Parking Ticket Management

I was also impressed by the industry.  At first I didn’t know what to think about access and revenue control, parking garage software and parking ticketing management, but getting more of an understanding of this 25 Billion dollar industry, I see nothing but more potential, growth and opportunity. T2 is an industry leader because of our products, and I am proud to be part of the excitement.  I never thought that working in advanced parking solutions, talking about access revenue control and permit management would be my next career move, but after getting learning more and meeting so many of our great customers at User Group, I see nothing but potential.  When the staff likes the company and the customers like the company, it creates a really special place of incredible promise.

It’s the people that make this company what it is.  It seems like in this economy, business is all about the bottom line.  While financials are important, the leadership here at T2 doesn’t forget about their roots and how vital each person is in the grand scheme of things.  I was excited to get to work today and I cannot wait to see what’s in store for me tomorrow!

I was the lucky T2 Systems representative today at a ribbon-cutting ceremony that marked the launch of new pay-by-phone services in the City of Houston, Texas.  And by lucky - I do mean that! It was a pleasure to meet so many great people - our great customers at the city, our great Parkmobile partners, and Houston Mayor Annise Parker.

For those cities and municipalities out there that may be looking to upgrade and improve your parking solution and your parking management, Houston is an excellent example to look to.  A T2 customer for a little over two years, Houston uses the T2 parking enforcement (parking citation) and parking permit management solution.  However, the city understands that in order to get more people to its thriving - and beautfiul - downtown area, they need to make parking easy and convenient. 

Now drivers can pay for parking through their cell phone.  During my very short comments at the event today, I mentioned how our mobile phones are so much a part of our lives; we surf the net, we check e-mail, and we make purchases.  Why not use them to pay for parking?  The City of Houston - and many other cities - have embraced this technology whole-heartedly, and their constituents are better off for it.

But this solution doesn't just make life easy for customers - it makes life a little easier for the enforcement officers, too! Information about the status of the parking meters is sent to their T2 handheld ticket writers in real-time, making enforcement officers more efficient and reducing errors.  It's a great, integrated parking enforcement system that benefits the parking operation and the city's constituents.

Occasionally I still find it funny that I work in parking.  The parking industry is something we sometimes take for granted, but it was great to see that my colleagues and my great customers in Houston - as well as city officials - understand the importance of how parking, when managed properly, can make a night out, a shopping visit, or a walk downtown not only hassle-free, but super convenient, too. 

Great job Houston and Parkmobile!

One of the cool features of the Canadian Parking Association annual conference is Lunch with a Parking Doctor, where delegates come with their parking management ailments and get a prescription for the cure from experienced professionals in the parking business. Sounds, great, doesn't it?

Since I have never managed a parking operation, and since my primary goal at the Conference is to meet with T2 customers and others in the industry to learn about trends and needs in parking enforcement, permit management, acess and revenue control and event parking,  I am typically the patient at these lunches. But not this year.

I was summoned to one of the tables by CPA's Sandra Smith and given a patient to consult with. To be honest, I did suffer a short moment of panic (did I mention I had never run a parking operation?). But then I summoned all the knowledge I had gained over the years from my friends and customers who run some of the most advanced parking operations in North America, took a deep breath, and started the consultation.

The patients were quite new to parking and I actually was able to provide them with reasonable recommendations. Their need was to increase revenue from a downtown garage in close proximity to an arena that was only used for monthly parkers. Here was my prescription: 

1) Implement a Parking Access and Revenue Control System, collect and analyze occupancy by different groups (residents, employees, etc.) by time of day and day of the week. Then allocate identified open capacity to transient parkers.
2) Make the building security card the parking credential for Parking Access Control.

3) Use the relationship with the arena management group to start pre-selling parking online when patrons buy event tickets, to drive event parking customers to your facility.

4) Offer online coupons to parkers to attract them to your facility.

If you have other ideas please send them to me and I will share with my patients during the next consultation.

1. Egypt: $1.9 million
2. Nigeria: $1 million
3. Indonesia: $725,000

It’s funny how normally polite and even-tempered people can become crazy when parking their cars. The same person that will hold the door for you and say a pleasant “Have a nice day!” when passing on the sidewalk will honk, scream, and make obscene gestures if he thinks you stole his parking place. There’s just something about being in a two-ton cage of metal that makes people crazy.

We have a good car and a beater. When I drive the good car, I’m a “Park away from the crowd” kind of guy. A couple of empty spaces around me is my preference, that or give me an end spot and I’ll edge as far away from the next car so they can’t door ding my car. When I’m driving the beater, anything goes, wherever the closest spot is. It’s kind of liberating to drive the beater, I say that I don’t care about it, until the day l I saw a truck scrape my bumper trying to get into a space that was way too small for him. Then you would have thought the car was my baby.   I never did get that scratch fixed.

