After registering on an app, visitors to Nanyang Technological University's (NTU) Jurong campus will no longer have to think about where or how to pay their parking fees.
Even without parking gantries, their car plates will be captured on entry and exit by video technology.
The correct fee is then automatically calculated and billed to their credit or debit card, without the need for additional input of information in any other app or a CashCard in the in-vehicle unit.
The vision is of a more seamless and hassle-free parking experience than currently offered elsewhere.
Launched on Monday, Singapore's "first barrier-free smart carpark" is now operational at three locations in the university. All 59 of NTU's carparks, covering more than 4,000 parking spaces, are set to turn "smart" by the end of next year.
"Smart carparks are integral to the smart cities of the future," said Mr Ravinder Singh, the president of ST Engineering's electronics arm, which developed the new system.
The smart carpark system works with an app called GoParkin. In addition to tapping technology such as automatic number plate recognition, the app gives users real-time information on the closest available parking spots and their rates.
Apart from increasing convenience, the system also helps reduce operational and maintenance costs.
For example, it has a cloud-based platform which can identify equipment in the carpark that requires preventive maintenance, saving the university costs that would be incurred later if the equipment were to break down.
With remote payment, the university is also able to do away with physical payment stations or gantries at the carparks.
The smart system is also equipped to collect data, which can be analysed to give operators a better sense of how the carparks are used and where improvements can be made.
Mr Singh, whose company is managing all NTU carparks, said the data collected on carpark usage could "potentially generate new value-added services for motorists and transform business models for carpark operators".
