Parking in Linz goes contactless

The city wants to quickly adapt to the changing circumstances in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic

Contactless payments have been growing in popularity for years – but what gave the practice a much-needed shove forward was the coronavirus pandemic of the last few months. With many citizens respecting social distancing rules and preferring not to engage in transactions with others, going contactless grew in popularity in no time.

Cities bearing the torch

What has flown under the radar, however, are the efforts of many cities to reshape the ways they function on every level. Linz, the capital of Upper Austria, has been engaged in a process of digitizing as many of its services as possible, all the while making the urban area smarter and more distancing-friendly.

On top of developing innovations from the ground up such as the city’s own Digital Marketplace, Linz has also been transforming old tech to fit into a new lifestyle. The latest such example are the 60 parking ticket machines across the city which have been outfitted in order to support contactless payment.

The machines now properly function with credit and debit cards, as well as with smartphones with the appropriate apps. The lack of a card slot makes them especially easy to support and maintain, thereby reducing the strain on the environment and on the city’s budget. The city plans to further expand its arsenal of contactless ticket machines by including converting another 40 by mid-2021.

City Councilor Michael Raml, whose departmental responsibility includes paid parking, is pleased with the innovation “We are offering our citizens and guests a very simple and extremely convenient way to pay the parking fee. If you do not have any coins with you, you can make contactless payments with ATMs or credit cards at the machine very quickly. I thank Mastercard Austria, Worldline and Siemens Mobility for their support and the user-friendly technical solution. I would also like to thank the employees of the city administration for the good and smooth implementation.”