前涵盖交通工具搜索应用moovel以及分享租赁品牌“即行”（car2go）。公司年报显示，截至2014年底，moovel子公司拥有100多万名客户。戴姆勒称，“即行”提供Smart车型的租赁服务，目前在全球29个城市中拥有100多万名注册会员。在过去一年中，戴姆勒还收购了创业公司RideScout，以及mytaxi叫车应用的开发商Intelligent Apps。

    得益于戴姆勒旗下创新应用和谷歌地图的发展，出行时需要问路和转乘应用的消费者比以往有了更多选择。宝马与Inrix的合作解决了城市交通中一大难题，即抵达目的地后在哪停车，而不用在街区徒劳兜圈。（财富中文网）

    翻译：Charlie

    审校：夏林

    Inrix and BMW say they will further refine the research prototype for use in production vehicles. The service will initially be available in European metro areas Amsterdam, Cologne and Copenhagen as well as U.S. cities San Francisco and Seattle, as well as in Vancouver, Canada. It will expand to 23 cities by the end of the year, Inrix says.

    The predictive parking feature is just one example of how major automakers, BMW included, are investing more time and money into mobility projects— features that make driving and parking more enjoyable and tap into a shift away from traditional car ownership. For example, BMW Group has been researching how to reduce the time spent looking for a vacant space since 2011. One of its first solutions, a premium parking service that allows drivers to reserve city parking spaces, has been available since 2012.

    In 2013, the German car company Daimler , which makes Mercedes-Benz, launched a mobility services subsidiary, where it now houses its transit-finding unit moovel and car-sharing car2go brand. The moovel subsidiary had more than one million customers by the end of 2014, according to its annual report. Car2Go, which connects members with Smart cars, has more than 1 million registered members in 29 cities around the world, according to the company. In the past year, it has also purchased startups RideScout and the mytaxi cab-booking app Intelligent Apps.

    Thanks to developments like Daimler’s and Google Maps, there are more possibilities than ever for consumers who need way-finding and transit apps on the go. BMW’s collaboration with Inrix fills in yet another piece of the urban transit puzzle—where to stash your vehicle when you’ve arrived at your destination, without another lap around the block.