PARKING LOT OPERATORS
Maximizing revenue and safety
Data from ALPR
As vehicles enters a campus parking lot, automatic license plate recognition (ALPR) cameras record license plates and snap contextual photos. The plates are validated in real time against a permitting app, and parking operations is notified of any non-permitted vehicles. All such vehicles receive warnings or fines.
The parking operations team looks at an analysis of the past few months’ parking data, including volumes throughout the day and night each day of the week, proportion of regular versus occasional vehicle visits, and other statistics. Based on their findings, they adjust costs on the campus parking app and send out promotional messages to subscribers. Within two weeks, overall revenues increase by five per cent.
These are everyday occurrences for parking operators who have invested in next-generation ALPR technology, whether it’s for fixed-lane, gateless parking, or mobile units.
Data is the key to better parking operations
For parking operators, the key to greater success lies in data—information that flows in and out of lots day and night. Consulting firm Deloitte found that analysis and technology can be used to “enable more efficient use of assets and increase revenue by reducing the number of customers who give up and leave a lot, ramp, or neighborhood due to a perceived lack of space, while facilitating more dynamic and flexible pricing throughout the day or week.”1
“For parking operators, the key to greater success lies in data—information that flows in and out of lots day and night.”
An analytics-intensive program put in place by the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) backs that claim up with practical experience. The Demand-Responsive Pricing Program resulted in serious benefits:
- 43% reduction in parking search time
- 30% reduction in circling for parking within city park areas
- 35% increase in sales tax revenues at local businesses2
Raising all KPIs
In every parking situation, technology has a big role to play. In some instances that technology is ALPR; in others it could be something else entirely. Start by asking yourself this question:
‘How can I make the parking experience more user-friendly while improving efficiency, capturing revenue I’m currently missing, and boosting security?’
The answer will inevitably involve the aggregation and analysis of data. In a recent report, consulting firm Deloitte found that “data analytics and a modern IT infrastructure to ensure real-time tracking and end-to-end visibility are likely to increasingly be foundational competencies in the parking space.”3
As competition for parking increases and the entire parking paradigm changes in lockstep with the way that we use vehicles, smart decisions based on data analysis are going to inform winning strategies to maintain market share and diversify revenue streams.
Technology is critical
“LPR is an essential element of frictionless parking,” writes Kristin Phillips of Parking Today. “It can dramatically improve operations and decrease costs. And by providing data about individual parkers and when and how often they park in a particular facility, the technology provides invaluable information that can be used to run a garage or parking lot more efficiently, and make better long-term planning decisions.”4
The kinds of decisions that Phillips is talking about have mostly to do with frequency, duration and time of day. Parking analytics has enabled operators large and small to increase revenues not only by locating and fining more offenders, but also by tailoring permitting options to driver behavior, and therefore capturing more share of the market.
Technology is critical
“LPR is an essential element of frictionless parking,” writes Kristin Phillips of Parking Today. “It can dramatically improve operations and decrease costs. And by providing data about individual parkers and when and how often they park in a particular facility, the technology provides invaluable information that can be used to run a garage or parking lot more efficiently, and make better long-term planning decisions.”4
The kinds of decisions that Phillips is talking about have mostly to do with frequency, duration and time of day. Parking analytics has enabled operators large and small to increase revenues not only by locating and fining more offenders, but also by tailoring permitting options to driver behavior, and therefore capturing more share of the market.
Not just higher revenues, but also better security
ALPR leads to better parking experiences. It can allow operators to do away with gates entirely, relieving congestion. It can dispense with lining up to pay an attendant or swipe a card. It can also increase safety in several ways, including sharing license plate hotlists with public safety and expanding the reach of site security to the edges of facilities and campuses.
Fixed and mobile units combine to secure and monitor areas previously left unprotected, including parking lots and curb-side parking. Properly designed ALPR systems can also bring together a broad ecosystem of parking enforcement and payment partners. When managed from a single unified security platform, the automatic recognition of a license plate can be configured to trigger actions and alarms across your entire security system. This way you can investigate events while accessing unparalleled reporting.
Not just higher revenues, but also better security
ALPR leads to better parking experiences. It can allow operators to do away with gates entirely, relieving congestion. It can dispense with lining up to pay an attendant or swipe a card. It can also increase safety in several ways, including sharing license plate hotlists with public safety and expanding the reach of site security to the edges of facilities and campuses.
Fixed and mobile units combine to secure and monitor areas previously left unprotected, including parking lots and curb-side parking. Properly designed ALPR systems can also bring together a broad ecosystem of parking enforcement and payment partners. When managed from a single unified security platform, the automatic recognition of a license plate can be configured to trigger actions and alarms across your entire security system. This way you can investigate events while accessing unparalleled reporting.
Address your unique needs with a custom parking operations solution
When we provide universities’ transportation departments with next-generation ALPR systems for their campuses, they typically need to share data with their permitting apps. That way, they can follow in the footsteps of the City of Fort Lauderdale, which recouped their ALPR investment in just two months by improving scofflaw detection.
Going from data to actions that improve experiences and revenues often requires a custom solution. We work with our customers to explore their needs, scope the project, and combine our technologies within a custom solution built to fulfill specific goals. The sophisticated custom software engineering capabilities that Route1 provides have become very important to customers like the U.S. Department of Defense and Shaw Industries.
Address your unique needs with a custom parking operations solution
When we provide universities’ transportation departments with next-generation ALPR systems for their campuses, they typically need to share data with their permitting apps. That way, they can follow in the footsteps of the City of Fort Lauderdale, which recouped their ALPR investment in just two months by improving scofflaw detection.
Going from data to actions that improve experiences and revenues often requires a custom solution. We work with our customers to explore their needs, scope the project, and combine our technologies within a custom solution built to fulfill specific goals. The sophisticated custom software engineering capabilities that Route1 provides have become very important to customers like the U.S. Department of Defense and Shaw Industries.
Keep your data secure
We know your data is valuable, which is why Route1 builds technology solutions with security as a first principle. It’s where our organization began and where it continues to excel: we invented data security and user authentication technologies that landed us patents in Canada and the U.S. and technology accreditations (ATOs) with the U.S. Department of Defense. From remote user authentication to a secure remote access solution that delivers your employees’ trusted desktop to them wherever they are, we help agencies of all kinds deliver military-grade data security.
1IBM Security X-Force Threat Intelligence Index 2020
2San Francisco Adopts Demand-Responsive Pricing Program to Make Parking Easier, The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA), December 2017
3The Future of Parking, Deloitte Insights, 2018
4Penny Wise, But Pound Foolish: Take Care When You Buy LPR, Park News, Parking Today Media, March 2020