The Alliance for Parking Data Standards

What The Alliance for Parking Data Standards does

The Alliance for Parking Data Standards (APDS) is a not-for-profit organization, founded in 2018 by the International Parking & Mobility Institute (IPMI), the British Parking Association (BPA), and the European Parking Association (EPA), that develops, promotes, and maintains a unified global standard for sharing parking, kerbside, and mobility data. The organization is registered in England and Wales as a company limited by guarantee (company number 11288413) and operates from Haywards Heath, United Kingdom with 1-10 employees. APDS serves parking operators, IT departments, software developers, and bid managers who need a common data model to integrate parking systems with mobility platforms, public authorities, and automotive services.

The core product is the APDS Specifications, a consensus-built data model currently at version 4.0 that covers seven domains: Place, Right, Rate, Occupancy, Quote, Observation, and Common Elements. The standard defines hierarchical place structures (from facility down to individual space), right and eligibility rules, rate tables, quote/booking flows, and observation events, and is exposed as API definitions with documentation on GitHub. Complementary products include the EPA-co-developed Converter (translating between APDS, DATEX II, and NeTEx, soon offered as a hosted service), the European Regulated Data Profile (mapping ITS Directive obligations to APDS concepts for National Access Point publishing), the APDS Essentials Training course hosted by IPMI, and open-source data validation tools on GitHub. The standard has been adopted as ISO Technical Specification 5206-1:2023 and underpins CEN TS 16157-6:2022 (DATEX II Part 6).

APDS operates a community-led, non-commercial go-to-market: specifications are freely downloadable to registered members, with no reselling or rebranding permitted, and revenue (if any) derives from member subscriptions and training rather than per-spec licensing. Distribution is via the allianceforparkingdatastandards.org website, the IPMI training platform, and the GitHub open-source repository, with awareness driven through content marketing, industry conferences, and a YouTube channel. As of latest disclosure, over 500 organizations globally are using the standard, with Indigo's deployment of APDS+NeTEx publishing for 500+ French parking facilities serving as the most visible enterprise reference.

Name

The Alliance for Parking Data Standards

Legal name

The Alliance for Parking Data Standards Limited

Website

https://allianceforparkingdatastandards.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2018

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The Alliance for Parking Data Standards (APDS) is a UK not-for-profit founded in 2018 that develops and maintains a global open standard for parking, kerbside, and mobility data exchange, serving parking operators, IT developers, and public authorities. Its specification is adopted as ISO TS 5206-1:2023 and underpins CEN standards.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Parking Data Standards

NAICS

Support Activities for Road Transportation (4884)

SIC

Services-Facilities Support Management Services (8744)

akta.pro primary industry

Permitting, Validation & Credential Programs (Permits, Passes, Validations) (BPABAKAL)

Keywords

• Parking data standards
• Parking data exchange
• Mobility data interoperability
• Kerbside data model
• Parking API specifications

Headquarters

HQ city

Haywards Heath

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Not-for-profit organization: APDS is a not-for-profit organization with the mission to develop, promote, manage, and maintain a uniform global standard for sharing parking data. As a not-for-profit, revenue generation is not the primary focus. The organization collects member subscriptions for website access to specifications.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

APDS develops, promotes, manages, and maintains a uniform global open standard for sharing parking, kerbside, and mobility data. Its core deliverable is the APDS Specifications — a consensus-built international data model covering seven domains (Place, Right, Rate, Occupancy, Quote, Observation, and Common Elements) — supported by complementary offerings including a DATEX II/NeTEx converter, a European Regulated Data Profile, training, and open-source validation tools.

Product overview

APDS offers a unified suite of parking data standards and complementary tools. The core product is the APDS Specifications, a consensus-built international standard covering seven data domains (Place, Right, Rate, Occupancy, Quote, Observation, and Common Elements) that establishes a common language for parking, kerbside, and mobility data. Supporting this core standard are complementary offerings: The Converter (for DATEX II and NeTEx interoperability), The Regulated Profile (for European compliance mapping), APDS Essentials Training (professional education), and Open Source Data Validation Tools (GitHub-based validation). The specifications are freely downloadable to subscribers, and the APDS standard has been adopted as ISO Technical Specification 5206-1 and underpins a CEN European standard.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• APDS Specifications A consensus-built international parking and kerbside data standard that establishes a common language for data elements and definitions across seven domains: Place, Right, Rate, Occupancy, Quote, Observation, and Common Elements. Available freely to registered subscribers.
• The Converter A tool developed collaboratively by APDS and EPA that converts APDS-formatted data into DATEX II or NeTEx conformant output, enabling interoperability with European data exchange formats. Planned as a hosted, managed service.
• The Regulated Profile (European Regulated Parking Data Profile) A European Regulated Parking Data Profile developed by APDS and EPA that maps legally specified data concepts from European Delegated Regulations to specific APDS data concepts, helping European parking operators meet National Access Point requirements.
• APDS Essentials Training An online training course designed for professionals in the parking and mobility ecosystem, providing knowledge of APDS standards and their implementation, including terminology, principles, and three real-world case studies. Hosted on the IPMI platform.
• Open Source Data Validation Tools Open source data tools hosted on GitHub for validating software quality and APDS specification implementation, supporting data exchange validation and compliance checking.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 500 organizations using the standard globally
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration2 records

Feature8 records

Partnerships

Eleven partnerships are on record, tiered founding, core and major.

