Digitizing the World of Parking in India – Chirag Jain, Founder and CEO, Get My Parking

The outbreak of COVID-19 a year ago affected our lives adversely, disrupted global economies and brought in unprecedented changes. The world is still reeling from its ramifications while being in the process of regaining some semblance of normalcy. On the flipside, the crisis came with a silver lining to it, leading us towards more efficient and safer ways of living our lives. As new health protocols were adopted to curb the spread of the virus, individuals and businesses turned to digital, contactless solutions.

Tech is not just changing lives, but entire living spaces. With businesses reopening and people returning to their workplaces, their priorities and agendas shifted from what they had been in the pre-pandemic world. Various industries digitized their operations so as to minimize physical contact to safeguard their staff and customers. The parking industry has been no exception. It has introduced contactless parking solutions which have revolutionized the system we interact with every day.

Rise of Digital Parking in India

In light of the global pandemic, the emergence of contactless parking solutions was inevitable. Though it was around prior to the pandemic, digital parking is now a necessity. It has been primarily devised to offer solutions to the growing parking conundrum. Despite numerous parking lots and spaces being available in big cities, there isn’t enough space to accommodate the increasing number of vehicles.

In this scenario, tech-based parking solutions have been effectively bridging the gap between those who seek clean and sanitized parking spots and those who can offer it, facilitating a swift, safe and seamless parking experience.

Drivers can easily discover vacant parking locations, book slots, and pay online instead of exchanging cash and tickets with a staff member while waiting in long queues for making the payment. This way different touchpoints like entry, exit, and payments are eliminated, minimizing contact. Moreover, the team managing parking spaces can remotely monitor and assess parking and payment related data. They can further regulate and track entry and exit of vehicles to avoid overcrowding.

The following reasons make up for a stronger case to have digitized parking solutions:

• It saves time and fuel, the two valuable

resources, as the real-time parking map allows drivers to easily find available parking spots. Hence, they don’t need to waste time and fuel driving around to find vacant spots.

• Smart parking solutions help alleviate

stress and frustration associated with parking hassles, as even in small parking spaces, everything is wellorganised and the information is easily accessible to drivers beforehand.

• Digitized parking solutions will help

reduce the number of cars searching for parking spaces. This, in turn, will lessen traffic jams occurring solely due to parking issues, further adding to the woes of drivers, especially the ones going to offices every day.

Therefore, contactless parking solutions are slowly gaining traction and are the way forward for overcoming parking woes. In India, where about 30% of all traffic jams are the result of parking problems, such a solution is bound to be path-breaking.

Furthermore, digital parking has the potential to transform residential societies, as automated entry and exit points can make the whole parking process smooth, fast and more efficient. Iot-based boom barriers will be able to identify cars and their owners as they make their entry or exit, thus increasing security and safety within the premises. This, in turn, will reduce instances of car thefts as tags will be allotted to every vehicle, making the residences peaceful.

Summing up

With the continuous evolution of technologies, parking in India will become highly secure and more organized. Be it residential buildings, malls, schools and colleges, or office complexes, entry and exit will become quick and seamless. As the parking experience till now has been quite stressful due to the mismatch between the number of cars and available parking spots, digital solutions will improve and enhance the whole process to make it safe and convenient. ■