Parking operators have new opportunities to boost revenue with services like protection plans, parcel lockers, car washes, and peer-to-peer car rentals.
By Jay Landers
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To stay competitive and maximize their assets, parking operators have innovative options to add value beyond simply providing a place to park. From offering insurance protection for parked vehicles to integrating parcel lockers, car wash services, and even peer-to-peer car rentals, these new offerings aim to enhance customer experience, differentiate parking providers from their competition, generate additional revenue, and create a more dynamic role for parking facilities in urban and transportation ecosystems.
No more ‘park at your own risk’
At parking facilities across the United States, “Park at Your Own Risk” signs are a common sight, reminding consumers that owners and operators bear no responsibility for worst-case scenarios. When vehicles do sustain damage or theft, whether it’s a dented fender, broken window, stolen purse, or even a stolen catalytic converter, owners often learn the hard way that their auto insurance policies don’t cover the damage or the loss or they require a steep deductible that exceeds the cost of the repair itself.
However, a new company, Park Guard, aims to alter this unfortunate paradigm by providing parking operators liability insurance to cover such claims, enabling them to offer their customers parking protection plans. Licensed in all 50 states, the Park Guard product provides for three plans covering up to $250, $500, or $1,000 of damage and theft protection, according to Carmelo Mannino, the company’s chief executive officer (CEO).
Customers then have the option to select a parking protection plan as part of the process of paying for their parking session. In this way, operators and booking platforms can unlock a new revenue stream while delivering genuine value to their customers. In the event of vehicle damage or theft, consumers can submit claims directly via a form on the Park Guard website.
Park Guard is responding to growing consumer interest in protection plans, Mannino said. “The consumer is demanding more now,” he noted. “You buy a computer, and it comes with a protection plan. You buy a lawnmower at Home Depot, and they offer a protection plan. We're seeing an increase in this kind of micro-insurance protection plan industry throughout the economy, and we're trying to bring that to the parking industry.”
Park Guard’s product enables participating parking operators and aggregators to offer protection plans that help those operators stand out among their competition while generating customer loyalty, Mannino maintained. “This will be a differentiator in the market,” he said. “Park Guard turns a worst-case scenario into a wow experience for customers and operators.”
Parking meets parcel pickup
With the rise of e-commerce and the corresponding upswing in deliveries, city residents may find themselves in need of convenient, secure locations in which to receive and send packages. Because dense urban areas tend to have more off-street parking facilities, a business case might be made for adding secure lockers to these locations.
“By hosting automated parcel lockers, a parking facility may attract consumers it might not have otherwise,” said Gary Winter, the vice president of global strategic initiatives for lockers at Quadient, a provider of open locker network infrastructure as well as automated package lockers for residential, retail, carrier, commercial, and university properties worldwide. “Access to lockers may prove to be a differentiator from competing parking lots,” Winter said.
When collaborating with parking facilities or other property types, Quadient operates the lockers and enters into agreements with carriers looking to deliver to and pick up from the lockers.
Quadient’s carrier-agnostic network of automated parcel lockers “offers a dense, scalable solution to consolidate first and last-mile deliveries, as well as returns, into multiple convenient locations,” Winter said. The company is piloting lockers at up to 50 parking facility sites in Europe, the UK, and the US.
“Parking facilities located near popular points of interest for consumers may make good candidates for automated lockers,” Winter noted. “For example, a parking facility in a large shopping district may fit in well with a locker network. Some parking lots next to transport hubs, like commuter train stations, are leased to parking management firms, and these locations may be strong candidates for automated lockers.”
“Joining an open locker network typically involves no upfront costs for installation and maintenance as the network provider covers these expenses,” Winter said. “Additionally, a parking management firm receives modest income from space that would be otherwise unable to generate revenue.”
Wash and earn
Another potential source of passive income for parking facilities is available from FlipWash, a boutique car wash company that uses a unique pressurized wax system to hand wash cars and motorcycles. “FlipWash partners with parking facility owners and operators to introduce on-site car cleaning and detailing services, creating an additional revenue stream while enhancing customer convenience,” said Paulo Cumino, the company’s chief operating officer.
At press time as of mid-March, FlipWash has one existing location at a LAZ Parking facility in Coral Gables, Florida, and is scheduled to open two more locations, also at LAZ facilities, in Miami in April 2025, Cumino said.
As for expanding further, FlipWash aims to grow through “strategic partnerships with parking facility owners and operators across the U.S. to introduce on-site car cleaning and detailing services,” Cumino said. FlipWash’s partnership model includes company-owned locations in which FlipWash fully manages the car wash operation within the parking facility as well as franchise opportunities in which parking facilities can manage their own FlipWash unit.
“We are actively seeking high-traffic parking facilities in urban centers, office buildings, residential complexes, and commercial properties to integrate our services,” Cumino said. “Our goal is to transform unutilized and unprofitable parking spaces into revenue for parking owners and operators.”
Besides Miami, FlipWash is looking to establish locations in such cities as New York, Los Angeles, Houston, and Chicago. The company is “prioritizing strategic partnerships with national parking operators to establish multi-location agreements,” Cumino said.
Parking meets Airbnb for cars
A few years ago, college student Akhil Damani was headed to the airport when he noticed the vast number of cars parked by departing travelers alongside a car rental facility offering vehicles to arriving passengers. That’s when Damani had the idea to apply an Airbnb model for car rentals at airport parking facilities, enabling owners to rent their vehicles while they travel. The result was HermitGo, a start-up founded by Damani and Jacob Berchtold, his roommate at Cornell University.
Launched last August, HermitGo is working with an off-airport parking facility serving travelers going to Bradley International Airport in Windsor Locks, Connecticut. Vehicle owners looking to use the service must register their vehicle on HermitGo’s platform, enabling the company to check the vehicle’s make, model, year, mileage, and title and damage history. Once approved, an owner uses HermitGo's app to indicate when they plan to drop off their vehicle. At the parking facility, the owner uses a code provided by the app to open a drop box in which they leave their keys. HermitGo provides insurance for all participating vehicles.
Those looking to rent a vehicle must register with and be approved by HermitGo, which reviews their driving history and checks for a criminal record. At the off-airport parking facility, renters use a code from the HermitGo app to open the drop box and retrieve the keys of the vehicle they are renting.
As an enticement, HermitGo offers customers free parking, while also pledging to rent vehicles at rates lower than those of traditional car rental companies.
“We’re going to be expanding soon, hopefully, to larger airports,” Damani said. When partnering with parking facilities, HermitGo will consider revenue sharing as well as lease agreements for a certain number of parking spaces, Damani said. “It really depends on what we see as the best option or what works the best when we're working with that specific parking lot,” he said.
JAY LANDERS is the editor-in-chief of Parking Today magazine. He can be reached at jay@parkingtoday.com.
