Forget location, location, location! The future is data, data, data!

Parking & Property 2017: Understanding data and effective communication are the future of effective parking

Dr Giuliano Mingardo

Dr Giuliano Mingardo

Location has historically been the driving factor when it comes to planning and running car parks, but in the future data and communication will become increasingly important. Over time towns and cities have adopted a fairly similar approach to managing what had been a growing demand for limited parking supply by initially placing time restrictions on spaces and then introducing charges.

There are two types of trends that might have an influence on the parking sector: societal and demographical trends affecting mobility in general; and urban policy-making trends specifically affecting parking.

The societal trends are varied, including: technological development; the transition from industrial to a service and knowledge economy; the higher participation of women in the job market; the effects of an ageing population; the growing distance between family members; and a growing interest in healthy lifestyles.

I have noticed a shift in policy thinking back toward offering free parking. Because of the recent crisis in urban retail some cities are considering going back in the development curve, which is a move away from paid to free parking. Cities also want to reduce or manage the number of cars entering their urban areas. They want to give the urban space back to the people.

It is important to understand the retail crisis was about more than the price of parking. There are three main reasons why traditional retail in cities is having a difficult time. In the last few years we have been through one of the deepest economic crisis in decades, the internet has dramatically changed consumer behaviour, and we increased retail supply by increasing the number of shops at a time we needed them least.

In order to meet the challenges facing traditional town centres, the parking sector needs to update its thinking. When I joined the parking sector 10 years ago there was a golden rule that ran: ‘What are the three most important factors for a success of a parking garage? 1. Location 2. Location 3. Location.’

If there is anyone in this industry that still thinks like that, please resign! Today, the three most important things are location, data and communication. Of course, location will still be important, but it will not be enough!

Data is the raw material of the 21st century. And the 21st century started 17 years ago! Data will help you to make better decisions. Data will help you to be prepared for the future (i.e. the Internet of Things). Data will help you to improve your image: you can help other stakeholders. Numbers tell the tale.

The Datam Information, Knowledge, Wisdom (DIKW) Hierarchy is a model that sets out how data can increase understanding. Collecting information helps us understand relationships, which gives us the knowledge to understand patterns that culminates in the wisdom required to understand principles. When it comes to parking and data, we have not really started yet.

While understanding and wisdom are not yet commonplace, information is being accumulated as parking and related sectors are generating datasets. I have been working with a large database generated by Yellowbrick, a company that offers real-time parking solutions via apps, mobile phones or internet in the Netherlands. 

Between 2007-2017 Yellowbrick has made more than 48m transactions in 115 Dutch municipalities. The data covers parking durations, time of day, tariff, and even the age and origin of user. I have been mining this data to better understand differences in parking durations and transactions by a range of filters, such as age and gender of driver. 

In order to create value, parking providers need to share data with other stakeholders such as retailers, politicians, policy-makers and parking operators. 

Once the parking sector starts understanding the meaning of the data it collects, a major challenge is to improve its image and be taken seriously by those other stakeholders. 

Communicate, communicate and communicate! The parking sector has always been bad at communication. Why is parking the only sector where the provider of the service must justify the fact he asks a price for the service? Why does everyone complain if you ask a high price for your product? Nobody challenges the right of BMW, Apple or Starbucks to charge for their services. No one asks for free electricity, but many people ask for free parking. 

Retailers, in particular, should forget the issue of pricing and start to discuss interesting things!

Dr Giuliano Mingardo is lecturer in transport economics at Erasmus University Rotterdam. He has specialised in parking policy since 2000. He regularly advises local governments and large companies on these issues. Among others, he is a member of the advisory board of the Parking Commission of the Dutch Crown and a member of the scientific and technical committee of the European Parking Association (EPA). This year he received the Parking & Property Prize at the British Parking Awards 2017. 

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