Indianapolis Streamlines Parking Payments

Indianapolis drivers now have an easier experience parking thanks to new way-finding and meter payment technology.

ParkIndy, a public-private partnership between Indianapolis and Xerox, modernized the city’s antiquated coin-operated parking meters, making it one of the first U.S. cities to accept meter payments by both credit card and phone.

The city has collected an additional $2.7 million in parking meter revenue, with roughly 80 percent of those revenue gains attributed to Xerox management and analytics capabilities that have optimized operations.

“Before overhauling its public-parking system, Indianapolis was challenged with increasing operational costs due to low turnover of 3,600 parking spaces and outdated meters and payment options,” says David Cummins, senior vice president and managing director of Xerox Transportation and Government. “ParkIndy has modernized parking technology to not only simplify operations, but to make parking easier for customers and increase business for local merchants as well.”

More than 70 percent of meter payments are made by credit card, up 10 percent from 2012. And 14 percent of meter payments are submitted through pay-by-phone or a smartphone app.

Indianapolis is only one of several cities that have transformed parking:

• Redwood City, Calif., outfitted parking spaces with wireless sensors to detect whether or not a spot is empty or filled. That information is relayed to a mobile app in real time, says Jessica Manzi, senior transportation coordinator for Redwood City. To learn more, read “How Smart Cities Adapt to Growing Populations.”

• In Pittsburgh, officials streamlined parking by deploying a pay-by-plate system that has boosted revenue by nearly 60 percent. The technology has also reduced tickets because drivers now have a convenient way of paying by credit card rather than racing to get back to their car before the meter expires. Enforcement officers use Honeywell handheld computers, and eventually, the system will incorporate automatic license plate recognition technology. For more details, see “Pittsburgh Leads in Parking Payment Technology.”