Press Releases

• In the future, a command from a smartphone will tell cars where to park in Stuttgart Airport's P6 parking garage.
• The new Mercedes-Benz S-Class is equipped with the technology to enable driverless, fully automated parking (SAE Level 4¹).
• For AVP, Bosch is using camera-based infrastructure for the first time to detect lanes and obstacles.
• The parking garage operator Apcoa is testing barrier and payment functions as the basis for automated valet parking, enabled by its APCOA FLOW digital mobility platform.

12 October 2020

APCOA PARKING (APCOA), Europe's leading parking space operator, has launched APCOA URBAN HUBS to create an integrated ecosystem for the innovative and sustainable use of parking spaces. While APCOA's strategic partners benefit from being able to access the physical infrastructure and digital services they need to further develop their business models, APCOA PARKING's customers benefit from an expanded range of innovative services and products. With APCOA serving as the central interface between individual, intermodal mobility and Smart City concepts, in combination with APCOA's strong network of strategic partners, real estate owners also benefit by sustainably enhancing the value of their assets.

Automated parking to drive down the airport stress: Bosch, Mercedes-Benz, and the parking garage operator Apcoa want to introduce driverless and fully automated parking at Stuttgart airport in the future. To this end, the automated valet parking (AVP) system co-developed by Bosch and Mercedes-Benz is to be made ready for commercial operation. The new Mercedes-Benz S-Class is already geared up to accommodate it as the world's first production vehicle to feature the technology required for future infrastructure-based AVP. As an option, customers can buy the appropriate pre-installation for what the company calls the INTELLIGENT PARK PILOT, which makes the S-Class capable of receiving a smartphone command to drive itself to a reserved parking space. "With the new S-Class, it's not just driving that's a luxury, but parking as well," says Dr. Michael Hafner, head of automated driving at Mercedes-Benz AG. The P6 parking garage at Stuttgart airport will serve as the pilot for the planned commercial automated parking service. Here, the companies will test how the vehicle technology onboard the S-Class interacts with the intelligent Bosch infrastructure and APCOA FLOW, the digital platform provided by the parking garage operator Apcoa.

This platform makes the whole parking process ticketless and cashless. "Apcoa, Bosch, Mercedes-Benz, and Stuttgart airport want to work together to make parking fully automatic," says Christoph Hartung, member of the executive management of Connected Mobility Solutions at Bosch. In the airport parking garage, preparations are currently underway to begin piloting the planned automated valet parking service. The aim of this trial with new S-Class vehicles at Stuttgart airport is to ensure that interactions between the vehicle, infrastructure technology, and parking garage operator run smoothly and are optimized for the customer.

World's first Level 4 park function in a production vehicle In July 2019, Bosch and Mercedes-Benz received the world's first special permit to operate AVP for selected E-Class vehicles without a safety driver in real-life, mixed parking garage traffic at the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart. Equipped with the appropriate pre-installation for the INTELLIGENT PARK PILOT, the new Mercedes-Benz S-Class is now the first production vehicle to feature AVP technology, which enables it to park without a driver. However, this is conditional on the future availability of parking garages with the appropriate infrastructure, as well as on national legislators giving AVP the green light. This makes the Mercedes-Benz S-Class the world's first vehicle to feature a pre-installation for an SAE Level 4 automated driving function, the second-highest level of automation. "With automated valet parking, Mercedes-Benz is demonstrating that driverless parking will soon be possible," Hafner says.

To facilitate this new one-touch parking function, a spacious drop-off and pick-up area will be set up directly behind the entrance to the P6 parking garage, giving AVP users a convenient place to leave their vehicles. As they comfortably make their way to the terminal and check in, their S-Class will park itself in the basement, guided by information from the infrastructure technology. In other words, users no longer need to worry about maneuvering or having to squeeze out of their cars when the space they have finally found proves to be too narrow. "Automated valet parking really enhances our passengers' comfort and convenience and saves them time, especially when they're in a hurry and just want to drop their car off quickly at the airport", says Walter Schoefer, management spokesman for Flughafen Stuttgart GmbH. For the test phase that is about to start, P6 will initially have two spaces available for self-parking vehicles. More spaces will be added when driverless parking becomes standard as planned in the future and as demand increases.

