August 11, 2022
(3-min read)
Our CEO & CTO recently attended the IPMI Parking Conference, hosted from 24-27 July in New Orleans, Louisiana. This event provided insight to our team about how COVID has impacted the parking and mobility industry and the evolving challenges in providing flexible parking solutions not just for staff but for the broader motorist community.
We thank the IPMI team for hosting Mosstyn and Will at this world-class event. Gathering this insight from industry figureheads has helped us understand that American employers and facility owners are facing similar issues to those Australians experienced off the back of COVID.
As America continues to repair from the pandemic, we know that our key takeaways will help you create flexible and dynamic parking solutions that are going to meet the needs of your customers.
Our top 3 key takeaways were:
Hybrid working is a big issue in the USA at the moment
Just like in Australia, many employees have become accustomed to working from home. In this, employers are noticing it is challenging to encourage employees to return to work, especially when they need to commute. For many employers, the parking spaces they lease are going unused.
With the onset and recovery from COVID, the hybrid working environment has become a key focus for businesses. No longer will many staff be present 5 days per week in offices, staff are asking for flexible working arrangements. The focus for US businesses is to meet the demand for flexible working arrangements that will not only increase productivity but also employee satisfaction.
Further, the educational presentation on hybrid working at the event, indicated that the traditional monthly parking product and one user per space are dead. More agile and flexible solutions were being created to attract staff back into the office and increase the utilisation of parking spaces.
Systems, like our Agile Parking solution, which allows employees to share parking spaces, can encourage them back into the office by guaranteeing them a parking spot on the premises. Similar to hot-desking in co-working spaces, Agile Parking allows employers to communicate with staff in real-time to better utilize parking inventory and provides greater work satisfaction and productivity from staff (less time searching for a car space).
Operators are building their own parking systems
Large firms and building operators across the United States have taken the time to build their own parking systems. This has been seen through firms including SP+, Reef and Laz. It mirrors actions taken by Secure Parking, which developed and is rolling out its own system here in Australia. It will be interesting to see if developing rather than purchasing a parking system will be a good investment for these operators.
Building upon our learnings and experience from past projects, our digital parking platform can seamlessly integrate with proprietary parking systems to create a complete digital parking experience for the end user. By plugging into our technology, parking operators can construct their own operable technology stack without needing to invest in developing from scratch your own parking platform.
QR Codes are booming in popularity
Though the United States continues to bounce back from COVID-19, QR codes have remained prevalent within the community. Many digital parking solutions utilize QR code systems to open payment portals. This allows employees and visitors to pay for parking from their phones rather than at designated payment stations. An additional benefit from this is a cut down on parking tickets, which positively impacts the environment.
Our team at UbiPark has implemented many of these ticketless parking solutions in the past to help business owners and car park operators become more efficient and sustainable. We have these solutions ready to go and can implement QR validations and online payment without the requirement to download an app.
We look forward to helping our customers across the globe capitalise on innovative parking solutions
The IPMI Parking Conference has opened the UbiPark team up to new opportunities in the market. The conference has increased our knowledge of the challenges facing parking asset owners and especially corporates trying to get the staff back into the office in the new hybrid working environments. Our aim is to share our learnings with our customers over the coming weeks to help them run efficient parking operations.
If you are looking to make a change for your business, employees or visitors, you can implement our solutions at any time. Contact us TODAY to get started.
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