Rush Hour and Campus Parking

Unlike in a corporate environment where there’s a predictable morning and evening rush, university campuses can have veritable “rush hour” multiple times every day. With classes starting and ending throughout the day and varied schedules for different students, campus parking lots can be challenging to manage. Is the search for parking putting a damper on your students’ campus experience? Are students and faculty frustrated that they can’t get to class on time? Does your parking management report underused parking spaces while students claim there’s no where to park?

Here are 3 simple ways to improve the campus parking process.

Way 1: Parking Counting

Students insist there’s no where to park. But university staff is pretty sure there is. The discrepancy is a simple one. Student often check the same lots again and again while ignoring others. Often, universities find that certain lots remain stubbornly underutilized while others seem to draw students to them.

But there’s a simple way to help make wayfinding quick and easy. OpenSpace smart parking sensors keep track of exactly where parking is available at any given time. Keeping count of data lets you and your students know if there are available spots, and where they can be found.

Way 2: Display Parking Data

Parking availability data can then be shared with students on bright LED signs, on your website, or right on your app.. Let students where parking is available so they know where to look for spots, and which areas to avoid.

Electronic signs display parking data broken down by your lots and garages. The signs are automatically updated in real-time. You can choose to install the signs wherever you’d like students to see them. Some schools choose to display data right when students enter the campus with an overview of spots available in each lot. Outside each lot, you can display how many spots are available or when the lot is full.

Way 3: Integrate Student Parking Data

Student parking data insights help you assess if your campus does indeed have enough parking or actually needs more. Once sensors keep track of available parking, universities are often surprised at what they find. Much of their parking resources may actually be underutilized as more popular areas are scouted again and again.

Integrating campus parking data not only helps you make more data-driven decisions about parking, it also helps you direct and guide students for a more streamlined campus experience. OpenSpace offers integration with your website so you can display parking data right on your site. API integration lets you integrate parking data right into your school’s app or the parking apps of your choice.

Whether rush hour at your school is three or ten times a day, campus parking doesn’t have to lead to gridlock. Streamline parking and simplify the parking process with OpenSpace from Parking Logix.