Convenience of Contactless Parking Payments

You could be a frequent traveler or someone who’s flying for the very first time in your life. By understanding the concept and the benefits of contactless parking, you can get to know the transformation the whole parking industry is going through right now, which is revolutionizing the entire customer experience. 

After studying the deployment of contactless parking across major airports in the US, I have written down some of the advantages of contactless parking and have compared it to its traditional counterpart.

The Problem with Traditional Parking Payments

When it comes to understanding the advantages of contactless parking, it requires building up an establishment of a baseline that will help in getting to know the set of failures and frustrations that come with traditional payment systems. 

Pain Points of Legacy Systems

Complications of physical tickets

• The biggest issue with physical tickets is them getting lost. This results in daily rate charges and extra penalties for the misplaced tickets and takes a toll on the customers.
• If the case is that the parking ticket gets damaged, it becomes difficult to read the barcodes. It becomes challenging and requires the involvement of an attendant.
• One of the biggest issues is making sure that the ticket is safe with you during the entire trip. 
• If you lose the ticket, there is absolutely no backup to retrieve it. The only way to get your ticket back is to issue a new one with expensive charges. 

Friction in the payment terminal while exiting

• When it comes to credit card readers, it is common for them to malfunction when used for payments. This becomes increasingly stressful, especially when you’re about to exit the lot and there’s a queue behind you.
• Oftentimes, during exiting and clearing the payments, travelers struggle with cash complications. This occurs when both parties find it hard to give change.
• Most of the exit or payment lanes are single and take time to clear the charges. This builds exit bottlenecks. 
• Apart from the failure of the credit card machines, sometimes the whole portal system crashes. 

Statistics related to time wasting 

• The average transaction of money that is done physically at the parking facility can take up to 3 to 5 minutes.
• During the peak periods, these can be around 8 to 15 minutes during busy times. 
• Traditional payments can cause a time delay of at least 30 minutes for parkers who come more often. 
• This wastage of time results in extra stress and the building up of frustration during travel. 

How the Contactless Parking Technology Operates

With the help of integrating multiple technologies, a seamless procedure of transaction is created, which is free from friction, which is how contactless parking works. 

Main Contactless Technologies

License Plate Recognition (LPR) 

• The integration of high-resolution cameras that capture the information of the car number plate at the facility’s entry and exit. 
• Optical character recognition that matches vehicles to bookings. 
• Presence of automated entry and exit gates that operate accordingly. 
• Tracking system for vehicles throughout the session of parking in the facility.  

Integration of Mobile Payments

• Processing of applications and payments before the arrival of the customer’s car.
• Creation of digital wallets that can store payments securely. 
• When the customer exits the parking facility, they are automatically charged with the modern payment integration. 
• After the payment, the receipt of that payment is sent to the customer either by application notification or email. 

RFID and Proximity Systems

• Automatic gate opening is enabled with radio frequency tags.
• The feature of Bluetooth proximity detection during the starting and stopping of parking sessions. 
• Registered vehicle data is being smoothly automated in the monthly subscribers section.
• Entries and exits at the parking facility are seamless for frequent parkers. 

Cloud-based Management System 

• A system that is centralized and smoothly manages parking reservations and payment processing. 
• Cloud-based system that helps in keeping track of real-time parking demand and offers live updates. 
• The booking platforms are integrated seamlessly with navigation features.

Fast and reliable data analytics assists in optimizing operations and pricing. 

Customer Journey with Contactless Technology Presence. 

Pre-arrival 

• Doing the booking online and paying through mobile applications or a website.
• Receiving instant confirmation of the booking along with parking details.
• After receiving the confirmation, no further steps are needed. 

At the Entry

• Driving down to the facility.
• LPR cameras help in identifying the car. 
• The gates are opened automatically. 
• The traveller can now proceed directly to the parking spot. 

At the Parking Spot 

• Simply park in any space available or the one given to you. 
• There is no validation needed when you park.
• The system of the facility tracks the duration of the parking. 

At the Exit

• Arrive at the facility’s exit.
• The LPR system recognizes your car and opens the gate.
• The payment is done automatically from the saved payment method.
• The receipt is delivered right after the payment in digital form.

The presence and evolution of contactless parking shows not only the fundamental improvement in technology but also the scale at which it is assisting millions of travelers out there by making their whole parking journey easy and stress-free.