Gettysburg Simplifies Parking Permit and Enforcement with T2 UPsafety

Client Snapshot

• Municipality: Borough of Gettysburg, PA
• Location: Adams County, Pennsylvania
• Population Served: ~7,000 residents, ~1 million annual visitors*
• Managed Parking: 1 parking garage (~350 spaces), 3 lots (~60 total spaces), 700 on-street meters, 600+ residential spaces
• Annual Visitation: ~1 million
• Industry: Municipal Parking
• Key Solution: UPsafety® Permits and Enforcement Solution

According to the Gettysburg Chamber, the Gettysburg National Military Park sees ~1 million visitors per year.

Background

Gettysburg is a historic town known for its pivotal role in American history and its vibrant community life. The borough serves residents, tourists, and local businesses with a mix of on-street meters, residential permits, and a gateless parking garage. The Gettysburg National Military Park sees ~1 million visitors annually with an average trip duration of 2 days. Parking is a major source of revenue, second only to property taxes, and supports essential services for the community.

The Challenge

Before UPsafety, Gettysburg managed parking with outdated, paper-based systems before moving to legacy handhelds. Officers had to handwrite tickets, which slowed down enforcement and led to errors. The old handhelds required manual uploads and offered no real-time data. Permit management was limited, and reporting was time-consuming.

“We were handwriting paper tickets and scratching off old amounts every time the council updated because those things were printed well in advance.” Rebecca Fissel, Gettysburg Borough’s Parking Manager.

Managing all the different permits for the popular tourist spot proved to be a challenge. In addition to that, they have a small team of about 3 part-time enforcement officers, 1 code violation officer, and 2 full-time employees who have limited time for enforcement. The police department is more focused on public safety for tourists and residents, so the small municipal parking team had to figure things out on their own.

The Solution

Gettysburg adopted the UPsafety® Permits and Enforcement Solution over a decade ago. The platform brought:

• Digital ticketing with photo evidence to reduce appeals
• Real-time data
• Flexible permit management

Officers now use easy-to-learn handhelds, and the system integrates with payment apps and kiosks. Code enforcement and parking operations both run on UPsafety, making it a single solution for multiple needs.

The fact that Gettysburg still uses UPsafety over a decade later is a testament to how well the SaaS-based solution and associated hardware have continuously improved with technological advances. Rebecca, police chiefs, parking managers, and other customers have helped contribute to UPsafety’s development over the years.

Now, they are also able to enforce and print tickets for code violations that they called quality of life violations, including:

• Grass and weed violations
• Animal control violations (i.e. Unleashed dog)
• Dilapidated structure violations

Rebecca was able to set up about 20 different permits using the easy-to-use UPsafety back-office system, including:

• Daily, Monthly, or Quarterly Permits
• Commuter Permits
• Meter Bag Permits
• Group Permits for conferences paid by hotels through UPsafety
• Primary Residential Permits
• 3, 5, or 7-day Residential Guest Permits
• Construction Dumpster Permits
• Yard Sale Permits

The Results

Gettysburg’s parking and code enforcement operations are now faster, clearer, and more flexible.

Stronger Enforcement and Fewer Disputes

• With UPsafety, every ticket includes photos and location data. This makes it much harder for people to challenge tickets. Rebecca explained, “We take pictures of everything. The courts love the photos because we take all the photos to court. They are time-stamped and geo-coded. It’s really, really helpful for us.”
• This is extremely helpful for reducing appeals. Their police department is also equipped with handhelds to help with parking enforcement.
• “I’ve had people aged 22-80 be able to figure out how to use UPsafety’s XF handhelds. Anyone who can operate a smartphone can use it.”

Seamless Ticket Management and Court Integration

• Before UPsafety, tickets were handwritten and slow to process. Now, everything is digital and sent to the court with a few clicks.
• “That has been a time saver in itself, because it’s literally, you know, we just put in the dates and say send these to citation, and it sends them right over. In the past, we had to handwrite citations. So, that has saved a tremendous amount of time.”

Easy Permit, Ticket, and Citation Options In-House and In-Person

• With UPsafety, most people are able to purchase permits and parking time themselves with everything integrated into the UPsafety system. For tickets, most people pay online, but to accommodate all demographics, people can come in to make payments as well. Rebecca explains, “I would say probably 85 to 90% of people are paying online on the portal.”

Self-Service: Ability to Create New Permits Without T2 Support Team

• Gettysburg can now set up and manage all their permit types themselves, without waiting for outside help.
• “We do almost everything ourselves now. UPsafety makes it easy to manage all our permits and tickets. I wouldn’t want to go back.”

Easy Reporting and Real-Time Oversight

• UPsafety’s dashboards and reports make it easy to track officer activity, revenue, and permit use.
• “We love the dashboards and reports. I pull off the officers’ numbers every month and put them in my report. I do ticket reporting and permit reporting for my Council every month. It makes life so easy.”

Flexible Support and Continuous Improvement

• Rebecca rarely needs to call for help, but when she does, the support team is responsive. She also appreciates that her feedback leads to real improvements, like being able to add more pictures to tickets and the ability to add pictures after issuing a ticket.

Revenue That Supports the Community

• With the parking revenue generated, Gettysburg reinvests in the community to ensure the popular tourist spot remains a national treasure, while catering to its residents, which include many retirees and veterans.
• “Parking is number 2 for the borough behind property taxes. I think we’re right now at about $1.5 million. And that’s not counting ticket-generated income.”

A System That Grows with Gettysburg

• UPsafety enables Gettysburg to adapt to changing needs, whether by adding new permit types, updating enforcement, or handling code violations.
• “We’ve tried other systems in the past, and I’m a true believer that you get what you pay for. I would choose UPsafety and T2 all over again if we had another chance.”

Gettysburg’s parking team now spends less time on paperwork and more time serving the community. With UPsafety, they have the tools and support to keep parking simple, fair, and reliable for everyone.

Ready for a city permit and enforcement solution that makes it easy for your officers, back-office, residents, and visitors?

Contact us to schedule a demo of UPsafety today!

About T2 Systems 

T2 is the largest provider of parking and mobility solutions in North America. With over 27 years in business, T2 now serves more than 2,000 customers and maintains the largest Customer Community with over 7,500 active members. T2 helps universities, municipalities, operators, healthcare campuses, and transportation hubs generate revenue and operate efficiently with a comprehensive, integrated suite of solutions featuring touchless and contactless capabilities. From curbside management to gateless, from mobile payments to transportation demand management, T2 strives to make every trip a smooth journey by streamlining the parking, mobility, and transportation experience with technology solutions that help organizations manage resources, achieve goals, and empower consumers with choices.