Workplace Parking in 2025: How to Build a Fair & Cost-Effective System [With Infographics]

If managing workplace parking feels like an endless challenge, you might find some comfort knowing you’re not alone and that this struggle has been decades in the making.

After car ownership surged across Europe and America in the 60s, companies offered parking as a perk to attract talent. But this approach strained the city’s resources— endlessly building more parking spaces to accommodate more cars wasn’t sustainable. 

As a result, employers found themselves caught between competing priorities:

• Keeping employees happy by minimizing the time wasted searching for spots
• Managing limited urban space by encouraging alternative transportation
• Balancing costs with convenience

Today, the challenge is even more complex. 

Hybrid work, shifting office attendance, EV mandates, and evolving employee expectations have made parking strategies harder to plan—and even harder to get right.

This guide will help you navigate the modern workplace parking by covering:

1. Why workplace parking still matters—its impact on productivity, culture, and compliance
2. The challenges of managing parking efficiently—and why it’s tougher than ever
3. Practical strategies to design a system that works for your business
4. How the right technology can help you design a cost-saving and sustainable parking strategy

 Let’s dive in.

Why workplace parking still matters in 2025

Workplace parking isn’t just about convenience. It shapes employee experience, company culture, legal compliance, and even urban sustainability. Here’s how:

Parking accessibility directly impacts employee experience

The employee’s workday often begins with the parking experience.

Arriving at work flustered and late due to parking difficulties— endless searching or ambiguous rules— means employees rarely start their day at peak effectiveness. This lost time accumulates and can lead to diminished productivity. 

A study found that nearly 24% of employees believe their daily commute negatively impacts their morale, with parking being a major factor. Some employees average up to 30 minutes weekly (or 26 hours/year).

Moreover, parking experience also influences perceptions of visitors and prospective hires, making parking an often-underestimated element of a company’s brand.

Workplace parking plays a role in urban sustainability

Cities worldwide are reducing parking to cut pollution, ease traffic, and reclaim space for housing and green areas. Paris, for example, is set to replace 60,000 parking spaces with trees by 2030, to make the city greener and more people-friendly. 

Consequently, policies such as the Workplace Parking Levies (WPLs) in Nottingham are gaining popularity to discourage private car use. The aim is to push companies to rethink parking as part of broader climate goals.

The bottom line?

An effective workplace parking strategy today is designed to boost employee satisfaction and support sustainable urban planning goals. Ignoring any of those factors means missing out on cost savings, efficiency gains, and alignment with future-ready workplaces.

Inefficient workplace parking carries legal risks

Companies must legally comply with specific workplace parking regulations— particularly those regarding accessibility for people with reduced mobility. In the U.S., the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) mandates specific accessible parking requirements, from space dimensions to signage. Ignoring these parking regulations can lead to costly penalties and present an organization in a bad light.  

Common challenges of workplace parking 

Limited parking space

One of the most persistent challenges for employers is ensuring that the parking supply meets employee demand. While the mismatch between workforce size and the number of parking spaces available is often the root of the issue, rising land costs and varying zoning restrictions can compound it.

For example, in North America, the standard parking space dimensions range between 8.5 and 9 feet wide by 18 feet long. Parking lot aisles will have a space between rows ranging from 14 to 24 feet, depending on whether they’re a one-way or a two-way aisle.

Consequently, parking infrastructure frequently lags behind workforce growth, placing immense pressure on existing facilities. The direct consequences of this saturation include heightened employee frustration, significant time wasted in searching for parking, and even potential increases in delays and absenteeism.

While smart parking systems and space optimization tools help, they can’t fully solve the problem without addressing fundamental space limitations.

Rising cost of parking for employees

Many employees pay between £2.50 and £12 per day, or between £14 and $400 per month, just to park at work. For some, these costs represent a significant slice of their income, leading to frustration and the feeling that they’re “paying to go to work.”

This issue is even more challenging for employers who must succumb to external pressures that compel them to pass on parking costs, despite a desire to provide it as a benefit. In places like Nottingham, UK, a Workplace Parking Levy (WPL) imposes an annual charge on employers who provide more than 10 parking spaces for their staff. 

Outdated parking management systems

Many organizations still rely on spreadsheets, email chains, or physical permits to manage parking—systems that are slow, rigid, and prone to error.

