Parking doesn’t have to be painful: NBCC and HotSpot startup collaborate on a digital parking app
From the Springboard Content Lab
How many times have you found a place to park and then realized you had no change for the parking meter?
An app developed in collaboration with New Brunswick Community College (NBCC) solves this problem by allowing drivers to park coin-free in towns and cities across Canada.
Fredericton-based HotSpot Parking is a user friendly, digital technology that allows motorist to pay for on-street parking using credit cards. They can also use the app to plan trips with an interactive map that shows available parking locations in real time.
Easy-to-use street parking app
Customers enter their licence plate and vehicle description and make a secure payment in the app.
They set the parking ban location and time required. The app provides text notifications to let users know when the time is running out.
Motorists can top-up their time to increase the length of time required. The app even processes refunds if the booked time exceeds the user’s need.
The app is accessible using smartphones, tablets or through online web browsers. It can also be accessed through QR codes located at parking locations.
“HotSpot Parking has been a proud partner of NBCC since 2018. NBCC students, recent graduates, instructors, and the Centre for Applied Research in Mobile and Ubiquitous Computing have all helped our company to prosper… NBCC has helped HotSpot innovate to expand services to new markets and grow from 8 staff in 2018 to 40 staff today with over half NBCC grads.”
Phillip Curley,
CEO & Founder HotSpot Parking
HotSpot software developed by NBCC researchers
The software that powers Hotspot was developed by the NBCC Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) Research Group led by Dr. William McIver, Jr.
The research team developed the alpha software prototype for HotSpot Parking’s license plate recognition system.
Startup employs NBCC students and graduates
The startup has employed more than a dozen NBCC students and graduates from the college’s IT programs and applied research projects.
Support from NBCC’s ICT Research Group enabled HotSpot to implement an automated License Plate Recognition software, leading to a 40% increase in efficiency for parking enforcement officers in the City of Fredericton.
NBCC College Office of Research Enterprise contributes to startup’s success
Collaboration with NBCC’s College Office of Research Enterprise has contributed to the growth for this Fredericton-based start-up. Over the past several years, HotSpot has grown its client base from regional municipalities and post-secondary campuses to larger urban centres across Canada.
The project received support from:
- New Brunswick Innovation Fund,
- Mitacs and (Innovation Voucher Fund)
- NB Priority Occupation Student Support Fund [NBPOSS], Mitacs).
- NBCC College Office of Research Enterprise Springboard representatives assist with project development, funding applications, project management, knowledge mobilization, budgeting, and reporting.
- Hosting Proof of Concept software on secure NBCC server
- Connection for IT: Programmer-Analyst and IT: Business Analysis students to complete curricular work placements with HotSpot, frequently resulting in long-term employment for graduates
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Springboard Atlantic is a network of 19 colleges and universities specializing in research commercialization and industry-led research in Atlantic Canada. It is supported by the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency , Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada and member institutions.