Smart cities succeed when everyday assets such as car parks become sources of timely, actionable data. At the City of Stonnington, a multi-year collaboration with Park Agility has transformed parking systems from isolated hardware into a real-time information service for planners, parking teams, and ultimately drivers and residents. This article outlines the journey, the objectives, the integration work, the obstacles, and the practical outcomes delivered in partnership with Park Agility.
Role Clarity: Smart City Delivery Across the Organisation
Goran Babušku leads the smart city function at City of Stonnington, operating across transport, assets, sustainability, and digital transformation. His remit spans urban technologies and data platforms and is not limited to traditional IT or infrastructure.
“The role is still working with technology and people, but different technology and different people. It works across departments and with external providers—waste, sustainability, traffic, lighting, asset management etc.”
Problem Definition: Valuable Parking Data Locked in Silos
Before the partnership with Park Agility, occupancy data collected to update roadside digital signs wasn’t available to broader internal users.
“A sign might display ‘67 spaces available’, but behind that was rich occupancy data collected minute-by-minute, which data was siloed between the car park and the street sign.”
Surfacing that data to transport planners, traffic engineers, parking officers and finance teams was the first value to unlock.
First Deployment: From Cato Street to a Repeatable Pattern
Stonnington’s early deployment was at the Prahran Square car park (formerly known at Cato Street). Park Agility supplied street signage and integrated it with on-site sensors that measured vehicles entering and exiting the space. The critical step was making the same data stream available through secure back-end channels for the Council’s internal IoT/Data platform, which assisted in creating a template the team could reuse.
“Because Park Agility already had the data, they made it available to us in real time. We could see the site availability hourly and daily, rather than waiting for a monthly report.”
Integration at Scale: A Citywide Data Pipeline
Once the data path was established, each new or refurbished car park followed the same model. Occupancy, ramp counts and availability flowed into Stonnington’s data platform, then out to internal users.
“As new car parks were commissioned, it was easy to bring them into the fold with the same datasets. No retrofit, no re-work, because we’d already paved the road with help from Park Agility.”
This approach converted single-purpose signage into a citywide parking intelligence layer.
Operational Outcomes: Faster Insight and Better Planning
With near real-time feeds, internal teams can see pressure points, peak times, and throughput without manual reporting cycles. The benefit is practical: faster decisions on operations, pricing policy, management strategies, and event planning.
“The technology barrier is gone; now it’s about finding ways for wider use of the data. When teams are ready, it will be at their fingertips.”
Vendor Selection: Future-Proofing Over Lowest Cost
Goran is explicit about vendor expectations: present options, modern solutions, not just quotes; help the Council avoid dead-ends; design for data sharing and seamless integration.
“If a contractor doesn’t say ‘you asked for A and B, but there’s also C and D’, that isn’t a good contractor. We probe for added value and future-proofing, so we don’t pay later to retrofit.”
Park Agility met that bar by proactively sharing the existence and utility of their parking data, then coordinating technical teams on both sides to connect it efficiently.
“They gave me a heads-up they had this data and helped get everything connected smoothly, without overhead or upsell.”
What ‘Smart City’ Means in Practice: Technology + Data
Stonnington frames smart cities in two streams.
- Urban technologies that drive operational efficiency (e.g., smart lighting, remotely managed assets).
- Data products that guide decisions (e.g., occupancy, buildings performance, traffic volumes).
“Smart city consists of two distinct streams: one stream is emerging technologies for operational efficiency; the other is data for decision-making and planning.”
The roadmap reflects both: AI-enabled sensors for pedestrian, cycle and vehicle volumes; smart lighting now in 10+ parks; intelligent buildings; sustainability pilots (soil moisture, stormwater capture); and public-health tech that cut noise-complaint resolution from two months to one week.
The Transport Vision: Integrating On-Street and Off-Street
Stonnington now operates thousands of on-street parking sensors. Combining these with off-street occupancy feeds and driver apps creates a coherent picture for residents and visitors.
“Real-time data at the fingertips. Drivers can decide to stay on Chapel Street or turn into a car park with 17 spaces available. That information reduces congestion.”
Goran sees providers like Park Agility embedded in new builds and maintenance cycles so that parking supply, wayfinding and data continue to move in lockstep.
Outcomes for Residents and Ratepayers: Less Search, Less Congestion
The end-user benefit is simple: spend less time hunting for a bay. For the city, that means lower circulation, less gridlock near popular destinations, better compliance, and improved accessibility.
“An app with data from different providers lets people decide quickly where to park. That improves traffic flow and the resident experience.”
Why Park Agility: Proactive, Integrative, Subject-Matter Experts
Park Agility’s contribution wasn’t limited to hardware. They identified the data opportunity, enabled secure access, and collaborated across teams to make integration straightforward.
“They were forthcoming, experienced in that part, and not trying to profit from extra services. That made them a really valued contractor.”
Their subject-matter expertise, responsiveness and willingness to future-proof deployments turned signage projects into data projects, with enduring utility for the city.
About Park Agility
Park Agility is a leading provider of intelligent parking solutions across Australia. The company specialises in parking sensors, guidance systems, and integrated signage that help councils, property owners, and operators improve parking turnover, compliance, and user experience.
With a focus on accurate data, seamless integration, and responsive customer service, Park Agility supports clients ranging from local government to shopping centres and public facilities.
If you are considering how to improve parking efficiency and compliance in your facility, Park Agility can help. To learn more about their solutions and explore how they can support your organisation, get in touch with the Park Agility team today on +61 2 8488 3333
