Booting and towing is an essential part of a parking management system. Although it helps to keep the roads safe and accessible, it may seem like a hassle to the general public. In traditional booting and towing management, individuals must undergo several procedures to free their vehicles from the pounds. There are also cases of vehicles being sold without the owner’s consent. For instance, a disabled woman’s van was wrongly declared abandoned and sold for scraps by the city of Chicago. In such cases, people may consider the management system to be broken.
Fortunately, the booting and towing management system can be enhanced with the help of modern technology. Parking managers and enforcers can use AI-based applications to improve the efficiency, accuracy and effectiveness of booting and towing operations. It can enhance parking space supervision, systemize violation enforcement, provide data-driven insights, and improve traffic management.
Here are the functions and workings of a traditional booting and towing system and how the integration of smart technology can enhance it.
What Is Booting and Towing?
Booting is attaching a lock or a similar instrument to a vehicle to immobilize it temporarily. A traditional boot is a heavy metal lock attached to the vehicle’s wheel that disobeys parking rules. Illegally parking, on-street parking, and not paying parking tickets are some reasons for booting. Only the relevant authorities can remove the boots; removing them without following the procedure is a crime.
Towing is pulling a vehicle by attaching it to another vehicle. Parking managers or road safety enforcers tow a car if it’s damaged, abandoned or parked illegally. For instance, if a car is illegally parked, in a handicapped spot or has multiple unpaid parking violations, relevant authorities will tow the car to the impound. These vehicles are stored in the impound until the owner pays their violation fee and releases it. If the vehicle is declared abandoned, impounds can sell these vehicles for scraps.
Smart booting and towing integrate smart technology to provide an enhanced user experience to authorities and vehicle owners alike. Here are some major use cases of smart booting and towing management systems.
8 Major Use Cases of Booting and Towing Management
Smart booting and towing management can help automate the traditional parking management system in the following ways:
1. Efficient Violation Enforcement
Due to illegal parking, the availability of empty parking spaces is reduced for law-abiding citizens. With the help of AI-based smart parking systems, parking managers can easily detect traffic violations. AI applications like computer vision can easily identify violations over large areas.
Similarly, optical character recognition (OCR) can track a vehicle’s license plate number (LPN). So it is easier for enforcement agencies to catch and fine regular violators. The enforcers can use a self-releasing smart boot on such vehicles to immobilize them. If the vehicles are still not removed, enforcers can tow them to the impound lots.
2. Better Parking Space Management
Parking violations can cause a huge inconvenience to citizens. Parking spaces are already in high demand, especially in urban areas. There are many instances where individuals park their cars occupying two parking spaces. This can lead to people spending more time looking for parking spaces, which is a waste of time, effort and fuel.
Smart booting and towing can help parking managers and enforcement officers to take quick action against the violators. Removing illegally parked cars or abandoned cars can increase the number of available parking spaces. This can help citizens to avoid going around the block to look for parking spaces and save fuel.
3. Reduced Traffic Congestion
Traffic congestion is a major problem that leads to a huge waste of time. According to research, a typical U.S. driver loses 51 hours to congestion. That’s about an hour every week. Illegal parking can highly increase traffic congestion. While driving, individuals may come across multiple obstructions, like vehicles parked in no-parking zones, loading zones, fire hydrant areas, etc. This can reduce the traffic flow and cause congestion.
With the help of smart towing, enforcers can detect such violations in real time and take the necessary action immediately. Moreover, authorities can use the data to identify high-traffic areas. This can lead to free roads and fewer traffic jams. Moreover, people will also avoid illegal parking under the threat of immediate enforcement actions.
4. Easy Payment Options
If an individual’s car is booted, they must go through multiple procedures to remove the lock. Since lengthy procedures are involved, an individual may not have time to go through them. This can lead to cars being abandoned for longer periods. However, self-releasing boots provide a plethora of options to make digitized payments. Individuals can scan a code on the lightweight self-releasing boot and get options like Apple Pay, Google Pay, or other local options to complete their payments.
Due to the ease of payment, individuals are more likely to complete them immediately. This streamlined process can provide hassle-free options to vehicle owners to settle their fines. Moreover, online payments can reduce the burden of record-keeping with an online directory of all the transactions.
5. Increased Revenue
Since smart booting and towing management systems allow citizens to pay their fines conveniently, it will encourage them to free their vehicles immediately. These payment options also provide vehicle owners with a transparent record of transactions. This will increase accountability and the public’s trust in parking management systems.
Moreover, taking immediate action against illegally parked vehicles will increase the number of empty parking spaces. These spaces can be used by law-abiding citizens, which in turn will increase revenue. As we mentioned, smart towing and booting systems can detect repeat offenders. Enforcement agencies can charge higher fines to such vehicles to promote compliance.
6. Reduced Disputes
Traditional booting and towing can lead to many disputes. In many cases, an individual may not know that an area is prohibited from parking. In such cases, getting the vehicle towed can cause them major inconvenience due to ignorance. Here, the individual will fight tooth and nail to stop their vehicle from getting towed and avoid further inconvenience. Moreover, there are multiple instances of car damage while towing. This can lead to disputes and physical fights in the worst-case scenario.
However, with smart booting and towing management, enforcement agencies can avoid altercations. Since the boots are self-releasing and the payments are digitized, there is no need for confrontations. Moreover, vehicle owners may also apply for fraudulent reimbursements. Authorities can present the data collected from smart boots and computer vision-based cameras as evidence to the vehicle owners as well as in a court of law.
7. Reduced Cost
Traditional boots are heavy and can be removed illegally. Scores of people try to remove them with the help of saws, picking locks, or deflating their tires. This can damage the car and the boot, leading to high costs for replacing the boots. To avoid such losses, some cities resort to immediate towing of vehicles. However, there is a high chance of damaging the vehicle while towing. So this can lead to further losses in the form of reimbursement.
Smart self-releasing boots are incorporated with technology that detects any form of tampering. In such cases, the authorities are immediately notified. Moreover, smart boots are data-driven. So they can record data to keep track of violators. This can help relevant authorities identify the locations where violations occur regularly. So the authorities can use their manual force to focus efforts on such areas to deter the violations.
8. Increased Convenience
Traditional booting and towing procedure is very time-consuming. If a boot lock is applied to the car, the individual has to contact the relevant authorities. These telephone lines are generally busy, so an individual can be put on hold for a while. Once an individual is through, they must visit the relevant office to pay their dues. Now, the individual must present the fee receipt to another office, and they will receive a code to remove the boot.
Since the traditional boot removal procedure is time-consuming, it is inconvenient for the citizens. However, smart booting and towing allow citizens to pay their fines through online portals. The self-releasing boot unlocks itself as soon as an individual makes their payment. It will also decrease the need to tow vehicles to the impound. This can enhance the user experience of the vehicle owner.
To Conclude
Smart booting and towing management system are efficient tools for curbing traffic violations. This system allows authorities to take immediate action against repeat offenders and increase road safety. It also helps to increase the number of free parking spaces and reduce traffic congestion. Apart from authorities, it also benefits citizens by providing features such as digitized payment options.
Due to this, citizens can avoid the lengthy procedures in traditional booting and towing systems and use their time efficiently. The data from these systems can be used to allocate resources and reduce costs to the cities efficiently. Smart booting and towing can help governments to take another step toward building a smart city.