2020 was a difficult year for the parking industry, with the COVID-19 crisis leading us to question what exactly we would like to see in the world of parking in 2021. Digital, frictionless, smart - these will be the words describing the future of parking according to our parking industry experts. During this Quick Question series, they stay positive, expecting a rebirth of better and improved parking.
Michael Fousert, Account Manager and Data Analyst at Monit 
"As we all know a lot has happened in the past year. As result, we are seeing shifts in mobility throughout Europe. Individual transport modes and their sales have increased rapidly in recent months such as these of private cars and bicycles. The question is – how do governments deal with this? I think, especially at the time when many things are changing governments will increasingly understand that using their own data and monitoring this data is of great importance to be able to manage things properly and to keep the eyes on the ball."
Jason Yu, Business Innovation Sales Specialist at Parkxper
"During the COVID pandemic, we see a rise in car sales as most people are trying to avoid taking public transportation. As car sales go up, the demand for parking will also go up. Therefore, having a quick and easy parking experience will be very important. From ticketless ANPR upon entry to parking guidance systems inside the lot and contactless payment when leaving, all will be crucial for parking lots to maintain a high turnover rate. We believe the key elements for parking in 2021 will be being contactless."
Adrian Cseko, Sales Manager at Asura Technologies 
"So COVID has brought a huge reduction in commuter traffic. I think mainly due to the home office, for example, so the parking sector faced hard times with many operators looking for ways to streamline their costs. This is also accelerating their digital transformation via frictionless solutions. I’m confident that vaccinations will have a positive effect but we still need to wait some time until we see 2019 level revenues again. Until then we’ll see a lot of underused car lots which will be used for temporary alternative projects."
Toni Dantas, Business Development Manager for MENA & Iberia Areas of Mobility Division at Quercus Technologies
"The need for frictionless, access control automatization and avoiding contact points will be the focus of 2021. It is the perfect time for smart parking and the right time to speed up the digitalization of the parking process which is going to be a key point within the new mobility patterns. I’m sure that the new deep learning solution and technologies will emerge due to research and development investment. We haven’t stopped working for a minute because of the pandemic and it is surely a good sign."
Matt McDaniel, Product Manager at Rekor Systems 
"If you’re listening to this, it’s 2021. It’s a Renaissance, a rebirth of new and improved parking and transportation industry. 2020 presented us with challenges that made us ask tough questions about what the future will look like. We have the community, leadership, and technology to overcome many of these identified challenges. New advances in technology have emerged to allow transportation demand and parking management professionals to empower their staff to discover insights and have new customer engagement in ways we could only have imagined in the past. Vehicle and license plate recognition will bring new seamless hands-free engagement for parking customers and provide managers with the ultimate ability to improve enforcement activities and analyze the evidence-based information to make smart decisions."
Nick D’Alessio, Senior Business Development Manager at Brother Mobile Solutions
"2020 was difficult for many industries. Even for parking to say the least. We see with the distribution of the COVID vaccines beginning to ramp up throughout the US and Canada. We see many offices in the second half of 2021 beginning to open back up, so employees will be returning back to the office, sporting events, and other venues will be opening for more activities. So it’s the second half of 2021 will be where many things begin to start ramping back up in the parking industry."
Hans Puvogel, COO at Parkopedia 
"Parking and its business models are changing, companies are seeing shifts in demand and new use cases for valuable parking space. The traditional business models will have to adapt and become digital. On-street parking in cities is starting to disappear in favor of cycle lanes and green areas. This will shift demand to off-street locations that need to adjust to these new scenarios. And no more small navigation screens. Mercedes’ latest 56-inch hyper screen is showcasing how drivers are moving back to using the vehicle for their multimedia and navigation needs. The new vehicle-based solutions have improved dramatically, more and more cars will be equipped to pay for parking automatically."
Marc Boher, Chief Commercial Officer at Urbiotica
"In 2021 we expect to see a consolidation in the digitalization of the parking industry, due to the COVID transforming effect. More specifically, we expect a rise in the implementation of contactless systems, as well as the implementation of IoT solutions. Both allowing more automated and efficient parking management. On the other hand, we expect a recovery in investment, in the public sector, especially in Europe, due to the UN Next Generation Program, but also in the private sector during the second half of the year. So all in all, we expect an acceleration of the parking business."
