New technology developed with investment from one of the world’s-largest telecommunications companies is set to transform parking practices for car park operators and motorists alike.
Hospitals are expected to be among the first to benefit from ParkFinder, a revolutionary new app for smartphones launched by Imperial Civil Enforcement Solutions (ICES) following its acquisition of the system from Apparcar - the company responsible for developing the new technology using investment from Telefonica.
The new app has been developed to make life easier for motorists and to provide unprecedented traffic management, customer service, and environmental benefits for parking authorities and other operators - with little or no investment or operational cost.
Proven in one of Europe’s-largest and most-congested cities, the new ParkFinder app will now be integrated with ICES’s extensive suite of parking software and support systems.
And users will benefit from the company’s substantial product development programme, designed to capitalise on the simplicity and versatility of the new technology.
ParkFinder uses real-time data to meet the priorities and expectations of motorists in a way that maximises compliance and effective traffic management, but without the limitations and high investment costs of hardware and sensor-based parking systems. Significantly, it provides car park operators such as hospitals with an advanced solution to improve customer service standards while also optimising occupancy of parking spaces.
The new app has proven to be highly successful and very popular with motorists following extensive testing and adoption in various cities, including the Spanish capital, Madrid. And the benefits in terms of parking management have exceeded all initial expectations as UK parking operators now look to capitalise on the development to overcome the parking problems frequently faced by drivers.
“ParkFinder is a really-exciting and proven innovation that will transform the parking experience of UK motorists and the way parking spaces are managed and controlled”, said ICES managing director, Ashley Bijster.
“Motorists will be able to identify, book, find, and pay for the most-convenient parking space immediately - all with just a few taps on their smartphone after downloading the free ParkFinder app. It really couldn’t be easier and takes all of the frustration, uncertainty and inconvenience out of parking a car and searching for a parking space. It will also improve compliance and reduce vehicle emissions, and the invaluable real-time data from GPS and smartphone interactions will enable parking spaces and behavioural trends of motorists to be monitored so that actions can be taken to improve parking management for the benefit of all road users and to maximise operational efficiencies at all times.”
ParkFinder was at the heart of the Madrid Smart Parking programme in 2015 and featured prominently at the Smart City Expo World Congress in Barcelona at the end of last year.