Office car park management is changing.

With remote working on the rise, fewer people are driving to work every day — giving less need for employee parking. On top of this, there are rising fuel costs, disruptions to new car production, and the availability of private car alternatives, including:

Carpools;
Public transport;
Walking and cycling.

One of the main aims of anyone managing an office car park is to cut costs. And the best way to reduce them is by making less space available. This means meeting the changing needs of employees by considering:

Bike and scooter racks;
Hybrid and flexible working;
Electric car charging points.

Find out how to make office car park management one less thing to worry about in this article.

Problems facing anyone managing office car parks

47% of businesses have issues with employee parking. And this percentage goes up to 62% for companies with over 1,000 employees.

The main concerns include:

A lack of budget;
Providing enough spaces;
Sourcing more spaces close to the workplace.

Providing enough parking spaces is a considerable concern. Yet, 27.5% of companies aim to reduce the size of their car park.

Reducing the size of your office car park offers benefits for your company and employees:

Fewer unused spaces;
Reduced car park management and travel costs;
Employees are encouraged to use more sustainable forms of travel.

Managing an employee car park

Most office car parks offer a combination of designated spaces (often for senior colleagues) and a first come, first served approach. But designated parking spaces are another thing to monitor and maintain.

On top of deciding on your car park management approach, you need a plan for access control, guest parking, and security.

Access control

Your office car park should be for employees only. Making sure that’s the case can mean restricting access to the car park.

Strict controls on vehicles that can enter the car park are an effective way to increase security. Yet, that added security can add delays.

Parking systems for guests

Employees aren’t the only people using office car parks. When guests and clients visit, you’ll need a system in place. This could involve setting aside dedicated guest parking spaces, but that’s not the most efficient use of space.

Alternatively, you could arrange their transport to your office using Ride Booker.

Monitor improper use

Employees and guests want confidence that their vehicles are safe. The easiest way to do this is by investing in security cameras. Depending on the size of your car park, those costs will soon shoot up.

Employee parking in a world of flexible working

Hybrid and flexible working is here to stay. It’s a huge perk for employees as they have a better work-life balance, and it’s proven to boost productivity too.

But flexible working can lead to problems with employee parking.

Flexible working allows employees to choose when they’re in the office — this can mean your office car park fills up more on some days than others.

One option is to plan when each person will be in the office ahead of time. But then you won’t be giving your team a truly flexible working experience.

Balancing car park management with sustainability goals

Employers’ concerns about the environmental impact of parking have grown by 57.5% between 2016 and 2021.

Many businesses are working towards a sustainable future. But having these goals and acting upon them are two different things.

Your company can have a clear sustainability plan, but a large employee car park won’t support your goals. And that’s why bike and scooter parking, electric charging points, and scooter charging docks are all important.

In turn, reducing the number of car parking spaces could increase the amount of green space around the office.

Workplace parking levies

Commuting habits need to change. And some councils are aiming to bring about that change by introducing workplace parking levies.

These workplace parking charges are a tax on office parking spaces. Companies with 11 or more spaces will have to pay a tax for each space — paid by the company or billed to employees.

So far, several cities across Australia, and Nottingham in the UK, have introduced them. And they’re proving successful.

The money raised is being invested into public transport, encouraging commuters to leave their car at home — easing congestion and reducing carbon emissions.

It won’t be long until more countries and cities take note of this success and introduce workplace parking taxes. As a company with a car park to manage, you need to plan ahead.

Building office car parks for the future

Office car parks have a significant role in making our cities more sustainable. Offering employee parking that takes sustainability into account will:

Lower emissions;
Reduce congestion;
Cut your team’s travel costs.

Here are some tips for building an office car park for the future.

Fewer spaces

With hybrid working becoming more popular, there’s less demand for spaces.

In the past, everyone would turn up at the office on a Monday morning and need somewhere to park. Because of remote working, that isn’t the case anymore.

Electric charging points

The EU has banned the sale of new petrol and diesel cars from 2035. That means an increasing number of your team will be turning up to work in electric cars. And to support this shift to electric mobility, electric charging points will be a huge perk for employees.

Business person charging an electric company car

Bike racks

Active travel is great for employees. It boosts physical and mental health while keeping them out of road traffic — which will help to reduce stress levels. As a company, by encouraging active travel, you’ll find that you won’t need as many car parking spaces, which cuts costs.

There’s also the environmental side of things. Fewer people travelling to work in a car means fewer emissions. And that makes active travel a vital part of any sustainable mobility plan.

Some key things to consider when adding a bike rack to your office car park include:

Security;
Accessibility;
Weatherproofing;
Enough room for a growing number of cyclists.

Employee locking a bicycle in an office car park

Cycling isn’t accessible to everyone, but that doesn’t mean those employees have to resort to commuting in a personal car.

Instead, they can turn to an electric bike — sales are booming across Europe (the electric scooter market is also growing).

Graph showing a huge increase in e-bike sales between 2009 and 2019

While sales of electric scooters and bikes are rising, they can still be a costly investment. As an employer, you should give your team access to electric scooters and bikes without them needing to buy one. And that’s where Bolt Business can help.

Encourage your employees to transform their commutes

Private cars take up so much space. And if your whole team drives to work on the same day, that will cause countless employee parking issues.

Supporting remote and flexible working goes some way to solving those problems.

As well as promoting a healthy work-life balance, remote work reduces the chance of your team all turning up to work at the same time. And those that would typically drive won’t have to deal with the stress of congestion.

But this can lead to your employee parking spaces being underused — with the added uncertainty of whether you need to hold onto those spaces.

The solution for your company is to support employees in making more efficient choices when it comes to travel. And while getting your team to switch to more sustainable forms of transport won’t happen overnight, you can support this change by:

Encouraging carpools;
Incentivising walking and cycling;
Partnering with a sustainable mobility company.

Helping your employees reduce their reliance on private cars will benefit everyone — and make employee parking management easier too.

Solve your car park management problems with Bolt Business

When the time does come to travel to the workplace, give your team efficient, safe, and reliable travel options with Bolt Business.

Rather than driving, your team can get a ride to work with one of our approved Bolt drivers. Getting dropped off at the office removes the need for a parking space. Plus, all business rides in Europe are carbon-neutral.

And travelling with Bolt Business opens up more environmentally-friendly forms of travel such as electric scooters and e-bikes. As well as being good for the planet, they take up much less space outside the workplace than cars.

Solve your car park management problems for good by reading everything you need to know about Bolt Business.

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