In the space of a few weeks this March, the ground shifted under every parking operation in North America. As cities shut down, parking volumes fell off a cliff — by some industry estimates as much as 80% almost overnight. Airport parking, tied directly to air travel, was hit hardest of all, with revenue down a reported 95%.
Nobody planned for this. But the decisions operators make in these first weeks will shape how their facilities run for a long time. Here’s how to think about it.
Two problems at once
The pandemic created two distinct challenges that need different responses:
- A revenue problem — far fewer cars, and the ones still coming (hospital staff, essential workers, residents) need to be served reliably even as your transaction volume cratered.
- A contact problem — every shared surface and every face-to-face interaction is now a concern for staff and customers alike.
The instinct to slash costs is understandable, but the smarter framing is: which changes solve the contact problem AND leave you stronger when volume returns?
Reducing contact at every touchpoint
The fastest, most durable wins reduce shared touches without tearing out your system:
- Contactless payment. Tap-to-pay and mobile payment mean a customer never touches cash, a PIN pad, or a shared surface. If your equipment already supports it, promote it now. If it doesn’t, this is the upgrade to prioritize.
- Plate- and barcode-based entry. Using a license plate or a pre-issued barcode as the credential means no ticket to pull from a shared dispenser. (Our LPR for gated access piece covers how this works within a gated lane.)
- Fewer staffed exit lanes. Cashiered lanes put a person in close contact with hundreds of drivers a day. Shifting transient payment to pay-on-foot stations and in-lane automation reduces that exposure — without eliminating the option entirely for those who need it.
What not to do
Don’t rip out the gate or go fully unattended in a panic. The barrier still protects what little revenue you have, and a layered system — automation for most, a fallback for the rest — is more resilient than an all-or-nothing change made under stress. Reversible, incremental moves beat dramatic ones right now.
Looking past the crisis
Here’s the part worth holding onto: most of these contact-reducing changes are good operations regardless of the pandemic. Contactless payment, plate-based entry, and right-sized staffing all improve throughput and reduce cost in normal times too. The operators who treat this as a forced push toward modernization — rather than just survival — will come out of it with better facilities than they had going in.
This is a fast-moving situation, and we’ll keep sharing what we learn as it develops.
Need to reduce contact at your facility quickly? Talk to Parking BOXX about contactless payment and plate-based entry options for your existing lanes.