Abstract—This paper presents the experimental design and needs justifications for a localized intelligent parking system (L-IPS), ideal for quasi-close communities with increasing vehicular volume that depends on limited or constant parking facilities. For a constant supply in parking facilities, the demand for an increasing vehicular volume could lead to poor time conservation or extended travel time, traffic congestion or impeded mobility, and safety issues. Increased negative environmental and economic externalities are other associated and consequent downsides of disparities in demand and supply. This L-IPS is designed using a microcontroller, ultrasonic sensors, LED indicators, such that the current status, in terms of parking spots availability, can be known from the main entrance to the community or a parking zone on a LCD screen. As an advanced traffic management system (ATMS), the L-IPS is designed to resolve aspects of infrastructure-to-driver (I2D) communication and parking detection issues. Thus, this L-IPS can act as a timesaver for users by helping them know the availability of parking spots. Providing on- time, informed routing, to a next preference or seamless moving to berth on the available spot on a proximate facility as the case may be. Its use could also increase safety and increase mobility, and fuel savings and costs, therefore, reducing negative environmental and economic externalities due to transportation systems. Keywords—Intelligent parking systems, localized intelligent parking system, intelligent transport systems, advanced traffic management systems, infrastructure-to-drivers communication. I. INTRODUCTION ITH the significant increase in vehicular volume over time in any built, and even in a non-built environment that is rapidly urbanizing, there are accompanied intense demands for the limited or near constant supply of parking facilities. Rapid urbanization is the result of large net population increase and economic prosperity, which has serious implications for land-use patterns. As Tole [1] pointed out, urban planners have tagged each piece of land for a particular use, which of course may be encroached into for other forms of utilization ab initio unintended. Municipalities, however, frown at distorting their urban planning blueprints to the extent that huge fees and penalties are imposed on defaulters to discourage such practices. And considering that land is a limited resource, it is pertinent to make the best use of the piece of land that has been apportioned for specific purposes, which is increasingly achieved through the concept Ayodele Adekunle Faiyetole is with the Department of Transport Management Technology, Federal University of Technology Akure, PMB 704 Akure and with the Air, Space, and Intelligent Transport Systems Unit, EarthSpace, P.O. Box 20200 Ikeja, Lagos, Nigeria (e-mail: aafaiyetole@futa.edu.ng). Olumide Olawale Jegede is with the Department of Transport Management Technology, Federal University of Technology, Akure, Nigeria. of ‘smart cities.’ With the rapid urbanization caused by net population increase and economic prosperity, there is a consequent rise in vehicular volume. Idris et al. [2], [3] revealed that in Malaysia, the increase in vehicular volume over a span of seven years is approximately 54.5% (with 296,716 new vehicles registered in 1999 and 458,293 in 2006), implying that there is a need for more or efficient parking infrastructure within or outside the scope of the land use pattern. This is even more critical in a quasi-close community of rapidly urbanizing non-built or built environment, which is usually gated with monitoring personnel or devices for in- and out- movement; the land use laws are, thus, strictly adhered to, and land-use pattern properly controlled. Thus, a portion of the piece of land that has been earmarked as a parking facility could have limited expansion despite a possible surge in the net population of such community, of which supply may soon become constant due to the competing needs of other equally or more important purposes. Quasi-close communities are in different categories, from residential estates to university campuses. This study has, however, considered a university campus in southwestern Nigeria, the Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA), as the area of focus, as a good candidate of a quasi- close community. Established in 1981, with the teaching of the first enrollment of 149 students starting on 22 November 1982, the university started with three schools, and now in 2018, it has grown to eight schools with numerous new degree programs both at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels. Additionally, there are different centers shooting out continually within the university mostly running non-degree programs. The academic and non-academic staff strength stands at 2,196 in the 2011/2012 session. In the 2013/2014 session, the students’ population increased to 20,503, from 149 in 1982 [4], representing an increase of 13,660%. This increase in the population of staff and students, of consequence, also brings about approximate rates of increase in the number of guardians, families, friends, and well-wishers that visit, the constant, unchanging in size land piece that makes up the university campus. Implying the pressure on the parking facilities located within the campus has increased, especially during the periods of special events, such as the university convocation ceremonies, inaugural lectures, conferences, and others. In turn, this pressure on parking infrastructure could impact time conservation, vehicular flow and traffic congestion, and thus mobility. Safety issues such as incidents and accidents, vehicle vandalization and thefts, and increased negative environmental and economic externalities from increased emissions of air polluting and greenhouse Intelligent Parking Systems for Quasi-Close Communities Ayodele Adekunle Faiyetole, Olumide Olawale Jegede W World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology International Journal of Transport and Vehicle Engineering Vol:13, No:8, 2019 457 International Scholarly and Scientific Research & Innovation 13(8) 2019 ISNI:0000000091950263 Open Science Index, Transport and Vehicle Engineering Vol:13, No:8, 2019 waset.org/Publication/10010660