APCOA's Parking Management System Wins Innovation Award at EPA

APCOA PARKING has won the European Parking Award for the rollout of an ANPR (Automatic Number Plate Recognition) based parking management system in Norway, providing a seamless customer journey connected to the innovative APCOA FLOW app. The first place in the ‘Innovative Schemes in Parking’ category was awarded today to APCOA during the 19th EPA (European Parking Association) Congress in Malaga, Spain.

The European Parking Award was established by the EPA as a biennial award for excellence in parking. The awards are designed to set standards, demonstrate the high quality of parking structures and services and to encourage operators to provide good services throughout Europe.

ANPR Solution for APCOA PARKING Norway

Today, APCOA FLOW provides the most sophisticated parking app and loyalty program in the market, including employee and partner parking integrations. In April 2017, APCOA PARKING Norway started one of the largest rollouts for an ANPR (Automatic Number Plate Recognition) based parking management system in Europe. Since then the system was implemented at 104 off-street parking locations including car parks at 30 airports across Norway. Further locations are currently being equipped.

The new system was primarily introduced to offer customers a faster and more convenient parking experience but also to reduce the number of parking hardware for cost reasons and to optimize revenues. In addition, it is seen as a long-term investment to future-proof our sites for autonomous driving and parking.

Seamless Customer Journey with ANPR and APCOA FLOW App

To make full use of the system, customers can download the APCOA FLOW app, register a user profile including their credit card data. The app can navigate the driver to the chosen APCOA site. The customer enters the car park seamlessly without stopping at a barrier or pulling a ticket. Instead, ANPR cameras detect the license plate and the parking session is started. The customer receives a notification on his smart phone and can look up information about the current, as well as past, parking sessions in the app. When exiting the car park, ANPR cameras again detect the license plate and the parking session is ended. The customer again receives a notification on his smart phone and payment happens automatically. In case of any issues a customer service center is available 24/7 at 365 days a year.

“Removing barrier systems, P&D machines as well as traffic islands and introducing new payment methods has significantly improved the user experience. Customers benefit from a constant traffic flow and a ticketless entry and exit as well as automatic payment. So, no time is wasted anymore queuing in front of the barrier for tickets or at the payment machine and exposure to harsh weather condition at surface car parks is minimized,” said Rune Feltman, Managing Director of APCOA PARKING Norway.

Alternative Payment Methods Available

But payment can also be done without the download of an app and registration. In this instance, the ANPR system detects the license plate and puts it on a whitelist. Before leaving the car park, payment is done at the payment machine by entering the license plate number. A grace period is granted to leave the car park comfortably and the system again detects the license plate and the parking session ends. If payment at the payment machine is forgotten, late pay can be made online within 48 hours. Only after this period an invoice is sent, inclusive of an administrational fee, thus ensuring no customer will receive an unpopular parking fine.

About the APCOA PARKING Group 

The APCOA PARKING is Europe’s leading parking operator with more than 45 years of industry expertise. With its 5,000 employees, the company manages approximately 1.5 million individual parking spaces at over 9,500 locations in 13 European countries. These include parking spaces at 1,800 city and shopping center locations, 400 hotels, 150 hospitals and 58 European airports. With its consistent “asset light” business model, APCOA is the trusted partner who 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 mobility hubs, offering innovative services that enable a more convenient mobility experience. The environment also benefits: with its digital services and intelligent Traffic Management System, the company actively contributes to the reduction of emissions in cities by decreasing the volume of traffic searching for parking. By connecting parking and mobility, APCOA is positioned to become an integral part of the Smart City.