Parking operator Denison Parking recently achieved a 50% increase in enforcement revenues and 10% decrease in labor costs by deploying Cleverciti’s CleverCompliance solution. The successful collection and utilization of parking data has become a key issue for all parking owners and operators today. Parking technology has come a long way in a short amount of time, and it has completely transformed and expanded opportunities to achieve nearly any goal stakeholders may have.

Quality data has quickly become the answer to many of the issues these organizations face, from increasing revenues and streamlining staffing, to reducing carbon emissions and enhancing the user experience. With the right solution in place, it is now possible to obtain truly real-time parking data (occupancy, utilization, payment compliance, etc.) from multiple parking locations simultaneously. This allows organizations to evaluate and make immediate improvements across their entire portfolio. Parking operator Denison Parking recently achieved a 50% increase in enforcement revenues and 10% decrease in labor costs by deploying Cleverciti’s CleverCompliance solution.

Like many operators, Denison Parking was looking for a more efficient way to enforce and manage their portfolio of parking lots and garages through technology. Since developing the first self-park garage in Indianapolis (only the fifth in the country) and growing to now operate more than 90,000 parking spaces across the country, Denison has cemented its legacy of innovation and thought leadership. 

Inspired by a rich history of forward-thinking solutions, and the specific goal of increasing compliance and enforcement revenues, Denison engaged Cleverciti to identify a parking intelligence solution to meet the unique needs of a parking lot in the heart of downtown Indianapolis. The extremely high turnover lot provides parking for city residents and visitors to numerous destinations including events, restaurants, office buildings, and more.

The location had become difficult to enforce given an extensive range of payment options available to users including parking permits, mobile payment apps, and multi-space meters. While this setup accomplished the purpose of enhancing convenience for customers, it presented challenges to enforcement staff, requiring them to manually check each payment. Further, many parkers had taken advantage of this situation, especially during very short parking periods, allowing them to arrive and depart quickly without paying. Denison knew they were not only missing out on enforcement revenues, but also accruing unnecessary labor costs through this process.

Cleverciti worked with Denison to identify the solution that would best meet their needs. The objectives for this project were to decrease labor through automation, generate data to evaluate parking utilization, improve compliance, and obtain real-time compliance levels and alerts to automate enforcement.

Cleverciti installed two overhead, optical occupancy detection sensors to cover 69 parking spaces across the project area. The solution included Cleverciti’s space detection and management service, as well as enhanced analytics software. The Cleverciti Space Management solution monitors real-time parking occupancy, enabling Denison to gather and analyze the most accurate parking data updated every few seconds, as well as view historical data to predict and evaluate parking demand and habits to support smart parking decisions.

Denison and Cleverciti also collaborated to develop the CleverCompliance solution to provide payment compliance by space. This feature takes the occupancy data obtained through Cleverciti’s solutions and compares it to payment data from the parking meters and mobile app, revealing concrete real-time compliance data. Further, the solution also sends compliance alerts directly to parking enforcement officers, allowing them to immediately identify vehicles parked illegally or that have overstayed, and ticket them rather than sift through extensive payment information to identify violators.

The results of this project have been groundbreaking and will serve as a platform for future rollouts. Denison has identified numerous improvements to the operation at the lot including:

·        50% increase in enforcement revenues

·        10% decrease in labor costs

Prior to this project, Denison was only able to view parking lot utilization based on payments. Today, they can evaluate utilization based on occupancy, significantly improving the efficiency of the lot. This project has successfully achieved all identified objectives including streamlining enforcement, capturing lost revenues, and obtaining highly accurate and real-time utilization data. Additionally, they recently installed a new Cleverciti Sign, a fully digital dynamic messaging sign to show parking occupancy to the driver before arriving. This has been beneficial advertising the available spaces, thereby increasing utilization of the hard to see spaces at the rear of the lot.

According to Denison President Perry Griffith, III, “This partnership between Denison and Cleverciti has transformed our ability to obtain and understand parking compliance data in this key asset in our portfolio. The solutions implemented have greatly improved the ability of staff to enforce the lot, allowing us to improve compliance and identify inefficiencies. We are very pleased with the results, having increased our enforcement revenues and streamlined our operations staff so they can focus on more valuable activities like lot safety, customer service, and maintenance.”

