Patent ID: 7855661

Claim:
An apparatus for monitoring individual parking positions of a parking area, the apparatus comprising: a sensor ( 9 ) for vehicle detection, optical indicator means ( 5 ) for indicating an occupied/free status, the sensor ( 9 ) comprising a transmit aerial ( 10 , 21 ) for radio transmitting the occupied/free status of an individual parking position ( 14 ) to a parking facility control center, the optical indicator means ( 5 ) including at least one bistable indicator element, and at least one of the transmit aerial ( 10 ) and a receive aerial ( 13 a ) are directional and an additional non-directional aerial ( 21 , 13 b ) is provided, and the at least one transmit aerial ( 10 ) which is directional and the additional non-directional aerial ( 21 , 13 b ) are switched to operate alternatively.