When I was in college (way back in the 80s), I lived in an apartment complex that never had enough parking. I was definitely driving a beater at the time, as was my best friend. We pulled in to the lot to see a new Camaro parked straddling the line, taking up two spaces. After a quick assessment, we determined that we could squeeze our small cars in on each side of the Camaro, leaving about 3 inches of clearance on each side of it. We were careful to never touch the car, but we certainly didn’t leave him room to open his doors. Later on, we heard a bit of a commotion as the Camaro owner tried to leave. We watched him crawl through the rear hatch and wiggle into the driver’s seat to leave. The next day, the Camaro was parked properly, and about a week later we met the owner and all had a good laugh about it. Now I’d be afraid I’d get shot pulling a stunt like that! 

You used to be able to buy a pad of fake parking tickets from the back of Mad magazine. They looked official enough, starting off with an official looking violation code for taking two spaces or parking poorly. Then as a person read on they found that their punishment was that the fleas of a thousand camels should infest their armpits. I never bought one of these pads, but was tempted a few times, and I’m sure I would have used them had I owned a pad.

I’ve gotten a few stupid tickets in my day too. Parking facing the wrong way on the street. I don’t remember why I parked that way, just did, and left the car there for several days. Parking too far away from the curb. I was parked between two trucks at the curb, and my car was well inside their profiles, but apparently the parking authority had a ruler. My rear tire was beyond 12” from the curb. In Indianapolis about 10 years ago, that was a $20 fine.   When I was about 16 I got a warning for doing donuts in an iced-over parking lot. The officer was actually pretty cool about it, saying he knew nobody was in the lot, but I could have hit a light pole and that would have been a mess.

Now my oldest son is driving so I’m teaching him how to assess a parking lot, who to park next to and who to look out for and to make sure that he’s parked properly, between the lines. I hope he doesn’t do the stupid things I did, but I guess everyone has to grow up. And if he parks poorly, may the fleas of a thousand camels infest his armpits.

Gas in the Indianapolis area reached $4 a gallon (most stations are hovering at $3.99 currently), and I’m already noticing myself doing things to save fuel. Combining trips, making an effort to take our most efficient car when we can, and asking “do we really need to go?” or “Sure it may be a couple dollars more at the local store, but we’ll spend that in gas driving to the city.” While we’ll feel a pinch in the budget, we pay by credit card at the pump and will continue to fill up our cars, however unhappy it makes us.

Lots of people, however, don’t have that luxury. When the cash runs out it’s out. Period. Regardless of what day of the month it is. So the first thing that goes is the discretionary spending.  Rather than going downtown for an evening and paying for parking and a nice dinner, folks stay at home. Concert tickets and the expenses associated (along with parking)? Discretionary spending. Last time gas prices hit $4 a gallon, my wife started car-pooling to work with 2 other ladies. For over a year, they shared a single spot in a parking garage. Currently, their schedules aren’t “jiving” to carpool (funny that happened when gas was $2.50 a gallon), but I hear her talking about getting the carpool back together.

What happens when gas hits $5 a gallon like some “experts” are predicting? Is your business ready for less traffic or fighting harder for the traffic that you can get? What if there’s a major shift to micro cars, scooters, bicycles or even public transportation in your area? What can you do to maintain a loyal and happy customer base? 

Sometimes the first reaction to less traffic is to lower your prices. Before you do this, ask yourself why? What are the competitors doing, are your prices in line with theirs? Parking is a commodity to the average person, so a better deal will get their attention if all other things are equal, but why keep all other things equal? If your lot or garage is better lit and monitored than the next guy’s, there’s value to that. Are your people friendlier and more professional than the next guy’s?   Rather than cutting your prices, how about rewarding people for referrals, or offer loyalty rewards of some sort? 

Yeah all those things may cost something. But what about a warm “We really appreciate your business, Mrs. Jones”? Simple things like that can make a commodity seem like a relationship. If gas hits $5 a gallon, things could definitely change. The more prepared you are, the more successful you’ll be.

Oh, how I remember the day you came into my life.  It was exciting and scary at the same time.  As a staff member in the parking office, I wondered – Were we ready to take such a great step?  Would we be able to handle this?  Were we doing the right thing?

Before you, we had Terminator.  What a cool name!  It did what we needed.  Didn’t always do everything we wanted, but it earned its keep.  But, the day came when we had to say goodbye and welcome PowerPark with open arms.

I remember asking, “Can we just go back?!?”  I was ready to hang up PowerPark and bring back the ole familiar Terminator.  But, I discovered all the new cool things we could do and realized that going back was not an option.  The learning curve and extra time we put into this new product was worth the effort!

PowerPark evolved.  Lots of new features were added as it grew.  We used it…sometimes abused it, but it treated us well.  How glad I was that we as a parking organization adapted and changed to take full advantage of the new technology.  We got new handheld ticket writers and implemented new processes that not only made our jobs easier, but allowed the organization to be more efficient overall. 

