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Safety and Profit in Parking Lots



Building a parking facility isn't as straightforward as it sounds, even in the busier cities where space is at a premium. Certainly, getting people to come and use your lot isn't going to be the primary issue. When you choose to open up a parking area, there's a huge potential for profit. The investment you make is practically the definition of a passive income. However, designing a parking garage for people to use safely and efficiently can be tricky. To ensure things go smoothly over the long term, you want the layout and parking systems for your lot to be reliable with an emphasis on safety. By spending wisely versus miserly upfront, you'll see the payoff at the backend.

There will also be a degree of oversight required to manage a well-run car park. You need to maintain parking systems in working order, clean the area, keep prices competitive, and stay knowledgeable of the conditions in the neighborhood such as construction. Installing an advanced parking system can be critical to the ongoing success of a parking lot. You can control the number of vehicles as well as the safety of the people and cars already in the lot. But then, how exactly does a parking system avert or mitigate the common problems inherent in parking areas?

Population Control

The strides in technology have affected nearly every aspect of our lives, and activity as mundane as parking is no exception. Gone are the days when drivers have to guess whether spaces are available in huge parking garages, relying on overworked attendants, or just taking their chances and circling floor after floor searching for that elusive spot while dodging the other risk-takers. Parking systems offer varying levels of sophistication to monitor the vehicle population in garages. Whether the tracking is limited to the number of cars that have entered the lot compared to the total spaces, or is as detailed as indicating the available spaces by floor, there's a parking system suited to your needs.
Many garages are beginning to install colored lights over individual spaces to indicate whether or not it's vacant. While convenient, they, in fact, serve as additional safety measures that allow motorists to concentrate on maneuvering their way through the garage and be more mindful of other drivers, rather than having to focus too much attention to whether or not there's an open spot.

Tracking

With a mechanized parking system, you can easily keep track of how long a vehicle has been parked in your lot. This can be especially helpful when you want your business to charge by the hour or day. Rather than settling for the ease of having people pay a one-time fee for an unlimited period of time, you can efficiently add to your profits by creating a usage-based business model. Parking structures have relatively low overhead and maintenance compared to the typical office building. Coupled with the tendency for car parks to endure over the long haul, it makes financial sense to consider automating the operation.

Parking systems have even accounted for the possibility of drivers misplacing their vouchers. Advanced tracking systems like those in airports can now identify when cars enter a facility based on footage taken when tickets are issued. In these instances where security is a factor, technology is in place to keep track of the vehicles on site. Although this may be a disturbing development for many people, the elevated threat levels over the past few decades have necessitated additional security features. Those who are diametrically opposed to such intrusion are welcome to bypass the public parking venues in favor of ride-sharing or taxis.

In fact, many garages are adding strategically placed kiosks that not only allow drivers to pay before leaving to speed up their exit, but also offer drivers help to find the location of their car based on the make, model, and other parameters. Minimizing the number of pedestrians wandering around the garage in search of their vehicle will dramatically reduce the potential for accidents.

Multipurpose

Parking areas aren't always for public use. Oftentimes, they can be leased for the exclusive use of businesses, so their workers and clients have a reliable location to park. In areas that aren't conducive to public transportation, businesses need to ensure their employees can get to work without having to worry about parking fees, competition for limited spaces, or long walks to the office. Although it may seem like a necessary perk that should come with the job, sufficient parking is essential in regions that rely on personal vehicles. Leveraging parking systems will ensure that only authorized employees can enter into the garage.

Non-working hours can be a boon for leased garages. Whether this pertains to evenings, holidays, or weekends, empty garages are typically opened up to the public to generate additional fees. Many businesses tend to be located in areas with activities centered on cultural, social, and athletic events, so there's usually a steady stream of visitors to utilize the available parking garages. Parking systems have the flexibility to be programmed to differentiate between the workday authorizations and the after-hours parking charges.

A healthy profit isn't the only indication of a successful parking lot venture. Too many accidents or reports of an unsafe environment indicate that it's time to revisit your strategy. Examine the layout and the number of spaces to ensure it's the most favorable setup. Check the lighting and the signage in the car park, along with the width of the driving lanes. Naturally, you want to accommodate as many vehicles as possible, but you have to be realistic. Unlike squeezing the masses into a crowded subway, these are large hunks of expensive metal that are easily dented and scratched that can do some serious damage to other cars or even people. Peppering in technology like parking systems makes it easier to manage the space and understand the way it's being utilized. Not only will technology enhance your operation, but it will also continue to add value by providing ongoing insight into the nature of the business.