APCOA and MILES Launch Ticketless Parking to Tackle Berlin’s Urban Congestion
APCOA, Europe’s leading parking operator, and the car-sharing provider MILES have jointly launched a ticketless parking pilot in Berlin aimed at reducing city center parking pressure and cutting traffic congestion. The initiative began April 1, allowing customers to start and end parking seamlessly in three prime APCOA car parks using the MILES platform.
The pilot is active at the Kant Center and Augsburger Straße locations in Charlottenburg and at the Victoria Center near Ostkreuz station. This eliminates the need for physical parking tickets or paying at machines, thanks to automatic license plate recognition technology, greatly speeding up the parking process.
Immediate Impact: Less Traffic, More Convenience
The collaboration addresses the chronic shortage of public parking and the resulting “search traffic” that clogs streets and fuels pollution in busy urban areas. Drivers can park in any available regular space within these car parks without searching for designated car-sharing spots, simplifying the process and reducing street congestion.
“The cooperation with MILES is another building block in improving the parking situation in urban city center locations,” says Stefanie Kochs, Head of Urban Hubs at APCOA Germany. “Together, we ensure less stress, more comfort and more time gained during the parking process and at the same time contribute to relieving the burden on city centers.”
Peter Kormany, Project Manager Business Development at MILES, added, “Our goal is to integrate car sharing into everyday life as easily and flexibly as possible. By connecting the APCOA multi-storey car parks, we take the pressure off the streets and offer our users a reliable parking alternative in highly frequented locations.”
Cutting-Edge Tech and Future Expansion
The automatic license plate recognition system backing this pilot has already been tested extensively across many APCOA sites, making this rollout a significant step toward a purely digital parking experience. The pilot’s success will influence potential expansion plans beyond these Berlin sites.
With over 1.8 million parking spaces across 13 countries and 13,000 locations, APCOA is positioning itself at the forefront of integrated urban mobility solutions that connect parking, car sharing, electric vehicle charging, and smart city services.
Why This Matters to U.S. Cities and Alabama
U.S. cities, including those in Alabama, are increasingly grappling with urban parking shortages and congestion that worsen traffic woes and pollution. The streamlined, ticketless model demonstrated in Berlin offers a replicable path forward to ease parking stress while promoting shared vehicle use—key for reducing environmental impact and improving quality of urban life.
As smart city initiatives grow nationwide, Alabama’s urban centers and transportation planners should watch this evolving model for lessons on integrating technology to make city driving and parking more efficient and less time-consuming.
What’s Next?
Both APCOA and MILES are examining expansion possibilities that could soon extend ticketless, digital parking to other major cities across Germany and potentially Europe. In the near term, their success in Berlin will be critical to proving that car-sharing and digital parking innovation can significantly ease urban pressure.
Motorists and mobility users following this pilot can expect updates as new locations come online, signaling a faster, smarter parking future for congested cities worldwide.
“Together, we ensure less stress, more comfort and more time gained during the parking process and at the same time contribute to relieving the burden on city centers,” — Stefanie Kochs, APCOA Germany.
