Intuitive Parking Counting at Boston Scientific

Case Study

A large corporate Boston Scientific campus with around-the-clock shift changes and six different parking zones helps driver make better informed parking decisions with OpenSpace parking guidance.

The Client

Boston Scientific manufactures more than 13,000 medical devices that are used in 130 countries to treat 30 million patients each year, curing illnesses and changing lives. They have facilities in 40 countries across the globe. The head office in Galway, Ireland, boasts a sprawling campus with parking lots located all along its periphery for the nearly 2,000 employees to park in each day.

 

The Challenge

The Ireland Boston Scientific offices are located on an expansive campus with six different parking zones with surface lots totaling 1,865 parking spots. The site is operational around the clock with shift changes every eight hours. Peak parking demand occurs multiple times each day as employees begin and end their shifts.

Boston Scientific wanted to use a parking guidance system to notify drivers of available spaces in order to eliminate congestion during peak times and help workers make better informed decisions about where to look for parking. But they found that the sheer scale of their site coupled with the physical distance between parking lots meant that a traditional hardwired parking guidance system simply wasn’t feasible.

They needed a way to guide workers into available spots and away from parking zones that were already nearly full. But they needed a system that could work wirelessly, gathering parking availability data and posting it on highly visible signs for incoming cars to see.

 

The Solution

The wireless OpenSpace parking counting platform helped Boston Scientific campus keep track of parking availability data in each of the 6 parking zones. The unique patented system uses wireless vehicle detection sensors installed at entry and exit points. Sensors are installed in small rubber speed humps that are simply bolted down to the surface at each lot. The sensors send data to a solar-powered data repeater unit, which conveys it instantly to electronic feedback signs.

A parking sign at the main entrance to the campus gives drivers an overview of parking availability in each of the six zones. Individual electronic parking signs display availability at each surface lot. The up-to-the-minute accurate data on these signs helps drivers can make better informed decisions about where to look for parking. All data is also available via the OpenSpace cloud so that Boston Scientific management can stay abreast of campus parking and statistics.

 

The Benefits

The intuitive, user friendly system required no wiring or induction loops and was fully operational in the Ireland campus’ surface lots without any complicated installation. It shows accurate up to the minute parking data on signs throughout the campus to help employees make smarter parking decisions around the clock every day.

Conor O’Lear, the Facilities Manager at the Ireland campus, noted that OpenSpace “greatly improved the operation of the parking facilities on site,” by showing workers where to look for parking and which areas to avoid.  He also lauded the intuitive OpenSpace cloud, commenting that “the management and statistical information provided by the {OpenSpace} system is invaluable.”