Do you need a parking management company?

Table of contents

1. What is a parking management company?
2. Traditional vs. software parking management
3. Traditional parking management
4. Parking management software
5. Implementing a solution for your space

So why is a parking management company so vital? Well, parking can be a daily challenge and hassle. Employees trying to find enough space to park, organizations assume they have enough space, and every meeting is dominated by a complaint or two about parking.

To soothe parking headaches, you can use a parking management company to step in and organize everything smoothly. You must choose between a traditional boots-on-the-ground approach or a streamlined software solution. There are several things to consider when choosing between a traditional parking management system and a digital parking management solution.

What is a parking management company?

Parking management is how companies can develop, organize, and optimize the parking spaces in their area. This includes staff and customer parking. It's a company's system and philosophy to deal with parking in all its forms.

A car park management company is a company that focuses solely on parking management. They're a third-party group that organizations can hire to handle the day-to-day nuances of parking management so your organization can focus on its objectives instead of the administration of parking spaces. Some parking management companies use traditional methods, while others leverage parking management software to complete the job.

Traditional vs. Software

Traditional parking management

Pros

Ideal for busy metro areas and spaces without access control

Boots on the ground approach to monitoring parking stalls and managing infringements can be useful in areas with a lot of traffic and people searching for parking spaces. For example, parking wardens and towing management can make a physical presence that retains parking for staff instead of people who park there and walk to a nearby destination that has nothing to do with your company.

If your space doesn't have access control, such as a gate or barrier, having parking wardens present can offer additional safety and security, prioritizing employee safety and security.

Cons

Expensive and locked into contracts for up to 3 years

Traditional parking companies are expensive, with higher costs. Long and inflexible contracts compound this. The standard is to sign a contract for up to 3 years, reducing your flexibility in the event of changes or the desire to save money. This makes it a long-term commitment and limits workplace options, not allowing them to change their parking policy or setup.

Could offer no ROI

When you offer free staff parking, a traditional parking management company is a benefit that costs money but doesn’t offer a return on investment. This can be a downside for companies looking to optimize their cash flow and get the most out of their partnerships.

Stall allocation is still manual and falls to the employer

Although you’ll have a parking management company that offers on-the-spot management, it still falls to the employer to decide who gets the parking stalls and when. This means that administrative needs still exist as the manual process still has to be set up and have internal management.

Lack of data on utilization and real-time information

A traditional parking management company doesn’t offer information on what is actually happening. You can't see who is really parking where or what stalls are and need to have use. There's a lack of actionable data to make improvements, such as increasing utilization to making parking fairer.

Limited options for paying

Traditional parking management companies have various ways to pay for parking. This is usually from a centralized physical location like a payment machine. However, this can make payment inconvenient. You are sending people out of their way to another location, making them fumble for credit cards and try to remember their license plate numbers, and learning a new machine every time.

Parking management software

Pros

Cost-effective and scalable, especially for free parking

Offering free parking is a great way to engender support and confidence with customers and employees. You can enjoy the best of both worlds with parking management software. This is because it's less expensive and can be scaled to fit whatever parking lot size you have.

Flexibility to cancel anytime

Because there are few physical components to parking management software, you can cancel at any time, like a subscription, giving you the flexibility to change your mind.

Assigning spaces becomes automated

Save manpower by allowing automated software to take over the process of assigning parking spaces. The intelligent and easy-to-use software intuitively prioritizes parking spaces. This is based on criteria such as bookings, preferred bay, and infringement history, with automated alerts and capabilities to simplify processes for administration.

Real-time visibility

See exactly what parking spaces are being used and which aren’t. You can then adjust your parking lease accordingly while optimizing the spaces you have. This kind of parking management solution lets you see who is parking and where. Leaving you with up-to-date data and can enforce it accordingly.

Charge daily, weekly, or monthly to offset lease costs

Access to various charging options gives customers options that fit them so that employees can pay according to their needs. However, visitors and customers can pay what's better for them. Charging various terms like this can help you offset the leasing costs of the parking lot.

Cons

Not suitable for less than 10 spaces

For parking lots with 10 spaces or less, parking management software might not be cost-effective, and other parking management solutions might be better.

Wardens may still be required

Parking wardens may still be required for busy metro areas without barriers or gates to keep other people from occupying employees' spaces.

Implementing a solution for your space

Finding the right parking management solution for your needs requires weighing the pros and cons of traditional parking management companies versus what you need in your specific situation.

For more information on how parkable can help you with your parking management needs, check out our parking management solutions.