Eugene, OR

Case Study

In a small city that hosts some of the world’s largest sporting events, OpenSpace provides the wayfinding the city needs to manage the sudden influx of parkers while also addressing residents’ everyday parking needs.

The Client

Eugene, OR is a small city with a huge presence. Home to Nike, University of Oregon, and Hayward Field, Eugene is a popular host of massive sporting events. The city of just 160,000 hosted the U.S. Olympic track and field trials in 2021, its seventh time hosting the trials. Even more significantly, the largest worldwide sporting event in 2022, the IAAF World Championships, was held in Eugene. It was the first time the World Championships were ever held in the United States. The event has never before been held in a city with a population of less than one million.  Eugene also has its eyes set on hosting the summer Olympics within the next two decades.

The Challenge

To meet the massive anticipated need for parking, Eugene needed a wayfinding system to help prevent congestion and direct drivers into available parking. In addition, the city needed a parking guidance system for everyday downtown use.  Parking prices at Eugene garages are based on demand so the city wanted a system that could provide usage reports to accurately determine occupancy so that pricing could be adjusted based on parking needs.

The city has eight parking garages with different functions. Two are primarily for hourly parkers while others are for permit holders or mixed use. The city wanted accurate parking data that could guide parkers into spots throughout the city while supplying the city with the information it needed.

Eugene was looking for a parking guidance system that could:

• Provide accurate parking data with minimal installation
• Offer competitive pricing without compromising on functionality
• Offer usage insights to assist them in deciding how many permits to sell
• Guide them in price adjustments based on parking demand
• Allow for customization of signs based on city’s needs
• Provide ongoing, superior technical support
• Display parking data via multiple sources including parking lot signage, phone apps, signs at city entrances, and in-car navigation systems.
• Offer the ability for people to pay from phones as well as from car screens integrated with apps

 

The Solution

The Parking Logix OpenSpace system provided Oregon with the parking counting platform it needed for both its everyday needs and for the Olympic trials and the IAAF World Championships. Eugene has already installed the system in its 8 parking lots, all of which integrate with parking apps and some of which use on-site signage as well. Plans to integrate with remote-pay apps, pay-from-vehicle, and signs at city entrances are underway. All the parking signage being used with the OpenSpace system was custom created for Eugene based on city needs.

• The OpenSpace system offers accurate parking counts available from a variety of sources without any complicated installation process
• Data is conveyed to apps as well as variable message signs at select parking lot entrances so that people know how many spots are available
• City parking professionals can access parking data reports using the OpenSpace cloud to set demand pricing and determine number of permits to sell
• Parking data is available through a multitude of sources and in the process of being integrated with additional outlets
• Parking Logix staff is offering the customization and support that Eugene wanted to keep its parking platforms running the way it needs

The Benefits

The OpenSpace system is already helping keep congestion off the roads as people pay attention to the LED signage and use apps to decide where to park. Having the system running smoothly in advance of the Olympic and World Championship events ensured that the city was well prepared for the influx of parkers.  Travis Hargitt, the Operations Supervisor for parking in the city of Eugene, commented that “the accuracy [of OpenSpace] matched with the price point, flexibility, and phenomenal tech support is simply amazing.”

The OpenSpace parking counting platform has:

• Provided the city of Eugene with integrated parking data to guide parkers in where to look for available spots
• Offered the city’s parking department the data it needs for optimal parking permit sales and demand price setting
• Allowed the city to integrate data with a variety of sources so that parkers have the flexibility of checking parking availability from wherever it’s most convenient for them.