The parking destination of a mobility journey is rife with technological enhancements of the past decade or so. There are unique experiences depending on the vertical and the types of additional services provided by the operator. Examples of verticals with unique parking processes range from airports to hospitals, where the priorities differ for both.
For airports, convenience and transportation to terminals are key, whereas safety and proximity are paramount for hospital settings. Within forward-thinking parking assets, the customer also has multiple add-on services available. These can take various forms ranging from micro-mobility scooters to EV charging stations. Operators can also open services to businesses, arranging fleet management options like ride-share parking or delivery vehicle storage.
Perhaps the most future-facing aspect of the parking customer journey is the payment. It’s arguably the payment experience that has the largest impact on time in parking, and therefore it’s the most important in terms of convenience. What differs from paying for parking today versus paying in the past is that now, transactions can happen across multiple steps in the journey. A person can reserve and pay for their spot before they even arrive at the destination.
If payment does happen at the asset, then there are alternatives to paying with cash. A person can pay from their phone via account information or use their phone as the payment method with Google or Apple Pay—another way that parking can integrate with outside services.