Smart mobility cannot be considered “piecemeal”

How to solve such a complex task in 12 months

The short answer is “with experience and with a team”. Nikolay Nedyalkov says that he hopes to successfully complete the project before the deadline. “We had the ambitious task of implementing the new parking system in about 3 months and we managed it. My colleagues and I laugh that there were headlines in the media about how the new system started and no one understood. For us it was a compliment. The implementation went without any problems . The processes are now fully digitized and we have a working fiscalization. The efficiency is noticeably improved. The main control and payment activities are completely digital – SMS parking, penalty parking, repatriation spiders – everything is now part of the unified system. There are new inspection devices that they check the number plates of the cars in real time by video recording, which saves a lot of work for the employees. At the moment, the new system is of great help to the administration in the municipality, but the most important thing is that it is the foundation on which to stand in the development y, which will enable the citizens and guests of Plovdiv to pay for the service with a bank card or with a mobile application. This will be the next stage, for which we are willing and ready to realize.”

Parking in Plovdiv with capital M

There are 11 municipal parking lots in Plovdiv, separately the parking meters and SMS billing, which in itself is a rather complex process related to a number of components. Tixi’s ambition is to make the entire parking system available on every citizen’s phone. “What is the primary goal of digitization? To facilitate. To facilitate processes so that users can be facilitated. MPark does just that.”

The application will be completely free for users, and through it, and only with a mobile phone in hand, one can easily find a nearby and convenient paid parking, a suitable and free charging station. By locating the user, it can guide and assist in choosing a paid parking area. MPark provides the possibility to pay for services through various methods – from an electronic wallet, through a bank card to direct charging of the amount to the relevant mobile operator.

“MPark is the natural extension of our vision to develop a new, intelligent and integrated country-wide mobility. As we mentioned earlier, mobility cannot be viewed “in pieces”. It is impossible to separate innovations in public transport and in parking, because they are part of the same circulatory system of the cities. When we launched the free application for digital transport documents MPass about 2 years ago, we did not even imagine that by today nearly 80% of all transport documents in Sofia would be digital. This is not just a signal that citizens need a change in the way they travel, they need a change in the overall interaction with the urban environment. I hope that MPark will become a faithful parking assistant for all guests and residents of Plovdiv, just as MPass proved to be the case for the residents of the capital when using the entire city network – buses, trolleybuses, trams and metro. We will work hard in this direction, I believe with the support of the Plovdiv municipality,” commented Nikolay Nedyalkov.