[
  {
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@type": "Article",
    "mainEntityOfPage": {
      "@type": "WebPage",
      "@id": "https://www.fleximodo.com/glossary/on-street-parking-sensor"
    },
    "headline": "On-Street Parking Sensor",
    "description": "Bay-level magnetic + nano‑radar sensors for curbside management. Procurement checklist, installation & acceptance test guidance for LoRaWAN and NB‑IoT single-space sensors.",
    "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ing. Peter Kovács" },
    "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "Fleximodo" },
    "datePublished": "2026-01-15",
    "dateModified": "2026-01-15",
    "url": "https://www.fleximodo.com/glossary/on-street-parking-sensor",
    "keywords": "on street parking sensor, smart parking, LoRaWAN, NB-IoT, parking sensor"
  },
  {
    "@type": "FAQPage",
    "mainEntity": [
      {
        "@type": "Question",
        "name": "What is On-Street Parking Sensor?",
        "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "An On-Street Parking Sensor is a bay-level device that detects parked vehicles and reports occupancy to a backend system. Detection types include magnetometer, radar and hybrid solutions." }
      },
      {
        "@type": "Question",
        "name": "How is On-Street Parking Sensor calculated/measured/installed/implemented in smart parking?",
        "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "Measurement uses magnetic field changes and/or radar reflections; installation follows a drilling template, autocalibration and network provisioning steps; final acceptance requires validation against ground truth data." }
      },
      {
        "@type": "Question",
        "name": "How long does the battery last?",
        "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "Battery life depends on battery capacity, transmit cadence, ADR/SF, temperature and event count. Use vendor coulombmeter logs and your site duty-cycle to validate claims." }
      },
      {
        "@type": "Question",
        "name": "Are these sensors accurate in winter?",
        "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "Many sensors are rated to −40°C; autocalibration mitigates some drift but snow cover and plough damage require careful design and contractual protections." }
      },
      {
        "@type": "Question",
        "name": "How do I integrate sensors with enforcement and payments?",
        "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "Use the portal's enforcement module and open APIs to publish bay status; tie occupancy to payment and wayfinding services for driver guidance." }
      },
      {
        "@type": "Question",
        "name": "What maintenance should I budget for?",
        "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "Budget for remote monitoring, annual physical inspections, spare sleeves and planned battery replacement driven by coulombmeter thresholds rather than fixed time windows." }
      }
    ]
  },
  {
    "@type": "HowTo",
    "name": "Install and commission an on-street parking sensor",
    "step": [
      { "@type": "HowToStep", "name": "Planning & survey", "text": "Collect bay geometry, curbside constraints and expected events/day per bay; determine gateway locations." },
      { "@type": "HowToStep", "name": "Procurement & pre-provisioning", "text": "Order units with Device EUI and join credentials; request datasheet, RF test reports and sample lab units." },
      { "@type": "HowToStep", "name": "Civil works", "text": "Install sleeves or prepare surface mount points following manufacturer drilling templates; schedule lane closures as required." },
      { "@type": "HowToStep", "name": "Mechanical fitment", "text": "Insert sensor into sleeve or mount on surface; secure bolts to hand torque; check seal and ultrasonic weld points." },
      { "@type": "HowToStep", "name": "Commissioning & calibration", "text": "Power on, allow autocalibration, verify event logs, run 24–72 hour validation against ground truth (camera or manual checks)." },
      { "@type": "HowToStep", "name": "Network commissioning", "text": "Register devices on the LNS, configure ADR/SF and uplink cadence; validate PDR and latency." },
      { "@type": "HowToStep", "name": "Integration & acceptance testing", "text": "Map bays to CityPortal, connect enforcement and payment systems, execute acceptance script for detection accuracy and uptime." }
    ]
  }
]

On-Street Parking Sensor

On-Street Parking Sensor – Detect occupancy with LoRaWAN / NB‑IoT single-space magnetic sensors

An On-Street Parking Sensor is the primary hardware element for modern curbside management: it reports bay-level occupancy, timestamps ingress/egress events and feeds enforcement, pricing and wayfinding systems with live data. Integrations usually expose the bay state as real-time parking occupancy and connect to enforcement modules for automated ticketing and compliance checks (parking enforcement integration).

Deployments choose either LoRaWAN connectivity or NB‑IoT connectivity (or both) depending on local coverage, procurement model and expected uplink cadence.

Why On-Street Parking Sensor Matters in Smart Parking

On-street sensors provide the bay-level data cities need to remove guesswork from enforcement and pricing. Municipal programs that use bay-level occupancy see operational savings (fewer random patrols), better policy compliance and data-driven planning for curbside space. European smart-city programs emphasise replicable solutions and measurable impact; see the consolidated state-of-the-art reports on EU smart cities for replication guidance. (smart-cities-marketplace.ec.europa.eu)

Modern On-Street Parking Sensor designs commonly combine a 3-axis magnetometer with nano-radar technology to increase robustness against non-vehicle metal objects and the urban clutter common at curbside.

