Navigating Change: Why the Parking Industry Needs Standardization

As technology, AI, and customer expectations evolve, the parking industry must build stable and predictable systems that last. 

Change Is the Only Constant 

We live in a world defined by constant change, and with the rapid rise of artificial intelligence, it’s natural to wonder how we’ll continue to manage our daily lives, our businesses, and even simple routines like shopping, traveling, or communicating. For more than a century, entertainment and news came primarily from television and radio, but today we’re witnessing their gradual shift to the glowing screens in our hands. Change has become the only constant. While some industries enjoy long cycles of stability, parking hasn’t had a pause long enough to catch a breath in several years. Technology, payment systems, and customer expectations are evolving faster than ever, reminding us that adaptability is a necessity in our field. 

A Real-Life Parking Challenge 

About a year ago, John Van Horn and I went to dinner at a beachside restaurant that used parking meters in its garage. Between the two of us, we had more than 80 years of experience in the parking industry, yet we couldn’t get that meter to work. You could chalk it up to a “generational moment,” but given that both of us deal with parking transactions every day, it shouldn’t have been that difficult. Eventually, we gave up, went to dinner, and assumed we’d return to a ticket on our windshield. 

To our surprise, upon our return, there was no ticket on the car. None of the nearby cars had tickets either. Suddenly, two things were very clear to us: the equipment was confusing customers, and enforcement wasn’t happening. If two seasoned parking professionals couldn’t park a car and then complete a simple payment, how many customers were running into the same issue? 

A Century of Predictable Parking 

For nearly a century, parking was a simple and predictable process. Drivers could enter a facility, push a button to receive a ticket, have an attendant hand them a pre-numbered, time-stamped ticket, or use a parking meter to select their intended length of stay and pay with coins—or later, a credit card. Across generations, people could count on understanding how to satisfy parking requirements, whether in a lot, garage, or on-street space. However, even with this long period of stability and snail-paced change, some customers still found parking challenging. 

Innovation vs. Chaos: The Role of Technology in Parking 

Today, the parking industry is in a transitional period. Technology companies are flooding the market with devices and platforms designed to record every type of transaction, each claiming to be the “next great parking management tool.” From mobile payment apps to license plate recognition, dynamic pricing systems, and advanced guidance solutions, operators now have more tools than ever to manage operations efficiently and enhance customer experience. 

As the TPN team travels the country conducting financial reviews of facilities, we often find ourselves consulting instruction manuals just to complete a simple parking session. Parking arrangements vary at each facility, and they are changing rapidly. While experienced professionals struggle to figure out how to park and pay, first-time customers hope for a push-button or a nearby attendant who might help, but there’s no guarantee. Each system comes with its own interface, protocols, and operational requirements, making it difficult not only for paying customers but also for staff who now manage multiple platforms. 

On a more positive note, this variety of technology is driving innovation and surfacing better products, processes, and procedures. The options and customizations create opportunities to improve operational efficiency and enhance the customer experience, which is good and exciting. But without some level of standardization, the rapid adoption of diverse systems has left operators and patrons frustrated. Implementing common standards would help mitigate this confusion by creating shared expectations for operators, employees, and customers while still leaving room for innovation and the development of new technologies that improve operations and the overall parking experience. 

The Case for Standardization 

This brings us to the purpose of this article: the parking industry must begin moving toward standardization. We may never experience another century of stable processes. Still, we should aim for models and systems that can last long enough to give operators, customers, and employees some level of predictability before the next wave of technology, AI, and evolving service expectations introduces changes we can’t ignore. Standardization won’t stop innovation, but it will ensure that progress is manageable, sustainable, and more user-friendly for everyone. In an industry flooded by change, we owe it to our customers and ourselves to create systems that work reliably, regardless of the technology or trends that come next. Stability in process doesn’t mean stagnation; it means building a foundation where innovation can thrive and drive us towards more efficient and enjoyable parking experiences.