How to make the most of your company car park statistics?

You may have heard this phrase before: “The car park is always full”. But is that really the case? Between reserved spaces that end up being left empty, busy days and new habits linked to hybrid working, the reality on the ground is sometimes very different from what we imagine.

Behind these paradoxes often lies the same underlying problem: a lack of visibility into the car park’s actual usage. Many companies know how many spaces they have, but are still unaware of how they are actually being used.

Yet car parks generate a wealth of valuable data: occupancy rates, booking patterns, days of high demand, vacated spaces and changes in usage due to remote working. When properly utilised, this information enables organisations to move away from “blind” management and make fact-based decisions. Focus.

Why should you collect data on your company car park?

Do you really know what’s happening in your car park every day? How many spaces are occupied at 9 am? How many remain empty despite high demand? On which days do your staff find it hardest to park?

In many companies, car park management is still based on gut feelings: « the car park is always full », « we need more spaces », « some staff reserve a space but don’t turn up ». But without concrete data, it’s difficult to distinguish a genuine problem from mere perception.

Collecting and analysing data from your car park allows you to move from perception to facts. You can understand your staff’s habits, identify peak times and spot under-utilised spaces.

This information then becomes a real catalyst for action: should you increase the number of available parking spaces? Rethink the allocation rules? Introduce a car-sharing scheme? Adapt your mobility policy to new patterns of behaviour linked to remote working?

After all, a well-managed car park is not just about parking. It’s also about organisation, budget and the employee experience. By understanding how your spaces are actually used, you can make more informed decisions (and, above all, ones that are better suited to your company’s needs).

Which statistics should you analyse to optimise your company car park?

1. The occupancy rate of your company car park.

The occupancy rate is probably one of the first indicators to analyse. It helps answer a simple but essential question: are your parking spaces really being used to their full potential?

In practical terms, this indicator represents the number of occupied spaces relative to the total number of available spaces. For example, if your car park has 200 spaces and an average of 150 vehicles are present each day, its occupancy rate is 75 per cent.

But beyond this figure, it is above all how it changes over time that provides useful information. Is your car park only full on certain days of the week? At what times is demand highest? Are certain areas consistently empty?

This data can reveal situations that aren’t necessarily apparent on a day-to-day basis. A car park that appears to be « always full » may in fact experience occasional peaks in footfall, whilst some spaces may remain unused for several days a week.

By monitoring the occupancy rate, you can, in particular:

- Identify periods of high demand and quiet times.
- Check whether the number of available spaces actually meets your needs.
- Optimise the use of existing spaces before considering new spaces.
- Adapt your parking policy to actual needs.

With a company car park management solution such as Sharvy, this data enables businesses to accurately track changes in occupancy and make decisions based on facts rather than impressions.

2. The no-show rate in the company car park.

A “no-show” refers to a booking that has been made but is ultimately not used. This indicator is particularly important, as these absences can represent an invisible loss of capacity.

Imagine a car park with 200 spaces where several dozen bookings go unused every day. The problem may not be a lack of spaces, but rather poor utilisation of existing capacity.

Tracking the no-show rate allows you to:

- Measure the number of spaces lost each day.
- Identify periods when cancellations are frequent.
- Put mechanisms in place to quickly release unused spaces.

Certain car park management solutions, such as Sharvy, enable you to automate the release of spaces and improve their availability for other staff members.

3. The car park space turnover rate.

This measures how often the same parking space is used by different staff members over a given period. This indicator is particularly useful in organisations where usage patterns are changing due to remote working, days off and business travel.

Let’s take an example: an employee has a designated space but works remotely two days a week. If this space remains empty on the days they are absent, it represents an unused resource. Conversely, if they remember to free it up when they are not on site, it can be made available to another employee.

Analysing the turnover rate therefore helps to identify opportunities for sharing and optimising existing spaces, without necessarily increasing the car park’s capacity.

