1. High demand for parking and limited bays
Problem
Parking sells out in minutes when new spots open, and people feel it’s first-come, first-served chaos.
Recommended configuration – opening time + quotas
You can make parking feel fairer by combining:
Booking opening times
Set a specific daily opening time for each user group.
Choose times that match that group’s typical work pattern (for example, shift workers vs office staff).
Clearly communicate when spaces will be released so people can plan around it.
Quotas (per person limits)
Set weekly or monthly quotas to limit how many bookings each person can make.
This stops a few drivers from grabbing most of the spots and makes parking more equitable.
Example quota rules:
Maximum X bookings per week
Maximum Y bookings per month
Example approaches
Client 1 set new spaces to open daily at a fixed time. Staff now know exactly when parking is released and plan around that time, rather than refreshing all day.
Client 2 moved their opening time to late evening, when nobody was working, which stopped mid-day “booking rush” behaviour.
Client 3 added weekly quotas so each driver could only book a set number of days per week. This helped ensure that every driver gets a chance to book parking at least once a week, instead of the same few people securing most of the spots.
2. Last-minute cancellations and no-shows
Problem
Drivers cancel just before their booking starts, or don’t show up at all. Bays appear full on paper but are empty in practice.
Recommended configuration – reporting, reminders and availability window
Use Booking Completion and Booking Cancellations reports in the Dashboard to see who is cancelling late or not showing up.
Use these reports to:
Send targeted communications to repeat offenders.
Apply manual consequences (warnings, suspensions) in line with your internal policy.
Configure booking reminders so drivers are prompted to cancel earlier if they are not coming.
Consider reducing the rolling booking window (e.g. from 2 weeks to a few days) so people don’t “set and forget” bookings far in advance.
Example approaches
Client 5 ran fortnightly reports of no-shows and late cancellations, emailed drivers who broke the rules, and added booking reminders so users were prompted on the morning of their booking to cancel if they were not coming to the office (still early enough for others to book a spot instead). They saw a 25% increase in earlier cancellations, freeing more bays for others.
Client 4 reduced the booking rolling availability for certain drivers from 2 weeks to 3 days ahead. This change cut booking wastage from 30% to 8% in the first month.
3. Last-minute shift cover and “nowhere to park” problems
Problem
Urgent changes and unexpected behaviour in the car park can leave drivers with nowhere obvious to park, for example:
Last-minute shift changes where staff are called in and need parking at short notice
In mixed car parks (shared with the public or multiple tenants), public drivers or other tenants accidentally (or deliberately) take bays that should be reserved
This creates operational headaches: drivers call for help, staff spend time shuffling bays, and there is no clear “overflow” option when all bays are fully booked.
Recommended configuration – overflow / reserve bays
Set aside a small number of bays as overflow / reserve, which are not bookable in day-to-day use
Use clear internal rules for:
Who is allowed to use or book these overflow bays (for example, managers, key contacts, control room)
When they can be used (for example, last-minute shift cover, space taken with no alternative bay, displaced drivers)
Train your team so that when there is no obvious space (urgent shift, space taken, wrong vehicle in bay), these overflow bays are the known safety net
Example approaches
Client 6 shared a car park with public users and sometimes found their reserved bays taken. They created a small pool of five overflow bays that were never offered for normal booking.
When one of their staff arrived and found their bay taken, they were told to park in an overflow bay instead. This removed last-minute “nowhere to park” crises and reduced calls and escalations to the operations team.
Client 7 had a large number of shift workers whose rosters often changed at the last minute. Each team had a manager responsible for making sure last-minute staff could still park. When a shift change happened, the manager would quickly create a booking for the driver directly in the BaseUp dashboard, giving them instant access to the car park. Combined with a small pool of overflow bays, this meant shift workers could be called in at short notice without creating parking problems at the gate.
4. Parking in the wrong car park or misusing short-stay areas
Problem
Drivers park in the wrong car park, skip nested areas, or stay too long in short-stay/loading zones. Parking in the wrong bay is especially common in sites with license plate recognition, as drivers don't check their assigned bays prior to driving in.
