Getting Parking Fit For The Future – Top Trends To Keep On Your Business Radar - Anthony Wicks, Key Account Manager – Parking And EVC At Worldline Global

What does the future hold for the parking industry? And how can parking operators harness changing times and trends while maximising revenue from their car parks and business? Worldline’s Anthony Wicks explores some of the trending industry topics and the ways in which you can adapt to them, whilst leading the way in getting parking fit for the future.

Adapting to less cars per household

A combination of the pandemic and, more recently, a rise in the cost of fuel and the cost of living is slowly steering the population towards reducing the number of cars on the road. According to a recent Department for Transport report, there were almost 200,000 fewer licensed cars on the road in December 2020 compared with 2019, with an estimated 17 million UK households having no car at all. As sustainability becomes an increasing focus and public transport infrastructure becomes more efficient, it is anticipated that numbers will continue to drop. This is further compounded by younger generations adopting digital technology that supports car-pooling.

These shifts ultimately mean that the parking industry must rethink the purpose their services fulfil by broadening their function beyond that of simply providing somewhere to leave a car. From electric vehicle (EV) charging, to acting as a conduit for enhanced city connections, parking facilities must continue to evolve, improve and add value to their customers.

The rise of the electric vehicle

As the world makes the switch to electric vehicles, parking facility owners are being tasked with an important question: What steps need to be taken to retrofit pre-existing spaces for EV charging? Eventually there will come a point when parking and EV charging become one and the same rather than being treated as two separate lines of business. Many parking facilities already offer some electric recharging services but a large quantity still do not. This means that they have limited access to electricity and could even lack the infrastructure to allow EV charging stations to operate.

Another challenge related to the electric vehicle industry is how operators will reduce potential loss of revenue, caused by parked cars using designated charging spots, without using the charging facility. It is not uncommon for charging spaces to be occupied by vehicles even when they are not charging. And with electric car sales figures on the increase, the installation of new charging points is not yet keeping up with the number of vehicles being sold, making these spaces increasingly valuable to operators.

Automation and self-driving cars

Technology is the main driving force behind change across all industries and so we cannot discuss the future of parking without covering, arguably, its most disruptive and revolutionary element -autonomous and self-driving vehicles. We are now just a few years away from cars not only being able to drive themselves but also to find spaces and park. This means a potentially more efficient parking flow, with a customer being dropped off and the car setting off to find the nearest available space, all while communicating with other vehicles and the surrounding environment.

This ground-breaking development will require the greatest innovations from the industry and its stakeholders. The ways in which car parking facilities communicate to create smarter cities will enable autonomous technology to be truly life changing. Without purposeful innovation to support this new technology, the progress of autonomous vehicles advancement will stagnate and the parking industry will not be fit for purpose.

Improved payment technology

It is nothing new that cash is being replaced by contactless and digital payments, across all industries and sectors. And the parking industry is not immune to this shift. Gone are the days of stashing coins in your glovebox to fill up the pay and display machine in your local car park. Payment technology will be a crucial facilitator in generating and securing revenue. And transformation won’t stop at the likes of people using Google and Apple Pay, and contactless cards. We will soon start to see cards being built into payment facilities within vehicles themselves.

Companies that prepare for and embrace such technological advances, in order to provide an enhanced customer service, will set themselves up for sustainable success. Bu the real industry leaders will take their commitment to integrating technology one step further, looking at ways to use applications that generate incremental revenue. This could include features that promote and market vacant spaces, sell permits and offer exclusive deals to customers whilst simultaneously driving loyalty levels.

How can you lead in shaping the parking industry’s future?

Forecasting will play a fundamental role in enabling future success. Mapping out the trajectory of innovation, taking accelerating trends into account and anticipating their impact can enable a business to achieve far more. Ask yourself the following questions:

• Given that there are now fewer cars on the road than ever before, how can you get ahead of the competition by adding extra value? 
• How can you adapt your car parks to meet the needs of electric vehicles, increased automation and self-driving cars?
• And how can you use digitisation and mobile apps to boost profitability?

Remember – despite its practical meaning, success in parking means never standing still. For more information about Worldline’s parking offer please visit: WL Parking Payments Suite (worldline.com).

Anthony Wicks, Key Account Manager – Parking And EVC At Worldline Global