This optimisation can work in various ways:

- Employees can make their own spaces available when they know they will be absent (working from home, holidays, business trips, etc.).
- An automated system can also be set up, for example by linking Sharvy to the company’s HRIS. Absences recorded in the HRIS can then be automatically taken into account to free up a space when an employee is not on site.

The aim is to move away from a system of “reserved but unused” spaces towards a shared parking scheme, where each space can benefit more staff depending on actual needs.

4. Allocation of parking spaces by vehicle type.

Company car parks are no longer just for combustion-engine cars. New forms of mobility are gradually transforming employees’ needs.

Analysing the breakdown of usage by vehicle type makes it possible to better anticipate the necessary infrastructure, for example for: electric vehicles, hybrid vehicles, motorised two-wheelers, bicycles and car-sharing vehicles.

This data can, in particular, help answer several questions:

- How many charging points are actually needed?
- Are the parking spaces designated for electric vehicles being used sufficiently?
- Should more space be set aside for alternative modes of transport?

This information is also useful within the context of a CSR initiative or an Employer Mobility Plan (EMP), as it provides a concrete picture of changing travel patterns.

5. Changes in demand over time.

A company car park is not set in stone: needs change in line with the company’s organisation, staff numbers and new working habits.

Monitoring changes in demand over several months helps to identify trends:

- A gradual increase in usage.
- A decline linked to the rise in remote working.
- Changes following a relocation or an internal reorganisation.

This data enables you to plan ahead rather than react in a rush. Indeed, rather than asking “Do we need more spaces?”, the company can ask itself: “How will our needs evolve over the coming months, and how can we adapt our car park accordingly?”

Mistakes to avoid when analysing your company car park data.

Analysing your car park data is not simply a matter of looking at a few figures and drawing hasty conclusions. One of the most common mistakes is, in fact, misinterpreting the indicators.

For example, a high occupancy rate does not necessarily mean there is a shortage of spaces: it may be due to a low turnover rate, staff keeping their spaces even when they are absent, or bookings made but ultimately not used.

Conversely, a car park with a low average occupancy rate may still experience difficulties on certain days or at specific times. It is therefore essential to cross-reference various data points (occupancy, bookings, actual attendance, turnover, etc.) to understand the true situation.

With Sharvy, businesses can benefit from more in-depth analysis via Power BI dashboards, enabling them to track various KPIs relating to car park usage. These indicators provide a more accurate picture of usage and make it easier to identify areas for optimisation, going beyond simple occupancy data.

In conclusion

Company car parks have long been managed as a simple property resource: a number of spaces to allocate, access to control and issues to resolve as and when requests arise. However, today it reflects much more than that: it reveals working habits, organisational changes and employees’ new mobility needs.

Having reliable data allows for a shift in perspective. Rather than systematically seeking to increase a car park’s capacity, companies can first gain a better understanding of how their existing spaces are used and identify potential areas for improvement.

With Sharvy, this approach becomes a reality thanks to a solution that combines car park management with usage analysis, helping companies make informed decisions and adapt their mobility policy as needs change.

Got a question? Check out the following FAQ!

Why has car park data become a strategic issue for businesses?

Parking is no longer just a logistical issue: it is now part of broader challenges such as organising hybrid working, managing property costs and mobility policy. Data enables businesses to better understand changing usage patterns and adapt their decisions accordingly, rather than managing their car parks solely on the basis of ad-hoc demand.

Can data from a company car park help to reduce costs?

Yes. A better understanding of usage patterns can prevent unnecessary investment, such as renting or creating additional spaces when capacity already exists. Data can also help to better scale the infrastructure associated with the car park, such as charging points and spaces dedicated to alternative modes of transport.

Why use car park management software rather than a simple Excel spreadsheet?

An Excel spreadsheet may be suitable for one-off management tasks, but it quickly reaches its limits as the number of users increases. Software such as Sharvy automates data collection, simplifies day-to-day management and provides a more reliable overview of usage patterns, without relying on manual updates.