HDB recently unveiled a new smart carpark without barrier in Northshore Residence in Punggol. I had the chance to visit it yesterday.
Introduction
The carpark is big. There are a total of 1,000 lots and each lot has a light above it. Green means free to park, Orange means Season Parking and no light means occupied. These lights are flexible and based on data, it will switch to different colors accordingly. Yesterday, when I visited it, all are in green color.
It does not look any different from the usual carpark except that it is barrier-free when you are coming in or going out of the carpark.
Instead, it has cameras to capture your car plate when you enter the carpark. There is also an app, Parking@HDB, that you can download and key in your credit card as it will deduct the parking fee from it.
Not interested in the app? You can continue to use the IU (In-Vehicle Unit) to pay for each entry.
My Experience
Check out my experience in this video.
One of my problems is the password. It needs 12 characters. Not easy to think of one and then remembering it. And if the mobile signal is weak in the estate, you cannot view the status in the app.
When you start to park in the carpark, your app will display this page.
And once you leave the carpark, you can see the parking duration and cost incurred.
Unlike Parking@SG, this app does not rely on user to key in the carpark code, or manually extending the parking duration when needed.
Once registered, the carpark will recognise your car number. It will automatically deduct the parking fee from the app instead of reading the IU.
If you want to download the app, use these codes.
Summary
Overall, a pleasant experience. I know that some will not be happy as it means that there is no way to cheat the system.
Gone are the days where you can choose to risk getting fine by not tearing the parking coupon.
Let me know your experience with this carpark.