Well-regulated parking is essential, especially for the accessibility of downtown city centres. But how do you explain this to others?
Communicating about parking is a challenge. People don’t want a hassle when it comes to parking their car – it has to go fast and easy, hassle-free and convenient.
Parking has to be available and not too expensive. It’s common that most customers don’t know the value of parking. And when you don’t understand the value, how can you be okay with the price?
Vexpan, the Dutch parking association, believes that the parking industry has to improve the communication towards customers and needs to explain the benefits of regulated and paid parking better; that regulated and paid parking exists because there is too much demand and too little supply. The higher the demand compared to the supply, the higher the fee. The higher the fee, the more chance to find an available parking spot.
“Kernboodschappen”, Dutch for “Key Messages”, is the title of the newest document issued by the Vexpan, and embodies a general introduction to communicating about parking. It’s meant to inspire members of the Association on how to communicate.
In the document, the Vexpan defined 4 key messages:
- Accessibility and urban development
- Quality of the public space
- Costs and distribution
- Environment and safety
Every Key Message is translated to 3 target groups:
- Consumers (e.g. people who park their car)
- Government (e.g. decisions on parking, laws, strategies on parking enforcement)
- Stakeholders (e.g. retailers)
If you’re interested in the document, you can download it here (in Dutch): Vexpan Kernboodschappen Parkeersector 2014
Source: www.vexpan.com
