AirGarage Raises $23M Series B |
Whether you own a parking asset or want to transform an underused space into an income-generating asset, understanding how to approach parking management can save a lot in unnecessary expenses and hassles.
Our comprehensive guide, updated for 2025 and 2026, walks you through expert insights, tips, and resources for effective parking management, including how to maximize your parking asset’s value and avoid common pitfalls. You'll discover how to improve your net operating income, control and reduce expenses, and create a parking experience that keeps customers returning.
Parking management is the process of overseeing operations, pricing, enforcement, and customer experience in parking facilities. Done effectively, it balances revenue growth, cost control, and driver satisfaction. Parking management can be handled in-house or through external parking management companies like AirGarage, which offer full-service parking management solutions.
It’s important to define your goals before diving into the specifics of daily parking management. Whether you’re looking to increase net operating income and long-term real estate value, or to generate passive income or reduce day-to-day operational complexity, there are four key areas to evaluate:
Defining your objectives and parking strategies upfront will also provide clarity on the right management agreement if you choose to outsource operations.
Parking management companies like AirGarage can also provide similar services to many parking consultants, and this could be a better option depending on your specific needs.
If a management partner is the right choice to help meet your parking goals, the next step is understanding different types of parking management agreements and how each one aligns with your goals.
Property owners hire parking management companies to handle daily operations or to run their entire facility. Parking management companies offer a wide range of services that typically include:
Understanding how parking agreements actually work in practice (including the hidden costs and incentive structures) will help you make an informed decision that aligns with your long-term objectives. Parking management providers usually offer three primary agreement types, and each offers distinct advantages and trade-offs.
Facility owners often use a request for proposal (RFP) to collect competitive bids for parking management services. In many cases, you can either manage the parking RFP process yourself or outsource it to a parking consultant, advisor, or management partner.
Revenue management typically involves smart pricing strategies, efficient payment processing, and demand optimization. We review each area in the sections below.
Pricing plays a huge role in determining your competitiveness and overall earning potential. But how do you figure out optimal rates without simply relying on what regional competitors are doing? Setting the right parking pricing requires understanding your market, analyzing demand patterns, and monitoring local rates.
You'll also need to know when and why to adjust prices based on demand fluctuations, which is usually gauged using indicators like the time of day, regional events, and occupancy levels. This can be hard to track manually, which is why dynamic pricing is quickly becoming the preferred option for adjusting pricing using real-time demand signals.
Dynamic pricing offers one of the best ways to maximize revenue per space and control demand and occupancy management while ensuring maximum revenue. Instead of missing revenue opportunities, your system automatically captures optimal rates that customers will pay during peak times.
Drivers want fast, convenient payment options. In fact, Statista estimates that 70% of mobility-related payments were completed digitally in 2024. Contactless payment has become the standard expectation, but you can offer several payment methods as part of your parking management approach:
Booking and Reservation Systems
Customers who want to pre-book parking spaces need a smooth, transparent experience. Your booking system should show real-time availability, display complete pricing (including all fees), and confirm reservations instantly.
Most parking facility owners use third-party software to handle booking alongside other operational functions. These platforms integrate with your payment processing and management systems to provide a seamless management experience.
Visibility drives parking revenue, and marketing is about increasing visibility for drivers seeking parking near your property. Below we review some of the most common marketing channels:
While a smart marketing approach can help drive revenue and brand awareness, a solid plan for parking operations can help reduce costs and strengthen overall net operating income.
Parking operations require careful oversight to keep your property in good condition, provide excellent customer service, and avoid costly inefficiencies. For basic surface lots and simple structures, maintenance and operating expenses can average about $600 per year, per space. No matter your lot size, this cost provides strong motivation to reduce expenses.
For most parking facilities, daily operations handled by a management company typically include:
Traditionally, these operations were overseen by staff who were paid hourly to be physically present on site. However, routine location visits, enforcement sweeps, and real-time monitoring also provide peace of mind and additional security for customers.
Regular preventative maintenance keeps your property safe and reduces long-term capital investment needs or emergency repairs. While some maintenance may be unique depending on your facility, standard parking facility maintenance often includes:
When it’s done right, parking enforcement should minimize violations, create a safe environment, and avoid frustrating customers with over-the-top enforcement actions. The key to effective enforcement is combining multiple detection methods (e.g., cameras, on-site walk throughs, etc.) with fast resolution options to capture violation revenue.
Parking violations typically fall into several categories:
License plate recognition (LPR) systems automate parking violation detection and help increase revenue collection from violation fees. Then real-time enforcement alerts help you resolve issues quickly and track enforcement trends over time.
When problems arise, customers want to know who to contact and how to get help quickly. Plus, lack of available customer support ranks among the most common reasons customers leave poor reviews. Tracking enforcement actions with detailed logs in your parking management system helps you:
Your parking management system should integrate enforcement data with other operational insights. This integration simplifies administration and tracks the long-term revenue impact of enforcement actions.
How customers enter and exit your facility affects both their impression and your operational costs. Picking the right parking access control methods can help you offer a seamless experience and avoid long-term issues with the maintenance of traditional equipment. Below, we review frequently used methods of parking access control.
LPR provides a more advanced and cost-effective approach to parking access control. Instead of causing traffic congestion at entry and exit points, LPR allows continual vehicle flow in and out of the lot while reliably detecting every parking session.
Traditional parking control systems work by physically blocking traffic until payment is made. This method can typically serve only 1 or 2 vehicles at a time, and the pace of exit and entry is unpredictable.
Downsides of traditional parking access control systems include:
Modern parking management requires integrated systems that provide clear operational visibility, centralized insights, and hands-on control.
A parking management system provides a comprehensive view of your parking operations to understand performance trends and make data-driven decisions. It serves as your "command central" by combining data from across your facility's hardware elements, software sources, and 3rd-party integrations.
Parking management systems create a unified network of technology that handles key parking processes like the following:
The systems pull real-time information from multiple sources, including:
This integrated approach enables automated controls for specific needs like price adjustments based on availability or real-time enforcement alerts when violations occur.
Effective parking management requires robust data analysis capabilities. Your parking management software should provide analytics to monitor and track:
This data helps you make informed decisions about pricing, competitiveness, compliance, and daily operations.
Traditional parking facilities often frustrate customers with long lines, cash-only payments, and manual processes. Parking automation can help reduce expenses while creating better customer experiences.
Basic automation capabilities relieve the cost and management burden of:
This level of automation is typically achieved by switching to contactless payments and automated parking session recognition through an LPR system. Sometimes called “smart parking systems,” these connected systems blend data from on-site hardware (sensors and cameras), parking software, and external sources to monitor availability, track performance, and gather actionable insights. In turn, this can measurably lower violation rates.
The parking industry continues evolving rapidly with new technologies, changing customer expectations, and urban development trends. Smart parking systems, electric vehicle charging, predictive pricing capabilities, and integration with more technology represent just the beginning of this transformation.
Successful parking owners will need to adapt to these changes while maintaining focus on improving NOI and providing the best possible customer experience.
A parking management partner like AirGarage can help you navigate changes and stay up to date with the latest technology capabilities. If you want to learn more about how we’ve helped other property owners or what we do for your facility, check out our full case studies or request a proposal now.
