Smart Parking Market Expected to Grow

The Smart Parking Market: Global Industry Trends, Share, Size, Growth, Opportunity and Forecast 2021-2026" report predicts a 14 percent compound annual growth rate in the smart parking market over the next five years. This is great news for the industry, which includes technology to optimize parking space usage through guidance systems, automated access control systems, ticketing systems, and more.

The report details advances in smart parking technology, including automatic license plate readers that allow for remote vehicle tracking and payments, and innovative mechanical arrangements for transporting cars from one parking space to another in order to optimize vehicle storage. And that’s really the name of the game — all of these advancements are about eliminating wasted parking space through the use of technology as a swelling population, a trend of larger cars throughout North America and many other parts of the world, and other factors stress the importance of maximizing potential parking spaces.

We’ll be interested to see how this trend plays out in North America, where space-eating parking lots are far more common than efficient parking garages — and certainly more so than smart parking-enabled spaces. But the efficiency of smart parking spaces can’t be ignored, and their ability to save time for commuters while decreasing management costs for lot owners and operators is undeniable. Furthermore, as the “smart city” continues to take root it’s easy to see how technology-laden parking options will figure into municipal plans to make the dream city of tomorrow a reality for today.

Along with smart city initiatives, eco-friendly technology should help drive the growth of the smart parking market. Smart parking spaces help reduce carbon dioxide emissions by reducing the amount of time drivers spend circling around in search of a place to park. Some take this even further by moving cars on conveyor systems or with electricity-driven robots. Smart parking garages also eliminate paper waste by replacing cash payments and receipts with digital options. And replacing parking lots with greenspace is great for the environment as well (when you can do so without losing out on available parking). All of this adds up to make a significant environmental impact compared to traditional parking options, which is exactly what many state and local governments are looking for in the face of climate change.

For the consumer, smart parking offers a level of convenience that’s tough to beat. Nobody enjoys circling for parking, or having to walk a few blocks just to feed a meter before it expires. As smart parking makes it more common to find a spot right away, to pay for spaces from anywhere via your phone, and to generally make parking into the least frustrating part of the overall driving experience, it’s a safe bet that there will be a growing demand for the adoption of this important technology.

It’s great to see the forecasted market growth reflect the many benefits of smart parking systems. But it will be even better to see the social and environmental impacts of smart parking taking off in popularity around the world. Maybe we’ll even start to see sprawling North American parking lots getting transformed into something more beautiful — whether that’s a futuristic smart parking facility or a flower-filled green space.