Car park counting and guidance systems for every car park, level and zone

What is a car park counting system?

A car park counting system keeps a live count of the vehicles in a car park, or in each level or zone of it, and works out how many spaces are free. Signs at the entrances show that number, or FULL. On bigger sites a parking guidance system adds signs with arrows that send drivers to the car park or level that still has room.

How a car park counting system works

1. 1

   Loops see each vehicle and its direction

   A pair of inductive loops in each entry and exit lane, or on each ramp between levels, feeds a dual-channel loop detector. Its A-B logic tells a vehicle going in from one coming out.

2. 2

   The counter adds or subtracts

   Each detection is a pulse to the counter: in adds one, out takes one off. An NCT100 keeps up to four counts, so one module can count a car park's levels separately.

3. 3

   Spaces are capacity minus vehicles inside

   The counter takes the vehicles inside away from the car park's capacity. Because vehicles are counted at the entrances rather than in each bay, cars still looking for a space are counted too.

4. 4

   The signs show spaces or FULL

   Space signs show the number free, or FULL at zero, and the counter's alarm outputs can switch traffic lights, FULL signs or a barrier at a set count.

The detection doesn't have to be loops. The counters take clean-contact pulses, so barrier-open signals can do the counting instead, as on our ANPR car park barrier system.

Zone counting or bay sensors? Choosing a detection method

There are two ways to know how full a car park is: count vehicles in and out of each car park, level or zone, or put a sensor in every bay. They answer different questions.

Zone counting needs detection only at the lanes and ramps, not in every bay, which keeps the groundworks and cabling to the entrances and exits.

Standalone counting for a single car park

• The NCT100 standalone counter keeps up to four counts, with four increment and four decrement inputs, and is programmed from its own keypad with no PC.
• Signs: it sends up to four count values to space signs over RS485.
• Full and nearly full: alarm outputs switch at a set count for FULL signs, traffic lights or a barrier, with pre-alarm outputs that can warn before the car park fills.
• A count you can rely on: counts are kept through power cuts, and the counters can reset to set values each day or from a reset input.

At Sainsbury's in Truro, a 411-space car park on two levels, an NCT100 and two new two-tier signs, installed with Access Automation, count vehicles in and out of each level using the existing loops. At Bank Park's 98-space car park near Wembley Stadium, a single counting module and one full-colour sign show the spaces left or FULL, so drivers don't queue on the busy one-way road outside.

Networked counting for multi-level and multi-site car parks

• NCT200 counters at every entry lane, exit lane and ramp between levels hold their counts locally and keep counting if the network drops, then update the software when it returns.
• NorParc software on a Windows PC collects the counts over TCP/IP or RS485 and works out the spaces on each level, in each car park and across the site.
• Scale: up to 128 physical counters (32 NCT200 modules), unlimited virtual counters for totals and groups, and up to 256 sign values.
• Operators see occupancy and alarms on a plan of the site, from more than one monitoring station.
• Licensing is by the number of physical counters.

Space-available and parking guidance signs

On a site with several car parks the signs work in layers: a multi-car-park or multi-level sign where drivers arrive, a space sign at each car park entrance, and guidance signs with arrows at junctions inside.

• Full colour message sign for car park entrances: compliant with the EN 12966 standard for variable message signs, 10 cm characters readable from 6 to 50 metres, IP65, and automatic brightness for strong sunlight. It shows up to five digits, or FULL, OPEN or SPACE, in red, green or amber.
• Multi-level signs for the approach to a multi-storey car park, with one or two level displays in each housing.
• Parking guidance sign for junctions and aisles: the count plus an arrow in any of eight directions, a 120° viewing angle and up to 35 metres, IP54 for covered and internal locations. It works with a standalone NCT100 or with NorParc.
• Up to eight signs on one RS485 bus. Sign artwork can be made to your own design, with your name and colours.

Occupancy monitoring and reporting

A standalone NCT100 shows its counts on its own display. NorParc keeps a continuous log of every count, so the site can see daily occupancy patterns, peak times and how well each car park is used, and it raises alarms against the plan of the site as they happen.

Works with barriers, access control and ANPR

• Access control at the barrier: see the car park access control system page for the readers and controllers that decide who gets in.
• Barriers and traffic lights: the counters' alarm relays, rated at 2 A at 30 V DC, switch at a set count to hold a barrier or change a light.
• Central control: when an NCT200 is online, NorParc can switch its outputs for signs, alarms and barrier arming.
• ANPR: see the ANPR car park barrier system, where the count comes from the barrier signals.
• Shared car parks: the CPC202 and CPC204 give each tenant group its own allocation of spaces.

What affects the cost of a car park counting system

• The number of lanes and ramps to count, each with a pair of loops or a barrier signal
• Standalone counting with an NCT100 or networked counting with NorParc, which is licensed per physical counter
• The number and type of signs, and any custom artwork
• Whether existing loops can be reused, as at Truro
• Groundworks and cabling between the lanes, the counters and the signs

We supply through installers and distributors, so the price for your car park comes from the installer after a survey. Our sales team can help put the equipment list together: sales@nortechcontrol.com.