To learn more about how Cleverciti can provide your organization with the solutions to meet your unique needs visitwww.cleverciti.com or contact Andrew LaMothe, Vice President of Sales, North America.

Cleverciti recently announced a new smart parking guidance installation coming up in El Monte, California, tailored to downtown commuters and visitors. The installation is aimed to support local businesses, reduce emissions and traffic in the suburb of Los Angeles. 

The project began in March 2021 and will be completed in July 2021. Cleverciti’s technology will be deployed at El Monte’s Main Street and MetroLink parking lots, as these are two of the busiest and most congested areas of the suburb.

Cleverciti’s turn-by-turn guidance signage covers over 400 parking spaces and is accompanied by the Cleverciti App that is available to drivers through a mobile device. The app shows in real-time where available parking spaces are in the chosen areas. 

Around El Monte’s Metrolink and Main Street lots, Cleverciti Circ® 360 LED signs, installed on existing lampposts, display live parking information in 360 degrees, leading drivers to the nearest available parking space.

Better access to the Main Street parking lot will allow residents and visitors to enjoy downtown restaurants, retail shops, and more, which in its turn will boost the local economy. Better access to the Metrolink parking lots makes the commuters’ journey into the downtown area a lot more enjoyable and easy. Cleverciti’s information on parking space availability in combination with Metrolink’s data on the capacity on the train is meant to make the choice for commuters to take the train an easy one; while reducing vehicle miles traffic, greenhouse gas emissions, and traffic congestion. 

Cleverciti is very excited to work with the city of El Monte to support local small and medium-sized businesses, while also improving the quality of life for residents and visitors. 

Read the full press release here:

Here we are: the biggest yearly spending event in retail is here off, with holiday shopping efforts in full force. But while consumers battle with their checkbooks, retailers are batting for consumers. You’ve likely noticed that the news is scattered with stories about big box stores closing while online retail giants, such as Amazon, continue to grow. In fact, consumers spent a whopping $126 billion online in the 2018 holiday shopping season.

An NPR poll brings insight to the online versus brick-and-mortar war that has ensued, featuring the top motivating factor to shopping online: speed (quickly followed by convenience). When you think about physically going to a store to shop, these factors are often diminished by one major element: parking. But what if retailers could leverage technology to both decrease the time shoppers spend searching for a space and provide a better customer experience? Could this help push customers to return to in-store shopping?

Our customers think so, based on the following benefits:

Speed

Research shows that finding a parking spot at a shopping center can take up to 12 minutes. Cleverciti’s smart parking technology can change that. Through a combination of real-time detection of available parking spaces and digital signage guiding drivers to open spots, the time required to park can be reduced by 30% or more. In a shopping mall with 1,000 parking spaces, this improvement can result in annual revenue gains of more than $4 million.

A positive impression

As the first and last memory of a shopping experience, streamlined parking is key to creating a satisfied customer. Take it from us: In July, Cleverciti finished installing its smart parking technology at Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield’s Ruhr Park, Germany’s largest open-air shopping center with more than 2,600 parking spots. Known for their devotion to innovation and service, Ruhr Park’s executive team wanted to deliver extraordinary service, convenience, and a hassle-free parking experience for its clients.

Creating rewards

In addition to streamlining parking, Cleverciti’s newest technology, the Cleverciti Card, can be used to reserve parking spots in specified areas. Imagine VIP customers being able to reserve a space in advance, which not only maximizes their time spent shopping, but also provides additional data to the retailer regarding the most loyal and top-spending customers, allowing salespeople to know in advance of the arrival of their best customers. For years, brands have created loyalty programs with rewards, bonuses and discounts, and now parking can become part of these efforts.

Utilizing data

Cleverciti’s solution is more than just sensors. Using edge-computing, artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things (IoT), the technology creates a unified and intelligent platform that provides customer and behavior data to retailers — something retailers are always craving. From the location of each parked car, to parking violations, to how long each shopper spends in the store, this information can help retailers learn about customer behavior, measure effects of marketing campaigns and plan more effective traffic patterns.

