ISO Formally Adopts Global Parking Data Specification Based on Alliance for Parking Data Standards

The Alliance for Parking Data Standards (APDS) is pleased to announce that the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has formally adopted a global parking data specification based on the APDS specifications for vehicle parking and mobility data. Through its world-wide membership, ISO brings together experts to share knowledge and develop voluntary, consensus-based, market relevant International Standards that support innovation and provide solutions to global challenges.

The global ISO network includes a membership of 165 national standards bodies. The ISO utilizes its 803 technical committees to evaluate and approve the development and adoption of new standards. More than 24,000 ISO standards cover almost all aspects of technology and manufacturing, in addition to business, healthcare, transport, and now, parking and mobility.

Background

In April 2019, APDS approached ISO to formally consider the APDS specification for adoption, establishing a global standard for parking data terms and definitions. Over the past three years, parking experts, along with experts from transportation, automotive, and related segments, engaged in discussions and review of the proposed specification. Following a formal review and consideration process, the 30 contributing National Standard Bodies participating in ISO's Intelligent transport systems Technical Committee (ISO/TC204) voted strongly in favor of developing and adopting the APDS standard as an ISO Technical Specification This will be published shortly as ISO TS 5206-1 "Intelligent transport systems — Parking — Part 1: Core data model.”

Importance

ISO standards are recognized globally and agreed upon by an international community of experts. Adoption of standards and specifications under the ISO umbrella allows for best practices and action across industries and for a variety of use cases.

• For consumers, APDS standards have the potential to enable drivers to find and pay for parking more easily, and further, will unlock the ability to incorporate parking into convenient, sustainable, multi-modal journeys for people and goods.
• For parking and mobility organizations and providers, the adoption of APDS specifications allows our global community of Sponsors, Supporters, and Affiliates to better address industry-specific challenges. These include real-time data sharing, integration of technology platforms to create frictionless systems, and applications of dynamic technologies that maximize revenue, streamline innovation, and allow for the most sustainable and efficient use of on and off-street parking assets.
• For owners and operators, the APDS specification under ISO will streamline and boost innovation by reducing costs and using available resources better, providing the community with knowledge and best practices of global experts.
• For technology providers and industry suppliers, ISO standards for parking and mobility make companies more competitive by offering products and services that are accepted globally. The specifications allow more entities to enter new markets, providing new solutions to challenges in our sectors.

This progress will have ground-breaking and wide-ranging positive impacts for every market segment: smoother and more efficient operations, reduced congestion, and costs, reduced technical costs to enable data sharing, faster implementation of new technology, and a host of other benefits.

In a highly connected and digital world, the specification enables the parking and mobility industry to interact more effectively and collaborate with other sectors and communities that need access to parking-related services and data by providing a common structure and data definitions to interact.

Nigel Williams, Chair, APDS, offered insight into the importance of this global milestone: “The official adoption of the APDS specifications under the aegis of ISO offers tremendous benefits to the parking, mobility, and logistics sectors. APDS will drive change in those sectors by providing a universal language to facilitate sharing essential data across a multitude of technologies and platforms. We are extremely grateful to our APDS Sponsors, volunteer experts, and the parking and mobility community at large - their combined efforts and input have made this achievement possible.”

APDS and IPMI CEO Shawn Conrad, CAE, shared the impact of APDS on the industry: “Utilizing thousands of hours of industry expertise from leaders around the world, APDS has effectively created a data specification that allows information to flow more freely and to be more understandable across all systems—that will ultimately better our industry and enhance the user and customer experience.”

What’s Next

APDS will release Version 4.0 of the specifications in April 2022. Download the current Version online and subscribe to updates for the official release of Version 4.0 of the global specification for parking and mobility. The ISO Technical Specification will be available through the ISO website, or National Standards Bodies.

About APDS

Founded by the British Parking Association, the European Parking Association, and the International Parking & Mobility Institute, the Alliance for Parking Data Standards (APDS) is an independent organization supported by the APDS Board of Directors, our community of Affiliates and Supporters, and the generous support of our Sponsors.

Through APDS, the parking, transport, and mobility sectors are managing consensus-built, international parking and curb-side management data specifications. These data specifications define a common language based on a set of data concepts and definitions that local authorities, public and private property owners, operators, and service providers can follow to facilitate communication between themselves and with other industries. The specifications facilitate seamless integration, compatibility, and communication between parking entities, mobility operators, the automotive industry, IT developers, ITS operators, services, map, and app providers, as well as other stakeholders.

About BPA

The British Parking Association represents the UK parking and traffic management profession. Our 750 plus corporate members include local government, commercial providers and parking system operators, as well as consultants and academics. In addition, we represent over 650 individuals and have a separate membership structure to support their professional development.

We are a not-for-profit organisation working with our members and stakeholders to support their communities, improve compliance by those managing and using parking facilities, and encourage fairness to achieve our vision of excellence in parking for all. We reinvest any surplus income to further improve standards and professionalism in the sector.