Virginia Beach, Va. - People in Virginia Beach say parking can be pretty stressful, especially during busy weekends. Now city officials are applying for a grant to improve traffic and safety through technology.
Gregory Lothamer, who is visiting the Virginia Beach oceanfront from Richmond, says he always plans ahead to makes sure there is somewhere to park.
“Since it`s so busy in the summer, I wake up really early to make sure we have a place to get to if we`re coming for the day,” Lothamer said. “It is something you really have to plan for before you come."
City officials are working to make parking easier with the touch of a button.
They are applying for $4 million federal grant.
Part of the money will go toward creating a parking app.
“We'd like to be able to direct folks to available parking,” the City’s Engineer Franklin Hickman said. “You've got the arena coming in, probably, a couple of years. So that would be a great application for a situation like that, as well.”
Hickman say the proposed app would focus mainly on pedestrian heavy areas like the Oceanfront and Town Center.
“So we'd like to employ some technologies that would allow them to cross the streets easier," Hickman said.
He says they're in the early stages of the app's development, so he`s not sure how the app will work with other parking apps.
Lothamer says it sounds like a good idea but he has reservations.
“I don't know how effective it might be. It'd be interesting to see how it works,” Lothamer explained.
The money will also go toward traffic adaptive technology, which will allow traffic signals to work in real-time.
If the city receives the grant, Hickman says the project could take two to four years.