Standards and regulatory context

Standard / spec	What it covers	Why it matters
EN 300 220 (SRD radio testing)	LoRa/SRD radio parameters, duty cycles and RF tests	Required for LoRa devices; vendors should provide test reports for the device variant you buy.
EN 62368‑1 (safety)	Electrical safety testing for ICT equipment	Device safety and CE/RED compliance for sale in EU / EEA.
IP68 / IK10	Environmental sealing and mechanical impact resistance	Ensures in-ground and curbside durability for years.
Operating temperature	Specified operational range (typ. −40°C to +75°C)	Guides procurement for cold/warm climates.

Vendors should supply complete RF reports, safety certificates and environmental test results as part of the RFP response. Third‑party test reports (EMC / RED / safety) are commonly available and should be requested for the exact model and firmware revision intended for deployment.

Procurement checklist

Require full datasheet and RF test reports for every model supplied; insist battery chemistry and reporting (coulombmeter) are explicit.
Demand field validation tied to vendor claims (camera-verified or third‑party test report).
Specify test conditions for advertised battery life (uplink cadence, ADR/SF, ambient temperature).
Insist on secure OTA firmware updates with signed images and rollback paths.

Types of On-Street Parking Sensor

Choosing the right product depends on civil-works budget, turnover rate and local climate:

In-ground single-space magnetic sensors — recessed into a sleeve in the pavement; highest bay-level fidelity. See standard-in-ground-2-0-parking-sensor.
Surface-mounted radar/ultrasonic pods — no cutting required; quick to deploy. See standard-on-surface-2-0-parking-sensor.
Camera-based curb analytics — broad area coverage, heavier compute and privacy considerations. See camera-based-parking-sensor.
Hybrid magnetometer + radar sensors — combine modalities for improved accuracy and lower false positives; referred to in procurement as dual-detection-magnetometer-nanoradar.

Type	Detection	Installation	Pros / cons
In-ground magnetic	Magnetometer ± radar	Sleeve & cut	High accuracy; civil works required.
Surface radar	Radar / ultrasonic	Surface mount	Quick deploy; higher mechanical stress.
Camera	Vision AI	Pole/structure mount	Rich analytics; privacy & bandwidth costs.
Hybrid	Magnet + radar	Sleeve or surface	Robust detection; higher unit cost.

System components

A production On-Street Parking Sensor solution comprises hardware, gateway(s), network software and an operations portal:

Sensor head: magnetometer, nano-radar, MCU, onboard logging and autocalibration; check the datasheet for the detection algorithm and supported sampling cadence.
Power: primary non-rechargeable cells or Li‑SOCl2 options; vendors should publish coulombmeter telemetry to support life‑cycle modelling (battery-life-10-plus-years).
Mechanical & sealing: ensure IP68 ingress protection and IK10 impact resistance for curbside devices.
RF & antenna: tuned antennas for the chosen topology (LoRaWAN connectivity or NB‑IoT connectivity).
Gateway & backhaul: enterprise-grade outdoor gateways and redundant backhaul.
Cloud & portal: device management, health dashboards and integrations for payments and enforcement; a well-documented API is essential.

How the sensor is installed, commissioned and accepted (step-by-step)

Planning & survey — collect bay geometry, curbside constraints and expected events/day per bay; determine gateway locations and power options.
Procurement & pre-provisioning — order units with Device EUI and join credentials; require sample lab test units and RF/safety documentation.
Civil works — use the manufacturer's drilling template and schedule lane closures; protect sleeves while curing.
Mechanical fitment — insert sensor into sleeve (in-ground) or secure surface mount; apply correct bolt torque and check the seal.
Commissioning & calibration — power on, allow autocalibration to run, verify event logs and run a 24–72 hour validation against camera or manual ground truth.
Network commissioning — register devices on the LNS, configure ADR and uplink cadence; validate PDR and latency.
Integration — map bays to the management portal and connect enforcement and payment systems.
Acceptance testing — run the acceptance script (detection accuracy, uptime, latency) for the agreed acceptance window (30–90 days recommended).
Operation — enable FOTA, health thresholds and swap‑based maintenance to minimise truck rolls.

Maintenance and performance considerations

Remote health monitoring: rely on onboard coulombmeter, daily heartbeats and device logs to forecast battery replacement and pre-schedule swaps. See sensor-health-monitoring.
Firmware & security: secure FOTA, signed images and a documented rollback strategy.
Physical inspections: annual sleeve checks and immediate post-construction inspections preserve detection performance.
Winter performance: require vendor test data for low-temperature discharge curves and specify test conditions for snow/ice coverage (cold-weather-performance).

