2020 has certainly been a challenging year for the parking industry, with Coronavirus taking its toll on occupancy and revenue. However, our parking professionals have noticed some silver linings to the Covid-19 pandemic that bring a little hope for better times ahead. From the benefits of remote working and the chance to optimize business practices to the emergence of new, contactless technologies that bring with them an improved user experience, there are some positives out there.
Christopher Archer, President of Associated Time
“I believe that during the coronavirus crisis we are all looking for any and all positives. A silver lining that has emerged for our organization has been the ability for us to reexamine our business practices both internally and externally. It has allowed us more time to strengthen and grow relationships which we are confident will allow us to emerge from this crisis a better and stronger company.”
Unna Tsysin, National Sales Manager at ParkMobile
“The silver linings of coronavirus have been that there has been a huge uptake in the need for mobile payments and the need for more efficient parking transactions. The virus has increased adoption and the need for frictionless parking technologies, which serve to protect patrons and to promote public health. With frictionless parking, the driver does not need to touch any equipment, and facilities with frictionless technologies in place are at a huge advantage in this new world of parking.”
Jason Yu, Business Innovation Sales Specialist at Parkxper
“During the coronavirus crisis, the most requested products we got were ticketless ANPR systems for entrance and exit. Tokens and ticket dispensers are now being eliminated as customers are trying to avoid any contact to prevent any possible infection. Ticketless ANPR systems not only solve this problem but also speed up the whole process of entering and exiting the parking lot, therefore, increasing the parking lot turnover rate. Ticketless ANPR is a silver lining we saw from the coronavirus crisis.”
Maarten Mijwaart, Business Developer Benelux and Scandinavia at Tattile
“If you look carefully, you could say that there are some silver linings. The increased acceptance of remote working and video conferencing may just lead to a better distribution of parking events throughout the day and maybe a decrease in parking demand may actually lead to more competitive behavior on the supply side, which in some cases may not be a bad thing. It may increase the willingness of parking operators to focus on the experience of their clients, and to invest, for example, in contactless parking.”
Sara Fisher, Commercial Manager UK at Ballast Nedam
“Covid-19 has enabled us to focus on streamlining and even expanding our operations to become more dynamic. Without the time-wasting daily commute and heavy traffic, everybody is also enjoying more flexible working arrangements and better work/life balance. In particular, our design and engineering teams can work as effectively, if not more effectively, with some or all of the team working from home. We still have regular team meetings to ensure that we all stay connected and feel supported.”
Adrian Cseko, Sales Manager at Asura Technologies
“I think that the silver lining in the current situation is the rapid enrolment of contactless technologies. They have been there for a while, but were simply not given proper attention. Now we begin to have access to modern, touchless parking solutions, which are customer and environmentally friendly. Both are a big advantage if you ask me.”
Nick D’Alessio, Senior Business Development Manager, at Brother Mobile Solutions
“There have been some silver linings in the Coronavirus outbreak, in that we have seen many companies starting to invest in mobile solutions to get customer engagement outside of the four walls of a building and at carside, both from parking, and other sorts of solutions where you want to be able to engage with the customer without them having to get out of the car. And with the advent of hardware-as-a-service, these investments now cost little to nothing, but allow them to expand, maintain safety and social distancing.”
George Baker Sr, Founder, Chairman and CEO of ParkHub
“There is finally a realization, specifically in parking, that things need to be reimagined. There have always been folks like myself that have thought long about the reimagining of what the future of parking looks like. But it has forced the hand of those who were once very closed and tight, it has forced them to think differently if they want to survive. So everyone is looking at how do we survive in this new market, in this new industry, in this new normal, and it is in the reimagination of how their world outlook looks.”
