When you think of parking in a parking garage, what do you imagine? For most, it involves pulling up to a gate, hitting a button, pulling a paper ticket, and driving around trying to find a spot. What about when you leave? Usually it goes something like this; back out of your spot, drive towards the exit, get stuck behind multiple vehicles while they go through the process of paying (one by one by one by one) until you finally make your way out of the garage and on with the rest of your day. And that’s assuming there aren’t any issues with the gate where you have to wait for someone to come manually fix it.

Most of us think that this is just the way things have to be when you park in a garage. But why?

Why do there need to be gates at all?

What does gateless parking look like?

The easiest place to start is by looking at on-street paid parking. You pull into a space, see a sign, pay for your parking, and go about your day. That’s basically what gateless parking is. You take those core concepts and move them into much larger and more complex environments. What we and other gateless operators have gotten good at, is facility design and setup. We’ve created great strategies and software design around credentialling workflows that make the process seamless. We’ve been able to leverage technology and data strategies to drive compliance. This has been incredibly effective in converting previously gated facilities to the gateless platform.

Ben Montgomery, President of Premium Parking, explains what gateless parking looks like.