Methods and systems for generating parking related data

A system constructed and arranged to generate parking related data in respect of one or more navigable elements of a navigable network within a geographic area, each navigable element being represented by a segment of an electronic map, the electronic map comprising a plurality of segments representative of the navigable network, said system comprising:

• processing circuitry configured to:
• obtain positional data relating to a plurality of trips made by vehicles in the navigable network, each trip being a journey between stationary periods indicative of the vehicle being in a parked state;
• analyse, for each one of the plurality of trips, the positional data in respect of the trip to identify a parking space search portion of the trip, the analyzing including analysing the respective positional data to identify a start of a parking space search during the trip that defines the start of the parking space search portion of the trip;
• analyze the positional data corresponding to the parking search portions of the trips to obtain, for each one of at least one set of a plurality of different time periods, a relative value of the parking related parameter associated with each one of a plurality of segments of the electronic map in respect of the time period, the parking related parameter being a time dependent parameter;
• cluster, for the or each set of time periods, the segments into groups of segments based on the relative values of the parking related parameter obtained for the segments in each time period of the set, wherein, for each of the time periods of the set of time periods, the segments in each group of segments are considered to have similar relative values of the parking related parameter;
• use, for each group, relative parking related parameter data associated with each of the segments of the group to generate an aggregate profile that represents a time dependence of the relative value of the parking related parameter for that group, wherein the aggregate profile is used as a representation of the time dependence of the parking related parameter for all of the segments of that group;
• generate a parking search route based on one or more of the aggregate profiles;
• and
• display, on a display, a representation of the parking search route, the displaying including superposing the representation of the parking search route on an electronic map displayed on the display.

A non-transitory computer readable medium having stored thereon instructions which, when executed by a computing device, cause the computing device to perform a method for generating parking related data in respect of one or more navigable elements of a navigable network within a geographic area, each navigable element being represented by a segment of an electronic map, the electronic map comprising a plurality of segments representative of the navigable network, said method comprising:

• obtaining positional data relating to a plurality of trips made by vehicles in the navigable network, each trip being a journey between stationary periods indicative of the vehicle being in a parked state;
• analysing, for each one of the plurality of trips, the positional data to identify a parking space search portion of the trip, the analyzing including analysing the respective positional data to identify a start of a parking space search during the trip that defines the start of the parking space search portion of the trip;
• analysing the positional data corresponding to the parking search portions of the trips to obtain, for each one of at least one set of a plurality of different time periods, a relative value of the parking related parameter associated with each one of a plurality of segments of the electronic map in respect of the time period, the parking related parameter being a time dependent parameter;
• clustering, for the or each set of time periods, the segments into groups of segments based on the relative values of the parking related parameter obtained for the segments in each time period of the set, wherein, for each of the time periods of the set of time periods, the segments in each group of segments are considered to have similar relative values of the parking related parameter;
• using, for each group, relative parking related parameter data associated with each of the segments of the group to generate an aggregate profile that represents a time dependence of the relative value of the parking related parameter for that group, wherein the aggregate profile is used as a representation of the time dependence of the parking related parameter for all of the segments of that group;
• generating a parking search route based on one or more of the aggregate profiles;
• and
• display, on a display, a representation of the parking search route, the displaying including superposing the representation of the parking search route on an electronic map displayed on the display.