The problems with manual systems are many:

• Administrative overload: Facilities teams spend hours coordinating assignments and resolving disputes.
• Frequent errors: Mistakes in scheduling or data entry create frustration and miscommunication.
• No real-time tracking: Without live visibility, employees encounter “phantom bookings” (reserved but unused spaces) and spend time searching for spots that appear full but aren’t.

These problems leads to an inefficient system where spaces sit empty while employees circle the lot. A 2025 study found average corporate parking occupancy was just 2% during some hours despite complaints of shortages. 

Reserved spots for executives or remote workers are often unused but unavailable for reallocation. As a result, companies may pay tens of thousands of dollars annually for unused real estate.

Adapting to evolving work models 

The dramatic acceleration of remote and hybrid work models since 2020 has created new demands for hybrid workplace technology that can seamlessly integrate parking management with broader office resource coordination.

Employers are now experiencing fluctuating daily parking demand, with 74% of hybrid companies reporting this variability, and a general decrease in overall parking demand, particularly affecting traditional monthly subscriptions. 

This has led to many commercial buildings being underutilised, with U.S. office occupancy often hovering around 50% nationwide. This contributes to declining real estate values and lower tax assessments, especially in downtown areas. 

Employers are challenged to move away from static, fixed parking allocations to more flexible, dynamic, and technology-driven solutions like daily or part-time passes, pay-as-you-go options, and shared parking arrangements to optimize space utilisation.

Meeting environmental and sustainability goals 

Employers today are under growing pressure to support environmental goals, especially in cities focused on cutting emissions and reducing car use. Since transportation is a major source of climate pollution, how companies manage parking plays a direct role.

Large parking lots also add to problems like heat buildup and stormwater runoff. In response, cities like Paris have started removing parking spaces to improve air quality and reduce traffic.

To align with these changes, employers are expected to reduce staff reliance on private cars and adopt Transportation Demand Management (TDM) strategies—such as dynamic pricing and lowering the number of dedicated parking spots.

Implementing fair and functional workplace parking rules

Creating workplace parking rules that feel fair to everyone is more complex than it seems. Employers often have to balance safety protocols, space limitations, regulatory compliance, and internal policies—many of which may unintentionally create friction for employees.

Take mandatory reverse parking, for example. 

It’s a policy commonly adopted to improve visibility and speed up evacuation during emergencies—especially in high-turnover lots. But in practice, it can be difficult to enforce fairly in tight, multi-shift car parks where maneuvering space is limited, leading to delays and frustration for staff under time pressure.

Similarly, some organizations require stacked or parallel parking in legacy spaces like old loading yards to maximize limited capacity. While this helps accommodate more vehicles, it can become impractical during shift changes when employees may find themselves boxed in or forced to wait for others to move their cars.

Even decisions around reserved or premium parking spots can be contentious. Employers may allocate these to executives or visiting clients for operational reasons, but if not communicated transparently, it can raise perceptions of favoritism—especially if those spots include limited-access spaces like those designated for individuals with disabilities.

And while banning personal mobility devices such as scooters or e-bikes from being brought indoors may stem from safety or liability concerns, it also introduces security risks for employees who have no safe place to store them outside.

The underlying challenge isn’t necessarily poor rule-making—it’s the difficulty of accounting for diverse employee needs within real-world constraints. Building fair, functional parking policies requires empathy, clarity, and constant iteration based on feedback.

Navigating policy and regulatory shifts

Urban planning is increasingly moving away from auto-centric development, which directly impacts employers. There is a prominent global trend towards the abolition or reduction of parking minimums. In the U.S., many cities have repealed or overhauled these laws, and in Europe, there’s a growing trend towards implementing maximum parking requirements. 

This means employers can no longer rely on mandates for ample parking and must proactively adapt to policies that restrict supply. Additionally, policies like Workplace Parking Levies (WPLs), as pioneered in Nottingham, UK, impose charges on employers for providing parking spaces, creating a financial incentive to reduce car use and fund public transport improvements. The unbundling of parking costs from leases also challenges employers by making parking costs explicit rather than hidden, requiring employers to reassess how they manage and potentially charge for workplace parking. 

Ensuring employee well-being and safety

Parking lots are the third most common place where crimes occur, with nearly 1,400 violent crimes committed each day. Instances of car jackings, robberies, and theft of motor parts (especially the catalytic converter) in parking garages are the most frequent parking lot crimes. 

Employees experience these instances in several ways, with some expressing apprehension about walking to their cars alone in insecure areas, especially during late shifts, in dark, unlit areas, or through areas with high crime rates.

