Appyway launches smart city parking scheme in Halifax

Appyway, the kerbside management and mobility company, has launched a new Smart City Parking scheme in Halifax.

The new initiative has been launched in partnership with Calderdale Council and follows on from a successful launch of a similar scheme in Harrogate, North Yorkshire earlier this year.

Appyway, previously Appyparking, rebranded in September this year to reflect its expanding services in the business to government and business to business space, with its kerbside management platform, as well as connected vehicle data integrations.

The company’s Smart City Parking solution combines smart parking sensors in each bay to report real-time parking availability to its app. The service also encompasses sensor-enabled payments and data on the way parking is being used can be passed on to the local authority to help them plan on issues to do with capacity in the future.

Dan Hubert, founder and chief executive of AppyWay, said: “We know that by alleviating the uncertainty of parking and making the whole experience as pain-free as possible, we can help breathe life into local economies as they struggle to compete with the rise of online shopping. 

“Our launch in Harrogate demonstrates that if you can show people where they can park with real-time availability, make payments more convenient and less stressful then people are likely to stay in town and shop for longer.”

Users of the service in Harrogate (751) were surveyed following a paid parking session and 89% said they found the app more convenient than pay and display, 67% said it was less stressful than pay and display and 43% said they stated longer as a result of not having to worry about their ticket expiring.

Appyway is planning to launch its next Smart City Parking solution in Portsmouth later this year.

Users of parking the app can benefit from the option of One Click Parking, a concept created by AppyWay with the support of payments technology company Visa.

The app pairs the user’s mobile device with a sensor under their vehicle via Bluetooth, enabling them to start a pay-as-you-go parking session that automatically ends when they drive away.

This means that following the minimum ticket duration (which is either half an hour or an hour depending on location) users pay on a per-minute rate basis. 

Hubert said this helps drivers avoid paying for time they don’t use, which is typical when having to decide how long they need to park at the start of their stay with pay and display. 

Cllr Susan Press, Calderdale Council’s Cabinet Member for Public Services and Communities, said: “We know from listening to residents that they would like more flexibility when it comes to parking.

“By utilising this new technology we can allow drivers to plan ahead and easily see which areas of Halifax are busy for parking and where has available spaces."