In the first part, we described parking management in general as a building block of an ESG strategy. But where does digital parking management provide concrete support in the areas of environment, social and governance? We provide answers to these questions below.

E for Environment - how parking management reduces the burden on the environment

Let's start our check with the E of ESG, i.e. environmental concerns:

• Better utilization of existing spaces increases the number of available parking spaces. Consequently, no new parking space needs to be built. This means: no more land sealing, no CO2 emissions from the production and transport of building materials, less land consumption in areas that are usually densely built up anyway.
• Since parkers know in advance when and where a parking space will be available for them, there is no more parking search traffic. This has a massive positive impact on the climate. According to studies by U.S. economist and urban planner Donald Shoup and his research colleague R. C. Hampshire, no less than 15 percent of all car traffic in Stuttgart's city center, for example, is accounted for by the search for a parking space [1]. APCOA, a parking space management company operating throughout Europe, also found in a study that the search for a parking space accounts for a considerable proportion of traffic in conurbations. According to this study, the search for a parking space in Germany takes an average of ten minutes. In the process, an additional 4.5 kilometers are covered - and each search pollutes the environment with 1.3 kilograms of CO2 emissions [2]. 

S for Social - how parking management benefits people and society.

Dynamic parking management also makes a considerable contribution to sustainability in terms of physical and psychological well-being and in social terms.

• The transport service provider Inrix has taken a closer look at the psychological impact, time loss and costs of searching for a parking space.[3] According to the study, two out of three drivers feel stressed by the search for a parking space, and one in five has already had an argument with other drivers over a parking space. 44 percent missed an appointment because of the search for a parking space. 27 percent gave up an outing because they couldn't find a parking space. Added to this is the massive loss of time: in the ten largest cities in Germany, drivers spend an average of 41 hours a year looking for a parking space. These stress factors are completely eliminated with reliable parking permits.
• Just like stress, dynamic parking management also reduces the number of commuting accidents - simply because fewer kilometers are driven without searching for a parking space. Both of these factors contribute directly to the ESG aspects of occupational health and safety.
• The time saved by parkers also improves the work-life balance, as they gain more time for private/family matters.
• Last but not least, dynamic parking management also increases individual well-being by enabling more people to reliably obtain parking opportunities for certain leisure activities in the vicinity of the managed property.

G for governance - how parking management strengthens sustainable corporate governance.

Contemporary and sustainable governance models increasingly incorporate the concerns of employees. In this respect, too, digital parking management makes a variety of contributions to the ESG strategy of real estate operators.

• Since the parkoneer solution can be used to assign exact time slots for different groups of parkers, the system supports new, flexible working time models. These can be implemented much more easily if the question of parking space - seemingly incidental, but central for many - is satisfactorily resolved. No one has to worry about not finding a parking space if they start work late or work asynchronously.
• A fair distribution of parking permits sets the tone for transparency, equality and participation. In this way, Corporate Real Estate Management gains leverage for the social climate in the managed properties. The satisfaction of employees and tenants increases, as does the subjective perception of fairness - even between different hierarchical levels.
• Conversely, parking permits can be used as an incentive - for special achievements, many years of service to the company, or as a non-financial salary component. From a governance perspective, the important thing is that transparent criteria must always be applied. 
• The complete digitization of parking management significantly reduces the administrative workload. It thus contributes to leaner and faster structures and opens up free space for other operational tasks.
• Social criteria can be translated into concrete assistance through the allocation of parking permits. If disadvantaged or particularly vulnerable groups enjoy advantages in the process, this sends out a signal for a socially responsible management culture. 

Building block of a holistic ESG strategy in corporate real estate management

The listed benefits prove it: Dynamic parking management with parkoneer forms a viable building block within the ESG strategy of real estate operators and facility managers. Quite a few of the mentioned variables can even be measured and evaluated and are thus directly suitable for sustainability reporting in all three dimensions of an ESG strategy for the real estate industry.

[1] Robert Cornelius Hampshire and Donald Shoup: What Share of Traffic is Cruising for Parking? Journal of Transport Economics and Policy 52, 2018

[2] APCOA PARKING Study quoted in: https://www.trendreport.de/die-evolution-des-parkraums/, last retrieved 24.11.2022

[3] https://inrix.com/press-releases/parking-pain-de/, Munich 2017