Intelligent infrastructure and digital platforms
The pilot parking garage at Stuttgart airport will be a premiere for new Bosch video cameras that can identify vacant parking spaces, monitor the driving aisle and its surroundings, and detect obstacles or people in the aisle. Until now, lidar sensors have been used for this purpose. A dedicated control center in the parking garage then calculates the route the vehicles need to take to reach an available space. "Our intelligent parking garage infrastructure forms the basis for the future of driverless parking," Hartung says. Thanks to the information that the cameras provide, it is also possible for cars to drive themselves around the parking garage - even on narrow ramps, enabling them to move between different stories. The in-vehicle technology autonomously converts the information from the infrastructure into driving maneuvers. If the cameras detect an unexpected obstacle, for example, the vehicle safely performs an emergency stop.

APCOA FLOW, the parking garage operator Apcoa's digital platform, will also play a key role in driverless parking at Stuttgart airport. Drivers are already using the platform to help lighten the burden of parking. This ranges from making firm reservations for a parking space, to contactless entry into the parking garage, and to fully automated payment, invoicing, and contactless exit. The system recognizes the customer's vehicle and the barriers open automatically, making a ticket and trip to the ticket machine redundant. "We want to be the first parking garage operator to fully support and enable automated parking services based on AVP technology in one of our parking garages," says Frank van der Sant, chief commercial officer at Apcoa Parking Holdings GmbH.

More vehicles, more parking garages
A vehicle drop-off and collection service saves time and avoids long walks to the car: once parking garages are equipped with the appropriate infrastructure and national laws permit AVP, customers will be able to enjoy driverless parking services. Bosch and Mercedes-Benz are paving the way for this with the world's first infrastructure-based solution for SAE Level 4 automated valet parking in real-life, mixed parking garage traffic. Uniform standards and interfaces ensure smooth communication between the vehicles and infrastructure technology. In the future, Bosch's aim is to equip more and more parking garages with AVP infrastructure technology.

As Europe's largest parking garage operator, Apcoa also has a strategic interest in offering innovative premium services like AVP in more of its parking garages. "Looking ahead, we want to open up AVP to more customers at selected Apcoa locations," van der Sant says. The company manages approximately 1.5 million individual parking spaces at over 9,500 locations in 13 European countries. By increasing the availability of driverless and fully automated parking services, the same amount of space could accommodate up to 20 percent more vehicles. In addition, driverless parking is especially suitable for narrow, remote, and therefore unattractive parking areas that people would otherwise avoid.

¹ SAE-Level 4: The car can autonomously handle all traffic situations under certain conditions (e.g. on selected roads, not in all types of weather). No driver is required.

About APCOA PARKING Group
APCOA PARKING Group is Europe's leading parking operator with more than 45 years of industry expertise. With its 5,000 employees, the company manages approximately 1.4 million individual parking spaces at over 10,000 locations in 13 European countries. These include parking spaces at 1,800 city and shopping centre locations, 400 hotels, 150 hospitals and 58 European airports. With its consistent "asset light" business model, APCOA is the trusted partner who maximizes value for private and public real estate owners

Via its open digital platform APCOA FLOW, the company connects on-street and off-street car parks with clients, partners, customers and their vehicles. Based on this technology, APCOA is transforming its car parks into mobility hubs, offering innovative services that enable a more convenient mobility experience. The environment also benefits: with its digital services and intelligent Traffic Management System, the company actively contributes to the reduction of emissions in cities by decreasing the volume of traffic searching for parking. By connecting parking and mobility, APCOA is positioned to become an integral part of the Smart City.

