Metropolis Technologies is an American technology company headquartered in Santa Monica, California. It is the largest parking operator in North America.[1]
Founding and key people
The company was founded in Venice, Los Angeles in 2017 by CEO Alexander Israel,[2] with co-founders Travis Kell, Peter Fisher and Courtney Fukuda.[3] In 2009, Israel co-founded and served as chief operating officer of ParkMe, a digital parking platform with a real-time database of parking information.[4] ParkMe was acquired by traffic data company Inrix in 2015.[5]
Israel has been included on Los Angeles Business Journal's "20 In Their 20s" list,[6] and the National Parking Association's "40 Under 40" list.[7] In 2024, Ernst & Young named Israel "Entrepreneur of the Year" for Los Angeles.[8]
History
The company uses computer vision and deep learning algorithms to recognize registered members' vehicles[9] and process payments automatically through a mobile application.[10]
In 2022, Metropolis Technologies acquired the Nashville-based company Premier Parking in 2022. As part of the merger, Premier CEO Ryan Hunt joined Metropolis as chief revenue officer.[2]
In 2023, the company raised $1.8 billion in funding, led by investors Eldridge and 3L,[11] before its $1.5 billion acquisition of SP Plus Corporation.[12] The deal was completed in 2024, taking SP Plus private.[13] This merger made it the largest parking operator in North America.[1]
Metropolis has been criticized by users on the Better Business Bureau for unclear pricing signage, leading to overcharging when customers exit parking lots.[15] The Tennessee Attorney General Division of Consumer Affairs reported 247 complaints from July 2020 to 2024 on Metropolis, with WSMV4 reporting that local consumers frequently complain about fraudulent parking tickets.[16][17][18]
A class-action lawsuit (Alhindi v. Metropolis Technologies, Inc.) alleges that Metropolis violated the Drivers Privacy Protection Act (DPPA) by improperly accessing address information to mail parking tickets. The case is currently pending as of Aug 2025.[19][20]
