Nov 24, 2020
5 Recommendations for using Data Analytics for Effective Parking Management.
Here are our top five (5) suggestions while evaluating the Data Analytics of parking management software solution to improve performance of parking lot facility.
VERIFIABLE ASSURANCE
Operators must certify that it is practicable to check the collection of raw parking data ( e.g. for one month) from parking equipment against recorded sales to ensure that there are no inconsistencies or anomalies in the base data ( e.g. missed transactions, payments, gate events, etc.) before being used in any database of parking management software or applications of Business Intelligence.
For example- To keep track of actual total number of cars parked vs captured ticket transactions in your roadside parking lot, you can get data from equipment like parking lot occupancy sensors installed in your parking lot
PILOT
The established capabilities or tools of parking management software providers’ proposed Business Intelligence solution(s) need to be clearly demonstrated with several parking operators. It’s not nice enough to display only PowerPoint presentation with differing device screenshots. You should be able to see the product running in an actual facility in real time.
PERSONABLE
Operators must ensure that parking data for each parking facility is accessible in various formats and that it correlates to site-specific operational characteristics ( e.g. outdoor surface lots vs. weather conditions, stay period while facilities are staffed vs. unstaffed, associated amounts of transactions, broken down by rates; per day / month / year, etc.
REPORTATION
To provide you with valuable reports, operators need to show how they plan to use parking data. For instance, if 48 percent of parkers who enter an airport parking facility in the garage closest to the terminal entrance / exit between 6am-10am park and are responsible for generating 70 percent of the total revenue of the parking facility, what does that mean? Why is that meaningful? If the parking operator is able to present the data in this example to illustrate a higher percentage of traveler drop-offs / pickups or short-term parkers in this facility (mainly due to the close proximity to the terminal), the customer might accept (or justify) potential rate changes or variable pricing arrangements (based on demand and time of day). Ask your operator if they plan on capitalizing on the information they gain.
FORECASTING
Parking managers must be able to provide real case studies about how historical parking data has been used by their Business Intelligence solutions to predict potential occupancy needs in a parking facility or low occupancy at other times. Their Business Intelligence tools must be able to analyze data and forecast parker trends by day, week or month, etc. (with fair certainty). For someone looking to adopt a strategy for variable or “dynamic” pricing, this will be especially important.
Parking data is useful in smart city traffic management use cases if it is used properly and to the full extent. The collection of parking data (like availability of parking spaces, the type of parking whether it is indoor, outdoor, or roadside, whether it offers advance parking booking facility etc) is just the first step to the digitization of parking lots. Digitization brings enhanced quality of parking lot operation for better customer experience and gaining customer loyalty.
So search for smart parking equipment supplier who can capture live data of parking lots and create data insights for you. This would also make parking facilities look advanced and create brand experience for customers.
Last but let’s not forget this that parking lot owners who already have all data like hourly cars parked, peak time of houseful parking, availability of vacant parking spaces etc. would be making descent revenue once EV chargers make their way to parking lots.
