BMW to launch ParkNow mobile parking service in San Francisco

At a press conference yesterday with San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee, BMW Group board member Dr Ian Robertson announced the upcoming launch of ParkNow, an innovative mobile parking solution that is a joint venture with Urban Mobility, and provided new details about DriveNow, a premium car-sharing service which features a fleet of BMW ActiveE all-electric vehicles. San Francisco serves as the initial US market for each service.
August 21, 2012 Read time: 2 mins
At a press conference yesterday with San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee, 6419 BMW Group board member Dr Ian Robertson announced the upcoming launch of ParkNow, an innovative mobile parking solution that is a joint venture with Urban Mobility, and provided new details about DriveNow, a premium car-sharing service which features a fleet of BMW ActiveE all-electric vehicles. San Francisco serves as the initial US market for each service.

ParkNow, which will be available to drivers beginning in September, is an online mobile parking service that enables users to pay for parking in advance, with guaranteed access and clearly defined rates, based on their personal preferences. Customers can search for parking using ParkNow’s mobile app or website, reserve, pay and then be navigated directly to the parking facility, reducing time spent looking for parking, as well as emissions. There are currently 14 ParkNow locations in and around San Francisco piloting the system. Four ParkNow partner operators, ProPark America, Towne Park, ABM Parking and California Parking, will launch over 100 additional ParkNow locations in the coming weeks.

DriveNow which launched in June in San Francisco is a flexible, premium car-sharing programme offering the opportunity to drive BMW’s first all-electric vehicle, the BMW ActiveE with zero emission driving. The fleet of 70 ActiveE vehicles is located at eight DriveNow Stations around San Francisco, with two additional stations in Palo Alto and at the San Francisco International Airport coming soon. Through a partnership with California-based 4824 Coulomb Technologies’ ChargePoint network, drivers can easily locate a nearby charging station if they need to top-off during the course of their rental, which has no time limit. Parking and charging is free at DriveNow Stations.
Parking & Access Control

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • CTS is preferred bidder to upgrade San Francisco Clipper system
    September 10, 2018
    Cubic Transportation Systems (CTS) has been chosen by the San Francisco Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) as the preferred bidder to modernise the Clipper fare payment system. Currently, 22 regional transit operators use Clipper in the Bay area, including Caltrain, SamTrans and Union City Transit. The upgraded system will include an integrated mobile app supporting a virtual Clipper card and provide users access to real-time information, top up their accounts, plan trips and allow them to tap
    Read More
  • Van Pool requests 40 Ballad fuel-cell engines for buses in Germany
    March 6, 2018
    Ballad Power Systems (Ballad) has received a letter of intent from original equipment manufacturer partner Van Hool, for 40 FCveloCity-HD 85-kilowatt fuel cell engines to power buses in Germany under the first Joint Initiative For Hydrogen Vehicles Across Europe (JIVE) program. These projects aim to commercialise fuel cell electric buses, reduce costs and support the development of hydrogen refuelling stations. Van Hool plans to deploy 30 of these buses with the Regionalverkehr Köln transit agency in
    Read More
  • Alstom to provide VMI services to San Francisco
    January 7, 2019
    Alstom is to supply vendor managed inventory (VMI) services to the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) over three years to help improve passenger safety. The €50 million contract includes two-year exercisable two-year options. The deal serves as an extension to a 2013 agreement. Alstom says VMI has allowed SFTMA to carry out regular and predictive maintenance of its fleet as well as decrease inventory management costs and increase daily average car availability by 20% and mean distan
    Read More
  • New York launches electric taxi pilot
    April 23, 2013
    To celebrate Earth Day, Nissan and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg have launched a new electric vehicle taxi pilot with the Nissan Leaf, putting six Leaf taxis into service to help Nissan, the city, the taxi industry and the public understand how zero emission vehicles can be integrated into future taxi fleets. As part of the pilot, Nissan and partners in New York City will also install several CHAdeMO-based DC quick chargers, which will enable drivers to re-charge their electric taxis quickly during
    Read More

Highlighted Content