New Mobile Parking Sysyem for Chicago
In a significant breakthrough into the United States market, ParkMagic, the Irish mobile payment and wireless technology company headquartered in Limerick, is to implement a new mobile parking payment system for the city of Chicago.ParkMagic’s US subsidiary ParkMagic Mobile Technology Inc. beat 13 global parking solutions companies to win the project. It is estimated that annual parking revenue in the city of Chicago is in the region of US$165 million.
The Minister for Enterprise Trade and Employment, Micheal Martin TD, announced today that the company is to expand its operations on the back of its US success and will be doubling its employees from 15 to over 30 people in the coming months. The new jobs will be a combination of sales, international marketing, technical support and software development.
“ParkMagic is a shining example of the success which can be achieved by Irish companies on the global stage. The company’s parking payments system is the only one of its kind in the world and was researched and developed here in Ireland which is a tribute to the growing strength of our indigenous R&D base. I am delighted that Ireland will benefit directly from ParkMagic’s success in the United States through the creation of over 15 high quality jobs and I wish the company continued success as it expands in the US and European market”.
Minister Martin also highlighted the key role played by Limerick City Council in piloting, testing and validating the technology. “The success of its high quality, innovative solution in Limerick proved that here was a solution which took the pain out of parking for consumers while generating revenue for local authorities. This allowed the company to expand with confidence, opening offices in the US and the UK”.
According to Brian Geoghegan, chairman of ParkMagic, “By mid July we will have implemented our mobile parking payment system in the commercial downtown area of Chicago. The initial project will see the system supplied to 1,000 commercial users, expanding to consumers throughout the greater Chicago metropolitan area within a year. This is a fantastic endorsement for the ParkMagic parking solution and should open other doors for us throughout the United States in the coming year”.
ParkMagic was founded in Limerick in 2005 by Philip Hayes and Paul Fitzgerald. The company opened its US office in 2006 and a UK office earlier this year. ParkMagic is the world’s first in-car parking permit display system controlled using a mobile phone. The motorist buys a display unit for their car which they place on the dashboard or windscreen. When the driver pulls into a parking spot they dial one number from their mobile phone and within seconds the display unit in the car indicates that parking has been paid. It removes the need for cash and the inconvenience and time taken to use traditional parking systems such as parking meters and parking discs.
In addition to its US success, ParkMagic is also expanding the availability of its service in Ireland. Currently available in Limerick City and in selected sites in Dublin, Waterford and Cork, it expects to conclude an agreement with local authorities in the near future which will see ParkMagic available throughout all of Ireland’s metropolitan areas. This will provide Ireland with a standardised parking payment system where the customer can park in every city or town without the need to coin feed meters or waste time looking to buy parking discs.