Tag: contactless parking

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4 Common Workplace Parking Problems and How to Solve Them

Staff Parking

Providing staff parking is more trouble than it’s worth, right? It’s true that trying to manage workplace parking using traditional systems can be expensive, time consuming and inefficient. But the benefits of providing workplace parking, including improved staff retention and morale, are incredibly valuable, and for companies with tool of trade vehicles, it’s simply non-negotiable. For a multitude of reasons, workplace parking plays a significant and essential role in many Australian businesses.

But can managing workplace parking ever be easy? In a word, yes. Let’s look at the most common staff parking issues and how a smart parking management system like DIVVY can make workplace parking management a breeze.

Unused parking spaces

Workplace parking spaces are often allocated to particular employees, which means they end up sitting empty when people are on holidays, out at meetings or on sick leave. The rise of flexible working, with people working from home a day or two a week, has made this problem more pronounced than ever. It’s frustrating having lots of unused parking bays in your car park, especially when you have employees who would love to park onsite missing out.

That’s where a smart parking management system like DIVVY comes in. When an employee with an allocated car park knows they won’t be coming into the office, they can use the Free Up My Space feature on the DIVVY app to make their parking space available for other employees to book.

It’s a simple but powerful way to make parking available to more employees, which is great for morale while making sure your parking spaces are working as hard as they can. Find out how Downer Group used DIVVY’s Free Up My Space to get the most out of the parking spaces at their Sydney head office here.

The expense of leasing workplace parking spaces

Leasing car spaces for your employees isn’t cheap. A parking space in Sydney’s CBD can cost more than $800 per month, so you want to be sure that your business can justify every parking space on its lease.

You can establish your business’s actual parking bay usage with DIVVY’s staff parking management solution, just like Suncorp did at their Brisbane and Sydney offices. Accurate, real-time parking bay utilisation data, provided by DIVVY’s smart parking system using IoT, shows the patterns of usage in your car park. That insight can then be used to inform business decisions about how many car parking spaces you really need.

Thanks to DIVVY, Suncorp discovered they didn’t need as many car spaces as they had, and they were able to return significant savings to the business by reducing the number of parking bays they were leasing while still meeting their workplace parking needs.

Time consuming manual parking administration

Trying to manage staff parking the old-fashioned way, with physical parking passes and spreadsheets, can be a full-time job. It’s time consuming, inefficient and the room for error is enormous.

A smart parking system using IoT, like DIVVY, cuts out the heavy lifting of staff parking admin. Employees use a QR code on their phone to access the car park – no more physical access passes and unauthorised entry problems. Parking bookings are handled by the DIVVY app, not managed in an Excel spreadsheet. And there’s no need for separate visitor parking management software. Visitor parking is easily and simply managed with DIVVY’s Book on Behalf feature.

Sometimes staff parking management can become complex, with different groups of staff allowed varying parking access. With DIVVY, staff parking can be managed in highly flexible and nuanced ways by grouping staff members, creating different access levels for particular parking bays, and more, as Boral discovered at their North Ryde, Sydney office.

And for those businesses who wish to charge their staff (or some of their staff) for parking, DIVVY’s contactless parking payments systems can handle that too. No need for payroll staff to spend time manually deducting the cost of parking from employees’ pay packets. Staff pay for their parking via the DIVVY app and the payment is remitted back to the business every month.

Tax time reporting headaches

When the end of the fringe benefits tax (FBT) year rolls around on 31 March, calculating your business’s car parking fringe benefit obligations can be incredibly tricky. The ATO’s definition of a car parking fringe benefit, and when a business is exempt from paying FBT on car parking, are complex and depend, in part, on intricate rules around how long a parking space has been used on any given business day. The rules have also recently changed, meaning more Australian businesses than ever are now liable for FBT on car parking.

A staff parking management solution like DIVVY saves you from trying to make a guesstimate on your FBT car parking liability and may also save you money. Because the amount of FBT payable is based on how much and when a car parking space is used, accurate data about parking utilisation, like that recorded by DIVVY’s smart parking management system, may help reduce your FBT car parking bill. Even Deloitte Private agree that using DIVVY’s reports can, in the relevant circumstances, result in a reduction to the car parking FBT payable.

Looking for a way to make managing your workplace parking easier? We can help. Get in touch with our sales team to discuss your staff parking management needs today.

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Meeting driver’s needs in a COVID-normal world

Two years into the COVID pandemic and in many Australian cities, people are returning to their lives while doing their best to avoid contracting the virus. We take a look at how COVID has changed the way in which we get around our cities and how parking operators can meet the needs of drivers in a COVID-normal world.

How has COVID changed our travel habits?

