VDOT Rolls Out App for Real-Time Parking at Commuter Lots

Press Release:

The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) is evaluating the performance of ParkZen, a new smart parking mobile app that enables local travelers to view real-time parking availability in six commuter lots in Fairfax, Prince William, and Stafford counties at no cost. The ParkZen app helps commuters check for and navigate to unoccupied parking spaces.

During the evaluation period, availability data will be reported for VDOT’s Saratoga Park and Ride lot in Springfield, Stringfellow Road Park and Ride lot in Centreville, and the Horner Road Commuter Lot in Woodbridge, as well as the three Virginia Railway Express (VRE) station parking lots at Backlick Road in Springfield, Brooke Road in Stafford, and Leeland Road in Falmouth. With a combined capacity of more than 5,000 parking spaces, travelers will be able to take advantage of these parking locations to conveniently transfer to buses, carpools, vanpools, or VRE trains.“Commuters have told us that not knowing whether parking is available at commuter lots is a deterrent to using transit, carpools, vanpools, and slugging,” said Amy McElwain, program manager for VDOT’s Office of Strategic Innovations. “We know that taking the guesswork out of parking makes it easier for commuters to get out of their single-occupant vehicles. However, the challenge has always been finding the resources to install and maintain reliable counting technology.”

ParkZen does not require the installation of counting equipment and allows users to instantly determine whether parking is available at a given lot, helping them navigate there with turn-by-turn guidance. Leveraging the power of smart crowdsourcing technology, ParkZen passively collects anonymized data from users only when they visit the selected commuter lots, in order to inform other drivers of lot occupancy levels.“Through this app, commuters can optimize the parking experience for themselves and others, enabling everyone to park quickly and catch buses, trains, and carpool rides,” said McElwain. “The more drivers who use the app during the trial period, the better job we will be able to do to validate this technology before scaling up to more locations.”

This parking technology will be initially available in the six designated lots for the early adopters during the evaluation period from November 2024 to January 2025. The free app is available in the App Store for iOS devices and the Google Play Store for Android devices. Top users will have a chance to earn a $50 Amazon gift card from ParkZen. If the trial period is successful, VDOT will evaluate rolling out the technology for other commuter lots throughout Northern Virginia and the Fredericksburg area starting in Spring 2025.

This project is one of several regional initiatives that aim to improve travel reliability and mobility. By using crowdsourced real-time mobility data, VDOT and its partners strive to optimize performance of the transportation network, prioritize the needs of commuters, and offer them convenient tools to make informed travel choices.