parking operators

Meeting driver’s needs in a COVID-normal world

Two years into the COVID pandemic and in many Australian cities, people are returning to their lives while doing their best to avoid contracting the virus. We take a look at how COVID has changed the way in which we get around our cities and how parking operators can meet the needs of drivers in a COVID-normal world.

How has COVID changed our travel habits?

Car travel, and therefore parking, is experiencing a COVID-induced surge in popularity. Data from cities across the world shows that, as COVID restrictions ease, people are opting to travel by car because they are wary about catching the virus on public transport, and that’s what we’re seeing in Australian cities, too.

An online survey conducted by toll road operator Transurban in July last year found that, on average, 22 per cent fewer people in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane intended to use public transport every day after COVID, compared to their pre-pandemic use. And, now that COVID-normal life is well underway in those cities, the numbers show that’s exactly what’s happening.

Mobility data from Apple shows that as soon as COVID restrictions began to lift in Sydney in October 2021, car journeys spiked, while walking and public transport trips remained below the January 2020 baseline figures. By January 2022, public transport usage in Sydney was still almost 64 per cent lower than it was pre-COVID.

In Melbourne, road traffic was at 81 per cent of pre-pandemic levels by mid-January 2022, in contrast with public transport usage, which was only at 36 per cent of its pre-COVID baseline numbers. Road toll data, meanwhile, shows that car use has risen even in cities that haven’t experienced extended lockdowns, like Brisbane.

This increase in car use has naturally led to a spike in demand for parking. Parking operators were reporting increases in demand of more than 200 per cent in January 2022, while, in a sign of just how highly valued parking has become, a parking space in central Sydney has been listed for sale for more than $500,000.

So, how can parking operators best meet the needs of this surge of COVID-savvy drivers?

Contactless parking payments systems – more relevant now than ever

The reason why people are eschewing public transport in favour of car travel is to minimise their exposure to COVID, so their choice of parking needs to be as COVID-safe as possible too. Research has shown that public health measures, such as social distancing and minimising shared touchpoints, can help reduce the spread of COVID. That’s where contactless parking payments systems come into their own. They eliminate the need for paper pull-tickets, cash payments, the presence of staff in the car park, and in some cases, any friction points at all, making them the most hygienic parking management systems on offer.

DIVVY offers three contactless parking solutions to suit all types of car parks and parking operators. Our public parking management systems, the pre-book system DIVVY Marketplace and the casual parking product Drive Up, are completely cashless.

DIVVY Marketplace collects payment via the DIVVY app, while Drive Up’s payment device technology accepts VISA, Mastercard, AMEX, Apple Pay and Samsung Pay at the car park entry or exit. Our staff and visitor parking management software, which has paid parking capabilities for those businesses who want to charge their staff for parking, is also cashless and only accepts electronic payments. Cash use, which has been steadily declining here in Australia for some time now, has dropped significantly since the start of the pandemic due to hygiene concerns, with the CBA predicting the nation could be completely cashless as soon as 2026.

Not only are our parking systems cashless, doing away with the need for cash payment machines, but none of our smart parking management systems uses paper pull-tickets either, thus further reducing the number of physical touchpoints in the driver’s journey.

Our parking solutions become completely frictionless with the integration of the DIVVY LPR solution, which uses licence plate recognition technology to calculate the duration of stay. The DIVVY LPR solution eliminates every physical touchpoint in the parking journey, making it the most hygienic, COVID-safe way to park.

Whether you’re looking for contactless parking payment systems for your public car park or your staff and visitor parking, we can help. Get in touch with our friendly sales team to discuss your parking needs today.

DIVVY: a complete intelligent parking management system

Calling all parking operators! Whether you need an intelligent parking management system to take care of your staff parking, you want help turning your vacant parking spaces into moneymakers or you’re looking for a casual parking management solution, DIVVY has you covered.

We offer a full suite of parking management software that saves you time and money and makes managing your parking simple. We’re also a parking equipment provider, with a range of access control solutions to meet all your car park management needs.

