Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA), the Housing Board and the Government Technology Agency has announced that starting from 20 December 2017, motorcyclists and motorists driving heavy vehicles will be able to use the Parking.sg app to pay for parking at all the 1,100 public car parks that currently use paper coupons.
“With the extension to motorcycles and heavy vehicles, the Parking.sg app will be available for use by all vehicle types in Singapore, they said.
In line with Singapore’s vision to build a Smart Nation, the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA), Housing & Development Board (HDB) and Government Technology Agency of Singapore (GovTech) stressed that they developed the Parking.sg app to provide a quick and convenient way for motorists to pay for short-term parking at coupon-based car parks.
Made available for cars since 1 October 2017, the said that the Parking.sg app is a demonstration of how digital technology can be applied in practical ways to make citizens’ lives more convenient in a Smart Nation.
The authorities note that the benefits of the app include:
- Paying for parking digitally. Motorists can use the mobile app instead of coupons. They simply have to key in their vehicle number, select the correct car park code, indicate their parking duration and start parking. Motorists may refer to the signage at the entrance of public car parks and along kerbside car parks for the respective car park codes.
- Calculating parking charges automatically. The mobile app automatically calculates the charges that motorists have to pay based on 30-minute blocks. If motorists end their parking session earlier, they will receive a refund and will only be charged on a per minute basis. Parking charges for motorcycles will be capped at 65 cents per day or night session per car park, similar to current rates.
- Extending parking session remotely. The mobile app will prompt motorists when their parking session is about to expire so they can extend the duration of their parking session, if required, at their convenience.
It is claimed by the authorities that Parking.sg has proven to be useful and popular with motorists since its launch.
“To date, the app has already been downloaded more than 300,000 times on iOS and Android. In addition, approximately 152,000 unique vehicles have registered more than a million parking sessions,” they said.
Motorists who are using Parking.sg, are reminded to activate the app to begin their parking session once they have parked their vehicle, as enforcement checks by patrolling officers will continue to be conducted, adding that motorists who wish to use parking coupons can still do so, as parking coupons remain in use.
“We have taken in user feedback early in the product development cycle through various trials and enhanced the app with new features along the way. The agencies are exploring additional app features in the future, such as allowing the export of parking history, and to include enhanced map features to facilitate car park selection,” the authorities said.
“We will also continue to take in feedback from the public on how we can improve the app to benefit our citizens,” they added.
