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Lot Groups Management

The Lot Groups feature allows administrators to logically group similar parking lots together, treating them as a single entity for specific system configurations. Its primary purpose is to simplify parking administration by enabling shared settings—such as free parking time and vehicle count limits—across multiple lots simultaneously. This article is intended for OPS-COM administrators responsible for managing parking inventory and lot configurations.

Setup and Configuration

This feature is a core administrative tool used to structure and streamline parking lot management.

Admin Side: Administrators must have the appropriate system role permissions enabled to access the parking configuration menus. A lot may only belong to one group, and assigning a lot to a group is strictly optional.

  1. Hover over System Configuration, click Parking, then Manage Lot Groups.

  2. Click the Add Lot Group button.

  3. Enter a descriptive name into the Lot Group text box.

  4. Enter a value in minutes for the Free Parking Time Limit if applicable. This is typically used for pay-by-plate meters to provide a grace period for users to register their license plate.

  5. Configure the Offence Location field. These locations are used in conjunction with static cameras to automatically associate the correct location when a violation is written via a camera report.

  6. Enter a numerical value into the Vehicle Counts Limit field to set a maximum vehicle count for the entire group of lots.

  7. Click the Save Changes button. The newly created lot group will immediately appear in the management list.

User Side: This feature is strictly a backend administrative configuration. End-users do not interact directly with lot groups on the parking portal.

Using this Feature

Once a lot group is successfully created, administrators must individually assign their existing lots to the new group.

Assigning a Lot to a Lot Group

  1. Hover over Parking Management, click Lot Administration, then Pricing & Lot Admin.

  2. Click on the Lot Name of the specific lot you wish to assign to a group.

  3. Navigate to the General tab and locate the Lot Group drop-down menu.

  4. Select the desired lot group from the list.

  5. Click the Update Lot button to apply the assignment.

Deleting a lot group is a permanent action from the management list. However, while the group will no longer appear, its associated data (such as connections to specific permits and historical parking lot data) remains securely stored in the system. This ensures complete data integrity for all past transactions.

Best Practices and Considerations

  • Implement logical grouping: Group lots that share similar operational characteristics or pricing rules. For instance, placing all visitor lots in one group and all faculty lots in another makes overarching management much easier.

  • Integrate carefully with pay-by-plate: Ensure the Free Parking Time Limit provides adequate time for users to complete their registration. This setting is crucial for lots using pay-by-plate systems to prevent unwarranted violations while users are actively paying.

  • Leverage centralized control: Use lot groups to centralize the management of your settings. This drastically reduces the administrative overhead of manually configuring time limits or capacity restrictions individually for every single lot.

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