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Tier has partnered with next-generation mapping company Fantasmo to create the “world’s most accurate” e-scooter parking system.
Starting in Paris and York, Tier will implement Fantasmo’s ‘Camera Positioning System’ (CPS), a new positioning technology that is “ten times more accurate” than GPS and can validate e-scooter parking within 20 cm or less with a phone camera alone.
Tier has integrated Fantasmo’s CPS into its operating system, meaning when users wish to end a ride, they can scan the e-scooter’s QR code and point their phone camera at a building nearby, which Fantasmo uses to confirm they are parked within a city-approved area.
As with Tier’s previous parking system, any user attempting to park in a no-go area, or outside of a designated parking bay, will not be able to end a ride. The new feature requires no additional infrastructure from cities, only a completed 3D mapping of the city in question.
The partnership is initially being rolled out in York and Paris, and will later be introduced in other locations across Tier’s network of cities throughout Europe and the Middle East in 2021.
“With this new technology, we can directly address the concerns of vulnerable road users when it comes to how scooters are parked,” said Matthias Laug, CTO and co-founder of Tier. “The CPS mapping used by Fantasmo has a distinct advantage over GPS signals, which are often obscured by buildings, poor connectivity, trees, and atmospheric conditions.
“Besides educating our users, we want to provide them with the technology that they need to use e-scooters safely and responsibly and this partnership does just that.”
Jameson Detweiler, co-founder of Fantasmo, added: “We’re excited to be working with Tier because their commitment to great parking compliance is the perfect real-world validation of our CPS technology. By mapping cities at the ground level, as pedestrians, we can help micro-mobility safely thrive in cities around the world.”
