City of Long Beach Recovers 100% of YoY Parking Transactions
Updated: Dec 10, 2020
The City of Long Beach partnered with Smarking to restructure their parking rates in order to manage demand, support essential services, and reduce congestion.
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PARKING TRANSACTIONS OUTPERFORM 83% OF THE US
In March 2020, the City of Long Beach reduced public access to beach parking lots, while maintaining access for permit holders, following the “Safer at Home” pandemic-related closures. This resulted in a nearly 100% decline of parking demand through the end of May 2020. However, due to their proactive effort, the city achieved Stage 3 re-openings by June 17th and saw 70% occupancy at their beach lots in the first week of re-opening.

Each lot was managed by a parking ambassador offering distancing guidance and ensuring a safe re-opening. For on-street meters, the city enabled 15-min courtesy parking to reduce curbside congestion and to allow for turnover of spaces serving essential businesses, such as food pick-up.
By October 1, the City of Long Beach has seen a 68% week-over-week growth in parking demand, outperforming 83% of the US and 80% of the Los Angeles metro area. Given the increased demand, the staff was able to strategically implement a rate adjustment in FY 2021 to:
Increase availability and accessibility for residents and visitors
Adjust parking rates to match the market rate and surrounding beach cities
Generate revenue for the city to fund essential services
MANAGING DEMAND WITH DATA-DRIVEN RATES
The strategic data-driven rate adjustment helped to generate additional funds needed to ensure maximum parking operational efficiencies such as increasing wayfinding, machine sanitation, and the overall maintenance of beach lots. Strategically adjusting parking rates in high demand areas allows pricing to control demand, prevent congestion, and improve accessibility for residents and visitors.
ABOUT CITY OF LONG BEACH AND SMARKING
Located in sunny Southern California and known for its waterfront attractions, the City of Long Beach is the 7th most populous city in California with a population of 463,218. The City of Long Beach initially partnered with Smarking in 2015 to centralize their parking data and to enable smarter parking policies. Since then, they’ve successfully leveraged real-time data to improve rate models, increase revenue, and manage demand.

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Henry Cawthorne, Sales & Account Manager
henry@smarking.com | Schedule a meeting