Providing customers with a safe and secure environment is a key requirement of owning or managing a campground or marina.
One way to improve safety is by implementing a barrier gate access system to restrict vehicle access to the property. Implementing a campground or marina access system can restrict who can enter the park and when, limit access to those who have paid to be there and prevent unwanted or dangerous people from easily driving onto the property. An access system and Parking BOXX equipment provide visitors with peace of mind.
- Security – gated access will allow for systematic entry and exit point for staff and visitors, thereby reducing crime and property damage
- Revenue – gated systems can be a major source of revenue generation
- Increases attractiveness – gated systems enhance the attractiveness of campgrounds for it’s visitors
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The Layout
The first decision required is to determine how you would like to configure the entry and exit lanes. Many of our customers include one or more of these configurations – depending on the layout of their campground.
Important items to note:
- The below layouts assume that you are only using ACCESS CONTROL and not collecting REVENUE at the kiosks. If you are considering collecting revenue at the kiosks, you will need to refer to our Flat Rate or Full Featured systems. Most of our customers collect deposits for the RFID cards for their seasonal guests (i.e. $25) to account for entering and maintaining the data. Then if the card is lost and a new one is needed, the deposit would need to be paid again. Also for short term visitors, such as a week or day visitor, the printed barcode pass is typically provided. Revenue collection for both the RFID cards and barcode passes are typically completed in the office.
- The below layouts also assume that you are using ACCESS CONTROL to control ENTRY only but not exit. That is our most common configuration for campgrounds. For larger facilities, you may also wish to control EXIT, which allows you to have strict anti-passback but also is a higher price - do to additional equipment.
- Also note that any lane width requirements should be confirmed with your local jurisdiction as well as the local fire department, as they may require minimum widths for their fire engines/emergency vehicles and may require emergency vehicle open options when the barrier gates are unattended.
THE CENTER ISLAND
For this configuration, we recommend that you have a lane width of 26’, which allows for 12’ wide lane plus a 2’ wide island. If you don’t have large RVs, it may be possible for this area to be as narrow as 22’, which allows for 10’ wide lanes plus a 2’ wide island. Many of our campground customers have even wider lanes, so our barrier gate arms may be as long as 18’. There must be a minimum of 10’ between the center of the control device and the center of the barrier gate.
THE ENTRY ISLAND
For this configuration, we recommend a lane width of 14’, which allows for a 12’ wide lane plus a 2’ wide island. (Or you can put the island in the grass if you don't have 14'). The arm may be as long as 18’ or may be cut to a custom length. There must be a minimum of 10’ between the center of the control device and the center of the barrier gate.
To save on concrete costs, some sites pour smaller islands, as shown in the right side of the image (on the left ).
THE “FREE OUT” – GATE ISLAND
For this configuration, we recommend a lane width of 14’, which allows for a 12’ wide lane plus a 2’ wide island. (Again, the island may be placed in the grass or outside of the driving area). The arm may be as long as 18’ or may be cut to a custom length. The Open Loop will detect a vehicle’s presence and open the gate arm. This gate ensures that vehicles do not enter via this lane and that vehicles are required to slow down to approach the gate before it opens.
THE BIDIRECTIONAL LANE
When you need traffic moving in both directions but you don’t have 22’+, this is a bidirectional traffic flow. This is recommended only for LOW volume traffic area because if many vehicles are attempting to enter/exit in this same lane at one time, this type of configuration isn’t recommended.
The Functionality
THE BASIC FUNCTIONALITY OF THE ACCESS CONTROL PEDESTAL (ACP)
If your facility has seasonal guests as well as short term guests (i.e. a day to a few nights or weeks), our most popular Access Control Pedestal option is RFID card + Barcode Scanner.
- For seasonal card holders, typically a deposit is charged. We’ve seen many charge a $25 deposit for the card. In some areas deposits may be higher. That deposit covers the administrative work to add and distribute the card, as well as dealing with lost or replacement cards. RFID cards cannot be duplicated or photo copied so there is a high level of security.
- For short terms guests, they are typically given a barcode printed on perforated card stock.These barcodes will only be valid for the dates of the stay and won’t work after that.
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Most popular: Barcode Reader + RFID + Intercom
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OTHER OPTIONS for ACCESS CONTROL PEDESTAL
Keypads: Aaah, we get so many questions about keypads. We don’t feel those are secure because anyone can share their code and people can guess number. We do however recognize that that there are times when a keypad is appropriate, such as you have mostly seasonal campers and there isn’t much concern about a people sharing their code or abuse of the system. Final verdict: Parking BOXX don’t recommend keypads for access control but we do have plenty of customers who do want and use these.