Car travel, and therefore parking, is experiencing a COVID-induced surge in popularity. Data from cities across the world shows that, as COVID restrictions ease, people are opting to travel by car because they are wary about catching the virus on public transport, and that’s what we’re seeing in Australian cities, too.

An online survey conducted by toll road operator Transurban in July last year found that, on average, 22 per cent fewer people in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane intended to use public transport every day after COVID, compared to their pre-pandemic use. And, now that COVID-normal life is well underway in those cities, the numbers show that’s exactly what’s happening.

Mobility data from Apple shows that as soon as COVID restrictions began to lift in Sydney in October 2021, car journeys spiked, while walking and public transport trips remained below the January 2020 baseline figures. By January 2022, public transport usage in Sydney was still almost 64 per cent lower than it was pre-COVID.

In Melbourne, road traffic was at 81 per cent of pre-pandemic levels by mid-January 2022, in contrast with public transport usage, which was only at 36 per cent of its pre-COVID baseline numbers. Road toll data, meanwhile, shows that car use has risen even in cities that haven’t experienced extended lockdowns, like Brisbane.

This increase in car use has naturally led to a spike in demand for parking. Parking operators were reporting increases in demand of more than 200 per cent in January 2022, while, in a sign of just how highly valued parking has become, a parking space in central Sydney has been listed for sale for more than $500,000.

So, how can parking operators best meet the needs of this surge of COVID-savvy drivers?

Contactless parking payments systems – more relevant now than ever

The reason why people are eschewing public transport in favour of car travel is to minimise their exposure to COVID, so their choice of parking needs to be as COVID-safe as possible too. Research has shown that public health measures, such as social distancing and minimising shared touchpoints, can help reduce the spread of COVID. That’s where contactless parking payments systems come into their own. They eliminate the need for paper pull-tickets, cash payments, the presence of staff in the car park, and in some cases, any friction points at all, making them the most hygienic parking management systems on offer.

DIVVY offers three contactless parking solutions to suit all types of car parks and parking operators. Our public parking management systems, the pre-book system DIVVY Marketplace and the casual parking product Drive Up, are completely cashless.

DIVVY Marketplace collects payment via the DIVVY app, while Drive Up’s payment device technology accepts VISA, Mastercard, AMEX, Apple Pay and Samsung Pay at the car park entry or exit. Our staff and visitor parking management software, which has paid parking capabilities for those businesses who want to charge their staff for parking, is also cashless and only accepts electronic payments. Cash use, which has been steadily declining here in Australia for some time now, has dropped significantly since the start of the pandemic due to hygiene concerns, with the CBA predicting the nation could be completely cashless as soon as 2026.

Not only are our parking systems cashless, doing away with the need for cash payment machines, but none of our smart parking management systems uses paper pull-tickets either, thus further reducing the number of physical touchpoints in the driver’s journey.

Our parking solutions become completely frictionless with the integration of the DIVVY LPR solution, which uses licence plate recognition technology to calculate the duration of stay. The DIVVY LPR solution eliminates every physical touchpoint in the parking journey, making it the most hygienic, COVID-safe way to park.

Whether you’re looking for contactless parking payment systems for your public car park or your staff and visitor parking, we can help. Get in touch with our friendly sales team to discuss your parking needs today.

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How to choose the right parking equipment

DIVVY’s parking equipment

If you manage staff parking or operate a car park, you’ll know how important it is to get the most out of your parking assets, and good parking equipment can help you to do just that. But when you’re shopping around for parking equipment, what should you be looking for? Here’s how to choose the best parking equipment. 

What does it actually do?

The first place to start is the product’s features and functionality. What do you need your parking equipment to do?

DIVVY offers three cashless, ticketless and paperless parking products to suit the needs of all car park operators.

  • DIVVY Marketplace – turn your vacant car parks into easy revenue when you list them on DIVVY Marketplace, our public parking platform with 90,000 registered users searching for and booking hourly, daily, and monthly parking.
  • Staff Parking – manage staff parking effortlessly and efficiently (and visitor parking too) with our B2B parking solution’s market-leading features such as Free Up My Space, Book on Behalf, and cost savings reports. It has paid parking capabilities too, for businesses who want to charge their staff for parking. Underutilised staff parking spaces can also be listed on DIVVY Marketplace to generate extra revenue, with options that give car park operators discretion over who can book their spaces.
  • Drive Up – everything drivers and car park operators love about DIVVY – easy contactless parking – is now available in a casual drive-up parking product. Drive Up’s payment device technology accepts VISA, Mastercard, AMEX, Apple Pay and Samsung Pay at the car park entry or exit.

