Is ‘Revenue Control’ anOxymoron?


BY DENNIS CUNNING “R


EVENUE CONTROL.” “MILITARY intelligence.” “I’mfromthe Government and I’mhere to help.”


What can these three things have in common? Two things


come tomind:They are all oxymorons and they are all “urban leg- ends.” I can hear some readers crying out, “Blasphemer” and “Heresy” – let the PT inquisition begin! Now that I have your undivided attention, let me preface


my comments as to what makes me qualified to address this matter: 33 years of “hands-on facility-level experience” (13 of those years with national parking operators Edison,Meyers and Kinney). In my career, I have been involved in almost 1,500 dif- ferent parking facilities around the world, withmore than 1,000 of these facilities having some form of Parking Access Revenue Control System(PARCS). The facilities range fromthe small 100-space one lane in/one


lane out up to facilities with 6,500 spaces and beyond or the shopping center that does an average of 20,000 tickets to 45,000 tickets a day from Black Friday to Three Kings Day. (Yes, that’s more than 8 million tickets a year, about 700,000 pesos [$60,000USD] in daily cash and at times almost 300 transactions a minute; this does not include the 2,000monthlies each day.) First and foremost,most parking facilities kind of run on their


own. Parking equipment simply brings order to the perceived random movements of vehicles into and out of the facility. Any equipment you buy will help the operator capture 70 cents on every dollar that is there to be collected(not necessarily report- ed, but collected). With a little work and thought on what equipment and what


• Many operators do not collect that last 10%, 5% or 3%


because doing so makes them work much too hard for the pit- tanceof themanagement fee thatownerspay themandthey have to do it every day. •Operators have an agenda, often with an particularmanu-


facturer. • The better the systemand software control are, the harder


theoperator has towork toaccount for the revenues. Systems that leave an unimpeachable audit and accounting trail thus require an operator to become accountable. •With accountability comes responsibility. •With responsibility come


Most parking facilities kind of run on their own.


software options are purchased, the numbers can be greatly impacted. Ninety cents on every dollar is not difficult to achieve with a littlemore attention to the details and the right systemand software.Nowthis iswhere you separate the “boys fromthemen.” (Sorry, gals, but this traditionally has been a male-dominated industry back to the stage coach days, but I will tell you the best garage I everwas involvedwithwas inDallas andmanaged byMs. E. Barr.)


Now, about collecting that last dime! Owners, pay attention, since all of the money is yours and


unfortunately not all of it is collectedor even attemptedtobe col- lected. There aremany reasons that collecting that last 10%of the revenues is difficult: • Many revenue control systems simply do not have the


design or software to do so, regardless ofwhat themanufacturers will claim.


16 JANUARY 2009 • PARKING TODAY • www.parkingtoday.com


the operator’s fiduciary obliga- tion and liability. • And with responsibility,


plausible deniability is no longer an acceptable response to audit findings! Parking systems today are


advancing at a far greater pace than what was imaginable just a decade ago. Computer speed is doubling about ever 24months. Memory is cheap! A terabyte ofmemory that once was available only to the rich and famous can be found today by simplywalking into any Costco,where you can buy an external terabyte drive for about $500. Bluetooth, RFID, “smart cars” with soon-to-be-gov- ernment-mandated transponders, GPS tags, etc. are all changing what the PARCS of tomorrow will be, and tomorrow is only a few years away at best. Theparking industry in general (other than the systemmanu-


facturers) assumes that all the systems are about equal.What sets themapart are price, color schemes, and the “bells and whistles” that are offered. I once asked the president of one of the companies I


worked for if he had a preference for a system manufacturer. His response shockedme: “As long as the gates go up and down and I don’t get complaints from the customers or the property


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