Switzerland’s Only Public Automated Parking System a Hit

City Parking in Schaffhausen is Switzerland’s only public automated parking system. The facility, operated by Parking Properties AG, re-opened with a successful celebration on May 10, 2014 after partially closing for some maintenance and a few tweaks.

The goal of the maintenance was improving user experience, and by all measures it has been successful for both short-term and long-term parking patrons. Located in the older section of Schaffhausen, City Parking was built in 1958 as an under- and aboveground parking facility utilizing a manually operated car lift. It was converted to a fully automated parking system in 1997. The latest work was intended to park and retrieve cars more quickly thanks to newly optimized software while also parking cars in a more space-efficient manner by better matching car size to parking space size. Finally, an improved customer interface makes the self-service parking experience easier and more efficient.

So, how well did the project turn out? You decide…

• The number of short-term parking customers increased from previous levels by more than 50% in the first two months following the re-opening.
• Short-term parking usage continues to increase monthover-month.
• Customer feedback about the improved user guidance system and the reliability has all been positive.
• The number of repeat short-term customers has measurably increased.
• Long-term parking customers demonstrate substantial loyalty by returning even after a recent price increase.
• System reliability has been improved – reducing operation and maintenance costs.

“The City Parking project has been successful”, said Ladina Caluori, Marketing Director of Skyline Parking AG, the company in charge of the maintenance. “The numbers of short and long-term parking customers are higher than before and continue to go up. The parking system is substantially more reliable, faster and more efficient than before. Customers like the new interface and give the experience high marks. We are very pleased by the results.”

The City Parking team does not rest on its laurels, however. They have already implemented various marketing activities such as “Free Parking Saturdays” and neighbourhood promotions in the next months to attract visitors and residents to experience the unique advantages of the City Parking automated parking system. “We all have some hesitations about trying new things. Among people who haven’t tried an automated parking system, some experience anxiety about this different way of parking”, explains Parking Properties CEO, Martin Ruesch. “With our free parking offer, we hope to entice people to overcome their concerns and see that the process is easy and pleasant and their car comes back to them on demand.” The new City Parking Facebook page at www.facebook.com/cityparkingschaffhausen is another part of the promotion program

About Skyline Parking AG

Skyline Parking AG designs and supplies the most space-efficient and fastest fully automated parking systems. Skyline’s systems provide high returns while being an environmentally and user-friendly answer to the growing scarcity and cost of urban space, worldwide. The broad range of products, means that Skyline Parking has a solution for virtually any location, problem and requirement.

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