What will it cost?

Traditional parking equipment, such as paper pull-ticket machines and cash payment machines, is costly.

DIVVY’s parking equipment, on the other hand, comes in at a fraction of the cost of old-fashioned parking equipment. Our innovative parking solutions are light on the hardware. Because they don’t use paper tickets or take cash payments, all they require is a DIVVY access control device at the car park entry and exit, making them considerably less expensive than traditional parking solutions.

The world-first DIVVY IoT I/O Controller makes existing hardware (such as roller doors and boom gates) remotely controllable, saving the cost and waste of replacing such equipment.

Both the software and hardware components of DIVVY’s parking equipment are quick and easy to set up. A speedy and simple installation process means minimal downtime for the car park, ensuring car park operators maximise their revenue.

How do the numbers stack up?

If you’re investing in parking equipment, you want to be sure that your investment will pay off.

Not only is the capital cost of setting up DIVVY parking equipment much lower than that of traditional equipment, but it costs less to operate too.

Because DIVVY parking equipment’s software updates are performed remotely, there’s no need for a technician to attend every time a change or update is required, meaning less spend on repairs and maintenance.

And because our parking equipment takes all payments electronically, there are also no labour or contract costs associated with cash collection and remittance. DIVVY parking products are energy efficient, using less power in their operation than conventional parking pull-ticket and payment machines, making them cheaper to run.

One of the largest overheads associated with public parking products has always been the cost of paper pull-tickets, which need to be continually replenished and are all too often written off in wastage events. DIVVY’s parking equipment completely eliminates this cost from parking management, saving car park operators potentially hundreds of thousands of dollars every year.

DIVVY parking equipment allows car park operators to get more out of their parking assets, which ultimately helps to boost their bottom line. Listing underutilised spaces on DIVVY Marketplace generates additional revenue with no extra effort, and managing staff parking with DIVVY parking means existing parking assets work harder.

Some of our Enterprise clients have even been able to reduce the number of parking bays on their lease because the DIVVY system is managing their staff parking so efficiently.

Is it easy to use?

This one is key. Your new parking equipment needs to be user-friendly for both drivers and car park managers.

DIVVY’s parking equipment has been expressly designed to deliver a better user experience for both drivers and car park operators. The DIVVY app, website and access control devices are simple and intuitive for drivers to use, guiding them through the parking process step-by-step.

Drivers are placing increasing value on being able to pre-book hourly, daily or monthly parking and pay without cash via a parking app. The ultimate user-friendly option is the DIVVY LPR solution, which uses licence plate recognition technology to offer a completely frictionless parking experience.

All of DIVVY’s parking products are backed by customer support 24/7, 365 days of the year, via phone, text or email.

Is it smart?

It is now widely acknowledged in the property industry that smart cities technology, or proptech, is the way forward to enhancing the customer experience and extracting more value from real estate, including car parks.

Using smart building technology, DIVVY parking equipment brings parking into the 21st century. The exclusive DIVVY smart technology – the DIVVY app, our access control device, the DIVVY IoT I/O Controller, our payment device technology and our software – delivers an improved, streamlined parking experience with fewer friction points for drivers.

It makes life easier for car park managers too, by delivering real-time, accurate car park usage data to the DIVVY cloud portal where it can be translated into reports and analysis to inform astute business decisions.

Technology is the future, so it makes sense to invest in parking equipment from a parking tech company like DIVVY.

Want more?

We’re always here to help. Our expert sales team can help you find the right parking equipment – get in touch today.

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Parking Industry Trends in 2021

cars passing

While we might not be working on aerial car parks for flying cars just yet, the parking industry has come a long way since the parking meter was invented in 1935. We take a look at the industry’s latest trends.

The rise of parking apps

The best technology makes our lives richer and easier, and that’s exactly what a good parking app can do. Sophisticated parking apps like the DIVVY app are designed to deliver a higher level of customer service, enhancing and streamlining the parking experience and generally making life simpler.

The DIVVY app revolutionises parking by taking payments digitally and granting car park access via QR code, eliminating both cash and parking pull tickets to deliver a contactless parking experience.

But it goes even further, enriching the parking experience by providing the driver with details about their closest DIVVY car park, real time occupancy information, and detailed access information specific to each car park. Bookings can be extended via the DIVVY app if drivers need to stay longer.

The days of driving around aimlessly looking for a parking space, scrabbling for coins for a parking meter or even getting a parking fine for overstaying the allocated time are fast becoming a thing of the past.

