What is automated parking payment?

By Frederic Bruneteau /

While smart parking payment typically relies on a smartphone for the driver to open the app, start a parking session and stop it when he / she leaves, Automated Parking payment does the same thing in a semi- or fully automated way, i.e. without user intervention.

How does this work? It relies on the real-time connectivity and accurate satellite geo-positioning of the vehicle to detect the start and end of a parking session.

Two companies claims to provide Automated Parking payment for on-street spots, namely:

  • US-based Inrix, a location data provider whose Inrix Pay solution uses OEMs’ embedded telematics data to do so;
  • Belgium-based Concar, which uses data from connected fleet telematics systems.

Inrix does not indicate how many OEMs have allowed the use of their embedded telematics data for Automated Parking but our analysis indicates that no OEM has implemented the feature yet. Even BMW, one of Inrix’ strongest partners, relies on EasyPark’s non-automated solution for parking payment.

Concar (and its unit Parkd), which holds a patent for it, offers to fleet vehicles that have a telematics subscription a semi- or fully automated parking solution.

In the first case, the start session is initiated by the user on a mobile app and the session is automatically ended when the vehicle leaves. In the fully automated scenario, the on-street parking session is automatically started (in over 99% of the cases) and stopped. The company still allows the user to cancel the session – as shown in the image beside – which ensures that no error is ever made. The solution guarantees that the driver never forgets to pay the parking and thus is never fined.

Although the technique behind automated parking seems simple, it is all about achieving a very high reliability. No driver wants to be charged for a parking event that was free for the first 10 minutes for example. Conversely if no parking session is triggered at a paid parking spot and the user receives a fine, this reduces the credibility and perceived value of the service. In other words, as for other transactional services, the room for error is minimal.

The advantages of Automated Parking over Smart Parking are threefold:

  • Mobile workforce productivity gains,
  • A major decrease in parking fines,
  • A reduction in parking fees, driven by the fact that the session is ended exactly when the vehicle leaves and not later.

What is limiting the expansion of Automated Parking today?

On the OEM side, mainly the need for them to offer adequate access to on-board telematics units and to have a partnership with suppliers such as Inrix.

On the aftermarket side, mainly the need for fleets to have a fleet management service but this is rapidly becoming the norm, at least for commercial fleets. Concar indicates that it has made partnerships with more than 25 fleet TSPs including Fleet Complete, Geotab, Viasat and Webfleet.

Automated parking payment can typically only function in on-street parking facilities that have an open-sky environment. However, a number of parking providers are now using Automated Number / License Plate Recognition (ANPR / ALPR) to replicate this model to off-street parking venues.