Parking app launched in Coventry to help drivers find on-street space

Appy Parking app is being trialled by the city council at three locations in the city centre



Parking in Coventry is set to become a lot easier as Coventry City Council launches a new parking app.

The free mobile app developed with Apply Parking and Nwave will be trialled at three locations in the city centre - New Union Street, Warwick Road and St Johns Street - to help motorists find on-street parking.

Appy Parking shows available spaces in real time using a traffic-light colour coding system to show whether a space is free.

It also lists the prices of the space and how much your maximum desired stay will cost.

If the app proves to be a hit it could be rolled out to cover all on-street spaces and provide the option for users to pay for parking on their smart phones.

Coun Rachel Lancaster, cabinet member for public services, said: “I’m really excited about Appy Parking.

"It will let people see where the spaces are when they need them, and make finding a space in the city centre much easier, and best of all it doesn’t cost the council a penny.

“Our on street parking has been really popular so this free app will be really useful for people looking for an on street space.

“If people like it we could roll it out to all on street spaces and in due course it could cover car parks too.

“Coventry has always been at the forefront of innovation and this is another innovative and practice tool that can provide motorists will real time parking information.”

Users can download the free app from the App Store or itunes.

Coun Rachel Lancaster, said: “I’m really excited about Appy Parking.

Poor woman leads a dull life if that's the case!

Coventry is first to demonstrate new innovative technology featured on Dragons' Den

Coventry is at the forefront of modern technology as it paves the way for new on-street parking sensors.

Sunil Budhdeo, the transport innovation manager for Coventry City Council, has been working closely with a new parking app, which has featured on Dragons’ Den.

Dan Hubert founded Appy Parking in 2013 and was on the show on Sunday night to ask for a £200,000 investment.

Dan partnered with Sunil to first roll out the new on-street parking sensor on to Coventry’s streets back in March.

But now, Coventry has exceeded technology and they are now 99 per cent accurate.

The city has even paved the way so the app has been rolled out in to every major city in the country, and the sensors are being trialled in Westminster and Reading.

Sunil said: “We sat down with the developer of the sensors and have been trialling them since March to get the optimum accuracy.

“There are three streets which are our trial sites and every single disabled bay on the streets of Coventry have also had a trial sensor on them.

“We are now on the third generation of sensors but that means we have developed them to the highest standard before reaching 100 per cent accuracy.

“It’s now got Coventry at the forefront of new innovating technology.”

At the moment, the app must be used whilst the car is stationary, as Sunil and the team look in to how to integrating the app in to the vehicle’s system.

He added: “The suggestion is to install a phone holder on the windscreen, and use it the same way as you would Tom-tom.

“The second option is to stop and check where there are free bays.

“We will be investigating how we can integrate the app within the car system, but this is still being researched.”

The sensors are glued on to the parking bays themselves, but with a special resin which makes it extremely hard to be removed by just anyone.

The new technology interested two of the dragons who did in fact make an offer to Dan.

But, as he only offered two per cent equity of his business, he turned down the dragons’ offers of 15 per cent equity from Touker Suleyman and also the 20 per cent offer from Peter Sullivan.

But now, Coventry has exceeded technology and they are now 99 per cent accurate.

What is that supposed to mean?