But, We are a City, Parking’s Different Here

I get this all the time – Parking is different if its generator is an airport, or a city, or a hospital, or an office building, or a venue, or a restaurant, or …..You get the idea. And of course there are differences. But there are also similarities.

Blake Laufer of T2 put it best in his Technology article for the Canadian Parking Association's Parker magazine:

At its core, the business model of parking is pretty simple: People park their cars, and people pay you for parking.

That's it. Blake says there are five revenue collection models –

1. Pay Before you park – (Contract and Monthly parking)
2. Pay on Arrival (cigar bos, cash apron, or honor box)
3. Pay while you park (Pay on Foot, Pay by Cell,
4. Pay on Departure (Cashier Booth, CCIO,)
5. Pay after you park (Credit Card on File and Charges aggregated and charged monthly.)

And if you think about it, these five models are deeply connected with all parking operations, whether at an airport, city, hospital, office building, university or wherever.

The problem we have as an industry is that we don't tend to concentrate on making the model we are using work and work well. If we add technology, we assume the technology will solve our problems and forget that in the end, people park their cars, and people pay for parking, and we need to be able to ensure they get into the spaces and collect the money.

JVH

Comments

[Andy Van Horn]

You forgot "Pay Via Proxy"-When there is free parking at a mall or event, the charge is included in the price of the products being sold or the event ticket. Or when parking is free on the street, it is paid via taxes.

[Glenn Moyer]

good catch andy. Here's another - when you park in your garage and its included in your mortgage.