APCOA and P+R Park and Ride Gmbh Continue to Develop Indoor Navigation in Parking Garages in Southern Germany

APCOA PARKING and P+R Park + Ride GmbH will soon offer their customers more convenience when looking for a parking space. Together with the digital mapping pioneer HERE Technologies, they will record the inside of the parking garages of the two operators. Around 100 APCOA locations have already been scanned in Germany and other European countries.

The new map can be used in a variety of ways. In the short term, orientation in large facilities is made easier if navigation no longer ends at the curb but continues inside the building. Pedestrians can find the next exit quickly and safely. In the future, the properties will be prepared for self-driving vehicles that are looking for a parking space.

APCOA PARKING, P+R Park + Ride GmbH, and HERE Technologies have been cooperating since 2020, primarily to create navigation systems and to simplify the search for a parking space: thanks to the precise mapping of the building interior, avoidable extra laps are a thing of the past. Especially vehicles with special requirements, such as EVs on the way to the charging station, can find their destination faster and head for it directly. The drivers also benefit after getting out: information on footpaths, ramps, stairs, and elevators makes it possible to leave the car park quickly and at the desired location. At the same time, the project already provides information that autonomously driving cars will need to find a parking space in a few years.

Munich Car Parks Already Included

In Munich, several car parks managed by P+R Park + Ride GmbH with more than 2000 parking spaces have already been recorded. Wolfgang Großmann, Managing Director of P+R Park & Ride GmbH, welcomes the new possibilities: "The creation of high-resolution maps of parking garages will open up completely new ways for indoor navigation and autonomous driving in the future. We are therefore pleased to be laying the foundations for this together with our partners APCOA and HERE by scanning our P+R multi-storey car parks in Fröttmaning and Messestadt Ost.”

APCOA PARKING is continuing the project in southwest Germany: the Stuttgart-based company is having its parking properties digitally mapped at several locations. Anja Müller, Director of Operations at APCOA PARKING Germany, comments: “The newly created plans are not only offered in large cities. APCOA is present in more than eighty cities and we aim to offer excellent service in every location.”

About APCOA PARKING Group 

APCOA PARKING Group is Europe's leading parking operator with 50 years of industry expertise. With its 4,700 employees, the company manages more than 1.7 million individual parking spaces at over 12,000 locations. These parking spaces are all situated in the proximity of 70% of the population of APCOAs 13 countries' organizations. With its consistent "asset-light" business model, APCOA is the trusted partner that maximizes value for private and public real estate owners

Via its open digital platform APCOA FLOW, the company connects on-street and off-street car parks with clients, partners, customers, and their vehicles. Based on this technology, APCOA is transforming its car parks into Urban Hubs, providing the physical and digital infrastructure for mobility, logistics, e-charging, and technology-based services. Customers profit from innovative and convenient experiences provided by APCOA and its partners which use the car parks to deliver their services. The environment also benefits as the company actively contributes to the reduction of emissions in cities by decreasing the volume of traffic for logistics and searching for parking. By connecting parking, mobility, and services for urban life, APCOA is positioned to be an integral part of the digital and physical urban ecosystem.

About P+R Park & Ride GmbH

P+R Park & Ride GmbH is the service company of the City of Munich for parking. Founded in 1992, the company looks after a wide spectrum, from parking spaces close to the city center and residents' garages within the Mittlerer Ring, the two decentralized bus terminals Fröttmaning and Messestadt Ost on the outskirts of the city to more than 14,000 P+R parking spaces in Munich and on the outskirts of the city. In the bicycle mobility business area, the company organizes the operation of almost 5,000 bicycle parking spaces and the disposal of abandoned bicycles at around 35,000 bicycle racks in total official urban area (Radlramadama).