• International Parking & Mobility Institute (IPMI)foundingStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2018IPMI is one of three founding organizations that established APDS in 2018. IPMI developed the IPI-DataEx standards that were integrated into APDS. IPMI also hosts APDS training courses on their platform. IPMI CEO Shawn Conrad serves on the APDS Board of Directors.
• British Parking Association (BPA)foundingStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2018BPA is one of three founding organizations that established APDS in 2018. As the recognized authority in parking profession in the UK and Europe, BPA manages initiatives including the Safer Parking Scheme and Approved Operator Scheme. BPA CEO Andrew Pester serves on the APDS Board of Directors.
• European Parking Association (EPA)foundingStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2018EPA is one of three founding organizations that established APDS in 2018. EPA contributed the International Parking Industry Payment Standards (IPIPS) protocols. EPA Executive Director Tom Antonissen and President Emeritus Nigel Williams serve on the APDS Board of Directors.
• European Parking Association (EPA)coreTechnology or IntegrationCollaboratively developed DATEX II and NeTEx converters with EPA to generate conformant output from APDS-formatted source data. Also collaborated on the European Regulated Data Profile as part of EPA's Parking Data Essentials initiative.
• CEN Technical Committee 278coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCEN Technical Committee 278 maintains the DATEX II standard for traffic information exchange. In 2022, the committee revised Part 6 of DATEX II based on the APDS model, reinforcing APDS as the global parking data standard.
• International Organization for Standardization (ISO)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerISO formally adopted the APDS parking data specification as ISO Technical Specification 5206-1:2023 'Intelligent transport systems — Parking — Part 1: Core data model' in March 2022, with strong support from 30 National Standard Bodies.
• NAPCORE ProjectcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe European Regulated Data Profile has formed the basis for alignment work with NAPCORE project workgroup 4.3, which includes stakeholders representing multiple industry sectors aiming to create a common European-regulated parking data profile.
• Plexx DigitalcoreTechnology or IntegrationPlexx Digital's representative Markus Schneider chairs the APDS Change Control Group, which implements and coordinates the Change Control Process and maintains APDS as an Active Standard.
• InterparkingcoreTechnology or IntegrationInterparking's representative Marc Lebeau serves on the Change Control Group, contributing to the ongoing maintenance and evolution of the APDS standard.
• MittecoreTechnology or IntegrationMitte's representative Aleix Martinez serves on the Change Control Group, supporting the maintenance and development of APDS standards.
• IndigomajorTechnology or IntegrationIndigo is implementing the European regulated parking data profile, providing information on their 500+ parking facilities in France to the French National Access Point. Publishing simultaneously in APDS and NeTEx formats using the converter module developed by EPA.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Emerging players

• INRIX: Commercial provider of transportation data, analytics, and parking intelligence used by cities, automotive OEMs, and operators. Comparable as a participant in the same parking/mobility data ecosystem APDS standardizes, though operating as a commercial vendor rather than a standards body.
• HERE Technologies: Location and mobility data platform serving automotive, logistics, and urban mobility customers, with significant parking and traffic data offerings. Relevant peer in the parking/mobility data category that APDS seeks to standardize.

Others

• CEN Technical Committee 278: European standards committee responsible for road transport and traffic telematics, which maintains DATEX II (Part 6 based on APDS) and NeTEx. Comparable as the upstream institutional standards body that adopted and ratifies APDS-derived specifications.
• International Parking & Mobility Institute (IPMI): Founding member of APDS and the principal parking industry association in North America. Comparable as a non-profit serving the parking ecosystem, though its primary mission is membership services and education rather than data standards.
• European Parking Association (EPA): Founding member of APDS and the principal pan-European parking industry association. Comparable as a non-profit governing body for the European parking sector, and a key technical partner in building the Converter and Regulated Profile.

Broad incumbents

• Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC): International non-profit standards body developing geospatial and location data standards. Comparable as a long-established, consensus-driven standards organization; broader in scope than APDS but operates under a similar member-governed model.
• SAE International: Global standards body for mobility engineering, including connected vehicle and intelligent transport systems standards. Comparable in business model (non-profit, member-funded standards development) and in serving the wider transportation ecosystem APDS targets.

Direct peers

• Open Mobility Foundation: Non-profit organization that develops open mobility data standards (notably the Mobility Data Specification, MDS) for cities and mobility service providers. Directly comparable to APDS as a mission-driven, consensus-built standards body targeting transportation data interoperability.
• DATEX II Consortium: Consortium maintaining the DATEX II standard for traffic and travel information exchange in Europe, of which the parking publication (Part 6) is now based on the APDS model. Highly relevant as the parent/adjacent standard APDS underpins.
• MobilityData: Non-profit that creates and maintains open data standards (GTFS, GBFS, MDS) for public transportation and shared mobility. Comparable to APDS in business model (non-profit standards body), governance (member-driven), and focus on data interoperability for the mobility ecosystem.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• GitHubgithub.com/parkingdata/spec
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@allianceforparkingdatastan1290/featured
• Facebookfacebook.com/allianceforparkingdatastandards

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles13 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about The Alliance for Parking Data Standards