Much hated by many drivers, paid parking has the main purpose to control traffic and make better use of urban parking capacity, especially in densely populated areas. Analysis of Yettel’s mobile parking service has revealed some interesting insights into the habits of Hungarian drivers. Lucky users of the service can now win a car service package and fuel vouchers.
The history of parking regulation dates back to the 1970s. Parking restrictions were introduced in the centre of Budapest to ease traffic congestion, and a few years later the first official pay car parks were created. In the 1980s, as the number of vehicles and traffic in general increased, parking zones were further extended and stricter rules were introduced. Paid parking became widespread throughout the country in the 2000s, and in 2009 mobile parking was introduced, so instead of paying in advance with coins based on estimated parking time, you can now park using your mobile phone, and pay for the actual parking time later, along with your phone bill.
Yettel has offered a mobile parking payment service since the launch of the system. In 2023, the service has been significantly modernised: the parking function has been moved to the operator’s central app, and paid parking can now be managed not only by opening the app, but also from a widget on the home screen of the user’s smartphone. In addition to successfully starting and stopping the parking process, the solution also helps you find your parked car with the “Where is the vehicle?” feature. Mobile-based parking solutions therefore offer drivers more flexibility, convenience and more predictable costs than traditional pay-as-you-park solutions – even via a closed screen with the Yettel app. The number of mobile payment transactions is growing by around 10% year on year, not only because of these benefits, but also because of the “buy now, pay later” option.
Nearly 12 years of parking in 1 year? Facts and figures about parking in 2023
After analysing the use of the mobile parking payment service in 2023, Yettel’s experts have revealed some interesting findings. Throughout the year, drivers started several million parking sessions and parked for more than half a billion minutes using the service, which would add up to nearly 12 years. Nationally, the average length of parking was 84 minutes, with the longest parking sessions in Budapest averaging 117 minutes in District 12, while outside the capital, a zone in Dömös was the parking champion with an average of 271 minutes, presumably thanks to visitors coming to hike in the area. The busiest parking zones were District 5 in Budapest and Győr, each with more than 300,000 parking sessions. In 2023, the most active user of the service initiated 1,274 parking sessions, spending a total of more than HUF 1.2 million on parking.
Interestingly, in the weekly analysis, the highest number of mobile parking transactions was initiated between 11 and 17 December 2023 presumably related to Christmas shopping trips.
How to win a car service package worth HUF 1 million or a fuel voucher of HUF 250,000 with 3 mobile parking sessions?
Yettel’s recently renewed mobile parking payment service is fast and convenient and it can be flexibly adjusted to the actual parking time. It even alerts you if you forget to stop your active parking session and provides a transparent view of past transactions. Yettel is now inviting drivers who use the app to play a game. Anyone who initiates at least 3 parking sessions using the Yettel app until 31 May 2024 will be entered into a draw to win a car service package worth HUF 1 million and a HUF 250,000 fuel voucher as the main prize, plus 4 other HUF 250,000 fuel vouchers and 50 Celly in-car phone holders. Details: https://www.yettel.hu/parkolj-es-nyerj