AirGarage recently began operating a parking lot in the heart of historic Charleston, South Carolina.

Within 6 months of taking over the facility, the average Google Maps rating increased from 3.7 to 4.7 stars because AirGarage was able to address many of the driver pain points at the location.

The previous parking operator managed the location for years and had only received a handful of reviews, mostly from drivers upset about the painful payment process, long lines, and poor customer service, leading to a mediocre 3.7 star rating.

When AirGarage took over the facility, drivers were happy about the easy new system. Within 6 months, 150+ drivers rated the facility 5 stars, increasing the overall rating to a glowing 4.7 - the highest of any parking facility in Charleston. The rating continues to climb each day.

In this post, we’ll dive into some of the original pain points at the location and how AirGarage managed to solve them.

1. Improving traffic flow and turnover

The biggest pain point at the location was a long line of cars waiting to pay to exit of the parking lot.

With only a single exit lane and pay machine, if anything went wrong (like a driver scrambling to find their ticket for the parking machine or a credit card jam) everyone else was stuck in the parking lot waiting.

The single exit pay station for parking combined with the fact that the traffic to this parking facility is highly transient proved to be challenging and created big headaches for drivers.

The average rental length at this parking lot in Charleston is 2.7 hours, meaningfully lower than our portfolio average of 4.1 hours. This means drivers are coming and going more frequently than a typical parking facility.

With 150 spaces right in the heart of downtown Charleston, the resulting traffic jam impacted revenue for ownership by blocking available parking spaces and frustrated drivers who were paying for time spent in the long exit lines waiting to pay.

By replacing the parking gates and arm with license plate reading cameras and a simple new web payment system, AirGarage enabled traffic to flow smoothly and eliminated the pain of drivers being stuck in long lines trying to exit the parking lot.

2. Improved payment experience

Another shift we observed in the reviews was around the ease of payments.

Keeping track of the paper ticket, the slow line, and unfriendly parking attendant were all common complaints in the reviews under the previous parking management company.

After switching to AirGarage, many reviews noted that the payment system was simple, provided easy entrance and exit from the parking lot, and was had clear pricing.

AirGarage functions on a prepayment model where drivers enter the lot and start a parking rental by scanning a QR code and entering their license plate.

Drivers who have previously parked at any AirGarage location don’t have to re-enter their vehicle or payment information and can start their rental with just one button making the experience fast and simple.

The drivers leaving reviews also appreciated that instead of being asked to select a specific amount of time up front and guess how long they will be parking in advance, drivers start and end their rental on the web or app.

This proved popular with drivers since they only pay for the exact amount of time used without overpaying or risking getting a ticket after the time elapses like with most other parking services.

Overall, switching to AirGarage has been a win for drivers and the owners at this parking lot alike.

For drivers, the lot is now a painless parking and payment experience.

For the owner, the location is more profitable than ever, with revenue increasing 23% YoY.

At AirGarage, we believe that creating the best parking and payment experience for drivers possible is in the best interest of real estate owners too, and these results clearly demonstrate that to be true.

To learn more about AirGarage, get in touch below to learn how we can increase Net Operating Income and improve the driver experience at your parking facilities.

‍