The First Step to Achieving Key Operational Objectives? Understanding Parking KPIs

6 min read

Published on Parking Industry

Your parking operation is complex—but understanding it doesn’t have to be. Many factors often go unnoticed when managing a parking operation. That is where tracking key performance indicators (KPIs) come in.

So what are key performance indicators for your parking program and why should you be tracking them? Key performance indicators are measurable data that displays how effectively your parking operation achieves your business objectives. They give you an inside look into your parking operation and help you measure your programs overall progress.

It’s time to start, measuring, monitoring, and growing! Below are eight parking KPIs you should be tracking right now. 

Parking Revenue

Unless your main goal is to maintain available parking for tenants and their visitors, parking revenue is a direct representation of how well your parking operation is performing, making it one of, if not the most, important KPI to track. It is often multifaceted, comprising multiple revenue-generating areas of your operation, including: pay stations, permit subscriptions and mobile payments.

Your revenue can also be broken down by visitor type, such as transient and permit subscribers (most often monthly permit holders). To better understand your recurring revenue, it is best to divide your combined revenue by the total number of visitors to get an average revenue per visitor.

Customer Types

Your parking facility welcomes many visitors daily, some of which return more frequently than others. The types of customers utilizing your parking service can usually be categorized as either transient or subscribers. Transients park for short periods, whereas subscribers park frequently throughout the month with a parking permit or reservation.

Tracking both types of customers will give you a better understanding of how your parking facility is being used; allowing you to maintain a healthy balance of parking inventory available for both transients and subscribers.

For example, monthly parking permit subscribers are a necessity for recurring revenue, allowing you to accurately predict and allocate budgets. However, optimal parking inventory for transients is just as important as they have high turnover, which results in higher parking revenues.

Parking Permits

As a parking facility manager, you know just how important it is to offer various permit options. With your visitor expectations changing on the fly, it is best to equip your facility with the tools necessary to meet them. Parking permits can range from pay-as-you-go, to pre-paid, temporary and carpooling models.

Tracking what type of parking permits your visitors prefer to use will give you a better insight into their parking needs, which will help you evolve your product offerings and generate higher income.

Occupancy Rate

As your visitors re-enter their everyday routines, occupancy rates will only continue to normalize. That is why it is vital to track how frequently your parking facility is being used.

To track occupancy, divide the number of occupied parking stalls by the number of available parking stalls. This will give you insight into parking occupancy trends helping you deploy successful sales and marketing techniques such as dynamic pricing and last-mile service offerings.

Technologies such as parking guidance systems transmit real-time occupancy data that allows you to track when and how often visitors are entering and exiting your facility.

Peak Hours & Days

Let's face it; every parking facility experiences its fair share of peaks and downtimes—so why not track it? Keeping an eye on your parking facility's peak hours and days will help you make informed decisions based on parking behaviour and occupancy.

This occupancy data will give you a better idea of when to expect an influx of visitors allowing you to make informed operational decisions such as when to perform routine maintenance, increase your online advertising spend or adjust your parking rates.

Short- & Long-Term Tickets

Similar to parking permits, there are various ticket types your facility may offer. The most common include short- and long-term tickets. Short-term tickets are used for short parking periods, while long-term tickets are used for extended parking periods.

Tracking the types of tickets you facilitate will help you better understand your visitor behaviours and the revenue associated with each ticket type.

Management Expenses

Running a successful parking operation is far more dynamic than one may think. Factors such as on-site parking attendants, customer service representatives, marketing and ongoing maintenance are equally as important of a consideration when it comes to analyzing your revenue.

Calculating the average costs associated with staffing and cross analyzing them with your facility trends will help you determine when and how often to utilize these value-add services. 

Payment Methods

More often than not, your visitors pay for parking using a variety of payment types, including debit cards, credit cards, mobile wallets, mobile apps, cash, and coins. Understanding the most predominantly used payment type amongst your visitors will help you evolve your parking service offerings to satisfy customer need, reduce traffic throughout your parking lot and meet your revenue goals.

For example, it will highlight if your next pay station upgrade should be entirely cashless or if you should focus more of your marketing efforts on promoting your mobile payment app.

When it comes to parking operational efficiencies, there is always room for improvement. Ensuring you consistently monitor and measure your parking KPIs will give you insight into what is and what isn't working for you; which will allow you to continually improve your parking service offering with data-driven results.

Reference

Gary Shull, S. D. (2021, August 31). 10 parking KPIs to collect in a modern parking operation. The PayByPhone Blog. Retrieved February 16, 2022, from https://www.community.paybyphone.com/blog/10-parking-kpis

Donatucci, A. (2022, February 28). Three kpis for a successful parking operation - precise ParkLink: Parking management services. Precise ParkLink | Parking Management Services. Retrieved February 28, 2022, from https://www.preciseparklink.com/news/three-kpis-for-a-successful-parking-operation

Reaz Kassim
Client Relations Manager, Precise ParkLink