The death of cash payments

Cash as a method of payment has been on the decline for a while now, and hygiene concerns raised by the COVID pandemic have further hastened its demise. In 2020, only 8.3 per cent of Australian transactions involved cash, and experts predict that by 2024 that figure will be as low as 2 per cent. The parking industry is keeping pace with the cashless trend and a proliferation of e-payment options are now available, with DIVVY’s payment device technology leading the way.

Here at DIVVY, we’re well known for our contactless parking solutions. Both our pre-book public parking solution DIVVY Marketplace and our new casual parking product Drive Up use parking equipment that makes the process completely cashless.

Payment is charged to the customer’s credit card, either via the DIVVY app or the access control device at the car park exit. Not only are all our parking solutions cashless, but with products like the DIVVY LPR solution that uses licence plate recognition technology to calculate the duration of stay, we can offer completely frictionless parking solutions too.

Consumer desire for cashless parking existed before COVID, but now drivers are demanding it. DIVVY makes contactless parking simple for both drivers and car park operators.

A focus on sustainability

In 2021 consumers are increasingly making purchasing decisions based on sustainability. Sustainable parking solutions appeal to car park operators too because they’re often more cost-effective than conventional parking systems.

DIVVY was born of a desire to do better for the environment. Our founding premise was to reduce the up to 30 per cent of traffic in our CBDs comprised of cars driving around looking for a park by making better use of underutilised parking spaces.

Both our B2B parking solution, DIVVY Enterprise, and our consumer parking product, DIVVY Marketplace, make better use of existing parking spaces through more efficient staff parking management and making parking spaces available for pre-booking. This means less traffic, fewer emissions, shorter travel times and less stress. By making existing parking spaces work harder, the need for new parking facilities is reduced, saving money and precious resources.

We’ve been working towards paperless parking since the beginning, and car parks using the DIVVY Enterprise and DIVVY Marketplace systems can be operated and managed entirely without paper. Our QR code-operated access control devices replace old-fashioned paper pull tickets, and with the DIVVY cloud portal housing our real-time data and reporting functions, there are no paper reports.

DIVVY’s Sammy access control device, used in all our parking solutions, uses fewer materials in its manufacture and less power in its operation than conventional parking pull-ticket and payment machines. It is energy efficient and uses no water or other materials in its operation, and both its tech and plastic components are recyclable.

The DIVVY IoT I/O Controller is a simple, cost-effective device that automates and controls parking gates as part of our parking solutions. Developed in-house at DIVVY, it’s the first of its kind in the world, and through its ability to convert a non-internet capable piece of hardware (such as a boom gate) into one that can be controlled remotely, it breathes new life into existing equipment, reducing waste and ensuring the conservation of energy and resources.

Want more?

The DIVVY team is always here to help. For more on the latest in the parking industry, contact Kat Fowler, DIVVY’s Head of Client Services, at kat@divvy.com.au.

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Daily parking – the best choice for longer stays

Driving in Sydney city

Going somewhere for more than a few hours? Daily parking is your best bet.

More adaptable than monthly parking and offering better value than hourly parking, daily parking offers a great mix of flexibility, convenience and affordability.  

Good value

If you’re planning on staying a while, daily parking is the most cost-effective parking choice. For stays longer than a few hours, daily rates represent better value than hourly rates. Evening, weekend and motorbike daily rates are even more affordable. If you’re a part-time commuter only parking a few days a week, daily parking will cost you less than monthly parking.

Saves time

Pre-booking your daily parking with DIVVY is a time saver. Not only do you save time spent looking for somewhere to park, but because you’ve pre-paid you don’t need to waste any time at the payment machine when it’s time to leave either. Booking via the DIVVY app or website is quick and simple.

Contactless parking

Avoid ticket machines and cash payments when you book your daily parking with DIVVY. DIVVY’s QR code technology means entering and exiting the car park is contactless, and because your parking is pre-paid, it’s cashless too.

Peace of mind

You can relax when you pre-book your daily parking with DIVVY. Rest easy knowing your car is parked in a monitored, secure and well-lit car park. For added convenience, your parking receipt is emailed to you, making it easy to find at tax time or to claim reimbursement from your employer.

DIVVY’s daily parking options in Sydney city, Parramatta and Melbourne

DIVVY offers drivers affordable and convenient daily parking in sought-after locations like Parramatta, Surry Hills, Barangaroo, Darling Harbour, Sydney city and Melbourne city.

Check out our website or the DIVVY app for daily parking near you.

The benefits of listing car parking spaces with DIVVY

In cities across Australia, DIVVY Marketplace connects drivers with underutilised or empty car spaces. If your business has car spaces that are sitting empty, you could be generating revenue by listing parking spaces on DIVVY Marketplace to be booked by the public.