PowerPark grew to be an adult and was very much a contributor to the success of the parking business.  However, like all good things, it must come to an end.

Our new friend, T2 Flex, was born about 5 years ago and is allowing us to do things I never thought were possible.  Even though I am now a T2 staff member, I hear the same familiar words from users, “…can we just go back…?”  Change is sometimes hard for all of us.  But, change is necessary and good.  It pushes us to reinvent ourselves and our processes and to reach new heights.  So now that PowerPark has taken its last breathe, it is time to say good bye old friend.  You were good to me and I will remember you fondly.  I look forward to the future with T2 Flex….to T2 Flex and beyond!


Michelle Pritchett
Manager, Product Support

Over the holidays, I piled the family into the car and took about a 350 mile trip to take in a hockey game and some museums. It’s something we’d like to do every year, but it turns out to be about every third year we get to do it. So we’re in a town we’re not entirely familiar with, and need a place to park for the game. We find a likely garage, and I watch as cars are turning wide into the next lane in order to make the 90 degree turn into the entrance. One car stops, puts it in reverse to get a better angle, and nearly backs into the car in front of us. I make the wide turn, get into the lane and try to pay the attendant.

“You pay at the office” is what I hear as he waves me on.

Even for someone in the parking industry that statement left me confused. Questions run through my mind, “Where is the office, do I buy a permit and display it, or can I just pay on the way out?” Well, I’ll find a place to park, follow the crowd and figure it out from there. So we follow the crowd to the elevator, and there are several people standing around. I’m staring at the unlit “down” button for a few seconds, and I can’t stand it anymore, I have to press it. I do, nothing happens and I hear a few snickers from the crowd, and a “Yeah, I tried that too.” The crowd starts to disperse toward the staircase, we follow in step.

The stairs lead out to the street, where we have to cross the incoming cars trying to wiggle into the entrance lane. From there, we see the “office” – a glassed in area with a couple of Pay on Foot machines. I pay for my parking, get a ticket and wonder “Do I need to display this, or is it my ticket out?” I watch the crowd leave the “office” and head toward the stadium, so I decide it’s my ticket out.

We have a great time at the game, our team won and the stadium is incredible. We return to the staircase that we took down, and realize there is no door handle on the outside. Luckily someone steps out as we are standing there, so I grab the door and we climb the stairs. We wait patiently as the crowd works its way out of the parking garage, watch as a few cars stop and the driver runs to the office to pay for parking while everyone else is waiting. I approach where I expect to insert my ticket, and there is an attendant there, taking the tickets and pressing the gate open button. I pull out, and immediately curb a tire on the way out. What a great day to be working in parking. There has to be a better way!

I just returned from my first on-site customer consulting engagement since joining T2 Systems. I met with Jennifer, Dianne, Dennis, Kevin and many of the staff members at Western Kentucky University to discuss how they are using T2 Flex, what we could streamline and what current functionality is available but not being used. It was an enlightening experience for all involved, including me. Before my arrival they provided me with a list of processes they wanted to review prioritized by “It’s broken and we need to fix it”, “It works but can we make it better”, a “wish list” of things they were not doing in Flex but would like to be, and “Best Practices” – how is everyone else doing it.

I was extremely impressed by the integrity of their database. They run daily queries and reports to connect permits, vehicles, citations and customer records. No stone is left unturned when it comes to matching responsible customers to charges and they use all resources available to them including RoVR, student records, payroll records and appeals filed. 

During my two day visit I was able to observe the day-to-day activities and challenges and talk with staff who had carved time out specifically to review business practices. We found ways to prioritize wait lists using custom fields which will allow them to more fully take advantage of this feature in T2 Flex. We identified the difference between a pre-paid citation and a pre-entered citation which will allow WKU to accomplish the intent of getting the boot information in Flex without causing errors when the handheld ticket writer downloads the same citation but also without attaching a financial transaction when no payments have been collected. We also identified records that could be marked historical to save on screen real estate and processing resources which in turn save time. And what trip to a Parking Office is complete without the sharing of Appeals? Just as I remember – you can’t impound my car, I’m tenured faculty; I had to park close to the door because I had to go to the bathroom (yes, I cleaned it up a little for this blog); and I’m doing my part by riding a bike, you shouldn’t charge me for chaining it to the handrail.

While I was able to use my 12 years experience in the parking business and with the T2 products to offer suggestions, they challenged me with “How can we do this better?” at every turn. A lot has changed in the product since they implemented in 2005 and like most of you; business as usual has prohibited WKU from reassessing the capabilities provided by Flex.

If your department is interested in an in-depth review of your current business practices incorporating any changes since your implementation and suggestions to improve efficiency, contact your Account Manager or the Training Department at T2 Systems. So…on to my report for WKU.