The three peculiarities of an underground car park
Mobile reception stops at the ramp. Anyone wanting to pay by app is left without a connection – an underground car park therefore always needs a second payment route on site, or the option to pay online after leaving.
Use is almost always mixed. Long-term tenants, residents, visitors and sometimes businesses share the same ramp. Without clean separation of permits the classic conflict arises: the bay somebody pays for is taken.
And space is tight. A ramp where vehicles back up quickly blocks the road above. What costs seconds at the entrance becomes more visible here than anywhere else.
What can be solved technically
Capture belongs at the ramp, not inside the garage. One camera at entry and exit is enough for parking time, permits and billing; sensors above every bay are only needed if you want to display individual spaces.
Long-term permits are held by number plate. Whoever rents a bay drives through without doing anything. If the vehicle changes, you change the entry – no key, no remote, no pass.
For the missing reception we plan the payment route in: a device at the exit where you can pay with the plate, and online payment up to 48 hours afterwards.
Questions about underground car parks.
- Does plate recognition work without daylight?
- Yes. The cameras work with their own infrared illumination and read the plate independently of ambient light. What is critical is not darkness but a covered or heavily soiled plate.
- What happens if there is no signal down there?
- Capture at the ramp needs the connection, not the vehicle inside. For payment we plan a route that works without reception – on site at the device or online after leaving.
- How do we separate tenants from visitors?
- Through permits per plate and group. Tenants drive through, visitors pay by time. Both run through the same capture at the ramp.
- Is a barrier worth it underground?
- If access has to be hard-limited, yes. If it does not, mechanics in the tight ramp area cost more than they bring in – queuing has a stronger effect here than elsewhere.
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