For 40 years, PMG Parken in Mainz GmbH has been a leading company in parking management in Mainz. With more than 10,000 parking spaces in 28 parking garages, eight of which are owned by PMG and the rest under lease or management contracts, we play a central role in the city’s parking infrastructure. PMG is 40 years old, evopark 10. So, we both have milestone birthdays and celebrate this together by taking a journey through the past to appreciate the milestones of our collaboration while looking to the future, where we will continue to work closely together to shape mobility in Mainz and beyond.
How many parking garages have you connected to our parking software solutions entervo smart contract, entervo smart go, and mobility CONNECT (how many with LPR and with RFID cards)?
Overall, we operate 28 parking garages with software products for long-term and short-term parkers, as well as a bicycle parking garage. We grant entry to the bicycle parking garage using a QR code. End customers register online on our website and can then safely park their bikes with us every morning when they come to work in the city center by scanning their personal QR code at the entrance, which opens the door.
Short-term parkers have the option to join a kind of club called "Park & Go". They can register online (at www.parken-in-mainz.de/de/) and then become known customers in our system, to whom we can offer special rates. For example, we give everyone who registers a 10% discount on parking fees. End customers are then activated for all parking garages throughout the city and do not need to use ticket machines or pull tickets at barriers. The barrier opens automatically, and billing is done via "Park & Go". Everything is paperless, contactless, and seamless.
Most garages still operate with RFID cards, meaning we send our customers a personal card after they register (whether they are long-term or short-term parkers) that almost magically opens our parking garages. We have already converted three parking garages to license plate recognition, and we’re far from done. Digital transformation takes time and effort, but we firmly believe that our development in this direction is worth it. We want to not only generate revenue but also provide the best possible parking experience for the people parking here in Mainz. This includes a fast process, a lot of autonomy on the customer side, and digitalization.
How many people work with the digital products from Scheidt & Bachmann and entervo smart contract, entervo smart go, and mobility CONNECT to support your users?
We have a fairly manageable team. In fact, four employees handle and support the digital users and online parkers. With nearly 20,000 registered users, that means we have about 4,000 users per colleague. Not bad, right? 😉
How did the transition from paper contracts to the online solution smart contract go for your long-term parkers?
Good and quite smoothly! We are glad that we now have email contact with long-term parkers and have reduced our postage costs. The associated effort has also decreased. Of course, there are many special groups, companies, and contract holders who need very specific special rates, but we find suitable solutions for all our customers. We are highly flexible and customer-oriented, which distinguishes PMG. We have a very good relationship with our customers, and the mutual trust is great, even in the transformation from paper contracts to digital bookings.
Have you saved a lot on postage since you started making contracts online?
Yes, but the exact amount remains a secret! 😊
Why are you switching to license plate-based systems instead of continuing to use RFID cards?
We see many opportunities in the transition. Entry and exit situations speed up compared to the RFID option. We know from our own experience that the faster we can enter a parking garage, the more pleasant it is. There are no queues, and everyone is satisfied. Our service also reports that handling problems is easier in parking garages with license plate recognition than in those with RFID cards. We also see positive effects in reduced maintenance and wear. Less CO2 is emitted, and environmental considerations are very important to us.
Of course, the whole process comes with challenges. It is often not easy to find the right solution for each parking garage. Entrances can sometimes be too steep or winding, so a camera cannot read the license plate because the angle is not right. We currently find it very exciting to find solutions for such cases. Additionally, we need to inform customers well. They no longer need cards for some parking garages but must provide us with their license plates for billing.
What are your plans for the next 3 years regarding digitalization?
course, we plan to expand license plate recognition to more parking garages. We see a lot of potential here and know that the investment will pay off in the long term. We want to convert some parking garages to barcode systems, which serves as a precursor to license plate recognition. We also want to implement a technical change soon, namely the switch from system profiles to user profiles, so that long-term parker data can be automatically read and managed via entervo smart contract.
How did your marketing for smart go look?
With the introduction of the Scheidt & Bachmann, or evopark product entervo smart go, we launched the PMG product "Park & Go". So, we gave the whole program a PMG-specific name. The online platform corresponds to our corporate design. We put up posters in the city, advertised before and in our garages, and on our website, and mentioned the new service in local newspapers.
Since your customers are particularly important to you, one last question: What is the feedback from your end customers on the respective digital products?
"Park & Go" is very well received by customers. The balancing act between the different generations, those who grew up with digitalization and those who grew up without computers, is a big challenge for us in terms of customer service and satisfaction. “Park & Go” balances this very well. We see this in high transaction numbers and one-on-one conversations. We are on the right track and look forward to everything that the mobility of tomorrow has to offer! With you as a partner, we want to continue setting trends and further digitalizing urban parking.
Thank you for this exchange, and we are equally excited about the further exciting journey with you!