Going Paperless: Is Ticketless Parking Right For You?

3 min read

Originally Published on Parking Industry Insights

Ticketless Parking

Ticketless parking will appeal to many parking operators as a convenient middle ground between traditional ticket-based PARCS systems and the emerging fully frictionless systems.

It is easy to see why a ticketless solution appeals to owners; they simplify (and in some cases, reduce) the equipment that must be installed in the facility which reduces your capital investment, there are fewer pieces of equipment to maintain, traffic flow improves with fewer touchpoints and eliminating tickets reduces environmental impact as well as operating and maintenance costs. Adding features like credit card in and out and cashless payment stations creates a fully automated and self-sustaining solution. Customers appreciate the convenience (no tickets to lose!) and speed of a ticketless solution.

There are a number of ways to go ticketless.

Payment Card In and Out

One of the most common ways to eliminate tickets is to let customers tap their payment card at the entry and exit terminals. When a customer taps their card at the entry, the system tokenizes the card information (so its fully secure and PCI compliant) and uses encrypted token information as the “virtual” ticket. When a customer taps the same card at exit, the system closes the transaction and prompts a user for payment.

And tap in and out doesn’t have to be with a physical card. Customers can also use cards saved on their smartphone and wearable device (and in some cases, use an app like Precise ParkLink’s ParkedIn to pay for parking).

Automatic License Plate Recognition (ALPR)

In ticketless deployments where the vehicle’s license plate number will act as the parking credential, an automatic license plate recognition (ALPR) camera will capture and record an image of the vehicle entering the facility and begin the parking transaction. Before the parker leaves the facility, they will need to make a payment at a pay-on-foot station by entering their license plate number and making the required payment. When they get to the exit, the exit ALPR reads the plate, verifies that a payment is made and once that’s done, raises the gate.

Barcodes and QR Codes

For terminals equipped with external barcode readers, parking operators can leverage apps and email distributions that display barcodes and QR codes. Promotion and validation codes can be scanned at these readers to give customers discounted or free access to the parking facility. And depending on what payment options an operator has chosen to offer, customers may be able to create profiles and take advantage of loyalty programs directly through their smart devices.

Final Thoughts

Ticketless and frictionless solutions are a classic triple play…reduced capital and operating costs, increased customer satisfaction and helping the environment. The emergence of cloud-based validation solutions and mobile parking apps really has reduced reliance on tickets. By retaining entry and exit columns, which are less costly than pay stations, and properly equipping them to manage both RFID or similar access credentials, this solution is ideal for facilities that have both permitted and transient stalls available.

References

Lato, L. (2020, September 15). Going Paperless: Is Ticketless Parking Right For You? [Web log post]. Retrieved April 22, 2021, from https://www.parkingindustry.ca/parking-technology/going-paperless-is-ticketless-parking-right-for-you

Sgorlon, A. (2020, August 24). Benefits of a Gated Parking System [Web log post]. Retrieved April 14, 2021, from https://www.parkingindustry.ca/parking-technology/benefits-of-a-gated-parking-system

Sgorlon, A. (2020, September 16). Parking Equipment That Takes Accessibility to New Heights [Web log post]. Retrieved April 14, 2021, from https://www.parkingindustry.ca/parking-technology/parking-equipment-that-takes-accessibility-to-new-heights

Luigi Lato
Chief Operating Officer, Precise ParkLink