The uptake of parking guidance systems (PGS) among asset owners has grown substantially in recent years, and given the benefits they provide, it’s easy to understand why. As a result, there have been some new market entrants providing parking guidance solutions. Regardless of who you choose for parking guidance here are our tips on what to look for when selecting a parking guidance system to invest in for your asset:

1. Asset Yield – research shows that 10% of car park bays are empty when customers think they’re full*, depriving asset owners of additional custom and the opportunity to optimise revenues. Furthermore, studies tell us that the ease of parking is more important than store promotions when consumers are choosing where to shop*.

By investing in a PGS you’re creating customer loyalty. Returning customers are great word of mouth promoters of your asset and increase the yield of your car park facilities. For optimal results, it is necessary to ensure that what the customers sees is simple, easily understood and timely.

2. Accuracy – accuracy matters. Customers love parking guidance but when they see a green bay availability indicator light above occupied parking bays their experience quickly turns sour. There is also little point having way-finding signage in place if the display data is several minutes behind in updating. Your parking guidance signage and indicator lighting needs to be correct and updating in real time. The lack of accuracy or update performance will only serve to create more complaints and waste the time of your asset managers. Check the update frequency, reporting and notification features of any system to ensure that the data supplied is going to be of use to effectively manage (and improve) your operations.

3. Equipment – Ensure that the hardware that is being installed in your asset is one that is robust and reliable. A parking guidance system is generally in operation all day, every day and situated in an environment that demands durability.

4. Maintenance – Check the maintenance programs of your provider to ensure your investment is going to be looked after for at least 5 if not 10 years. Software in particular but hardware also will inevitably require maintenance to ensure ongoing functionality and smooth operations.

5. Customisation – No two car parks are the same; and if your car park has specific or unique requirements it is critical to ensure that you have flexible and dynamic signage messaging capabilities. Specialty bays; time variant availability; the combination of commercial and residential parking areas are different for each location. It is also important to ensure that your parking guidance system can be customised and easily tailored.

6. Signage – A parking guidance system without excellent way-finding signage is a poor investment choice. Ensure that the signage installed is sufficient to make the way-finding and customer experience smooth and stress free.

7. Installation – check that the installation method and processes will minimise disruption to your daily operations during the project phase. Check that the installation Project Manager has considerable car parking industry expertise. Most people underestimate how complex these assets are.

Improving yield and customer experience are often the key drivers to install a parking guidance system and your car park will reap rewards from a PGS only if the above 7 factors are tailored to the unique requirements of your asset. But if it’s done well, it’s a compelling ‘win-win’ for asset owners and car mark managers and a great experience for your customers.

For site tours, quotes, technical specifications and trusted advice from experienced parking industry professionals, contact us.

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* Sources: 1. Cormack, L. (2016) Sydney Morning Herald 2. Brantley, D. (2015) Parking Today

Our devices, our internet usage and our shopping habits – all provide data to organisations who use it to understand how best to refine and improve their service offerings.

The parking industry is not immune. With a plethora of articles and research considering the future of parking, the industry is poised for adaptation …without knowing exactly what that change looks like.

Trends that are widely tipped to influence the need for parking include a generational change in the attitude to, and demand for, cars; driverless vehicles; the sharing economy; environmental concerns; and an increasing bike culture.

How then can the parking industry prepare for and leverage these trends that are shaping the future of parking? The answer is data. Using the data available from parking guidance systems to understand utilisation trends over time and optimise the management of parking assets means owners use relevant information to inform their current operations and have the tools to be more agile when it comes to future change.

Just like hotels and airlines, the parking industry relies on selling its bays as many times as possible for the best price, and an empty bay represents lost revenue. In the short term, using data to understand things like peak periods, seasonal cycles, customer types (casual, long term etc) and overstays means operations can be streamlined to optimise utilisation of the asset and maximise revenue .

Many asset owners already use parking guidance technology to enhance their service and customer experience. As this case study shows, Dee Why RSL use their PGS technology to allocate specific parking bays to local business according to time of day.

Adapting usage within parking assets is not uncommon where residential and commercial buildings share common space. The trick is to manage it effectively for the benefit of all users – and having access to real-time data is an essential enabler.

In the long term, as this article suggests, there is an increasing need to review parking policy to ensure it is efficient and equitable. Concepts such as market-based, adaptive pricing for on- and off-street parking; bay rental and transference of ownership are all possibilities for the future of parking as a service offering.

