Parking facility owners often prefer parking gate systems to provide a feeling of security, reduce attendant costs, and create a simple payment option for drivers that park on their property.
But parking gates were first introduced in the 1950’s, and modern parking technology is now less expensive to operate, safer, and more effective at collecting revenue. So are gates still the best choice for a modern parking facility?
Here are 5 things you need to know before buying a parking gate.
The average price for a single-arm parking barrier is $6,000, but this initial cost is just the tip of the iceberg. After the upfront fee, you’ll continue to pay for support through maintenance contracts, software add-ons, visitor access, and more. These costs, combined with lost revenue during repairs and downtime, can put the total effective cost closer to six figures.
At AirGarage, we worked with a customer who replaced his parking gate arm almost 40 times in one year because drivers would drive through it when it stopped working (which happened frequently). These repairs alone cost him over $40,000. And this doesn’t account for the additional revenue lost while waiting for a gate company repair technician to arrive and fix the system.
Despite damage to their own vehicle, desperate drivers will avoid payment by driving through or attempting to manually lift parking gate arms. Employees at one parking operator wrote on Glassdoor that "our parking arms break constantly, people drive through them or they have electrical problems and we have to wait days for HQ to send a contractor to fix it."
Some property owners believe parking gates make the payment process simple and easy. But if you have a busy parking facility and a gate system, you know that isn’t how it works in reality. Credit card payments can still cause serious traffic congestion. During peak times the line to get into your gated facility can back up into the road, holding up traffic, and the line to get out of the busiest parking garages can take hours and drive your customers crazy.
Aside from causing slow entries and exits, credit card readers can also frequently malfunction.
A garage owner in Stillwater, MN reported over 900 calls a month from people experiencing issues with the parking gate's credit card reader. This issue required a dispatch from the operator during service hours and an arrangement with the police department after hours.
Parking gates have an odd design. They’re flimsy enough for violators to drive through, but also rigid enough to hurt a pedestrian or damage a car if they come down at the wrong time. Mistimed gate drops can result in severe bodily harm or car damage.
Property owners could even be liable for parking gate injuries, depending on why the accident occurred. Unfortunately, these types of accidents happen more frequently than expected. In fact, this law firm has an entire website dedicated to compensation from parking arm gate injuries.
Contrary to popular belief, traditional parking gates are not designed for safety and security. Gates are designed as revenue control devices. They can be helpful in preventing customers from leaving your facility by forcing them to pay before exit, but not for securing vehicles or your property from potential threats.
In general, cameras are more effective for deterrence and enforcement, and they offer psychological safety for customers. AirGarage’s license-plate-recognition (LPR) system provides an extra layer of security through a direct integration with over 3,000 police departments around the U.S., allowing us to compare every vehicle that enters your facility to a list of known offenders in your area so local law enforcement can be notified and quickly respond to any threats.
As a parking operator, we use LPR systems to automatically bill customers, notify violators, and keep track of guests and visitors. Unlike traditional parking operators, there is no install cost since the solution is 100% software based. Several of our clients formerly used parking access control gates, and switched after the repair costs were unjustifiable.
At AirGarage, we believe the future of parking is gateless, and that the combination of LPR technology and contactless mobile payment systems not only enhance security, but also greatly improve the parking experience for drivers.