The system is completely flexible, allowing businesses to set the parameters around which spaces are available for booking, and when. Businesses can even decide to whom the spaces are made available for booking.

DIVVY marketing reaches a database of 80,000 parking customers looking for a car space. DIVVY Marketplace is supported by a dedicated customer support team on hand for parkers and businesses 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year via phone, live chat or email. With their ability to operate boom gates and roller doors remotely, they can solve problems on the ground.

To find out more about listing your parking spaces with DIVVY, contact sales@divvy.com.au.

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Hourly car parking – affordable, convenient and easy

Sydney, Darling Harbour during the weekday

In a city like Sydney, the easiest way to get around is often in your own car. But where to park? Find out how DIVVY’s hourly parking makes parking in Sydney so simple.

It’s affordable

Some car parking operators charge a premium for hourly parking, especially in areas of high demand like the Sydney CBD. DIVVY is different. Our weekday Sydney city parking starts from $5 an hour, and weekend and evening rates are even lower. It’s almost certainly cheaper than a taxi or a ride share, and you might even find that DIVVY’s hourly parking is cheaper than taking public transport.

It’s quick

Pre-book your hourly parking on the DIVVY app or website before you leave home, and you’re good to go. No more time wasted driving the streets looking for a park. The booking process itself is super quick and easy too.

It’s convenient

Use the DIVVY website or app to book a park where you need it, when you need it. It’s that simple. Only book the amount of time you need – no need to pay for a whole day if you’re only staying an hour. Your receipt is automatically emailed to you, giving you an easy-to-find record of your parking if you want to claim reimbursement from your employer or for use at tax time.

It’s secure

DIVVY car parks are well-lit, monitored and secure. No more worrying about your car left parked on the street, or fumbling for your keys in the dark.

It’s contactless

When you pre-book your hourly parking with DIVVY, you’re securing yourself a cashless, contactless parking space. DIVVY’s unique QR code technology means no ticket machines.

Why list car parking spaces with DIVVY?

Maybe your business has more car spaces on its lease than it needs, or perhaps your car spaces are going temporarily unused whilst your employees work remotely. Businesses can list their unused parking spaces on DIVVY Marketplace for booking by the public. Every parking space booked returns revenue to your business.

DIVVY markets to a database of 80,000 parking customers, saving businesses from having to invest in marketing of their own to fill parking spaces. Businesses have the option to exercise discretion around who can access listed spaces, thereby eliminating any security concerns. Support is available to all parkers and businesses 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year via phone, live chat and email, and DIVVY customer support staff can solve problems on the ground with their ability to operate boom gates and roller doors.

To find out more about listing your parking spaces with DIVVY, contact sales@divvy.com.au.

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DIVVY’s new Back to Work Module

DIVVY's new Back to Work Module

In many parts of Australia, people are returning to work. Whether it’s full time, or just a day or two a week, employees are going back to their workplaces.  

To help businesses bring their staff back to work safely, we’ve developed our new Back to Work module.  

Optimising bookable assets through smarter technology 

Contactless access has never been more in demand. The booking platform technology that makes DIVVY’s contactless parking such a breeze can be adapted to many different functions. Indeed, for more than twelve months now, our own employees have been entering and exiting our offices using contactless DIVVY access technology.  

After witnessing the challenges faced by businesses during COVID-19, we designed our tailored Back to Work module to allow businesses to safely transition their staff back to their workplaces.   

How does It work? 

It’s simple. Staff use the DIVVY app to book a day and time to come into work. The booking parameters – how many staff can access the workplace, on which days and at which times – are set by the business. Just like the DIVVY parking experience, staff use a QR code on their phone for contactless entry to the workplace. 

It’s perfect for any workplace not accessible to the public, such as offices. For publicly accessible workplaces, see our Queuing and Contact Tracing Platform. 

How can it help? 

By allowing businesses to manage how many staff will be in the workplace at any one time, the module helps businesses to meet physical distancing guidelines. It even has the capacity to allow businesses to manage different spaces within their workplaces.  

It also takes care of the record keeping required of businesses under governmental COVID Safe rules. It maintains a digital record of all staff and visitor attendance in the workplace. 

The Back to Work module makes it easy and cost-effective for businesses to meet public health directions and comply with COVID safety plans in their workplaces. 

The module also has the capacity to generate valuable business insights with the data it collects. The customised reports portal can help with making informed business decisions. The module is bolstered by DIVVY’s 24/7 phone, email and live chat customer support, which itself has a 97% customer satisfaction rating. 

Whether or not DIVVY parking is already enabled in your building, the Back to Work module is simple to install.

To find out more about getting your staff back to work with DIVVY, contact our helpful team at sales@divvy.com.au.