FEATURE PARKING TECHNOLOGY
now offers a parking app for the iPhone. It is designed to help motorists in the UK and Ireland find parking wherever they are. According to the AA, the app comprehensively covers all free and paid for car parks throughout the UK and Ireland. Powered by data from Parkopedia, the AA parking
app is not just for town centre car parks; the app also gives details of park-and-ride locations for those who want to avoid town centre driving. Tony Wakeling, general manager, RCP Parking
Limited, has welcomed the growing use of parking apps. He calls them ‘a major step forward for customers and convenience.’ He added: ‘Tese apps do their job and do it
incredibly well. It’s remarkable that customers can access information on a car park’s precise location, opening hours, tariff and facilities at a touch of the button.’
Mercedes-Benz now offers a Blackberry-based app, which helps locate a car in a crowded parking lot. Mercedes-Benz’s parking app is based on
its Mbrace telematics platform, a product that
mobileb2b.co.uk says is ‘a lot better than Tele Aid – Mercedes’ previous effort – but there is still room for improvement.’ Te reviewer claimed that ‘the vehicle finder didn’t always work’, that it was ‘temperamental’ and that if a driver has parked his or her car in a large airport car park ‘this gadget won’t necessarily help you out.’ Te website’s reviewer said that this might be due to ‘the poor GPS signal you get at Gatwick’.
New horizons Tis technology may be unreliable, but it is a lucrative market to be in. Stardotstar, a digital media agency, devised
Nosey Parker. Te firm said that the app consists of location information provided by the Apple iPhone with a web-based parking database, and that the app overlays nearby parking spaces onto a Google-style map of the nearby area. According to Stardotstar, the Nosey Parker app
has been available from the iPhone app store since March 2010 and has a database of more than 13,450 car parks and 1.8 million spaces. Stardotstar said the app was ‘purchased over 2,266
times in the first week of its launch, climbing past Te Guardian, Jamie Oliver, National Rail Enquiries and Grand Teft Auto (a computer game) to rise as high as number 20 in the UK iTunes App Store. In one day it sold a maximum of 1,250 applications.’ Te agency claimed that the product does not
have a competitor. However, the Automobile Association (AA), in association with Parkopedia,
www.britishparking.co.uk
Top of the charts… parking apps such as Nosey Parker are outselling popular titles in the iTunes App Store
The web continues to grow Increasing numbers of apps may help to sell smartphones like the iPhone. Te huge demand for apps is also being matched by a growth in web browsing on the move, something that could be done on a laptop in a car, though a mobile phone is more likely to be used. ‘All the evidence shows that increasing numbers of
customers are coming to RCP parking sites via web- based applications’, said Wakeling, ‘and that trend is likely to grow significantly in the next few years.’ Wakeling says that web-based parking software
can have drawbacks, with customers sometimes arriving at car parks armed with out-of-date information. ‘We are regularly re-examining our tariff
structures to ensure each RCP parking site offers the best possible value’, explained Wakeling, ‘and
Keeping mobile information systems up-to-date can be a challenge as many telematics products rely on infrastructure
sometimes the web databases do not always update tariff information as quickly as we would like. Consequently, motorists arrive at car parks and pay what they believe is the fee – without checking our signage.’ He said this ‘can lead to incorrect tickets and overstays, which cause problems for both customers and our attendants.’ Apps and advances in telematics are helping more
drivers find car parks when they want them. Once there, the challenge is how to protect them and their vehicles. ATEC Security believes it understands the
opportunities. With a large number of visitors to its car parks, Birmingham City Council felt it
AUGUST 2010 33
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