It’s no secret that finding an empty parking spot can sometimes be a rough ride in downtown Ottawa – but the city’s online traffic map can now let you know in real time what your prospects are like in its five parkades.

Before arriving and checking the signs at the entrances, an individual can search the map to see how many parking spaces, including accessible spots, are up for grabs in the two garages in the ByWard Market, the two in Centretown and the one in the Glebe.

The data the online map draws on is collected through sensors the municipality installed above each of the spaces in those five garages over the last three years. Because the city’s 11 other surface lots don’t have those sensors, that real-time information isn’t available for those parking spots – just their total capacities.

Read the full story at globalnews.ca.