Employers generally have a responsibility to provide and maintain a safe parking environment. Negligence in this regard—such as failing to repair potholes, address cracks in the pavement, or provide sufficient lighting—can lead to premises liability claims. These claims may arise from personal injuries (e.g., slip-and-fall accidents) or property damage (e.g., vehicle damage) occurring on company property.

How to create an efficient workplace parking strategy

• Define what workplace parking means for your organization
• Conduct a comprehensive assessment 
• Understand the different types of workplace parking models
• Set up workplace policies & rules
• Invest in workplace parking management software
• Get a clear understanding of cost management and ROI

Define what workplace parking means for your organization

Will workplace parking be a mandatory, static amenity, offered for free to attract employees or a dynamic, paid, and managed resource that supports broader organizational, environmental, and employee-centric goals?

It’s hard to decide, I’ll admit that. 

For instance, offering workplace parking for free attracts employees. But is free office parking actually free? The truth is that “free parking” is a misnomer; it carries significant hidden costs. These expenses are not directly paid by the individual driver but are absorbed and passed on through higher taxes, increased rents for residential and commercial spaces, and elevated retail prices. 

When a property developer builds a new office block or residential building, the cost of constructing any mandated parking spaces is factored into the overall development cost. This cost is then passed on to employers through higher office rents or property prices. This means that individuals who own fewer cars or do not drive at all still effectively pay for parking they don’t use, as the cost is embedded in their housing or business expenses.

On the flip side, charging employees for parking appears exploitative, but it can offer significant benefits when viewed from a broader organisational, environmental, and even employee-centric perspective. Transportation is the largest source of climate emissions. Free and extensive parking lots contribute to urban heat islands and stormwater runoff. Charging for parking disincentivizes single-occupancy vehicle use and encourages a shift towards sustainable modes of transport such as public transit, cycling, and carpooling.

So, redefining the workplace is not really a case of this or that. It is about moving from an outdated, often hidden, and problematic approach to a transparent, flexible, and sustainable system that benefits both the organization and its employees, while also contributing to broader urban and environmental resilience.

Once you can nail down what workplace parking means to your organization, from a value-based organization-wide approach, the next step is to understand how you’re currently trending towards that value through an assessment. 

Conduct a comprehensive assessment

A thorough audit serves as the foundational step, providing the data needed to design an efficient and equitable system. It should encompass three interconnected categories:

1. Qualitative data collection: Use sensors, access card data, or manual counts to gather real-time and historical occupancy data. Analyze peak usage times, daily fluctuations, and specific areas of under-/over-utilization.
2. Employee survey: Understand how employees currently travel to work (e.g., single-occupancy vehicle, public transport, cycling, carpooling) and their preferences, challenges (like long walks, safety concerns, or high external parking costs)
3. Space analysis: Categorize spaces (employee, visitor, accessible, EV charging, carpool, shared mobility). Consider if the current available space meets the required needs. Identify opportunities for reallocation or repurposing.

The result of this assessment should enable you to understand the gap between how your organization currently treats workplace parking vs how it’s intended to be used— based on the result of the first step above.

That way, the next step becomes clear: Take action. Design a workplace parking model that suits your organization’s needs. 

Choose a suitable workplace parking model

Understanding the types of workplace parking models and selecting the most suitable option is essential. Generally, employers can adopt from four workplace parking management models, each with distinct advantages and disadvantages depending on team size, work model, and location.

The infographic below compares the four most prominent workplace parking models, their advantages and disadvantages, and for whom each model is best suited: 

First-Come, First-Served (FCFS)

This straightforward approach allows employees to park in any available space upon arrival. It is simple, cost-effective, and requires minimal administrative overhead. As a result, it is best suited for organizations with abundant parking where lots rarely reach full capacity. 

If those conditions are not available, the first-come, first-serve model can lead to employee stress and wasted time searching for a spot, due to a lack of predictability. It also comes at a disadvantage to employees with flexible hours, longer commutes, or family responsibilities. 

Allocated/Reserved spaces

This model assigns specific, marked parking spaces to certain employees (e.g., executives, shift workers, or those with disabilities). On the positive side, this model ensures accessibility for special needs and provides priority for key personnel. It offers predictability and peace of mind for assigned users. 

