Reading Time: 3 minutes

Smart parking technology allows drivers to quickly locate the nearest parking spot, pay for their parking at the touch of a button, and make their way out without a hassle. Apart from reducing congestion and pollution, smart parking is estimated to hold the potential to increase a city’s revenue by as much as 30%. While increased revenue for operators and city administrations is a clear advantage, smart parking technology can also generate new streams of revenue. For instance, parking companies can charge in a tiered manner, depending on the location of the parking space. Let’s look at how smart parking generates new revenue streams for the different stakeholders in the ecosystem.

• Parking Apps

Cities frequently have under-utilized parking lots that drivers remain unaware of. With a smart parking app, drivers can get this information by paying for it, thus generating a revenue stream for parking lot operators. Smart parking technology merges multiple data sources into a cohesive set of data for real-time parking guidance. Data providers can charge users for this information, thus smoothening the parking process and saving time for commuters. Users can be charged on a subscription or pay-per-use basis.

• Mobile Payment

Operators can charge a commission on mobile payments, thus adding a revenue stream. They can also incorporate reward programs to encourage repeat users. Depending on the demand for the parking lot at a time, the reservation fee can be adjusted accordingly, making it an additional source of income.

• Data Analytics

Smart parking software like Get My Parking offers data analytics to aid policy and pricing. Its IoT-informed functionality eliminates revenue leakages by accurately accounting for usage. These data analytics can be used by city administrations and operators to enhance efficiency and get a city-wide view of parking utilization.

• Parking Operators

Parking lot operators have traditionally relied on manual methods of management and collection, often facing leakages and inefficiencies as a result. Smart parking software can resolve this through efficient management of the facility. Operators can also leverage customer and occupancy data to employ dynamic pricing, directly increasing revenue. The data thus collected can be used for effective report management with reliable key figures that owners can use to grow their businesses.

• Municipal Corporations

Traditional parking systems, while generating revenue for city governments, are riddled with leakages due to a lack of targeted data. With adequate information available on parking utilization, governments can ensure parking tariffs are designed to enable new billing models. Mobile payments combined with space utilization data can allow for per-minute parking charges rather than flat rates.

Cities could also find a new revenue stream by monetizing certain parking data. For instance, it could capture data on car models through videos and sell it to car manufacturers interested in gauging customer data and purchasing behavior.

By using smart parking systems, governments can also improve enforcement and identification of violators, thus improving the collection of fines. Cities can also benefit from dynamic pricing and accurate billing enabled by IoT sensors, particularly valuable for on-street parking where the time parked is harder to measure and enforce. Because mobile IoT networks offer real-time information relays, a message can be sent to the billing system to charge the driver.

• IoT and Mobility Players

IoT and mobility companies can evidently generate a new revenue stream by serving the smart parking industry. Smart parking relies on the use of sensors, RFID, cameras, license plate readers, assisted driving, mobile payments, etc. to make parking a smooth experience. Mobile IoT is crucial for wide area coverage to transmit information from sensors to a centralized database. This presents an opportunity not just for new parking lots but also for retrofitting cameras and sensors in older ones.

Generating newer revenue streams

Smart parking generates revenue streams for parking lot operators and city administrations. With a suite of mobile and web applications, each key stakeholder in the parking ecosystem can be serviced with smart parking solutions, thus generating new revenue streams.