Kim Mo, a 37-year-old office worker living in Jongno District, Seoul, opens the 'Everyone's Parking Lot' app before going to the hospital. He noted, "I once missed my hospital appointment while trying to find a parking lot," and added, "Now I feel anxious driving without a parking information app." By using the parking information app, he can check nearby parking lots in advance and make payments.
Parking information apps have established themselves as essential services for drivers. This is because there is a shortage of parking spaces centered around the metropolitan area, coupled with the burdens of skyrocketing parking fees in this era of high prices. Recently, crackdowns on double parking and illegal parking have also intensified. In the past, drivers had to drive around checking for empty spots themselves, but now they can secure parking spaces and even make fee payments through an app.
According to mobile index, an app statistics analysis platform, the parking information app 'Everyone's Parking Lot' operated by SOCAR recorded 431,139 monthly active users (MAU) last month. The MAU increased nearly twofold compared to April 2021 (214,964 users) after four years, and it also increased by 7.2% compared to April last year (402,083 users). The number of partner parking lots for Everyone's Parking Lot has reached over 3,500.
A SOCAR official stated, "The background for the increasing demand for parking information apps is a combination of parking difficulties and rising prices," adding, "In the metropolitan area, it has become virtually impossible to park without an app." He further mentioned, "In the case of Everyone's Parking Lot, we are continuously increasing partnerships with public and private parking lots, and we have also adopted a shared model for resident-priority parking lots."
This allows others to use resident-priority parking lots that residents leave vacant during the day through the app. The SOCAR side explained that in some areas, parking is available for 1,200 won per hour, leading to active user influx. As of the end of last year, the number of shared parking spaces in resident-priority parking lots surpassed 9,000.
iParking, jointly operated by SK Innovation E&S and NHN, is also enhancing convenience with the expansion of unmanned parking lots and automatic settlement, thereby increasing its user base. iParking has a network of over 8,900 directly managed and partnered parking lots nationwide. Last month, the MAU for iParking, which is dedicated to drivers, was 53,899, marking an approximate 9.5% increase compared to the same time last year (49,224). The MAU for iParking Members (the app for partnered parking stores) also reached 290,760 last month, roughly an 8.3% increase from a year ago (264,484).
Kakao Mobility's KakaoT parking is expanding its range of reservation, payment, and discount services with over 1,700 partnered parking lots nationwide. Since last year, T-map has been providing real-time parking space information for 1,202 parking lots in Gyeonggi Province through the navigation app 'T-map.' HUMAX Mobility's 'Turu Parking' has also supported reservation parking in major areas of Seoul, such as Yeouido and Jongno, since last year by linking with the Naver reservation system.
The expansion of parking information app services is due to the serious parking shortage while supply remains stagnant. According to the Seoul city government, as of 2023, the parking lot availability rate in Seoul is 142.5%, but it falls short of the ideal availability rate of 200%. In residential areas, it is at just above 100%, and particularly in densely populated downtown areas, it is only in the 60% range.
In Seoul, private parking lots charging over 10,000 won per hour are increasingly appearing. As a result, among drivers, expressions like "parking fees more expensive than meals" have emerged. A mobility industry official noted, "The stress of parking failures is accelerating the use of apps," adding, "Parking information apps are now not an option but a necessity."