Reduced footprint

Consumers are starting to use purchasing power to get their messages and opinions across to businesses and brands, and we’re seeing this prominently when it comes to reducing emissions and global warming. A report by Nielsen found that 66% of consumers are willing to pay more for sustainable goods, so it is likely that they will also pick a shopping center that has actively chosen to reduce its carbon footprint.

Smart parking technology directly relates to this effort: when shoppers spend less time searching for an open space, they’re releasing fewer emissions into the air and therefore cutting down on pollution. Cleverciti’s mission to creating a sustainable environment can be key to showing consumers that retailers care about more than just the bottomline.

Brick-and-mortar retailers are at a tipping point when it comes to winning back the hearts of consumers, but this effort is all about providing a better experience for the consumer than their digital counterparts. Cleverciti’s smart parking technology can create a more efficient, rewarding and sustainable experience for shoppers while also providing mission-critical information to retailers to continually improve the guest experience.

To learn more about how Cleverciti’s technology can help your business, connect with our teams here.

Largest open-air shopping center in Germany eases parking complexity, increases intelligence gathering and enhances the shopping experience with smart parking technologies

LAKE FOREST, Ill. & MUNICH– (BUSINESS WIRE) – Cleverciti, a leader in comprehensive, high-tech solutions for smart parking, today announces that Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield’s Ruhr Park shopping center,Germany’s largest open-air shopping center, has deployed Cleverciti’s advanced smart parking solution to monitor more than 2,600 outdoor spaces. Cleverciti’s high-end artificial intelligence (AI) sensors immediately guide visitors to any available area, eliminating unnecessary driving and wasted time when searching for a parking space.

With information updated every few seconds, Cleverciti sensors and its omnidirectional LED guidance system CIRC360™ combine to deliver instantaneous data on available parking spaces at the entrance to each parking aisle. Cleverciti’s AI and edge-computing sensors provide consistent reliability and offer the highest level of accuracy in all weather conditions. Comprehensive 360-degree sensors and signage are installed on existing lampposts and other poles to reduce the need for additional hardware and infrastructure investments, delivering additional ROI for the organization.

By leveraging the power of Cleverciti’s smart parking solution, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield has invested in a sophisticated, resilient and efficient smart parking platform that eases parking complexity and provides more time to shop for the more than 11 million people that visit the facility annually. A mobile app, which provides directions to free parking spaces that are close to the areas they want to shop in real-time, empowers drivers to focus on the tasks at hand rather than searching for a space.

Ruhr Park is Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield’s third shopping center in Germany to be awarded with a 4-star label – a customer service initiative that represents the highest level of quality, service and shopping experience within the Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield group. The 4-star facilities have to meet a total of 734 criteria to secure this rating. With a consistent focus on innovation and service, the shopping center strives to stay ahead of technology trends and invests in solutions that propel intelligence, operational efficiency and convenience.

“We selected Cleverciti because its intelligence and integrated smart parking technologies and services will facilitate a hassle-free parking experience for our clients,” said Andreas Ulmer, Center Manager, Ruhr Park. “In today’s complex retail environment, it’s essential that shoppers are provided with extraordinary service, convenience and efficiency at the places they choose to shop. Cleverciti supports our broader roadmap initiatives with the opportunity to streamline our parking operations while enhancing communication, which helps future-proof our investment and drive additional value across our organization.”

In addition to reducing visitor challenges, the Cleverciti smart parking platform also offers the shopping center management new levels of intelligence and real-time insight into the use of the outdoor parking areas, including the length of stay of each car, use of certain areas, historical data and heat maps on traffic patterns. Customized alerts can also be set for designated zones, such as loading areas where parking is prohibited. Cleverciti also easily integrates with other networked devices to enable organizations to build more advanced Internet of Things (IoT) deployments as needs expand over time.

“The Cleverciti smart parking solution is the ideal platform for high-traffic and dynamic areas, like shopping centers and retail facilities, that require the highest degree of intelligence. Shopping starts in the parking areas, therefore, it is critical to deliver a streamlined parking experience to ensure visitor satisfaction from the beginning,” said Markus Grauvogl, Vice President of Sales, EMEAR, Cleverciti.

Cleverciti has more than 54 installations in 18 countries around the world. Its comprehensive suite of smart parking solutions is an ideal choice for organizations focused on a forward-thinking approach to customer service that also seeks to streamline parking and turn parking assets into revenue generators.