What is digital parking enforcement

Digital parking enforcement is sometimes called digital citation management or mobile parking enforcement. Digital parking enforcement is technology that enables cities to monitor parked cars, identify if cars are complying with parking rates and rules, and issue parking citations. With online, cloud-based parking enforcement, parking officials and enforcement officers can access an enforcement system in real-time using a connected handheld device. Cities, universities, private operators and agencies use cloud-based parking enforcement because it makes parking enforcement more accurate and more efficient.

What are the benefits of a cloud-based enforcement system?

The many benefits of a digital enforcement solution include:

• Efficiency through removing manual processes like handwritten tickets and in-person payments
• Real-time data for more up-to-date information and more accurate citations
• Ability to digitally mark cars parked in time-restricted spots (as an alternative to tire chalking)
• Improved compliance: the result of enabling people to pay for parking citations immediately, online
• Even greater speed and accuracy through license plate recognition (LPR) technology
• Ability to better-document violations using images, resulting in less appeals and more revenue
• Custom reporting and heat maps to make better, more strategic decisions

Who can use a digital parking enforcement system?

All parking operators can benefit from digital citation management. With a cloud-based enforcement system, municipalities can monitor and coordinate on-street and off-street parking in real time. Universities and college campuses can use digital enforcement to check for student and faculty permits and to manage events parking. This same technology can be used by hospitals, corporate campuses and airports. Private operators can also benefit from digital enforcement for off-street parking lots and garages.

What is license plate recognition and how can it integrate with cloud-based enforcement software?

License plate recognition (LPR) technology uses special cameras to quickly and accurately read license plates. When connected to a cloud-based enforcement system, the data from the LPR camera is processed by the enforcement software immediately. This process determines whether or not a car has complied with parking rules and regulations. The system can identify whether the car has an existing parking permit or whether the driver made a payment via digital meter or app. With LPR, enforcement officials can scan hundreds of license plates in a short period of time. This removes the need for officers to manually input license plate numbers into their handheld device. Furthermore, this leads to faster enforcement and a decrease in time required to write citations. Consequently, operators can realize significant cost savings by using LPR technology.

How does digital parking enforcement benefit drivers?

Getting a parking ticket is stressful. This stress is amplified when drivers can’t figure out how to pay tickets. With an online citation management system, drivers use an online portal to pay quickly and easily. Thanks to the real-time transfer of data, citations are inputted into the system immediately. Violators can pay their ticket right away on any device. In addition, this process helps to lower the need (and the cost) for mailing notices. With such a convenient process, payment compliance usually improves, and this results in higher citation revenue for the operation.

What should operators look for when choosing a digital enforcement solution?

When choosing a digital enforcement solution, there are many considerations. Parking operators should look for a configurable system that can meet the needs of their unique parking environment. It’s important to find a flexible, versatile solution so it can be used in a variety of locations and can meet your operational needs now and in the future.

Download Enforcement Buyer’s Guide: Transitioning to a Cloud-based Parking Management System for detailed information and criteria for choosing a digital enforcement solution. The guide includes sample requirements, feature and hardware options, integration assessment, and more.

What results can I expect from an upgraded digital enforcement system?

Almost all operations that switch to digital enforcement report an immediate improvement in efficiency. Using a much faster process to patrol and issue parking citations, parking enforcement officers can more efficiently and effectively cover their routes. On the whole, operators see a decrease in inaccurate and voided tickets and collect revenue more quickly.

The following are case studies of operations made better by a mobile enforcement solution.

• The City of Greeley, Colo. upgraded its parking management system and with LPR cameras, they now scan up to 4,000 license plates each day. This resulted in faster and more accurate enforcement and increased parking availability.
• Sam Houston State University saw a $152,000 increase in revenue in the first 12 months with a cloud-based enforcement system.
• Baylor University’s director of parking and transportation services said, “[LPR] was a game-changer for us. It QUADRUPLED our man power. One person, who couldn’t walk through the garage in an hour earlier, could patrol a 1,000 space garage in 15 minutes and be more accurate than they ever were walking through the lot. It provided us a whole new playbook for what we could do with parking.”

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