Energy budgeting (how to validate vendor battery claims)

Use the vendor's measured current-consumption profile (sleep + transmit + processing) and the installed battery capacity to estimate lifetime.
Formula (approximate) = battery capacity (mAh) / average current (mA). Replace the average current with observed values for your expected uplink cadence and event rate; always request the coulombmeter logs used in vendor modelling.

Acceptance test script (recommended)

30–90 day validation window with camera-verified ground truth for ~10% of bays.
Detection accuracy target: ≥ 95% matched events over the window (tighter targets for enforcement zones).
Health metrics: PDR ≥ 98%, average latency ≤ 5 s (or as agreed), coulombmeter decline consistent with modelling.
Environmental checks: include at least one cold-temperature sample if deployment climate requires.

Common field failure modes

Ingress failure from improper seal or bolt torque.
Battery capacity loss accelerated by low temperatures.
Antenna damage reducing link margin and increasing retransmits (hence higher power draw).

Key operational call-outs

Key takeaway — LoRaWAN regional improvements (RP2‑1.0.5)
The LoRa Alliance's RP2‑1.0.5 regional parameters released in 2025 reduce time‑on‑air for many use cases, which directly improves device energy efficiency and uplink capacity for large on‑street rollouts. This can materially reduce battery drain at equivalent reporting cadence. (lora-alliance.org)

Key takeaway — Pardubice pilot (public case study)
Fleximodo's public case study for Pardubice documents a large-scale rollout and camera-validated pilot phase that drove measurable improvements in compliance and revenue; public materials cite ~3.4k sensors deployed during the city programme, with evidence of improved enforcement efficiency and higher electronic payment adoption. Note: internal project references record deployment counts in the 3.4–3.7k range (see References). (blog.fleximodo.com)

Summary

An On-Street Parking Sensor paired with a robust gateway and management portal provides the real-time bay data cities need for enforcement, dynamic pricing and driver wayfinding. Prioritise sensors with documented detection performance, embedded battery health telemetry and secure FOTA to reduce long-term operations costs.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is On-Street Parking Sensor?
An On-Street Parking Sensor is a bay-level device that detects parked vehicles and reports occupancy to a backend system. Detection types include magnetometer, radar and hybrid solutions.
How is On-Street Parking Sensor calculated/measured/installed/implemented in smart parking?
Measurement uses magnetic field changes and/or radar reflections; installation follows a drilling template, autocalibration and network provisioning steps; final acceptance requires validation against ground truth data.
How long does the battery last?
Battery life depends on battery capacity, transmit cadence, ADR/SF, temperature and event count. Use vendor coulombmeter logs and your site duty-cycle to validate claims.
Are these sensors accurate in winter?
Many sensors are rated to −40°C; autocalibration mitigates some drift but snow cover and plough damage require careful design and contractual protections.
How do I integrate sensors with enforcement and payments?
Use the portal's enforcement module and open APIs to publish bay status; tie occupancy to payment and wayfinding services for driver guidance.
What maintenance should I budget for?
Budget for remote monitoring, annual physical inspections, spare sleeves and planned battery replacement driven by coulombmeter thresholds rather than fixed time windows.

References

Below are selected projects from the internal deployment dataset (excerpt). Each entry summarises the project, sensor count, sensor type and deployment date — use these when cross-checking acceptance criteria or warranty windows.

Pardubice 2021 (Czech Republic) — 3,676 sensors (SPOTXL NBIOT). Deployed: 2020‑09‑28. Notes: large municipal rollout used permit cards and LED guidance; camera-validated pilot preceded full roll-out.
- Relevant glossary: NB‑IoT parking sensor, IoT permit card
Chiesi HQ White (Parma, Italy) — 297 sensors (SPOT MINI & SPOTXL LORA). Deployed: 2024‑03‑05. Notes: corporate underground and surface mix; monitoring and analytics used for staff allocation.
- Relevant glossary: in-ground parking sensor, sensor-health-monitoring
Skypark 4 – Residential Underground Parking (Bratislava, Slovakia) — 221 sensors (SPOT MINI). Deployed: 2023‑10‑03. Notes: underground environment, emphasis on long battery life and low‑power reporting.
- Relevant glossary: underground-parking-sensor, long-battery-life-parking-sensor
Peristeri – debug (flashed sensors) (Peristeri, Greece) — 200 sensors (SPOTXL NBIOT). Deployed: 2025‑06‑03. Notes: debug deployment with flashed firmware for field validation; closely monitored coulombmeter telemetry.
- Relevant glossary: nb-iot-parking-sensor, predictive-maintenance-parking-sensor

(Full reference table is available from internal project dataset on request — the excerpt above was formatted to support procurement and acceptance planning.)

Author Bio

Ing. Peter Kovács, Technical freelance writer

Ing. Peter Kovács is a senior technical writer specialising in smart-city infrastructure. He produces procurement templates, field test protocols and datasheet analysis for city engineering teams and IoT integrators.