At Chapman University, Parking and Technology Go Hand-In-Hand
For a smaller institution of higher learning, Chapman University’s impact could be considered outsized. Located in Orange, California, just 15 miles from the Pacific Ocean, the university has a student population of slightly more than 10,000. Founded in 1861, the school is ranked number 133 in the prestigious listing of America’s top universities published by U.S. News & World Report.
The campus community has really embraced the transition to digital parking management because it’s so convenient.
Chapman University’s slogan — “Where big ideas are born” — is meant to apply to its students, but it can be applied just as readily to its campus parking operations. Under the leadership of parking industry veteran Sheryl Boyd, Chapman has earned a reputation as a leader in applying technology to manage campus parking.
As assistant director of parking and transportation services, Boyd’s focus is on implementation. She will have been a fixture on the Chapman campus for 32 years this September, and she has a keen sense of how the introduction of new parking technologies affects campus parking. Her commitment to integrating the best of these technologies into her parking system has dramatically improved the campus parking experience while, at the same time, making parking much more manageable.
“I started in facilities management, and in 1999 the campus rental fleet and I were transferred under the public safety umbrella,” Boyd said. “At the time, public safety managed the parking services, and it was a completely paper-based operation. We did data entry all day and all night for weeks at the beginning of every academic year!”
In fact, the operation continued to be primarily paper based, including issuing paper citations, until 2017, when Chapman transitioned to virtual permits. At this same time, the city of Orange transitioned to hand-held enforcement equipment. Under the terms of a memorandum of understanding with the city, Chapman also was able to begin using the digital enforcement equipment. That was the first of many digital improvements.
Digital Management
The digitization of campus parking began with the creation of C Park, an in-house parking satisfaction improvement plan. C Park was part of a campus-wide movement to automate parking and provide levels of access through reserved and limited-access permit auctions, which also included installing parking access and revenue control systems equipment with gate arms for the first time. As it turned out, though, the addition of that parking equipment proved to be transitional. It wasn’t long before the university decided to go completely contactless by using license plate recognition (LPR) technology.
“We soon transitioned to LPR-based permit management,” Boyd said. “We were able to pivot and utilize the infrastructure in place for the radio frequency identification readers to install LPR cameras to capture license plates and move to permit management via LPR.
“The campus community has really embraced the transition to digital parking management because it’s so convenient,” Boyd continued. “Our students, faculty, and staff love it! There are no more physical permits, no more hang tags, and no more lines to purchase permits. Our parkers can now register for a permit, renew a permit, and manage their vehicles all online and in real-time. The number of customer service inquiries has decreased significantly.”
Many Benefits
The university has enjoyed several important benefits from the switch to digital parking management. Of course, there’s the financial benefit of not having to purchase, maintain, repair, and replace parking gates, which can be costly to own and operate. Also, the university realized cost savings by eliminating ancillary expenses associated with using physical permits and gates. The savings related to equipment, supplies, and personnel enabled the department to reallocate resources to improve customer and employee satisfaction.
Digital parking management also enables a parking department to maximize its impact. When Chapman transitioned to digital parking, it became more efficient in managing the day-to-day needs of its parking facilities. The switch also took pressure off other campus partners that had been affected by a paper-based enforcement system.
“The university doesn’t charge students, faculty, and staff for parking,” Boyd said. “So, the digital system is primarily used to provide a better parking experience and improve parking management through compliance.
“However, we do offer very popular public performances through our arts center and athletic competitions in our state-of-the-art facilities, so we do have some need to manage transient and guest parking,” Boyd continued. “That is done through a mixture of our event module in our parking system for virtual permits and pay-by-plate parking machines.”
Boyd said the virtual permitting program is just as convenient for visitors purchasing tickets to attend events on campus. A QR code included with every event ticket directs guests to a simple registration page for a virtual permit. They can go online before visiting the campus, register their license plate, receive parking information, and arrive stress-free for their event. When they park on campus, their license plate is scanned to validate parking privileges. It is a hands-free operation.
When the university transitioned to virtual parking management, campus administrators discovered an additional administrative benefit: LPR collected enormous amounts of valuable data. Parking administrators were able to obtain data about how full their parking lots are, when they tend to be most fully occupied, and which lots are most popular. Because the LPR cameras captured data about who was visiting campus, public safety officials were able to improve security, not just in parking areas, but throughout campus.
Choosing the Right Technology
As the person responsible for choosing the right virtual parking management technology, Boyd has learned a lot during the past decade through her connections to other industry professionals, her attendance at parking conferences, and her involvement in parking associations.
She said that not all virtual parking systems are created equal and that campus administrators need to ask the right questions before choosing a system. The first issue is figuring out what you want the system to achieve.
“There are things we need the system to be able to do,” Boyd said. “For starters, campuses need to figure out what those must-haves are and prioritize them.”
Next comes ease of implementation.
“For our campus, the perfect virtual parking management system is the simplest to use that has multiple ways to handle any type of parking customer, from ongoing permits to visitors, guests, and event attendees,” Boyd said. “We needed our technology to be simple and intuitive for our parkers to understand. We especially wanted it to be easy to register for a permit, see clearly that they have a valid permit, and, if the permit is going to expire, receive notification with renewal options. We’ve set up our system to notify parkers two weeks before their permit expires.
“It doesn’t matter how many bells and whistles the technology has if the user doesn’t know if they have a valid parking permit,” Boyd continued. “If your customer is confused, you haven’t chosen the right platform.”
Together with the implementation implications for its customers, Chapman looked for a system that its parking and information systems and technology teams could easily adopt.
The third consideration when choosing a platform is security.
“There are several security questions to ask,” Boyd said. “What are your university’s standards for collecting and using data, and does the technology conform to them? What are the provider’s security protocols? How complicated is integration with existing campus systems? Does the vendor have open architecture that can integrate with your existing technology?”
Ultimately, an application programming interface (API) is the goal. Therefore, make sure the vendor you choose can coordinate with your IT department to implement APIs, Boyd said.
“Sheryl Boyd is a visionary who is committed to utilizing the latest best practices at Chapman University,” said Jim Leida, the strategic business development manager for Smarter City Solutions, the university’s virtual parking management system technology partner. “Any university, regardless of size, that’s looking to go virtual should look to Sheryl and the Chapman University parking program for guidance and inspiration.”
BILL SMITH is a business writer specializing in the parking industry. He can be reached at bsmith@smith-phillips.com.