Recommended configuration – passback, timed zones or 'any bay' configuration
Use passback to control the exact sequence a driver must follow:
Correct entry gate
Required nested or restricted area
Correct exit
Use timed zones for short-stay or drop-off areas so that:
Drivers can only stay for a set time (e.g. 10–15 minutes)
If they overstay, an incident/report is generated
Rename your bays to 'Any Bay' so that:
Drivers can park in any available client bay in the car park
You reduce complaints about “someone in my bay”
You only need to manage a small number of clearly reserved bays (e.g. Executive, EV, Accessible) instead of every individual space
Important:
Marking short-stay areas, renaming bays and setting up timed zones is a configuration that can only be done by the BaseUp Client Success team.
If you want these configured, please raise a support request and detailing your request.
Example approaches
Client 4 and their car park operator used passback states to enforce a nested area rule. Drivers had to enter the lower level within a certain time after tapping in at the main gate. If they skipped the nested area, they could not exit without speaking to the operator, who then applied casual rates. This reduced non-compliant behaviour and made enforcement easier.
Client 8 used timed zones for a parent drop-off area near a kids’ club. Parents were allowed to enter a specific car park to drop off children, as long as they left within a short time limit. If they overstayed, an incident was recorded and included in a monthly report. Drivers who had three strikes lost access to the car park. This clear rule and enforcement process significantly improved compliance with the drop-off-only policy.
Client 9 found that, in practice, drivers weren’t parking in their assigned bay, especially in sites with LPR, where people drive straight in without opening the app and forget which bay they were given. To align with this behaviour and cut down on complaints about “someone in my bay”, they renamed their general bays to something like “Any Client Bay” and allowed eligible drivers to park in any available client bay. Reserved bays (for executives, EV, accessible, etc.) remained clearly signed and enforced, but the rest of the car park became flexible. This proved much easier to manage: instead of handling constant wrong-bay issues and a domino effect of drivers re-parking, facilities teams now only needed to monitor a small number of clearly reserved spaces.
5. Accessible bays used without a permit
Problem
Staff without a mobility permit use accessible bays “just for the day” or to bypass normal parking limits.
Recommended configuration – user groups and access control
Create a dedicated Accessible Parking user group.
Have the property or facilities team validate permits and then add only approved drivers to this group.
Configure policies so only this group can see and book accessible bays.
Ensure accessible bays are clearly marked on-site (“Permit holders only”) and state that unauthorised vehicles will be reported.
Encourage accessible drivers to use in-app “space taken” reporting if their bay is occupied.
Use incidents to:
Contact offending drivers.
Apply internal consequences (warnings, fees, access suspension) based on your terms and conditions.
Track repeat offenders and incident counts.
Example approach
Client 5 moved from a trust-based system (anyone could claim accessible) to a validated-only group. Result: fewer disruptions for genuine accessible users and fewer escalations to the property team.
6. Incident response and reduced capacity
Problem
Car park capacity suddenly drops or normal access is disrupted because of things like:
Car park works or partial level closures
Heavy rain or flooding
Equipment failure (for example, a roller door or gate is not working)
Drivers only find out when they arrive, which leads to confusion, delays and complaints.
Recommended configuration – in-app notifications
Use in-app notifications to:
Warn drivers that capacity is reduced (for example, “Level B2 closed today due to works”)
Give clear alternative instructions (for example, “Use Entry Gate 2”, “Park only on Levels 3–5”).
Because notifications appear in the app, drivers see them before or as they travel, so they can:
Leave earlier
Use a different entry or exit
Choose another transport option if needed
Example approaches
Client 7 uses in-app notifications whenever car park capacity is impacted (for example, heavy rain and flooding on lower levels). Drivers receive clear updates and instructions, which reduces confusion at the gate and the number of support calls.
Client 9 had a roller door failure that blocked the usual exit path. They sent an in-app notification telling drivers to use an alternative exit and provided simple directions in the message. This kept traffic flowing, reduced bottlenecks at the broken door, and avoided a spike in support requests.
How to apply these recommendations
Start with your biggest pain point (e.g. high demand, EV charger fairness, no-shows).
Identify which configuration pattern above best matches it.
Review your current policies, user groups, limits, and reports.
Make small, testable changes and monitor:
Utilisation
No-shows
Complaints/incidents
If you’re unsure which settings to use or how to combine them, use the support channels in your Management Portal to share your scenario and get tailored configuration advice.