The GateLess Deception 

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I believe I first started hearing the buzzwords “GateLess” and “Frictionless” thrown around beginning in about 2015 or 2016.  The discussion grew, and manufacturers started to meet the demand by producing gateless systems.  Now, I like to believe that I am a forward-thinker in the parking industry, always looking for and working toward what is coming next. So when my initial response to the gateless idea was that it was a big mistake, I felt concerned that I was just stuck in a traditional rut. However, after nearly a decade of seriously thinking through the concept and watching gateless systems perform, I feel more comfortable proclaiming my findings. Gateless systems do not benefit a parking facility. When I say do not benefit, I mean there is no real benefit to the parking customer or manager.   

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Is going gateless truly designed to enhance the customer experience, or is it a strategy to mask our challenges in maintaining and ensuring the functionality of our systems? The parking gate, often considered the simplest part of the entire PARCS operation, is a crucial element in maintaining a high level of customer service and accountability.   

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By nature, on-street parking is gateless. It must always have the infrastructure of meters, ticket writers, and ticket collection. On-street parking causes people to dislike parking! Customers receive tickets they feel are unwarranted or get mad when an honest mistake results in a deserved ticket. Why would you invite all this distaste into your off-street, well-maintained oasis of a parking garage?  

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The intention behind frictionless is that if I totally neglect the equipment at my garage and I remove employees from my operation to reduce payroll expenses, then at least my customers can always get in or out.  That’s customer service, right? No one in my garage can help you with a transaction or – God forbid – an emergency, but since we’re gateless, you can always exit! No, this is not customer service. We cannot conveniently forget that as parking managers, we have two primary responsibilities - and they are hard, fast, uncompromising rules.  Our job is accountability: we are accountable for the client’s money and impeccable customer service.  I have always believed that those two go hand in hand without compromise.  Trying to create an illusion of increased customer service through a so-called frictionless entry and exit at the compromise of accountability is not a worthy tradeoff.   

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As an industry, we are swiftly transitioning to an E-commerce payment system. Over the next five years, I firmly believe we will witness exponential growth in both the accessibility and depth of performance of contactless payment systems. This transition will not compromise our future benefits or our accountability. However, let’s not be deceived and match a frictionless payment with a void in customer service, human connectivity in parking facilities, and accountability. In every new technology that comes along, there must be a development phase, and then there comes a point, which is where we are now with gateless, where it either becomes accepted and moves forward, or it dies on the vine. Since nobody is watering this plant called “gateless,” let’s let it go.