Green Lights indicated available spaces atWestfield Century City.


ShoppingCenterGains Space& LoyaltywithGuidance System


BY JOHN VAN HORN W


ESTFIELD CENTURY CITY Shopping Center in LosAnge- les had a problem. It had limit- ed parking spaces, no room to grow, and a lively culture of


doing what’s best for its customers. “Parking is critical to our business,” says Sander deWildt,


General Manager of the center. “If we don’t have convenient parking, we don’t have customers.This is LA.The car is king.” Drawing on experience thatWestfield had in Australia at


its Chatswood Shopping Center, the company decided to spend seven figures and install a parking guidance system that would take a customer from the street all the way through to the indi- vidual space. “Our competitors have a type of system (that) tells you how


many spaces are available on each floor,” deWildt says. “The problemis that if there are five or 10 spaces on a floor, the driver decides to go to another floor. Those spaces never get filled. It doesmake sense.Whowants to drive around hunting for a single space among hundreds?” Westfield installed a system that monitors each parking


space using a detector placed above it.When the space is empty, an LED above the space is green, indicating that it is empty. If it


is a handicapped space, the light is blue.When the space is occu- pied, the light turns red. “The shoppers love it.When they drive in, it’s like Christmas


all year-round. They can see the green lights among the red, and know exactly where the free spaces are and can drive directly to them,” deWildt says. The parking guidance system also provides displays at key


decision points that tell drivers just how many spaces are avail- able in a specific area, and which way to turn to find them. The signs display information about parking and can present advertis- ing if desired. “It leaves nothing to chance,” deWildt adds. The individual sensors and signage are connected to a cen-


tral control system, which gives parking management extremely accurate counts of open spaces and where those spaces are. “We have had rave reviews from our customers,” deWildt


says. “They love it. One told me that when they enter other garages, they look for the red and green lights. They are disap- pointed when they realize that they aren’t at our center.” DeWildt notes studies have shown that during busy times


(weekends and holiday periods), the parking guidance system reduces the amount of time it takes to find a space from nine to twominutes. Asked if that more time in the mall meant more money


spent, he shrugged. Continued on Page 34 MARCH 2009 • PARKING TODAY • www.parkingtoday.com 33


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