In 2014, the first EasyPark branded site in Australia was installed in the City of Kingston, Victoria.
Just a decade later, with more than 3.5 Million users across nearly every State and Territory, and being adopted by more than 70 Councils and Parking Operators including the Capital Cities of Perth, Melbourne, Canberra and Hobart, the journey continues at a rapid rate.
“We are grateful to the drivers and vehicle owners who have fallen in love with the App and made it such a success. And we acknowledge and thank our shareholders and the EasyPark Group for their support during our first 10 years,” said EasyPark ANZ CEO, Eli Grossinger Binshtok.
“Our goal for the first decade was to build a solid platform – tick done. Now we focus on the next 10 years and beyond,” Mr Grossinger Binshtok said.
Parking made easy
The award winning technology of the EasyPark App brings efficiencies for drivers as well as Councils and Parking Operators.
Australia’s most downloaded parking app, EasyPark, gives vehicle owners control of their parking by selecting their start and stop time, with the ability to extend or end the session, easily and simply from their mobile phone.
From a Council and Parking Operator perspective, the user-pays model gives more control over parking revenue and provides more choice for residents, businesses and visitors.
As an example, for one Western Australia Council, the introduction of EasyPark facilitated an 85 per cent reduction in parking meter numbers. The City of Stirling is downsizing its fleet of 120 to around 17 and a spokesperson for the Council said “our Council has been decisive in its decision to become more sustainable with its management of paid parking facilities. Reducing the overall amount of parking meters and promoting the use of EasyPark not only eliminates paper waste and high ongoing operational costs but also offers a raft of benefits to our customers”.
EasyPark is present across nearly all of Greater Perth, with the City of Perth itself coming on board last year, where the partnership with EasyPark is complementing the rollout of new meters across the City to make parking easier, more accessible and more sustainable.
Making cities more livable
EasyPark ANZ Executive General Manager Craig Logan said the organisation’s expanding suite of business products will only bring more benefits for drivers, Councils and Parking Operators.
“We enjoyed the first 10 years, and now we’re looking forward not back, or as they say, through the windscreen and not in the rear view mirror.
“Australians love technology and right now, you can buy virtually anything, anywhere by using a mobile phone.
“Parking should be no different. If it’s 40 degrees heat or pouring with rain, why fish around for coins and leave the car to pay at a meter when you can just pick up the phone?
“But soon, the parking experience will be much more than this.
“With connected and integrated technology, one app can be used in multiple locations and for different uses, such as mixed sites like hospitals, airports and universities, EV charging or for residential, visitor and tourist permits.
“Another growth area is business parking. Procurement teams have told us processing multiple individual parking invoices is lost time. So, we now provide a B2B service which, through the EasyPark App, consolidates business parking accounts into one monthly invoice. One customer who has used the product over the past 12 months calculated that approximately 29 business days worth of time has been recovered through the incorporation of a B2B account,” said Mr Logan.
EasyPark ANZ is part of the global EasyPark Group, a disruptor with a history of utilising technology to make cities more livable by transforming traditional systems.
EasyPark Group has also experienced rapid growth. Today, the distinctive pink and purple signage has been installed in more than 20 countries and across 4,000 international cities.
Out of this world technology
This love affair with technology recently took one giant leap forward with the EasyPark Group becoming the first parking company to launch its coding into space. The idea being that if UFO’s do one day visit Earth, they will find parking easy.
“We can’t guarantee close encounters of another kind at a parking bay near you, but we do commit to providing an out of this world parking experience,” said Mr Grossinger Binshtok.
“Parking is changing. For example, across Europe, there’s more choice for drivers through the open market, while in the UK, the National Parking Platform has enabled drivers to use their preferred app, or in-vehicle system, to find and pay for parking no matter which council area they are in.
“What happens overseas invariably comes to Australia and because we are part of a global network, we are at the forefront of these discussions and decisions.
“The Australian parking market has changed so much since our first sign was installed. Ten years on, we are seeing Councils move away from relying on a single parking supplier and instead selecting ‘best in breed’ technologies which are digital, connected and integrated, from multiple suppliers.
“Parking is rapidly evolving, and so is EasyPark because we want to ensure the parking experience of tomorrow will be even more seamless, safe and easy,” said Mr Grossinger Binshtok.
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