Green mobility
“Mobility is reinventing itself”
Our strategic goal: Facilitating green mobility (e.g., by rewarding drivers for using low-polluting vehicles, providing charging terminals for electric vehicles, and reserving parking spaces for shared cars) as well as advocating the development of multimodality by connecting our car parks to public transport, and bike hire points.
The last few years have seen the emergence of a number of innovations in the field of mobility with the aim of helping to achieve cleaner air by reducing emissions. Hybrid and electric cars significantly reduce CO2 emissions and fine particles in the atmosphere and these new modes of mobility require a tailored parking offering. To support the transition toward low-polluting vehicles, we are increasing the number of charging terminals for electric and hybrid vehicles in our car parks.
Environmental commitment targets
After having contracted (in 2018) the first green credit loan in Belgium whereby payment conditions are determined by the achievement of environmental commitments, in 2020 Interparking had reached the two targets that had been set. In 2021, we therefore signed, with BNP Paribas Fortis, a new green IRS with the following environmental commitments spanning a five-year period:
- to maintain our “CO2 Neutral” certification (undertaken by an independent and certified body) in all countries in which Interparking group operates
- to increase the amount of electrical vehicle spaces by 300 every year.
- Cargo-bikes delivery solution in partnership with Ziegler Logistics
Interparking launched, “Cargo-bikes” in partnership with Ziegler Logistics. This is a green initiative to contribute to smarter and more sustainable urban logistics. This “last-mile” (final stage of the order process) delivery solution sees large parcels delivered with very low to almost zero CO2 emissions: an electric truck “shuttle” connects the main hub to a microhub located in the Interparking car parks; from there, the cargo bikes leave for the final destination. This service is not only greener but it’s also more efficient, for example, the Cargo Bike XXL makes up to 50 stops per day whereas a conventional distribution van only makes an average of 25 stops per day. Introduced as a proof-of-concept, the initiative was extended to other cities.
New modes of mobility require a tailored offering. Interparking offers exactly that
parking spaces equipped for electric vehicles of which 3,818 were operational as of 12/31/2023
Bike parking
While most of the car parks operated by Interparking have already been offering parking spaces dedicated to bicycles for many years, recent years have seen the implementation of a partnership contract with the City of Antwerp for the management of 32 car parks, 12 of which are dedicated exclusively to two wheels with a total of 756 parking spots for bikes. We also installed dynamic signage at the Bruges bicycle parking facilities to provide cyclists above ground with real-time availability of spaces. Plus, the redevelopment of the Parking Loi facilities in Brussels features a complete floor dedicated to cyclists and cargo bike owners offering charging stations for electric bicycles as well as a maintenance workshop.
Benefits for green vehicles and shared cars
In the Netherlands, drivers of electric vehicles benefit from a reduced parking rate thanks to a number plate recognition system. In partnership with several major carsharing operators we also reserve spaces for shared cars in our car parks.