5 common mistakes in shared parking management (and how to avoid them)
In multi-tenant environments such as business complexes, shared car parks often create unintended problems. From property managers who apply too little monitoring to employees taking more spaces than allocated, the result is frustration and inefficiency. In this article, we highlight five of the most common mistakes and show how Park-R can help solve them.
These five issues come up time and again in practice. The good news: they are easy to prevent with clear agreements, the right system and a little foresight.
1. No clear allocation of rights
Without clear agreements on who is entitled to which spaces, conflicts arise quickly. If everyone is allowed to park “anywhere”, spaces effectively become free-for-all.
How to avoid this
Assign parking rights clearly per user or organisation. Use licence plate recognition to log who enters and set limits per company or household.
2. No real-time visibility of occupancy
Many car parks still rely on paper lists or access cards. That means there is no visibility of actual use. Is maximum capacity exceeded? Are spaces standing empty? You simply don’t know.
How to avoid this
Real-time occupancy monitoring with ANPR shows how many vehicles are inside per company or across the entire site. This allows you to manage capacity and prevent bottlenecks.
3. Access systems that are easy to abuse
Remotes, cards and codes are convenient, but they are also easy to misuse. Employees lend cards to others, use them outside working hours or routinely park more vehicles inside the gate than permitted.
A better approach
Licence plate access links directly to individuals or companies and is far harder to “share”. It is also easier to manage: a change in the system is live instantly, without issuing new cards.
4. No data to support decisions
You might suspect the car park is often overcrowded, or that certain tenants use more spaces than agreed. But without data, you have no evidence when raising the issue.
The solution
Use a platform that automatically generates reports per licence plate, per time and per organisation. This provides not only insight but also evidence to present to landlords, colleagues or municipalities.
5. Starting without a clear understanding of needs
Some sites choose a solution based on assumptions: zones, booking systems or occupancy monitoring, when the reality is much simpler. Others believe a single barrier with cards will suffice, when in fact more control is required.
How to avoid this
At Park-R we start by mapping out your real needs. This allows us to give tailored advice on the best solution for your parking challenge. Sometimes a simple base solution is enough; sometimes the situation calls for something more advanced. We are happy to demonstrate how it works and provide honest advice.
