More people are returning to the office – if a new parking app is any guide.
But ParkMate, who have updated their app with a new user interface, say they do not expect parking numbers to rise back to pre-Covid levels.
The company's General Manager Commercial, Steve Williams, says there are signs people are comfortable heading back to work in New Zealand cities again.
Over the last month transactions through ParkMate have risen by 40 per cent, while May 2022 is 25 per cent higher than Christmas 2021 levels. May also saw the highest number of transactions since the Delta outbreak in August 2021.
Williams says ParkMate's transactions suggest many Kiwis are opting to spend at least part of their week in the office. While parking numbers have been steadily increasing in its 400 parking sites across the country since March, they are still well short of pre-Covid levels.
Williams says during the red traffic light restrictions imposed earlier this year, the number of daily ParkMate transactions in the main centres dropped to around 3500 a day across the country, well down on the pre-Covid average of 7000.
"We're now sitting at just over 5000 transactions a day on average and while we think this number will continue to slowly pick up, we don't expect it to get back to where it was before Covid.
"We believe the rising cost-of-living and recent hikes in petrol prices is having an impact," he says. "Parking is not a sexy industry and many people have a bit of grudge about it, but it is an important part in facilitating our customer journey's. With the new app improvements, we are aiming to make the process as seamless as possible."
In the US, recent figures published by Upwork, a talent marketplace connecting businesses with freelancers, estimates about 22 per cent of the US workforce - or 36.2 million people - will be working remotely by 2025.
Williams is hopeful the new ParkMate app, which provides stress-free parking at over 400 Wilson parking sites around the country, will encourage more people back into cities: "We also want to do our bit to support small businesses in the inner cities.
"It (the updated app) makes it easy to search for parking closest to your destination, compare prices and pay quickly," he says. "It is intuitive in the way it uploads and guides you through the process making it less confusing.
"It also reduces the number of clicks needed to complete a transaction (down from seven to three) and we expect people using it for the first time will be very comfortable with it. There is also no need for people to guess the time as they hit 'start' when they arrive and 'stop when leaving.
"Users don't have to go to a machine to pay and if they are running late, they can pay from their phone as they walk to work," Williams says.
The app includes a map and street views of a person's chosen car park and directions to it. It also features walking directions to the final destination and traffic and local weather conditions via Apple and Google Maps.
ParkMate business products include corporate accounts, staff parking and business booking. It can be downloaded from the App Store or Google Play.
ParkMate parks more than two million cars every year in 18 towns and cities across the country and has more than 550,000 registered users.
For more information go to: parkmate.co.nz and parkmate.co.nz/how-it-works.