The economic consequences of combating the coronavirus are not only worryingly affecting thousands of industries and businesses that have slowed their production and are prevented from offering their services, but are also complicating the adoption of more efficient technologies to develop more innovative and "smart" cities.
Projects linked to facilitating the monitoring of everything that happens in a large city - from traffic patterns and parking to air quality and infrastructure integrity - are being relegated by the need for governments to focus all economic efforts on ending the pandemic.
The City of Buenos Aires does not escape this scenario. In fact, its authorities began to put into the freezer some initiatives aimed at generating greater efficiency and resulting in better service to citizens.
Among the initiatives that were delayed, at least for this year, stands out the installation in various areas of the City of the so-called "smart parking meters", which allow managing payment and the search for parking lots from the cell phone, eliminating current tickets, coin blanks and coins.
Thus, when it is possible to return to a certain social and labor normality, the task of finding a space to leave the car will continue to be as problematic and tedious as until before the arrival of the coronavirus, when six million people and 1.6 million private vehicles, 37,000 taxis and 10,000 buses circulated.
Two years ago, the local government approved the call for bids to grant, under the legal regime of Public Service Concession, the provision of services related to the Regulated Parking System that today is controlled by the Dakota-STO and BRD-SEC companies, whose contracts have expired no less than since 2001.
At that time, the process was thought to face a new regulated parking and hauling system that, according to the authors, "will modernize a vital service for the administration of public space and will represent a 30-year leap in technology, in addition to saving 20 % of the trip that today is destined to search for parking space ".
The objective also included the expansion of the measured parking system to some 10,000 (of the 24,400 blocks) available to the City, replacing parking meters with multipurpose terminals and establishing new conditions for the service of hauling infringing cars.
The system was designed to work between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. on business days and from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturdays, in addition to eliminating coins and coupons and replacing them with electronic means of payment, such as cell phones, tablets or computers.
I was also going to "retire" the paper ticket and exchange it for an electronic receipt. That is, it would be paid by credit, debit and SUBE card, and a digital invoice would be delivered.
In addition, it was planned to prepare a "Supply Map" to know the availability of free spaces on public roads, streamlining the process. The user was also going to be notified of the time available to him with a message on his cell phone and, instantly, offer him the chance to extend the hours by renewing the payment.
Taking this process into account, the administration led by Horacio Rodríguez Larreta also opened a tender in 2018 to award the technology and machines that were going to replace traditional parking meters with smart terminals.
The process was awarded to the French company Parkeon for a total amount of $ 16 million and the obligation to install 2,200 multipurpose equipment in the streets of Buenos Aires before the end of 2018 and thus modernize the city's measured parking system.
The company also promised to develop a centralized administration system and its operational maintenance, create an application for the Mobile Payment System (SPM) and another for the Internet Payment System (SPI), and dictate individual or group training to the implementation.
The financial crisis and the devaluation during that year postponed the procedure to 2020, when the plan was to start the replacement of the current ticketing machines during the first half to reach the new smart parking meters already installed by the end of the year.
Before the coronavirus outbreak, the entire procedure was postponed again. The decision was reflected in Resolution No. 276 of the Buenos Aires Ministry of Urban Development and Transportation, directed by Juan José Méndez, which justifies the suspension of the arrival of the smart parking meters in the need to devote all efforts in the fight against the pandemic.
The contract with the Parkeon company (which currently operates under the trade name of Flowbird), had been signed on December 23 last. To optimize the operation of the new system, it had been deemed convenient to reduce the number of multipurpose terminals to 1,500 units.
But when the French firm was preparing to start the installation procedure for these equipment, the WHO declared the coronavirus a pandemic that made it essential to implement prevention and control measures aimed at reducing the risk of spread.
Within this framework, various decisions were made at the national and local levels, such as the declaration within the City of the health emergency. The local government also sanctioned a decree that empowered the authorities to "order the review of all the processes, pending or in progress, regarding purchases and contracting of goods, services, supplies, public works ( ...) held before the entry into force. "
But, in parallel, the Flowbird company had anticipated to the authorities that, since it had not received the advance payment promised at the signing of the contract, it was not possible to continue executing the project. She also reported that she would resume it upon receipt and an updated work schedule would be provided, taking into account the impact of the freeze.
In order not to postpone the project more than necessary, Flowbird management had authorized the core team to continue the specification work during this period of the pandemic. However, in late March it stated that its global operations had been affected by the coronavirus.
"The protection measures that we have established are having an immediate impact on our activities and that is why we are forced to immediately stop all activity," the French company said in a letter sent to the Buenos Aires Executive.
Thus, the Buenos Aires Government finished defining the suspension of the project for 90 days. That is, until the end of August, although everything indicates that the freeze will extend beyond that date.
The definitive cancellation of the process is not ruled out either, taking into account the strong negative impact that the fight against the virus will leave both in the official coffers and in the economic and financial equation of the French company.
However, official sources estimate that it could be resumed next year as it is a process considered essential to contribute to the ordering of parking in the City and in turn renew technology with the incorporation of multipurpose terminals, providing a modern, transparent and quality.
It will not only bring benefits for motorists, but also for the coffers of the Buenos Aires government, taking into account that, in normal times, the acts of improper parking rank second in the ranking of the most common offenses in the City of Buenos Aires. Aires.