SmartSantander, a smarter city
Traffic was one area Santander wanted to tackle. The city uses technology to detect parking spaces and to then display spaces on panels at junctions in the road.
Parking spaces have sensors built into the tarmac which communicate with the sensors in the facades to detect vehicles.
The first type of sensor (under foot) was a first generation sensor installed three years ago, which was not rechargeable and let in condensation. The new sensor next to it has a replaceable battery which lasts 10 years.
30 sensors can be installed per seven-hour day and the street is cut 24 hours before work, so the process disturbs citizens for a short a period as possible.
Magnetic sensors detect changes to magnetic field when a car parks in the space and it notes the longitude and latitude and sends that to the sensor on the wall facades.