Parking Dealt Winning Hand in Las Vegas

March, 2012

One of the newest resort-hotel-casinos in Las Vegas, The Cosmopolitan, hosts one of the newest advances in the parking business – a full-blown parking guidance system (PGS). This is unique for a garage where the cars park for free, but management wanted to ensure that its guests were able to find parking spaces quickly and easily.
The signage gives information as to the number of regular and handicapped spaces (noted in blue) available on the floor. Then the driver relies on red and green LEDs to guide them to the open spot. Even if only a few spaces are available, they are readily apparent in the subdued light of the underground garage.
Each space is monitored by a sensor that tells a central PGS system whether there is a vehicle in the space. In addition, detectors on the ramps monitor the number of vehicles on each level.
The wireless communication solution takes advantage of wireless mesh technology, allowing end devices such as sensors and signs to communicate through multiple wireless pathways without the cost of cable and installation associated with parking guidance systems.
Each device or group of devices is wired locally to a modem, which wirelessly transfers the device information through other modems or directly to the PGS gateway. The gateway is connected directly or through a network to the PGS server, where Visual Control Center software manages the whole system and provides a graphical user interface.
The wireless, single-space monitoring PGS system at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas hotel and casino was installed in mid-2011 by TCS International. For more information, go to www.tcsintl.com.