The popular Parking.SG app was supposed to help parking wardens issue summons. What happened?

Synopsis: Every 3rd Wednesday of the month, The Straits Times examines not just vehicle prices but wider transport issues and trends connected to public and private transport.

The Parking.SG app handles a million sessions a month, with under half of them being ended early and the motorist getting a refund. Half of them are Apple users, and the rest use Android smartphones. To think that it all began as a project to help the parking warden.

In this episode, host and senior transport correspondent Lee Nian Tjoe speaks with Ms Amelia Fong, the product manager for Parking.sg and a policy officer at Open Government Products (OGP), a division of the Government Technology Agency of Singapore.

Highlights (click/tap above):

2:21 The technology behind the original Parking.SG app

4:00 User statistics

8:00 Considerations to make the app senior-friendly

11:56 Annual hackathon for new technology solutions

19:00 Keeping the app working 24/7

20:57 Becoming a product manager at OGP

Learn more about Parking.SG: https://www.parking.sg/

Read Lee Nian Tjoe's articles: https://str.sg/wt8G

Follow Lee Nian Tjoe on LinkedIn: https://str.sg/iqkJ

Read more COE articles: https://str.sg/iGKC

Host: Lee Nian Tjoe (niantjoel@sph.com.sg)