Does your company need parking management software?

Are you working for a company with rampant parking problems? Trying to figure out how to solve these issues? Wondering would parking management software be the solution or an expensive mistake?

Here’s a quick explainer to help you identify whether your company needs parking management software. First things first, make sure you have an idea of the different types of parking management software. It’s used quite broadly by a lot of vendors to describe very different products.

For the purposes of this blog we are going to look at employee parking management software.

Parking problems manifest themselves in a host of different ways. However, parking issues can generally be categorized into a couple of areas.

i) Lack of parking spaces
ii) Poor management
iii) Lack of control
iv) Employee over-reliance on driving

Each issue has a unique set of challenges, so let’s understand the issues a little better and figure out can parking management software help.

Looking for some real-life examples? Check out how companies like Colliers International, Version 1 & Ayre Chamberlain Gaunt have solved their parking problems.

i) Parking Problem: Lack of Parking Spaces

So when you start to dig into parking problems, the most common complaint is a lack of space. Companies have a much higher demand for parking than space available.

Companies with a lack of space resort to one of two approaches.

Designated Parking

This is were companies implement designated parking spaces. This means that certain staff are given fixed access to set parking spaces. While this ensures that key staff have access to parking it has a major downside. What happens when your key staff are away from the office?

“The average car park operating a designated parking space policy will only be 60%-70% full during the average week.”

With key staff out of office at meetings, working from home or on holidays, massive wastage occurs.

With the growth of flexible working and work from home, this approach has become outdated. Parking management software can track who needs parking and when. Automatically allocating space to staff in need on a real-time basis.

Verdict – You definitely need parking management software

First Come, First Serve

Some companies like to leave it up to the lap of the gods and go with a first come, first serve system. This might seem like a good process on the face of it but it has a number of difficulties.

“First come, first serve policies is a massive driver for heavy car usage. Staff always believe there is a chance of parking and take the car even if public transport or active travel are better options.”

This results in an unhealthy space race with people getting in at all hours to guarantee space. This might sound ok to some but greatly disadvantages workers with young families who can’t get to work at the crack of dawn. Is it really beneficial for an entry level employee who lives 1km away to be getting a space ahead of a middle manager who lives 25km away?

Finally, first come, first served is really bad for traffic. According to research from UCLA, when a motorist doesn’t know where they are parking, their time in the car increases by 6 minutes. When you consider this at scale happening close to your office, it’s traffic chaos.

A good parking management software allows companies to automatically allocate parking to staff. Staff can check spare space in real-time. While employers can prioritize staff based on seniority or previous usage habits. This ensures all staff get to use space fairly.

While increasing parking certainty will reduce car usage and traffic around the office.

Verdict – Parking management software will deliver a streamlined parking experience for you and your staff.

ii) Parking Problem: Massive Administrative Burden of Parking Management

Many progressive companies are very good at identifying their parking problems. They have developed complex manual systems to overcome their parking issues.

“This is great on one level. The knock on effect is parking becomes a vortex for the poor souls who manage parking. They spend their days trying to track down rogue drivers and overseeing complicated spreadsheets full of parkers.”

When it comes to dealing with the variables of parking, technology is now so powerful. A good parking management software will eliminate all the admin from employee parking management. Literally performing tasks in a mili-second that would take a month to do manually.

Verdict – A parking management software is a must, it will save you time, money and piece of mind.

iii) Parking Problem: Rogue Parking?

This is a big issue for companies in shared car parks. All there best laid plans are regularly put on pause by rogue parkers. They are then left with the nightmare of trying to locate the offender so they can get the car moved.

This issue will impact companies without a parking barrier or gate the most. So if you’re struggling with parking violations and you don’t have a parking control system, that is your first step.

If you’ve got a parking barrier and still have massive problems, a parking management software could help.

“Using software you can automatically monitor parking violations and communicate with offenders.”

Parking software is particularly popular with landlords who want to improve tenant experience.

Verdict – Software might be a help depending on your issue

iv) Parking Problem: Over-Dependence On Cars

This is the fastest growing problem for companies. A massive cultural shift is awakening employers and employees to the impact of driving on the environment.

As a result companies are prioritizing the reduction of car usage among employees. In the early days, companies were going for blanket reduction in car parks and letting employees figure the rest out. It quickly became apparent that this wasn’t solving the problem.

Companies are now moving towards a more holistic approach. Promotion of alternative travel is combined with a stage reduction in parking spaces.

“Software is a key driver in managing this staged reduction of parking space. Employees can be given limited parking priviledges without going cold turkey.”

This allows employers to transition into more responsible commuting patterns while still ensuring parking is available when needed.

Verdict – software is going to make your life a lot easier and gives you the added benefit of being able to track all progress.

Other Problems?

Don’t see your companies parking problem? It sounds like it could be an interesting issue. You’d better talk to an expert. Schedule a free demo with our team of experts. We’d be happy to have a free consultation to see how best to solve your issue.

Parking causing issues? Join industry leaders from companies like Sanofi, Indeed.com & CBRE, schedule a demo with Wayleadr.com today and solve your parking problems in the click of a button.

To maximise your parking allocation and increase parking availability schedule a free demo with Wayleadr today.