The majority of cities throughout the world are experiencing significant traffic congestion, which is quickly becoming a serious issue. With expanding vehicle sizes in the luxury, semi-luxury, and commercial vehicle segments, and constrained parking places in large centers, car parking is a major contribution and continues to be a serious problem.
Furthermore, the lack of information about available parking places, particularly on-street, wastes fuel and time, resulting in traffic congestion. In the on-street and off-street parking of automobiles, parking management systems integrated with efficient parking management software and technology play a critical role.
The increased purchase of vehicles by customers is causing governments and private organizations to focus more on developing advanced technology-based parking solutions such as software for parking management, parking advice, and parking reservation solutions, among others, for use on the road and in parking places.
Just when the parking management industry was picking up the growth pace and integrating smart parking solutions like Airbnb for parking, COVID-19 wreaked havoc forcing the parking management industry to a grinding halt. In addition, the restrictions on travel, both domestic and international, was not favorable to the parking industry.
In this blog by RentPark – one of the leading parking software providers, we are going to look into the impact COVID-19 will have on the parking management industry. This blog will help business entrepreneurs to make the right business decision going forward.
· The Severity of the Pandemic:
COVID-19 wreaked havoc on the $131 billion parking industry, with demand plummeting below 80% in the months following the outbreak. Authorities have altered public parking spots to help allow social distancing and pickup/delivery, therefore parking and enforcement income are likely down. Many large cities have even eased parking regulations to help citizens who have been financially impacted by the pandemic.
· Transformation of On-Street Parking into Temporary Pick-Up Zones:
With the rise in take-out food, many cities, such as Los Angeles, are providing temporary signage for business owners to convert street parking into "Food Pick-up Zones" and "Retail Pick-Up Zones." These free, limited-time spaces will speed up takeaway and delivery while maintaining social distance. Increased demand for take-out meals may lead towns to reconsider their curb policies in order to better benefit local companies in the long run.
· Contactless Payments:
Major cities such as Washington, D.C., and New York moved fast to promote contactless payments in order to remove the need to touch pay stations or engage with a cashier. On the plus side, COVID-19 is certain to have a favorable impact on the adoption of digital parking payments through parking management software, as drivers, businesses, and cities will want to offer a safer alternative to cash or credit card payments.
· Change of Business Strategy:
The parking sector has been heavily affected, with employee reductions, lower revenues, and a complete overhaul of the parking experience to make it safer than the new normal. Sanitization procedures, social distancing, and a new touchless payment option for clients that removes human interaction with personnel were all implemented quickly by companies like The Parking Spot and the implementation of Airbnb for parking.
· Change of Parking Preference for Drivers:
For years, contactless payment technology has been available in parking, but cities and parking companies across the globe have failed to implement it. The adoption of contactless payments for items such as groceries, retail, restaurants, and now parking has been one of the most significant impacts we've seen in recent months. According to a recent Mastercard survey, more than half of Americans (51%) already use contactless payment in some way. As the global pandemic spread, Mastercard reported a 40% increase in contactless payments from April 2020.
Drivers will be more aware of where they are parking and what types of payment choices are available as countries and economies reopen. Drivers who previously parked at valets or pay stations may now choose to walk a few more blocks to ensure a fully seamless parking experience.
However, by implementing the right parking tools and parking management software the parking industry can tackle this tricky situation with expertise. In addition, opting to integrate robust parking management software like RentPark, will help you to not only wade through the aftereffects of the pandemic situation but to take control of it.
