After almost 40 years in service, coupons as means for paying parking fee will finally be replaced by a mobile app beginning October. Authorities note motorists will be afforded with tonnes of benefits for going paperless.
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Sunday announces in his National Day Rally 2017 speech that Singapore's parking service will soon be turning digital. The mobile street parking app called 'parking.sg' will start to become available to download on Google Play and App Store in October.
The parking.sg app is a joint project of the Housing and Development Board and the Urban Redevelopment Authority in partnership with developer GovTech.
PM Lee believes that it is about time that Singapore will leverage mobile technology for street parking and ease out from paper. "We have ERP (Electronic Road Pricing) and mobile phones, yet we are still tearing parking coupons", says Lee.
Around 70 per cent of car parks in the country have already turned paperless, while 30 per cent, or around 1,000 car parks, are still stuck with using coupons.
Going digital does not only cut back on the use of paper as it comes with more advantages, especially on the part of the motorists. Lee notes that car owners will only pay for the used parking time.
"If you park for 18 minutes, you pay for 18 minutes", says Lee. "The app will alert you when your session is about to end. If you want to park longer, you can extend your session remotely – no need to rush back to your car to add coupons before the parking lady summons you".
The parking.sg app works by putting the vehicle number, selecting the car park and estimating the time of use. It charges per minute so motorists will be refunded accordingly for the remaining time that is not consumed.
According to the Smart Nation and Digital Government Office, the app is currently in the second phase of testing. After its launch in October, it hopes to include heavy vehicles and motorcycles in the near future.
