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The parking garage is often easy to overlook, but as it is the first and last touchpoint for guests, making a crucial first impression on first-time and frequent visitors is key to elevating the customer experience. Camera-based parking guidance systems were designed to remove all stress and uncertainty from the parking process, providing a seamless and stress-free experience for each parker – from initial entry to an open space. All while improving overall traffic flow throughout a facility, across an entire property, and even in the surrounding area. However, the garage is not only a critical part of the customer experience, but it is a critical part of the asset as a whole and it must be utilized as such. The intelligent infrastructure of a camera-based system provides a myriad of additional benefits for Owners and Operators that serve to enhance garage efficiency and drive new revenue opportunities to increase the facility’s bottom line.  

A Seamless Wayfinding Loop: Reducing Congestion, Increasing Efficiency, Maximizing Revenue

Equipped with wayfinding signage, smart-sensors, and an integrated software platform, camera-based parking guidance systems help reduce traffic throughout the facility while increasing efficiency. From entry to exit, parkers are quickly guided to open spaces by entry wayfinding signage, directional in-aisle digital signage, and camera-based color-coded smart-sensors. This wayfinding loop ensures that parkers are no longer left to aimlessly comb through aisles in the garage fruitlessly seeking illusive open spaces. As drivers enter a space, the LED light above the parking bay turns red, so all other parkers know it is no longer available. Additionally, as spaces become occupied, the wayfinding signage is automatically updated through the integrated software to reflect these changes, so parkers receive the most up-to-date information instantaneously. This seamless parking solution reduces the amount of time parkers are left searching for parking, decreasing congestion within the facility. 

Guaranteeing parkers can easily and quickly find available spaces, parking bays are utilized more efficiently, with a quicker turnover and higher usage. The more times a parking bay turns over throughout the day, the more customers the facility serves, and the more opportunity it has to increase revenue. Often available spaces can be left vacant for extended periods simply because rushed parkers can’t find them. When this happens, these facilities suffer from underutilization and overcrowding. 

Additionally, these camera-based smart sensor systems come equipped with License Plate Recognition (LPR) capabilities that power integrated software extensions to help parkers find their cars upon returning to the garage. This significantly decreases the amount of time people spend exiting the facility. Again, it helps reduce traffic, maximize space utilization, and increase turnover, ensuring the garage operates as efficiently as possible. 

Creating new revenue opportunities 

Camera-based parking guidance systems can also be used to find the hidden money in a facility to maximize revenue streams. Utilizing a software-driven camera-based parking guidance solution, garage Operators can easily designate spaces for premium pricing — or other pricing strategies — anywhere throughout the facility. The color-coded LED indicator is then activated in the appropriate smart-sensors, guiding premium-minded parkers to that space. Once a vehicle enters a premium space, the camera-based smart-sensor feeds vehicle ID and location data to the garage’s PARCS or other revenue management system — which applies the pre-entered premium rate for that engagement. Operators can designate specific premium prices for the most desired spaces, and they can also enforce these rules and automate this payment, so there is no loss of revenue. As spots are monitored closely by smart-sensor cameras, these sensors use LPR technology to assign the correct parking tariff to the appropriate vehicle occupying the space. There is no need for expensive gate systems or costly loss of spaces. Camera-based parking guidance parking technology is all-encompassing − a solution with the power to instantly increase revenues and the bottom line. 

As the expectation of parking guidance systems has increased over time, camera-based parking guidance has evolved to meet these demands. By elevating the parker experience from end to end, camera-based parking guidance helps encourage repeat visits and build brand loyalty. Making sure every possible space in a garage is utilized also helps ensure maximum usage per square foot. This can save millions in construction costs for a new facility. And it can postpone or eliminate the need to expand or replace an existing facility. Additionally, a camera-based PGS offers facilities the ability to solve current parking needs and plan for the future while reducing search times and traffic jams, increasing revenues, promoting higher turnover and occupancy, and maximizing facility utilization.

References

Lato, L. (2021, May 10). Automatic license plate recognition: A high-level technical overview. ParkingIndustry. Retrieved September 23, 2021, from

Park Assist. (2021, May 10). How camera-based parking guidance can deliver more efficiency and create more revenue opportunities. Parking Industry. Retrieved October 7, 2021, from https://www.parkingindustry.ca/feature-articles/how-camera-based-parking-guidance-can-deliver-more-efficiency-and-create-more-revenue-opportunities?rq=lpr.