How Cal Poly Used Offstreet to Replace Coupon Codes at Pay Stations
In an increasingly digital and mobile first world, Cal Poly leverages Offstreet to reduce their reliance on pay stations, improve the guest experience, and provide a better solution for their stakeholders on campus.
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Cal Poly implemented Offstreet in 2023 to help solve sponsored guest and event related parking on campus.
Up to 90%
Time saved for all stakeholders
< 10 sec
To create a guest permit
38/38
Lots utilized for guest parking
Takuto Doshiro
Manager, Business Services
Public Safety, Cal Poly
“Every group we have pitched this to so far is super excited. Offstreet has been a game changer for our campus. Departments/colleges/clubs will save SIGNIFICANT time in sponsoring their guests as they do not need to rely on our department. The overall reaction has been overwhelmingly positive. Using Offstreet gave us our time back. We now have capacity and the internal resources to focus our efforts on other priorities.”
Challenges
Inconvenient and Time Consuming Process
Whether they were requesting 50 permits for an event or 1 permit for a guest lecturer, between Transportation and Parking Services (TAPS), departments, and guests, the process was cumbersome.
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"We felt a responsibility to provide a solution that was more efficient for both the parkers but also the Departments/Clubs/Colleges that were facilitating their parking" expressed Takuto.
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The use of pay station coupon codes required guests to locate and walk to pay stations upon arriving on campus. TAPS frequently received feedback that guests and customers considered the process cumbersome, which threatened to impact the university's reputation and stakeholder relationships.
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Takuto described the challenges guests have with pay stations, saying "you have to find and figure out the pay station, sometimes you don't remember what your license plate is and have to go back to your car, and if you can't figure it out, you come back to your car later and have a citation".
Existing Vendors Couldn't Provide a Solution
Trying to solve their guest parking pain points using an existing vendor felt like "trying to fit a round peg in a square hole" said Takuto. This left them with three options:
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Physically designating/reserving parking spaces or lots (costly and not enforceable)
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Manually creating permits in their permit management system (time consuming)
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Programming coupon codes into pay stations and guiding guests to input these codes upon arrival (cumbersome process for TAPS, departments, and guests)
Few Pay Stations Installed Across Campus
With just 10 pay stations to service 8,000 parking spaces across 38 lots, TAPS faced limitations in their ability to serve diverse guest parking needs:
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Guests were directed to park in areas with pay stations, even if these were further from event locations
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Reduced TAPS' flexibility to accommodate diverse requests
Solution
Departments Self-Manage Guest Parking
Lauren Madonna
Customer Service Coordinator
Public Safety, Cal Poly
“I love using Offstreet Events. The dashboard is very easy to use, and the customization gives me the ability to update, add logos and custom messaging for each event. I can quickly turn an event request into a customized event link within minutes without added support allowing me to handle more event requests and even the last-minute requests we were unable to process before. Customers love that guests are given a special link or QR code to register their parking easily.. Offstreet support staff has been a pleasure to work with. My questions and concerns have always been answered, addressed, and taken care of quickly whether it be through email or a quick zoom meeting. I look forward to using Offstreet more and transitioning our campus users to the tenant registration platform.”
Using Offstreet, TAPS provides their customers with ‘Sponsored Guest’ parking links:
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Departments have the freedom to share the link with their guests, up to up to a pre-set maximum number of parkers
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If the Department is hosting an event, they submit an event request form and are sent a custom parking link for the event
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Each permit issued is tied to the Department's unique billing code, allowing TAPS to seamlessly invoice their customers each month
Takuto explained the outcome this streamlined process has had saying "using Offstreet has reduced the constant coordination between Departments and TAPS, freeing up time for both groups".
Guests Utilize Virtual Permits
Using Offstreet has greatly improved the guest experience, creating a more welcoming first impression of the campus.
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Guests receive a link from the school and can register for parking from their mobile device/PC in advance
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In under 10 seconds, guests can create their permit and receive parking instructions, including navigation support
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A pin can be dropped to any place on campus, providing guests with real-time GPS directions
Real-Time Integration Between Offstreet and LPR Enforcement Software
All 38 lots are configured in Offstreet and have been mapped to the existing zone setup in TAPS enforcement software.
This not only enables TAPS to utilize the entire campus for guest parking, enhancing flexibility but also ensures a seamless information flow between systems.
Streamlined Procurement Utilizing Partnership Between Offstreet and PayByPhone
Cal Poly uses PayByPhone to offer seamless mobile payments across campus. TAPS leveraged the partnership between PayByPhone and Offstreet to simplify the implementation process. By amending their existing contract with PayByPhone:
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The procurement process was simple and fast
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They received a white-labelled solution that prevented parker confusion
Outcome
Reduced Reliance on Pay Stations While Improving the Guest and Customer Experience
In an increasingly digital and mobile first world, Cal Poly leverages Offstreet to reduce their reliance on pay stations, improve the guest experience, and provide a better solution for their departments on campus.
While they started with sponsored guests and events, both Cal Poly and Offstreet are excited to continue expanding their partnership.
Optimized process by 90% resulting in improved experience for all stakeholders
Less than 10 seconds to create a guest permit
Increased flexibility with guest parking available in 100% of lots across campus
Takuto Doshiro
Manager, Business Services
Public Safety, Cal Poly
“We met Offstreet at a conference in 2022 and we're glad we did. We have been blown away by the level of support we've received from everyone at Offstreet. They took the time to listen to our problems and worked with us to implement a solution tailored to our needs.”