Cars are more than just our means of getting from A to B. They're our radios, our GPS systems, our storage spaces, our advertising billboards. It is not enough to be comfortable to drive in, they have to make the rest of our lives easier. But as digitalization increases the utility of cars exponentially, we ask our industry experts which parking services will be transitioned from on-street to in the car? Here is what our experts have to say:
Marca Armstrong, Senior Vice President of Marketing at Passport 
"Allowing for in-car payments for parking both on-street and off-street solves a very direct use case for connecting mobile payments to the driver. This feature will help cities increase digital adoption and create a seamless opportunity for contactless payments. There are also opportunities for enabling on-street spaces to include in-car payment for other services like electric vehicle charging or curbside pickups from shops and restaurants."
Pete Alcock, Head of Product Marketing at NMI
"The pandemic has given a shot in the arm to the companies operating phone-based parking apps and automatic number plate recognition systems. ANPR (or LPR in the US) in the world of pay & display parking even contactless payment requires interaction with either buttons or a touch screen on the terminal. With motorists now avoiding interaction with meters or pay stations that require physical touch, most are happy to install an app to pay for parking. In the pay-on-foot car park with barrier entry & exit, ANPR at entry is now commonplace. If the ability to pay by app is advertised as available, a driver has plenty of time to download it, so when they exit, ANPR again recognizes the vehicle and it’s a simple tap on the app to pay. This is a technology that payment specialist NMI is already supporting."
Steve Gorski, CEO at DESIGNA USA 
"With the evolving digitalization of parking, it would be logical that many of today’s app-based functions would be built into the car of the future. We see such apps as wayfinding, Bluetooth, mobile payments, reservations and pre-booking as obvious applications. We also recognize the importance of being integrated into third-party apps and we have those relationships and integrations today and we’ll continue to pursue those strategic partnerships into the future."
Adrian Cseko, Sales Manager at Asura Technologies
"The future of the parking experience relies heavily on mobile applications where users handle parking on the go. Looking for free parking spaces, navigation through a parking facility, reservation, payment, and invoicing are all integrated, all done from the vehicle. And the infrastructure behind these features on the parking side is a smart video analytics and LPR-based automation system allowing barrier and ticketless operation 24/7."
Lex Blum, Regional Sales Manager, Northeast at ParkMobile 
"Many of the top automakers already have integrations with technology providers to make finding and paying for parking a more seamless experience through systems like Amazon Alexa and Siri. In the future, I believe we will continue to see the demand and adoption of these services increase since vehicles become a connectivity Hub for the transportation journey. Drivers want the ability to compare rates, see the reviews, view occupancy data and find parking based on specific amenities. This only happens as more cities operate as parking providers and continue to upgrade their technology and infrastructure systems."
Maarten Mijwaart, Business Developer Benelux, Scandinavia, UK and Ireland at Tattile
"Technological advancement has already changed the face of the parking industry. Finding a free space, reservations, payments, car-finding, valet parking, and licensing are just a few examples of processes and applications that were digitized and that already provide an improved user experience by utilizing the user interface of apps on smartphones or in-car through in-car streaming or native in-car applications. And by utilizing automated vehicle identification with ANPR, for example, in combination with in-car applications, any parking service that requires user interaction can be further automated and improved."
