A parking access and revenue control system (PARCS) is the combination of equipment and software that controls entry to and exit from a parking facility, calculates what each parker owes, and collects and accounts for the revenue.
Traditional PARCS were built around gates and paper tickets. Modern systems increasingly identify vehicles by license plate, account or app, take payment anywhere, and run from cloud software, so the equipment in the lane is shrinking while the software behind it grows. See gateless parking.
Typical components
- Lane equipment: ticket dispensers or plate cameras at entry, gates, and exit verifiers.
- Payment: pay-in-lane machines, central pay stations, pay-by-phone and pay-by-plate.
- Credentials: monthly and permit cards, transponders, validations and reservations. See validation.
- Software: rates, accounts, reporting, audit and integration with other systems such as guidance and CRM.
- Support: intercoms and remote assistance for drivers who get stuck.
Buying one well
- Start from operating requirements, how the facility should run, rather than a vendor’s catalog.
- Insist on open interfaces and data ownership so the owner can add or change components later.
- Plan for payment card security compliance and regular software updates.
- Size lanes and payment options for peak exits, not average days. See peak demand facilities.
The Parkonomics view
A PARCS is the cash register, the front door and the data system of a parking facility at once. Owners who define the operation first and the hardware second end up with systems that can change as the business does.
Related terms: Gateless Parking, License Plate Recognition, Pay-by-Plate, Central Cashiering Systems, Pay-in-Lane Machine, Software as a Service