Q-Park: Connecting with Partners Using Technological Advancements

Q-Park have had a longstanding reputation within the parking sector for innovation. Often the first to market when it comes to digital solutions to improve products and services to customers.

An example of this is the PaSS (Parking as a Smart Service) technology that Q-Park launched last year in Ireland. Whilst Automatic Number Plate Recognition is not a new concept, the ability to have an Application Programming Interface (known as an API) for third parties to connect to means that Q-Park can begin to create an Ecosystem of partners in the cities that they operate in. Partner integration to create a seamless parking experience is at the very core of the PaSS technology whether it is connecting with digital payment solutions providers or mobility service providers such as mass transit or website parking aggregators. The API’s are truly flexible with the ability to offer both “parking on demand” or “pre booking” solutions to fit the partner.

Parking on demand allows partners to permit motorists to access the car park using the vehicle number plate without any pre booking or payment. This functionality was used in the collaboration with ParkMagic. ParkMagic are one of Ireland’s largest e-Mobility payment solutions where their customers can pay for toll roads, on-street and off-street parking using their app. With this API, users simply enter their details onto the ParkMagic app and pay using their card for the duration of their stay. This is taken automatically upon exit so no ticket is required.

Pre-booking partnerships also brought to life with the power of PaSS allowing third party apps and websites to offer customers the ability to pre-pay for parking before arriving at the car park and then seamlessly entering and exiting using the vehicle number plate. Q-Park have partnered with ParkPNP which allows them to offer selected Q-Park locations to their customer groups. Founded in 2016, ParkPNP have grown into Ireland’s largest parking aggregator with customers able to pre-book parking online for a variety of different types of parking space across the country. Their 40,000 users simply booking parking online via their website or app and enter their Number Plate which then directly links into PaSS to provide car park access.

Q-Park PaSS is an ecosystem. It is a collaborative economic innovation because in recent years, boundaries between industries have become blurred and customers are hyper-connected. Q-Park have also connected the PaSS technology to businesses ranging from hotels to theatres. This allows customers to book parking alongside the ticket in one transaction. This greatly reduces the stress for first time visitors to the city as they have the peace of mind that they have arranged safe and secure parking for their vehicle. Q-Park understand that not all venues have the technical capability to work a full API into their existing booking flow. To that end Q-Park also have a light touch approach that still works in the same way from a customer perspective but allows the venues admin staff to upload the bookings onto the Q-Park system.

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About Q-Park

Q-Park is notable for its quality approach and has a portfolio comprising over 3,300 parking facilities with more than 640,000 parking spaces in the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, Great Britain, France, Ireland, and Denmark.