METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR EFFICIENTLY MONITORING PARKING OCCUPANCY

1 . A system for determining parking occupancy, the system comprising:

a plurality of video cameras;

a processing system comprising one or more processors capable of receiving data from the plurality of video cameras; and

a memory system comprising one or more computer-readable media, wherein the one or more computer-readable media contain instructions that, when executed by the processing system, cause the processing system to perform operations comprising:

receiving video data for a parking area from the plurality of video cameras;

determining parking occupancy data for the parking area using the video data for the parking area;

generating textual data corresponding to the parking occupancy data for the parking area; and

transmitting the textual data corresponding to the parking occupancy data for the parking area to a central server.

2 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the textual data comprises an estimated number of available parking spaces for the parking area.

3 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the textual data comprises vehicle identifications.

4 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the textual data comprises identified parking violations.

5 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the textual data comprises parking space availability information for each parking space in the parking area.

6 . The system of claim 1 , wherein:

transmitting the textual data comprises transmitting the textual data from a computing device comprising the processing system; and

the central server receives textual data from a plurality of computing devices.

7 . The system of claim 6 , wherein the central server:

maintains a database of parking occupancy data; and

is configured to respond to requests for parking occupancy information based on the parking occupancy data.

8 . A method for determining parking occupancy, the method comprising:

receiving video data for a parking area from a plurality of video cameras;

determining, using one or more processors, parking occupancy data for the parking area using the video data for the parking area;

generating textual data corresponding to the parking occupancy data for the parking area; and

transmitting the textual data corresponding to the parking occupancy data for the parking area to a central server.

9 . The method of claim 8 , wherein the textual data comprises a number of available parking spaces in the parking area.

10 . The method of claim 8 , wherein the textual data comprises vehicle identifications.

11 . The method of claim 8 , wherein the textual data comprises identified parking violations.

12 . The method of claim 8 , wherein the textual data comprises parking space occupancy status information for each parking space in the parking area.

13 . The method of claim 8 , wherein:

transmitting the textual data comprises transmitting the textual data from a computing device comprising the one or more processors; and

the central server receives textual data from a plurality of computing devices.

14 . The method of claim 13 , wherein the central server:

maintains a database of parking occupancy data; and

is configured to respond to requests for parking occupancy information based on the parking occupancy data.

15 . A method of maintaining a database of parking occupancy data, the method comprising:

receiving, from a plurality of computing devices, textual data corresponding to parking occupancy data, wherein:

each of the plurality of computing devices receives video data from a plurality of video cameras; and

the textual data is generated by the plurality of computing devices based on the video data;

parsing the textual data to determine the parking occupancy data; and

updating the database of parking occupancy data based on the parking occupancy data using one or more processors.

16 . The method of claim 15 , wherein the textual data comprises an estimated number of available parking spaces for the parking area.

17 . The method of claim 15 , wherein the textual data comprises vehicle identifications.

18 . The method of claim 15 , wherein the textual data comprises identified parking violations.

19 . The method of claim 15 , wherein the textual data comprises parking space occupancy status information for each parking space in the parking area.

20 . The method of claim 15 , further comprises:

receiving a request for parking occupancy information related to one or ore parking areas;

searching the database of parking occupancy data for the parking occupancy information; and

transmitting a response to the request based on the parking occupancy information.