How ANPR Increases Parking Profitability

Read more about what ANPR is and the benefits of ANPR cameras.

How does ANPR increase revenue?

ANPR increases revenue by letting you charge for the time the spaces are actually used. This shows in several ways:

• Visitors pay for the time the car is parked, because every visit is registered.
• When a contract customer stays past their time, the extra time is charged at the visitor rate.
• If a company has more cars parked than it has permits for, the extra cars are charged at the visitor rate. You decide whether the employee or the company pays.
• You can see when spaces are empty and sell more permits or let visitors in at those times.
• A garage that has only had contract customers can start accepting visitors, without letting just anyone in.

Learn how hybrid agreements and customer clubs work.

Why is the data the biggest gain?

The data is the biggest gain because it shows where the revenue is. Lower costs for parking attendants are noticeable straight away, but in our experience it is the revenue that usually justifies the investment in cameras and licences.

“You can increase occupancy in your car park without creating more parking spaces or expanding. That’s where the numbers add up quite clearly,” says Sofia Fredlund, Head of Sales & Marketing at Mobility46.

The cameras show exactly when spaces are used and when they are empty. You can then adjust prices and times to how the facility is used and sell the same space several times, for example to offices during the day and to residents in the evening. You can also see which company customers regularly have more cars parked than they have permits for. If a company rents 10 spaces but has more cars every week, you can offer it more spaces and secure a larger fixed income.

See how the data is used to increase revenue.

How does ANPR reduce costs?

ANPR reduces costs by removing much of the manual work. The cameras check every car, so attendants are mainly needed to keep order, for example when cars are parked incorrectly. In our experience, the cost of enforcement usually falls by 90–95% compared with attendants who check once or several times a day.

Visitors pay in an app or via a QR code, so no physical payment machines are needed. You can also see which payment apps are actually used. An app that no one uses can be cancelled, saving the cost of the contract. Fewer incorrect parking fines also mean fewer complaints and less administration.

Read about the difference between parking attendants and cameras.

When does ANPR pay off?

ANPR pays off most where there are times and spaces that nobody pays for today. So it depends on how the facility is used:

• How often spaces are empty, even though they are rented out.
• Whether you have both contract customers and visitors, or could have both.
• How much you spend on enforcement and administration today.
• Whether you can use cameras you already have. ANPR46 works with cameras from several manufacturers. Read what to consider when choosing an ANPR system.

ANPR pays off least where all spaces are reserved and every customer has their own space. In that case, there is little to optimise, and attendants are still needed to check that the right car is in the right space.

We cover what the installation itself costs in our article on common myths about ANPR.

How do you calculate profitability?

Start with the occupancy data. It shows hour by hour how the facility is used, who parks there and when. Clear patterns often emerge. In an office car park, most people drive in between 8 and 9 am and out between 4 and 5 pm, and it is quiet in between. With hybrid working, some days are quieter than others, often Fridays. Those are the hours when spaces are empty and could be sold to someone else.

Allow about three months before the patterns become clear. School holidays and public holidays can make a single month look misleading. You can then adjust permits, prices and offers to how the facility is actually used.

If you don’t have cameras yet, start with what you know: how many spaces are rented out, what they bring in and what enforcement and administration cost today. Then estimate how often the spaces are used at different times. You can also carry out manual counts of occupancy to get a clearer picture. You only get exact figures once the cameras are in place, but an estimate is enough to see whether there are empty spaces to fill.

In a calculation example from our webinar on revenue optimisation, the same 100 spaces generate 61% more revenue per year with permits for different times and overbooking than with reserved spaces. Note that it is one example, and the actual result always depends on how your own facility is used.

See the full calculation example.

Want to calculate the figures for your facility?

Book a demo, and we’ll go through how your facility is used today and what ANPR could deliver.

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Expert insights from Sofia Fredlund, Head of Sales & Marketing at Mobility46.