Page 100 - Security Today, July/August 2020

Making the Grade
Like a small city, campuses nationwide adequate space for cars is necessary
Campus Parking
Today’s college and university campuses are more like small cities than closed communities. Spread over large areas, these campuses serve tens of thousands of students, most of whom live off campus. To meet the commuting needs of their faculty, staff, and students, many colleges and universities provide thousands of parking spaces across multiple campus lots.
Traditionally, these parking lots were regarded as a simple neces- sity. Increasingly, however, as colleges and universities look to mod- ernize their campuses, they are rethinking their approach to parking and asking how they can get more from the parking management systems they deploy.
Parking systems generally involve relating a permit or ticket to a vehicle in a lot. How this happens and what information can be derived from this depends on the type of system in place. In some
cases, the system can be cumbersome and inefficient while, in others, it can increase security and operational efficiency as well as improve customer experience.
No one type of system is best suited to all environments. What works for on-street parking may not work for lots, and what works for an airport won’t necessarily work for a college or university. What’s important is understanding the parking space management goals and needs of your campus and finding a solution that helps with both.
In recent years, we’ve seen a growing number of college and uni- versity campuses turn to license plate-enabled parking (LEP) systems using automatic license plate recognition (ALPR) solutions and achieve positive results in operational efficiency, security, intelligence and customer experience.
24 campuslifesecurity.com | JULY/AUGUST 2020