Credit: Wilson Parking
Anything that makes parking easier has my vote. A new app, Apple CarPlay, from Australia’s largest car parking group, Wilson Parking Australia does just that and is now available on the App Store.
It updates the company’s iOS app and allows commuters to discover, book and pay for parking via their car’s built-in display.
Wilson Parking worked with Perth-based app development and design companies, Adapptor and Kombu, on the CarPlay app integration, which can also facilitate a payment transaction.
Wilson Parking chief executive officer, Stephan Wuffli, said, “Even with restrictions lifting in many parts of Australia, our customers are looking for more ways to stay COVID-safe while they resume their commutes and travel plans.
“The CarPlay integration allows them to conveniently access the functions of our existing parking app from their car’s dashboard, reducing driver stress of finding a park and the city’s overall congestion as more return to the workplace. It all comes down to offering convenience to commuters.”
The CarPlay integration caters to commuters that book regularly through the Wilson Parking app and drivers that want to avoid the hassle of researching and comparing car parks and the best rates.
The app shows a driver up to 12 of the nearest car parks on their car’s display, including the car park name, parking rates and location. Once a bay is booked, commuters can seamlessly link to Apple Maps to navigate to their chosen car park.
Credit: Wilson Parking Adapptor general manager and product director, Richard Giles, said Wilson Parking moved to begin development of the CarPlay integration as soon as Apple announced support for the parking category last year.
“The existing Wilson Parking app has already been very well received by commuters, with over 16,500 ratings and an average 4.8 out of 5 stars rating. Our goal with the CarPlay integration was to create an even faster, simpler customer experience that seamlessly fits into the Wilson Parking customer’s daily commute,” Giles said.
A ‘Book Again’ function allows commuters that regularly use the Wilson Parking app to quickly see their previously booked car parks to make routine journeys even more convenient. The app also caters to commuters with Wilson Parking Business Accounts, allowing them to book personal or business parking.
Director of Kombu, Craig Winley, said commuter behaviour played a major role in designing the app.
“We have optimised the CarPlay experience based on user behaviour within the Wilson Parking app,” he said. “Thirty per cent of Wilson Parking app users regularly book the same car parks during the same time period, so we’ve made it easy for ‘book again’ commuters to complete their reservation in just a few quick steps.”
Customers need to update to the latest version of the Wilson Parking app from the App Store and ensure they are running iOS 14 on their iPhone to begin using the CarPlay integration. They can use the parking booking feature once they link a credit card to their account.