Call for Assistance Intercoms: If your gates aren’t manned 24/7, you’ll likely want to have intercoms so that your guests may reach you if there is an issue. There are two options A. Analog (requires a standard phone line – if you have a fax line, that can be shared with the intercom) or B. Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP) – this requires an Ethernet line (CAT5 or CAT6).
Custom RFID Readers: if your campground already uses RFID readers, we can typically fit those onto the ACP.
BARRIER GATES & OTHER OPTIONS
Barrier gates with a 2.5s open/close time can use arms from 7’ to 12’. For arms that are +12’ to 18’ we use a 6 second close/open time. Gate arms may be cut to a custom length.
Vehicle Detection Loops are oversized in campground installations. This is so that vehicles pulling RVs, trailers or boats will be detected and prevent the barrier gate arm from closing.
Other options include:
Emergency Vehicle Open: For times when a firetruck or ambulance needs to enter the property in the middle of the night, if your gate doesn’t open, they’ll run right through it. This feature allows the driver to blip their siren or lights to trigger the gate open. Check with your local fire department if this is acceptable or they have other requirements.
Gate Open on Power Loss: If your site has frequent power issues, you may need to have the gate arm open on power loss. Note that the arm will remain in the open position – even once the power has been returned – until the next vehicle drives through. This is a safety feature because when power returns there may be a vehicle or pedestrian in the lane.
Human Presence Sensor: Infrared sensor recommended for high pedestrian traffic areas. Note that systems should be designed so that humans are directed away from barrier gate arms. Also note that if a person stands in the scanner range, that would prevent the gate from closing – and potentially allow many vehicles to enter/exit, which is why most of our sites do not include this option.
The Software, Conduit & Wiring
Once you determine which functionality you’d like and what your laneway configurations are, then we look at how you are running the system to finalize what the conduit & wiring requirements are. Note that when your order has been placed, you will receive a set of drawings that will let you know exactly what is required for your specific order. Until then, here are the basics.
- Power: We spec commercial power. You’ll need to get 120VAC 20A per each lane.
- Data: You need to get wiring from the Access Control Pedestal to the computer running the software. That cable will need to be CAT-6 Shielded. The maximum distance of this cable is 4,000 feet.
- Call for Assistance: Intercom
- Analog: the maximum distance for an RJ11 2-wire analog phone is 100m.
- VoIP: If you would like a VoIP intercom, you will need a second CAT-5 or CAT-6 shielded (recommended). The max distance for Ethernet is 100m.
- Note: an intercom (ether Analog or VoIP) will allow you to remotely open the gate from your phone when receiving a call from the intercom.
- Off-Line: If you cannot get cabling to the ACP, then we do offer an off-line version, however that does not have any reporting and all updates to cards must be done at the machine. This is typically used by our customers who have no other reasonable way of running conduit/cabling to an island that is 1+ miles from the computer where the software will be running.
Computer Running the CardEASE Software
There are two options for running the CardEASE software.
- A Guest BOXX Server (shown in image) acts as the software server and is also a convenient way to program barcode cards. Enter the Room # or Site Number, then enter the number of nights & scan the barcode. If you are preparing for a big weekend, you can program these in advance to have the guest package ready to go!
- The CardEASE software will be installed on your existing Windows 7 or Windows 10 computer. In that case you’ll manually program the barcode cards into the software. Also note that Parking BOXX integrates with Campground Management Software programs like RMS, which can automate adding the access credential to the CardEASE software. Typically those campgrounds don’t also purchase the Guest BOXX but utilize this option.
REPORTING
For all options, you will be able to view usage reports to see the time and date, number of uses.
Photos of Installed Sites - Get Ideas!
Videos!
If a picture is worth a thousand words, then a video is worth tens of thousands!
See videos of an installation (at a Truck Stop but it will show you a visual)! The last video on the page (4th one) shows a barrier gate in action!
See videos of hotel parking systems in action!
Parking BOXX accommodates the needs of small lots as well as large, complex parking systems. Parking BOXX has over 80 years of parking systems experience, service partners throughout North America, and parking sites in operation from Los Angeles, the Caribbean to Newfoundland. Parking BOXX parking systems reliably run sites with thousands of daily vehicles and millions in annual parking revenue.
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