Cubic Transportation Systems signed a letter of intent with the Calgary Parking Authority (CPA) of Calgary, Canada, for global collaboration to deliver transit and municipal parking solutions leveraging CPA-developed technology. The agreement is among the first of its kind in the parking industry between the public and private sectors.

The CPA developed an innovative, customer-focused parking solution called the ParkPlus System (ParkPlus) for on and off-street applications by fusing together smart technologies like license plate recognition, real-time wireless, solar-powered smart pay meters and mobile devices. The integration of these tools has led to more efficient management of parking availability, the introduction of multiple payment methods and easier, more effective implementation of enforcement services.

ParkPlus supports both the customer-facing and enforcement side of parking management by allowing drivers to register their license plates with their payment account or pay at the meter, while streamlining operations to enable enforcement officers to automatically capture violations and issue tickets by recognizing which license plate owners have not paid to park in a specific location.

Under this non-exclusive agreement, Cubic will integrate ParkPlus technology with its payment processing facilities. This gives users the benefit of a simpler customer experience with the ability to manage a single transportation account for transit and parking, as well as make parking and transit payments with a common smart card or mobile app. Parking operators and transit authorities will benefit from scale economies in payment processing and support.

The agreement is complementary to one previously announced with video and sensor analytic solutions company SenSen Networks, demonstrating Cubic’s collaborative development model with software, technology and hardware providers. Such agreements enable the integration of systems required for intermodal solutions specific to Cubic’s NextCity initiative.