How parking management systems reduce overall facility costs for employers

Parking has become an essential aspect of urban mobility as the penchant to own private cars rises. 

With the increase in individual cars on urban roads, the demand for parking spaces also increased. Research has shown, on average, that 95% of vehicles are parked, and this further reinforces the need for parking availability. At one point or the other, many car owners have experienced a parking challenge and its attendant frustrations. Given these parking problems, a visible solution to parking management was introduced. The issues associated with parking are better managed with the introduction of parking management. On this note, this article explores how introducing a parking management system has reduced facility costs for employers. 

Parking Management System

Parking management is saddled with the responsibility of optimizing space for parking. The parking challenges faced by car owners and the increasing urban population have made the cities less desirable. Thus, to provide healthy and environmentally friendly urban areas, a plan is put in place to solve the parking problem. This plan is to implement parking management, a set of strategies to use parking spaces in a building or company effectively. Parking management is managed manually. Manually running a complex task like parking may be a tad too daunting.  

To avoid manual errors and inefficiency, adopting a parking management system is important. The parking management system is the software that automates the management of parking spaces and processes. It eliminates many conventional parking problems such as dependence on guards, manual inspection of vehicles, long wait for customers, and ineffective management of visitors, among others. The parking management system is an innovative technology that helps people, companies, and organizations manage their parking spaces. Allocation of parking slots and tracking of vehicles are easily carried out with this system. Managing parking spaces reduces the impacts that parking issues have on the local community and the cost of business administration.   

Cost Reduction Methods in Parking Management

When considering a parking management system, cost and the requirement of organizations1 are vital. Having parking management software in companies is different from that of individual clients. The cost of parking can be quite costly for employers providing parking spaces for their employees. Most employers see it as a point of duty to provide parking space for their employees to reduce the wasted time that could have been used productively. Moreover, car owners pay high rates to get parking spaces in privately owned car parks, especially in areas with high traffic density. 

Employers tend to provide free parking for their employees to avoid parking issues, or parking is made available at a reduced cost. When the companies make the parking facility available, the employers bear the fee. Many organizations try to keep parking problems to a minimum. Also, parking cost varies depending on location, and it can be quite costly for employers. But with the right parking management system, a considerable facility cost may be achieved. Examples of companies that have been able to reduce parking costs using parking management systems are exemplified below.

How Sanofi Reduced Its Parking Cost

Sanofi is one of the biggest pharmaceutical companies, with about 100,000 employees worldwide. Parking has always been an issue for this company, so it spends exorbitantly on parking management. As a result of the size of its employees, the parking demand was high. The company had to spend a lot on parking. The company made it a matter of policy for its staff to have access to parking spaces at work or on and off-site. Although Sanofi paid exorbitantly for parking space, the parking space was less utilized. Managing parking spaces became more challenging because it was pricey. 

Consequently, Sanofi’s facilities team had to look for a way out of this problem. They found a parking management system. Sanofi leveraged technology to create adequate parking spaces for their employees. Sanofi’s first step was to conduct a market survey for software that is easiest and fastest to set up. Thereafter, Wayleadr was chosen and installed.

All staff members were grouped based on their parking privileges, and training was conducted on the app usage. Staff who need parking space will open the app to select the day he needs the space. A day before the parking space is necessary. Staff members are then notified of the availability of the space and the parking space number. 

Using Wayleadr has helped Sanofi solve its parking problem and significantly reduced the cost spent on parking. The software cut the overall cost spent on parking facilities.  

How Colliers International Reduced Its Parking Cost

With Wayleadr, Colliers International reduced the cost of parking facilities by €15,000 per office. Colliers International is one of the world’s largest commercial real estate firms with over 15,000 employees. Like Sanofi, it paid an exorbitant cost for parking spaces before adopting the parking management system. 

The nature of the job done in this company requires staff to be on the move. With 60% staff on the move, parking space was allocated to less than 40% of staff. There was a persistent issue with the ability to secure parking spaces. As their staff parked on the street, there was a high-cost implication for the company. The company’s Commercial Director, Nick Coveney, corroborated this and revealed that parking was a problem for the company until they discovered the parking management system. He further stated that the system had saved the company at least €15,000 per year. How was this achieved?

The parking management helped them dedicate spaces for people, and in the event of their absence, the space is passed on to another. Since the introduction of this system, there has been full occupancy of all parking spaces daily. The company is saved from paying the cost of parking on the street. Coveney affirms that the parking management system has saved the company at least €15K per year using this software. 

Conclusion

There is no doubt that parking problems frustrate employees and waste productive time. Parking Management System has helped in solving parking problems. Most importantly, it is a cost-cutting system utilized by employers to reduce the overall parking facility cost. Big companies like Sanofi and Colliers International have explored its efficiency.