As communities begin to reopen following the COVID-19 crisis, the parking landscape will look a lot different. Re-openings will look different depending on what part of the country you’re in, and this will have a big impact on parking. Some areas will open faster, and parking facilities will fill up more, and for some areas this will be slower. But the new expectations of the community will likely be the same wherever you are.

Like most organizations, municipal parking departments have taken a significant financial hit in the past year plus. But there are a number of strategies they can implement to attract new (and previous) patrons, keep expenses low, and enhance customer service. Here are just a few ways municipalities can be strategic throughout this reopening period:

• Touchless Parking – customers will have a greater expectation for a convenient parking experience, while limiting exposure to surfaces and interactions with other people. The ParkEngage Touchless Parking solution meets all of these expectations creating a safe and seamless customer journey. Check out how it works here.
• Inventory Management – Many municipalities use parking aggregators to resell their parking inventory. This is a great strategy for informing the public of available spaces and bringing in as much revenue as possible. However, there are ways to make this process even more effective as well as maintaining control over your parking assets. ParkEngage Inventory Management allows you to reach a wider market, partner with nearby businesses, and gain better negotiating power to maximize revenues.
• Effective Marketing and Promotions – Today, customers are the most savvy and informed that they’ve ever been. Mostly thankful to all of the technology and information available at their fingertips. Parking owners and operators can use this to their advantage by implementing creative marketing and promotional strategies. ParkEngage Promotions helps our clients stay ahead of the competition and create brand loyalty through personalized promo codes, campaigns, and the strategic use of analytics to create a parking experience customized to each user.

Check out all of the ParkEngage services and how they can help to improve your municipal parking operation. You can also take advantage of our limited time free trial to get an up close look at how our solutions will work for you. Contact us to learn more.

The college experience has looked much different throughout 2020 and now into 2021. Many institutions remain virtual with students attending their classes from home, or even from their on-campus residences. Campus activities are extremely limited if even happening at all. Those that are happening have no crowds or are significantly reduced, from athletic events or theater productions to graduations.

Of course, the reduced number of students, the lack of on-campus programs and events, and the limited if not elimination of the typical crowds of hundreds and thousands of spectators has had a major impact on parking on campus. Revenues have declined dramatically, and budgets have been cut. It will take months if not years to get back to normal, and the return to “normal” on these campuses will likely require the integration of new technologies to not only provide a greater feeling of safety, while keeping expenses low.

As mentioned in previous posts, touchless parking solutions are (and will continue) to be critical to providing parking patrons with feeling of safety and security in facilities. Further, this generation of students have the expectation to be able to locate a facility, enter, pay, and exit all through the convenience of their mobile devices.

ParkEngage Touchless Parking meets all of these expectations and a much lower price than other solutions. For a limited time, we are also offering our customers a free trial to test the solution before committing. Contact us to learn more, and check out our Touchless Parking video to see how it works!