Digital parking

Pango partners with local authorities to provide a variety of services for drivers.

By PATRICIA CARMEL
Pango CEO Zion Harel: ‘We want to provide services to the driver that transcend just parking.’ (photo credit: PATRICIA CARMEL)
Pango CEO Zion Harel: ‘We want to provide services to the driver that transcend just parking.’
(photo credit: PATRICIA CARMEL)
Is life more convenient now than it was before desktop computers, tablets and cellphones? I’m old enough to still feel awe at the range of communication channels available to me and the ease and immediacy with which I can send or receive a file, see and speak to a friend on a different continent and locate credible information on the most arcane of subjects.
I rarely miss a simpler existence that allowed me to read a book without being compelled to turn to the closest device to check my email or Facebook. Mostly, I relish living in a time when an app or digital service minimizes unnecessary and time-wasting activities.
Recently, on my local email list – a Yahoo group whose members exchange useful information about local services – someone posted a question about parking in Tel Aviv and was inundated with responses from people eager to point out the convenience of using Pango.
Pango is a digital service that offers drivers a number of features such as automatic payment for parking, car wash and filling the car with gas.
The company was founded in 2006 under the name Mobydom, using technology developed and patented by former IAF pilot Shlomo Zeitman in 1997.
According to Zion Harel, CEO of Pango International, Zeitman was way ahead of his time in basing the system on satellite technology to identify parking spaces and enable users to pay for the parking space via their cell phones.
“He aimed to obviate the need for the driver to go looking for a meter,” he says.
Following a successful pilot project in eight cities in Germany, Mobydom joined forces with Milgam, a company that has been supplying a number of services, such as collection of local fees, to municipalities throughout Israel.
Says Harel, “We brought the technology, and they brought their experience and their connections with local governments.”
Together, the company won a tender issued by the Center for Local Government, an official body that was looking for ways to provide solutions to parking. In 2007, subscribers to Pango (the name is derived from park/pay and go) could call from their cell phones and, using voice recognition technology, activate and terminate on-street parking next to blueand- white lines, secure in the knowledge they would not find a ticket under the windshield wiper on their return. The cost of parking was then deducted from their credit cards.
In 2010, Mobydom opened up Pango to the international market, and Milgam remained responsible for operations in Israel. In 2011, they released the Pango + app for smartphones running Android or iOS (iPhone).
The app has a range of features that further enhance the parking experience. For example, drivers receive an SMS informing them that an inspector checked they had registered with Pango or reminding them that the parking period is nearing its end.
One major drawback for non-Hebrew readers is that the interface is only in Hebrew; the Pango + website, however, offers a well-written English translation of the app’s features and services with a step-by-step description of how to use them.
Through the app, you can locate a parking lot in the vicinity or, on entering a Pango-compliant parking lot, receive an SMS recommending you avail yourself of the Pango service.
In some lots, a camera identifies your car, registers the time of your arrival and departure from the lot, and the cost is then deducted from your credit card. In other lots, the driver is required to key the code on the ticket into the app and send it to Pango. In both cases, Pango saves you the time you would have spent looking for and using a pay station.
The app will also help you navigate to the nearest Sonol gas station, where payment is discharged through your Pango account, and special offers and discounts are given to Pango subscribers at the Sonol convenience stores.
Another service provided through the app is a car wash at a reduced cost. There are more than 170 automatic car washes registered with Pango throughout the country.
Again, Pango will locate the car wash facility that is closest to the driver.
As helpful as the services to the Israeli public are, the services being made available to Pango customers in the US, Europe and Brazil are even more extensive.
Says Harel, “We want to provide services to the driver that transcend just parking.”
These services include helping the driver locate and navigate to available on-street parking, as well as agreements with shopping centers, hospitals and other commercial enterprises for Pango subscribers to use their parking facilities.
In New York, Pango offers an expedited valet service.
“The driver informs Pango when he wants the car to be available and it’ll be there waiting when he exits the building,” says Harel. “There’s no waiting in line for the valet to deliver the car.”
Other services are in the planning stage, based on the needs of the local community. For example, Pango is making resident and disabled permits available and joining with local business to offer a value-added service, such as a coupon for a free cup of coffee.
In Israel today, there are approximately two million vehicles, and Pango has more than one million registered users. Tel Aviv no longer has parking meters, and it’s safe to assume that soon other Israeli cities will follow suit.
Parking in Israel has entered the Digital Age, and even though there might still be a dearth of available spaces, at least payment for parking when you find it could not be more convenient.
Website: http://en.pango.co.il
The writer has worked for more than 20 years in hi-tech. If you have a question about any of the products featured in this column or have developed a product you’d like to share, contact patricia.jpost@gmail.com