Pardubice: how a Czech city grew parking revenue 74% without raising a single tariff

Pardubice, in the Czech Republic, raised annual parking revenue from CZK 23 million to CZK 40 million, an increase of 74%, without raising a single parking tariff. The gain came from knowing, in real time, what was happening on every space. Compliance rose above 90% and the city did not build one new parking space.

At a glance

Spaces digitalised	3,815
Sensors	3,421 IoT parking sensors, one per space
Permit tokens	5,000 electronic identifiers for residents and permit holders
Driver guidance	12 information panels
Payments	91 parking meters, 65,000 to 75,000 transactions a month
Revenue	CZK 23M to CZK 40M a year (+74%), no tariff increases
Compliance	Above 90%

What problem did Pardubice have?

The city could not see its own parking. Occupancy was an estimate, enforcement was patchy, and residents competed with visitors for the same streets. Any policy decision needed an external survey, which was expensive and out of date by the time it arrived.

How did the project start?

With a pilot. The city wanted proof before committing to a citywide system, so Fleximodo and its partners first ran a trial in real street conditions. Once the pilot met every technical requirement, Pardubice extended it across the city.

What was installed?

Every space got its own sensor. Each one detects a vehicle through the change in the magnetic field and confirms it with radar, which is how the system reaches 99.96% detection accuracy. Residents and permit holders received 5,000 electronic identifier tokens, so the system knows whether the vehicle on a space is entitled to be there.

Twelve information panels guide drivers to areas with free spaces. A camera layer covers roughly 800 further spaces for wider enforcement, and 91 parking meters handle payment. All of it feeds one platform, so the city sees every space, payment and violation as it happens.

What changed?

Revenue, payments and compliance all moved:

• Revenue: CZK 23 million to CZK 40 million a year, with no change to tariffs.
• Digital payments: monthly electronic payments grew from CZK 200,000 to about CZK 1 million as drivers moved away from coins.
• Compliance: above 90%, because detection is accurate enough for enforcement to be consistent and fair.

Accuracy is what makes the rest hold. A system that misreads spaces loses the trust of drivers and wardens, and the revenue gain disappears with it.

The data also changed how the city plans. Deputy Mayor for Transportation Petr Kvaš has said that real-time information lets Pardubice shape parking policy without paying for external analyses.

"This became the largest deployment of smart parking technology in Europe. It positioned Pardubice as a pioneer, and it proved that a whole city can rethink how it manages parking at scale." Pavol Turčina, CEO, GOSPACE LABS

What can other cities take from it?

Pardubice fixed its parking problem without adding concrete. It made the spaces it already had visible, and used them better. For a city weighing the same step, the order matters: start with a pilot, insist on verified accuracy, and let the data justify the rollout. More on this approach under municipal parking and parking enforcement.