DIVVY’s Smart Parking Solutions

DIVVY Marketplace

Start generating revenue from your empty car spaces by listing them with DIVVY Marketplace. DIVVY Marketplace parking technology connects your unused parking spaces with more than 90,000 registered DIVVY parking customers searching for pre-booked hourly, daily and monthly parking via our app and our website.

You decide when your parking spaces will be available, whether it’s weekdays only, or weekends, or specific dayparts or for special events. Then sit back and let DIVVY’s Enterprise system handle bookings, payments and access in its seamless inventory management system.

Troubleshooting is handled by DIVVY’s 24/7 customer support, who are on hand 365 days of the year to help both parkers and parking operators. DIVVY Marketplace is simply smart parking.

DIVVY Premium Parking

Not keen on every human and their dog booking your parking spaces? DIVVY’s Premium Parking option gives you the ultimate discretion, allowing you to decide exactly who can book the parking spaces you list on DIVVY Marketplace.

If building access is an issue, you might choose to allow only tenants in your building to book your parking spaces. Or you can select certain groups from within your own business, or perhaps open your spaces up to all staff in your organisation, but no-one from outside the company. With DIVVY Premium Parking, the power is in your hands.

DIVVY Drive Up

Drivers love parking with DIVVY – after all, it couldn’t be simpler. But what about the days they’ve forgotten to pre-book their parking? That’s why we launched Drive Up casual parking. Drive Up brings the simplicity and ease that DIVVY customers love to casual parking. No cash, no tickets, no pre-booking required.

Casual parking operators can choose to install Pay on Entry, where visitors are charged a set all-day rate as they enter the car park, or Pay on Exit which charges drivers a fee based on the duration of their stay at the car park exit. It can also be installed in tandem with DIVVY’s LPR solution to use licence plate recognition technology to allow entry and calculate length of stay.

DIVVY Staff Parking

Throw away the physical access cards and delete the parking spreadsheet. DIVVY offers a complete staff parking management solution that can handle the most complex of staff parking arrangements, including visitor parking and paid parking options, all via our QR code access control devices.

Highlights of the system include Free Up My Space, a market-first feature that allows parkers to free up their parking space for others when they’re not using it. It means your staff parking works harder, and parking won’t be sitting idle when staff are on leave, working from home or away from the office.

Book On Behalf is a superior visitor parking management feature giving selected staff members the ability to book parking on a visitor’s behalf. Book On Behalf gives you complete visibility over all visitor parking, and grants visitors car park access with the same QR code technology. You’ll never have to run down to the car park to let a visitor in again.

The DIVVY reports portal gives you access to real-time, accurate data about your staff car park utilisation, which can be used to claim fringe benefits tax (FBT) deductions (if eligible) and makes informed business decisions about your parking assets.

With the DIVVY staff parking management system, you can even opt to charge staff, or certain groups of staff, for parking.

DIVVY’s Access Control Device

Sammy Hardware

Sammy is the primary DIVVY access control device, and it makes entering and exiting car parks a breeze. It uses QR code technology for entries and exits and is used in both our pre-book and Drive Up parking solutions.

Sammy features a fully integrated VOIP intercom and it accepts payments via its onboard payment terminal. It is built to withstand harsh Australian environmental conditions.

Sammy is a key element in our smart parking control solutions, using the latest in the Internet of Things (IoT) technology to provide a seamless experience for parkers and a live and accurate source of rich data for parking operators.

IoT I/O Controller

The DIVVY IoT Controller solution is a simple, cost-effective device that uses the Internet of Things (IoT) to automate and control parking gates as part of DIVVY’s smart parking control solutions. Developed in-house at DIVVY, it’s the first of its kind in the world.

This all-in-one Controller enables companies to collect data and generate meaningful insights through the cloud, while streamlining parking operations. DIVVY’s IoT Controller offers the utmost in secure services for both car parks and data.

To find out more about our smart parking products or access control devices, contact our friendly sales team today.