However, allocated or reserve workplace parking moden requires significant space and flexibility. It is not uncommon for regular employees to be distracted and rendered unproductive when called upon to move their vehicle when they arrived early and parked in a spot that blocks an assigned parking area. 

Additionally, assigned parking leads to resentment and perceived unfairness among employees without reserved spots, lowering morale. And in hybrid workplaces, underutilization is a significant issue when assigned employees are off-site, wasting valuable real estate costs.

Dynamic/Shared parking systems

These systems leverage workspace management technology to optimize space utilization, allowing employees to reserve spaces in advance or automatically allocating spots based on real-time needs. Assigned spots can be temporarily released and shared when the primary owner is absent.

As a result, this model maximizes usage (often recovering 30-40% of unused capacity). Substantially, it also reduces administrative effort by automating booking, approvals, and “no-shows.” This approach has been observed to improve employee satisfaction and fairness by providing predictability and equitable access. 

Provided you are open to the initial investment in workplace technology, this approach can be a cost-saving option. It reduces the need for additional leased or constructed space while providing security through automated access control. 

Incentive-based parking

These models encourage specific parking behaviors, particularly those aligned with an organization’s sustainability goals, through benefits or priorities. For instance, prioritizing green vehicles in workplace parking, such as through reserved parking spaces or discounted rates, can encourage employees to adopt more environmentally friendly transportation options.

As a result, this approach supports corporate sustainability and employer branding by promoting eco-friendly options (EVs, carpooling, cycling, public transport). However, it often necessitates initial investment in supporting infrastructure like EV chargers and bike racks.  

One key factor to understand is that the lack of a workplace parking model is not a silver bullet. What matters is first understanding what workplace parking means for your organization before choosing the right model. After that, ensure that your approach and model are documented so it’s easy to communicate your workplace parking policy to employees. 

Set up and communicate workplace parking policies

A well-defined and documented workplace parking policy is fundamental for clarity, fairness, and efficient management of a valuable organizational asset. Provided you already understand your workplace parking values and model of approach, ensure your workplace parking policy entails the following information.  

1. 1. Eligibility: Clearly define who can use company parking facilities (e.g., full-time, part-time employees, contractors, visitors) and any specific eligibility criteria.
   2. Priority criteria: Establish transparent rules for prioritizing access. This is essential to manage demand and foster fairness. Include common criteria like Job role/seniority level, mobility needs (for employees with disability), commuting times (e.g., night shift employees should get great priority in specific scenarios)
   3. Booking rule: For modern office parking management systems, setting clear booking rules is paramount. Define how and when parking spaces can be booked. Be clear on how far in advance employees can book. Setup automatic release if booking confirmation is not triggered. 
   4. Usage rules: Clearly define your dos and don’ts regarding workplace parking usage. 
   5. Handling dispute: Explicitly define violations (e.g., parking in restricted areas, “no-shows,” misuse of accessible/EV spaces, etc.), how parking spaces are monitored, and how disputes shall be resolved. 

Additionally, ensure you communicate your parking policy. You cannot over communicate your workplace parking policy. Setup workplace communication models that ensure employees understand and internalize the bigger picture behind your organization’s workplace parking policy.

These tips and more are required to create a robust parking policy— one that acts as a proactive framework for conflict prevention, reducing ambiguity, and fostering an orderly parking environment. 

Invest in workplace parking management software 

Modern office parking management systems transform workplace parking from a manual, chaotic process into a streamlined, data-driven operation. They:

• Provides instant visibility into open spaces, preventing double-bookings and reducing search time.
• Enables employees to reserve spaces with automated rules for allocation and priority
• Provide critical insight on occupancy rates, usage patterns, booking rates, and more. This data helps you make critical decisions like reallocating parking spaces and distributing work schedules with confidence.

There are different types of workplace parking technology each with their pros and cons. An option like Awaio’s office parking system requires zero hardware installation— everything works on the employee’s mobile phones. 

That way, you can create a functional workplace parking operation for your organization today without any expensive investment in cables and IT setup.  

PS: For organizations looking for comprehensive solutions, modern workplace management platforms that integrate parking with desk booking and meeting room management offer the most value.

Align parking policy with urban & sustainability goals

Traditional parking setups that prioritize convenience for single-occupancy vehicles (SOVs) are increasingly misaligned with the direction of modern urban planning, which emphasizes reducing traffic congestion, lowering emissions, and optimizing land use.

