STUTTGART, Germany--(BUSINESS WIRE)--APCOA PARKING (APCOA), Europe’s leading parking space operator, has launched APCOA URBAN HUBS to create an integrated ecosystem for the future-ready and sustainable use of parking spaces. To develop and implement their own business models, strategic partners get access to the physical and digital infrastructure of APCOA. Customers on the other hand, benefit from an expanded range of innovative services and products. Lastly, the asset values of real estate owners are enhanced by higher frequencies due to a wide range of additional use cases based on APCOA’s strong network of strategic partners.
“The digital and on-demand economy, especially in the field of mobility and logistics, needs a physical basis and a smart and flexible infrastructure. With more than 11,000 sites we have created Europe’s largest network of digitally connected car parks. Our hubs combine parking with logistics and technology services, shared mobility platforms and charging infrastructure for electric vehicles – and are already making a major contribution to creating the Smart Cities of the future”, explains Philippe Op de Beeck, CEO of APCOA PARKING Group.
Under the APCOA URBAN HUBS brand, APCOA is extending the functionality of its car parking facilities, integrating them into a dedicated digital ecosystem based on the company’s proprietary digital platform, APCOA FLOW. All car parks are thereby transformed into potential hubs for a broad range of sustainable services. The company’s initial focus is on multi-storey car parks in inner-city areas. These locations offer the greatest potential for improving the efficiency of last-mile logistics, reducing inner-city logistics traffic and, as a result, achieving substantial reductions in CO2 emissions. By increasing the provision of electric charging infrastructure, APCOA URBAN HUBS also actively support the mobility transition to electric mobility. City dwellers and commuters without own parking space or charging station will find a suitable offer in APCOA’s URBAN HUBS. Only with a guaranteed access to this infrastructure the purchase of an electric vehicle becomes appealing.
“Over the next few years, we want to continuously expand our network of several hundred APCOA URBAN HUBS throughout Europe. For car park owners, our expertise creates value by diversifying cash flows and enabling a sustainable strategy that has a positive impact on the long-term value of their assets. Currently, we are engaged in promising talks with a large number of potential partners. All of them appreciate our high location density and the fact that 230 million consumers are reachable around our properties in European city centres. Consequently, our current and potential partners are keen to take advantage of APCOA’s advanced digital network to enhance their own business models”, explains Op de Beeck. Currently, Bosch, BVG, Daimler, E.ON, HERE Technologies, Sixt and UFO Drive are amongst the strategic partners of APCOA.
The APCOA brand has long been synonymous with the consistent implementation of a comprehensive digital and innovation strategy. In 2018, the company launched APCOA FLOW, its multi-award-winning, scalable platform that provides its partners with integrated, contact-free access to inner-city car parks via individual interfaces. “As a result, we are very well positioned to meet the challenges associated with evolving parking space usage and the requirements of cities and municipalities. It is only by anticipating and actively helping to shape fundamental economic and societal processes that we will be able to successfully adapt to and benefit from these changes”, says Op de Beeck.
Urban Hubs is APCOA’s answer to some of the greatest trends of this day and age: the significant growth of online and on-demand commerce, which drives demand for inner-city logistics space, increasing urbanisation and the rise of electric mobility.
About APCOA PARKING Group
APCOA PARKING Group is Europe's leading parking operator with 50 years of industry expertise. With its 5,500 employees, the company manages more than 1.5 million individual parking spaces at over 11,000 locations in 13 European countries. These include parking spaces at 1,800 city and shopping centre locations, 400 hotels, 250 railway stations, 150 hospitals, and over 60 European airports, all situated in proximity of 70% of the population of APCOAs 13 countries. 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 Urban Hubs, providing the physical and digital infrastructure for mobility, logistics, e-charging, and technology-based services. Customers profit from innovative and convenient experiences provided by APCOA and its partners which use the car parks to deliver their services. The environment also benefits as the company actively contributes to the reduction of emissions in cities by decreasing the volume of traffic for logistics and searching for parking. By connecting parking, mobility and services for urban life, APCOA is positioned to be an integral part of the digital and physical urban ecosystem.