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.
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 in November 2020 in the UK. 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 RingGo. RingGo is one of the most established cashless parking providers in the UK. They have partnerships with many local councils and rail infrastructure operators to provide their services for on-street parking and surface car parks across the country through an easy-to-use app instead of using pay and display machines. Users simply enter their details onto the RingGo app and pay using their card for the duration of their stay. RingGo has over 18 million users across the UK, approximately 75% of the number of motorists across the country.
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 both JustPark and ParkBee which allows the partners to offer selected Q-Park locations to their customer groups. ParkBee reaches millions of users with over 400 connected parking locations in four countries and numerous partnerships with parking and mobility apps and parking providers. JustPark has been making it easier for drivers to find, book and pay for parking for over 15 years. Today over 5 million drivers use their award-winning app to find parking each year.
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 one of the three leading providers of parking facilities in West Europe, whether wholly owned, leased, managed or in a hybrid business model. Q-Park is notable for its quality approach and has a portfolio comprising over 570,000 parking spaces in the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, Great Britain, France, Ireland, and Denmark.