Discouraging unnecessary car use— particularly SOV trips—through policy levers such as cash-out schemes, limited free parking, or tiered access based on need or sustainability criteria, is key.

Supporting greener more sustainable commute modes is equally essential. 

Consider options like:

• Actively promoting public transport use via subsidies or pre-tax benefits
• Enable cycling with secure storage and facilities, 
• Providing dedicated infrastructure for electric vehicles. 
• Setting up hybrid work arrangements to reduce daily demand and emissions, in turn. 

As cities implement stricter environmental regulations and promote greener commuting alternatives, businesses that fail to adapt risk inefficiencies, reputational setbacks, and even regulatory penalties.

The infographic below shows various sustainable workplace parking alternatives and their benefits.

Get a clear understanding of cost management and ROI

Effective cost management and a clear understanding of return on investment (ROI) are paramount for any workplace parking strategy. This requires a comprehensive view of both direct and indirect costs, recognizing parking’s role within total office overhead, and strategically leveraging modern solutions.

Direct costs are readily identifiable and measurable expenditures like lease or purchase of space, technology investment, etc. Indirect costs are often hidden and difficult to quantify, but can have a profound impact on an organization’s bottom line. Employees spend an average of 90.5 hours annually searching for parking, translating into significant lost time and diminished well-being. 

As a result, it is critical to consider the cost of and ROI of maintaining parking spaces when optimizing your workplace parking policy and strategy. If cost-saving is the best option for you, implementing shared and dynamic parking systems might offer substantial opportunities. That approach focuses on optimizing the utilization of existing resources and reducing the need for additional infrastructure investments.

Workplace parking success stories: The Nottingham Parking Levy

In 2012, Nottingham faced a familiar urban dilemma. Like many growing cities, it was grappling with increasing traffic congestion and worsening air pollution. Simultaneously, the city had an ambitious vision for a modern, efficient public transport system, but it critically lacked the necessary funding for major infrastructure improvements.

The environmental burden on citizens was rising, and the inability to invest adequately in public transport meant that sustainable commuting options remained limited. This hindered the urban quality of life and the city’s overall development.

In a truly pioneering move, Nottingham introduced the Workplace Parking Levy (WPL) in 2011, with charges beginning in April 2012. This innovative policy required employers who provided more than 10 parking spaces for their staff within a designated zone to pay an annual charge. 

The key to its success was a legal stipulation: all revenue generated from the WPL had to be ringfenced exclusively for public transport improvements. Employers were given the flexibility to either absorb this cost or pass some or all of it on to their employees.

The WPL proved to be a resounding success in many ways. 

• Reduction in carbon emission: The Nottingham WPL contributed to an impressive 33% fall in carbon emissions across the city, with a significant 13% of this reduction directly attributed to people shifting their mode of transport.
• Increased public transport usage: This use of public transport for work journeys surged to over 40%. 
• Investment opportunities: Beyond environmental gains, the levy played a crucial role in attracting inward investment to Nottingham and funded pivotal infrastructure projects, including extensions to the tram network, major renovations to the main railway station, and the acquisition of a new fleet of electric buses. 
• Increased operational efficiency: This progressive scheme also demonstrated remarkable operational efficiency, boasting an almost perfect 99.99% compliance rate and very low operating costs, consuming less than 5% of the income generated. 

This transformed parking from a mere logistical detail into a powerful, self-sustaining financial tool for achieving broader urban mobility and environmental goals.

Ease workplace parking headache with Awaio

Awaio provides smart parking solutions that make it easy to manage shared parking spots, EV charging stations, bikes, and more. It’s pretty simple:

• Employees can easily find and book available parking spots or EV chargers from their mobile phone. 
• Admin can set flexible booking rules that prevent double-booking or ghost booking. 
• You don’t need to invest in expensive digital screens, RFIDs, and IT systems to get started. 

What’s more? 

Employees with assigned spots can release them with a simple click when they are not coming to the office. This makes the spot available for others to book, promoting dynamic usage of parking resources.

As a result, you’ll find that you need fewer parking spots relative to the number of employees, making the existing spots more cost-effective.

Several modern organizations have transformed workplace parking with Awaio, joining our growing list of satisfied customers who’ve implemented comprehensive workplace solutions.

Intrum Oslo, which initially struggled with a limited number of parking spaces, simplified the parking experience and optimised space utilisation with Awaio. With Awaio, employees could plan and book their parking spaces in advance, and administrators could allocate spaces as needed.