Additional information: World first: Bosch and Daimler obtain approval for driverless parking without human oversight Bosch and Daimler demonstrate driverless parking in real-life conditions

Stuttgart, 9 October 2019 - Europe's leading parking operator, APCOA PARKING (APCOA), has completed the acquisition of the business of Nationwide Controlled Parking Services (NCPS), one of the biggest car park operators in Ireland, including subsidiaries PEA and Mobile Research Solutions, t/a parkbytext. NCPS manages over 1,100 car parks with a total number of over 100,000 car park spaces. Following approval by the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) the acquisition was legally completed on 8 August 2019.

The combined operation resulting from the acquisition sees APCOA's business in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland double in size to cover more than 1,750 site locations and it will enable them to service all counties in both countries.

"We view this as a very exciting development for APCOA and NCPS as the companies complement each other well. This acquisition combines the strengths of the businesses across all sectors, markets and geographies and brings together two strong management teams with complementary skills and abilities", says Philippe Op De Beeck, CEO of APCOA PARKING Group.

In addition, with the financial backing of the APCOA group, the combined operation in Ireland benefits from increased opportunities for further investment in the business and technologies. With the joined expertise and customer base across both countries, the acquisition makes APCOA a leading mobile parking operator providing convenient, cashless and cost-effective payment options to nearly 200,000 parking customers.

During the integration process day-to-day operations continue as at present. APCOA and NCPS will continue to focus on providing the highest levels of customer service.

APCOA's existing business in Northern Ireland operated a number of sites including two city centre multi storey car parks in Belfast city centre. The NCPS subsidiary PEA brings a further c. 80 locations, primarily in the greater Belfast area with key sites such as the iconic Titanic Quarter, numerous NHS hospitals and Trusts and the Odyssey Event Centre.

APCOA sees this investment as strengthening their position in Ireland and providing a platform for increased growth. "APCOA and NCPS both view this as a real opportunity to broaden the strength of our services to our clients in Ireland and to improve our capabilities by bringing together the best knowledge, systems and operational experience and practice", says Op De Beeck.

Already in the beginning of May APCOA bought Onepark A/S in Denmark one of the country's leading parking operators with 170 employees operating about 600 parking sites with 50,500 parking spaces. With OnePark, APCOA was able to expand the number of contracts by 540 and is now the market leader in Denmark. The two companies are already fully integrated and have moved into a new Head Office.

Contact:

APCOA PARKING Holdings GmbH
Sebastian Merkle
Flughafenstr. 34
70624 Stuttgart-Airport
T: +49 711-94791-100

About APCOA PARKING Group

APCOA PARKING Group is Europe's leading parking operator with more than 45 years of industry expertise. With its 5,000 employees, the company manages approximately 1.5 million individual parking spaces at over 9,500 locations in 13 European countries. These include parking spaces at 1,800 city and shopping center locations, 400 hotels, 150 hospitals and 58 European airports. With its consistent "asset light" business model, APCOA is the trusted partner who maximizes value for private and public real estate owners.

Via its open digital platform APCOA FLOW, the company connects on-street and off-street car parks with clients, partners, customers and their vehicles. Based on this technology, APCOA is transforming its car parks into mobility hubs, offering innovative services that enable a more convenient mobility experience. The environment also benefits: with its digital services and intelligent Traffic Management System, the company actively contributes to the reduction of emissions in cities by decreasing the volume of traffic searching for parking. By connecting parking and mobility, APCOA is positioned to become an integral part of the Smart City.

Stuttgart/Bonn, 8 October 2019 - APCOA PARKING Group ("APCOA"), Europe's leading parking manager and Deutsche Telekom, Europe's largest telecommunications company, have signed a strategic cooperation agreement to develop and launch a comprehensive parking service offering including APCOA parking garages and on-street spaces. The aim of the cooperation is to provide customers of the joint parking solution with a parking product that is as complete as possible.

The agreement includes the integration of the APCOA FLOW platform as an authentication technology for non-contact entry and exit and automated payment in the APCOA-managed parking facilities. In addition, customers will be provided with additional parking spaces that were previously inaccessible to the public in residential and office properties at after-hours. Deutsche Telekom is using its Park and Joy app as a parking solution. It shows free parking in public spaces and private areas and also allows you to book and pay by smartphone. The combination of the two innovative technologies creates a comprehensive range of services for parking in car parks and on the roadside in Germany.