Studies already occur using statistics and algorithms to predict and optimise parking outcomes, cementing the idea that data has a large role to play in the future of parking. Those who don’t consider their capacity to collect and effectively use the information at their disposal, do so at the risk of future responsiveness to a changing business landscape.

• Car parks that install a parking guidance solution typically report improved customer satisfaction almost immediately. Respecting the customer’s experience by saving them time and stress is a win for ensuring return business.

• When it comes to a PGS, accuracy matters. Park Agility’s parking guidance solutions boast infrared sensor technology with >99% accuracy, providing real time occupancy data that helps asset managers improve car park optimisation. In addition, accurate data means wayfinding signage and highly visible per-bay indicator lights are correctly updated, ensuring drivers are only being guided to available parking bays and not to an already occupied space.

• A parking guidance system helps asset owners optimise their parking mix with dynamic multi-coloured sensor lights making various parking bays – such as wheelchair accessible, pram and electric charging bays – available at different times of day. Real time reporting also allows for notification and management of overstays and of incorrect bay occupation, for example residents parking in a public parking area for extended periods instead of in assigned residential bays.

• As reducing our carbon footprint increases in importance, the reduction in congestion and exhaust fumes that comes from no longer circling car parks but being directly guided to availability becomes valuable, especially for those asset managers looking to achieve a higher green star rating for their property.

• Park Agility’s easily adaptable way-finding signage ensures our customers can tailor the use of their parking guidance system. In this case study, Dee Why RSL use different areas of their car park for different parking users at various times of day, optimising both the carpark’s use and their customer’s parking experience.

• Installing a parking guidance system need not be a headache. Our fast installation process is facilitated by local assembly and flexible timings that work around our clients’ business operations. As an Australian based organisation, on-going service and maintenance occurs in your time zone and our experienced team offer over 75 years of experience in the parking industry, meaning we understand your challenges.

Still not convinced? Contact us for site tours, technical specs, trusted advice and local references to ensure our parking guidance system helps optimise your commercial parking asset.

Mobility as a Service (MaaS) is seeing growth in research and experimentation in the transport industry across the globe as governments and communities try to manage increasing populations and transportation in an effective, affordable way.

In its simplest form, MaaS is a digital system whereby mobility solutions are provided as a service based on individual travel needs. The goal is to integrate an end to end system that allows users to plan, book and pay for their journey via an app and using multiple options to reach their destination such as ride sharing, bike sharing, public transport, and more. This service, in theory, will make more efficient use of existing private and public transportation services infrastructure.

Although such a system suggests that in future the requirement and desire for private car ownership will fall, this Deloitte report suggests there are a range of industries that can capitalise on the rise of MaaS, including the parking industry.

Currently, the industry seeks to balance the supply of parking to cater to a city’s resident and visitor needs, the effective utilisation of prime real estate and the need to manage road congestion. The use of sensor technology and parking guidance solutions to comprehensively understand utilisation in real time, track and manage peak periods, provide real-time wayfinding plus optimise availability, is largely creating an efficient, positive consumer experience.

With the rise of MaaS, the theory expects the demand for parking solutions may fall, and that the services the industry provides will both improve and evolve. For example, a shift to fleets of shared (or self-driving) cars may well see demand move away from personal vehicles, yet those fleets will still require space for idol periods. New types of spaces such as pick up/drop off zones and electric vehicle charging stations will increasingly appear and the ability of the parking industry to adapt, innovate and provide value will be critical.

Until this occurs, opportunities in the parking industry are slated to be around value-add services, space management, flexible facilities, payments and pricing , customer experience, partnerships and much more.

The benefits of using technology to create more user-friendly, valuable and efficient parking experiences are many, as are the challenges. The changes that MaaS forecasts will require coordination across a large variety of stakeholders – operators, governments, payment providers and software and technology companies.

As a provider in the parking industry, Park Agility keeps a close eye on information about trials of MaaS locally and in other countries and has developed and continues to evolve open APIs to its core management system. Doing so ensures that we can assist our clients with adapting to the changes that will inevitably occur.

For as the Deloitte report aptly ends, “for those willing to not only look at today’s needs but anticipate tomorrow’s challenges, they may find that parking can be an important enabler – rather than a victim – of the future of mobility.”