Herb Anderson describes how this company is automating parking facilities to drive bottom-line growth for clients.

Ever find the perfect parking space but didn’t have a quarter to feed the meter or get a violation notice because you went over the two-hour limit? Just another inconvenience, right? Not necessarily. Vancouver-based Imperial Parking Corporation (aka Impark), a parking management company, is reducing—and in some cases eliminating—these types of problems with automated technology.

According to Herb Anderson, vice chairman and CEO, Impark manages 1,800 parking facilities throughout 38 major cities in the US and Canada, and about 50% of them use technology to manage traffic flow and collect fees. “Our next closest competitor automates about 5% of its parking facilities,” he said.

Founded in 1962, Impark is the third largest parking management company in the North America. It provides staffing, operations, reporting capabilities, and various automated parking systems to clients, including hotels, universities, hospitals, medical buildings, and special event facilities. The company also offers valet parking services, wireless check-in services for hotel guests, and automated revenue control and equipment consulting.

Herb Anderson

According to Anderson, Impark has spent the last 10 years introducing automation to the parking management industry, starting in Canada and moving into the US in recent years. Not only do automated parking systems make life easier for drivers by eliminating cashier lines and providing more payment options, but they improve the client’s bottom line in most cases. But Impark doesn’t use a cookie-cutter approach. Instead, it assesses each location individually, looking to install a parking management system that will earn clients the most money.

“The clientele using the parking facility and the type and size of the facility contribute to whether or not it is conducive to automation. Even if we are able to automate a location, doing so might not contribute to the client’s bottom line. In that case, we stick to the traditional attendant-operated set-up,” Anderson explained, adding that the more stable the environment, the easier it is to automate (an office building where the same people use the parking system every day, for example). Less stable locations, such as football arenas, are better off with the traditional cashier model. For that reason, Anderson doesn’t see the company automating 100% of the facilities it manages. “However, we’d like to install state-of-the-art technology in 80% of them.”

No quarters required
A large portion of Impark’s technology revolves around payment collection. In 2002, the company launched pay-by-cell, which allows users to pay parking fees using a cell phone or other wireless devices. Impark sends users text message reminders before their parking time expires, at which point they can either buy more time or retrieve their cars.

In May of 2005, the company introduced Impark Wireless, an expanded suite of wireless parking solutions that includes an electronic parking validation program for hotel guests, restaurants, and medical buildings; online registration and virtual permits for college, university, and residential parking; online reservations for special events at certain stadiums and arenas; and an electronic out-of-order meter reporting system.

Over the past year, Impark has invested nearly $6 million in back-office technology to complement its on-site automation. The company hand-picked numerous software programs to handle a variety of functions, including HR, accounts payable, landlord management, and client contracts. But the biggest change came when Impark consolidated 20 customer-service locations into three—the largest in Vancouver and smaller ones in Toronto and Philadelphia. As a result, Impark has improved efficiency 32%, which, in turn, has increased customer satisfaction.

“We deliver more complete reports to our clients—much more sophisticated than anything we’ve seen in the parking industry,” said Anderson. The CEO also noted that the back-office technology upgrade includes an online service frequent users can use to keep track of their accounts and make payments.

Spreading out
The technology upgrades are all part of Impark’s 2010 plan, which was formed in 2005 and calls for organic growth and growth through acquisition throughout North America, particularly in the US. In 2005, the company acquired London, Ontario-based Canada Wide Parking and its subsidiary Central System Auto Parks, followed by Winnepeg-based Urban Parking and Vancouver-based Metro Parking in 2006. “Our 2010 goals have acquisitions built in. We’ve created efficiencies by consolidating the back-office functions as we absorb other companies,” said Anderson.

To catalyze organic growth, Impark is targeting “tier one” markets in the US in which the company already has a presence, including San Francisco, Chicago, New York, Washington, DC/Baltimore, Miami, and Seattle. It is also focused on gaining more marketshare in recently entered “tier two” markets, which typically have smaller populations than tier one cities and include Dallas, Minneapolis, and Atlanta. “We consider other markets—Boston, San Diego, and Denver—highly desirable, but we would only enter them through acquisition or a national account,” Anderson said.

Although the 2010 plan focuses mainly on growing Impark’s parking management footprint across North America, the company has plans to expand the number of services it provides. Looking to the future, Anderson sees the company as a full-fledged transportation company as it delves into shuttle programs for hospitals and universities and on-street parking and meter management for municipalities. “We want to spread ourselves across the transportation industry rather than staying focused on the parking component,” he said.

At present, about 5% of Impark’s business is in these new service lines, but Anderson sees them encompassing about 20% of business within the next few years. The company already has its own fleet of shuttles, and it is gearing up to provide meter systems that can take multiple forms of payment, as well as ticket-writing and violation-fee collection services for select cities and towns. “Municipalities are looking for more efficient parking management solutions and want drivers to be able to pay by cell phone or credit card. Not everyone has a quarter handy to pay the meter,” said Anderson.