Within the scope of this cooperation, motorists should be provided with a common parking solution consisting of elements of both parking solutions of the respective parties. This allows them to access and exit non-contact and automated payment (APCOA FLOW) as well as to display, book and pay in public and private areas (Park and Joy). To this end, a corresponding embedding of the APCOA FLOW non-contact entry and exit functionality and automated payment in APCOA-managed parking facilities is agreed in the Park and Joy App.

Contact:

APCOA PARKING Holdings GmbH
Sebastian Merkle
Flughafenstr. 34
70624 Stuttgart-Airport
T: +49 711-94791-100

About APCOA PARKING Group

APCOA PARKING Group is Europe's leading parking operator with more than 45 years of industry expertise. With its 5,000 employees, the company manages approximately 1.5 million individual parking spaces at over 9,500 locations in 13 European countries. These include parking spaces at 1,800 city and shopping center locations, 400 hotels, 150 hospitals and 58 European airports. With its consistent "asset light" business model, APCOA is the trusted partner who maximizes value for private and public real estate owners.

Via its open digital platform APCOA FLOW, the company connects on-street and off-street car parks with clients, partners, customers and their vehicles. Based on this technology, APCOA is transforming its car parks into mobility hubs, offering innovative services that enable a more convenient mobility experience. The environment also benefits: with its digital services and intelligent Traffic Management System, the company actively contributes to the reduction of emissions in cities by decreasing the volume of traffic searching for parking. By connecting parking and mobility, APCOA is positioned to become an integral part of the Smart City.

Berlin, 23rd September 2019 - With the acquisition of the Berlin-based data company Parkling GmbH, the market leader PARK NOW is strengthening its international portfolio of digital parking solutions. With its highly accurate predictions of free on-street parking spots, Parkling offers a best-in-class solution.

PARK NOW, leading international parking solutions provider, is constantly growing its services and locations with more than 1,200 cities in Europe and North America. With the integration of Parkling´s parking prediction, the PARK NOW services will become even more attractive for users. It will have an immediate impact on improving the traffic situation in cities, as it helps to reduce the 30% of inner-city traffic caused by the search for parking spots. Already today, digital parking solutions make a direct contribution to a better traffic management, traffic flow control and a better use of urban space.

PARK NOW CEO Jörg Reimann says: "We are very happy to have Parkling join PARK NOW. Parkling´s prediction solution for on-street parking spots will be a great enhancement of our product portfolio. Through the acquisition, we not only strengthen our offering towards consumers, cities and automotive manufacturers, but also pursue our goal to make cities more liveable."

Detlev Hülsebusch, founder and CEO of Parkling, says: "Joining forces with PARK NOW is a great opportunity for Parkling. PARK NOW gives us the backing we need to rollout our data coverage across European cities and North America. I want to thank Centerbridge and the APCOA Group for their excellent support as investors and founding partners of Parkling."

Philippe Op de Beeck, CEO of APCOA PARKING Group, comments: "Supporting Parkling in setting up their business and shaping their business model for Europe has been highly strategic for APCOA. We believe that PARK NOW will be a very strong partner for Parkling as the business rolls out internationally. We are excited to see them to continue to prosper."

About PARK NOW
PARK NOW is part of YOUR NOW, the mobility joint venture of the BMW Group and Daimler AG. With digital parking solutions under the brands PARK NOW, Parkmobile, RingGo and Park-line, it currently serves over 33 million users in more than 1,200 cities in Europe and North America. Making it the biggest provider of digital parking solutions in those regions.

ABOUT PARKLING
Parkling is a data company that provides highly accurate predictions of free on-street parking spots. The company attaches scanners on fleets and taxi cabs to analyze the parking situation in real-time. In addition, Parkling generates high quality static parking maps including parking rules & restrictions and location of parking bays.

For further inquiries please contact:
Johannes Terracciano
LoeschHundLiepold Kommunikation GmbH
Telefon: +49 - (0)89 - 72 01 87 - 296
E-Mail: j.terracciano(at)lhlk.de