The future of parking lots is changing, driven by technological advances, environmental challenges and the new dynamics of urban mobility. Nevertheless, the internal combustion engine is still by far the leading mode of transport in France, with 7 out of 10 French people using it regularly (at least once a week). How do the French view the parking lot of tomorrow? What are their expectations and projections? It’s against this backdrop that Ifop has conducted this survey on the parking of tomorrow for the INDIGO group.
Nearly ½ of French people would like more parking spaces in the future, but only ¼ imagine that this will be the case.
The private car remains the dominant model for the general French public:
- More than 1/3 don’t envisage any alternative to the individual thermal car
- And when another option does emerge, it’s the individual electric car
When it comes to parking, it’s hardly surprising that the French find it hard to look beyond what already exists, and to detach themselves from the practical aspects of the location.
That being said said, a number of far from trivial avenues are taking shape:
❶ Electricity, insofar as it is today a visible reality, and counts among mobilities:
- Nearly 2/10 identify it as one of tomorrow’s major parking challenges
- Nearly 1/4 imagine that there will be more and more parking spaces in the future, “even if they are equipped with electric charging stations and/or shared between different uses”
- When it comes to imagining a world without combustion-powered cars, electric cars win out.
❷ Everything that would make everyday life easier is part of what federates most among the future functions of the parking lot:
- Local services that will make everyday tasks and obligations run more smoothly
- Everyday shops
- Delivery, whether direct or considered more broadly across the entire logistics chain (using the parking lot as a dispatch location to de-clutter the city).
❸ At first glance, the role of digitalization does not seem obvious…
- The final determinant of a parking lot geared to sustainable mobility
- And the same is true when it comes to a parking lot that would improve citizens’ quality of life
… but expectations in terms of reception seem to provide an essential key to understanding:
- Digitization to manage arrival at a parking lot? Yes, if it makes life easier BUT with someone to talk to!
And while we’re on the subject of the future:
Young people under 35 – over and above their greater sensitivity to the environment in general – are more open to :
- The integration of unusual activities into parking lots, such as culture and sport, as well as storage (although these are still outweighed by other, more basic functions)
- To a digitalized welcome in parking lots, leaving a little less room for the human touch, but without imagining doing without it.
