Cincinnati sees revenue rise after removing parking gates

The City of Cincinnati is reporting significant revenue growth and operational improvements after transitioning several municipal parking facilities from traditional gated systems to a data-led gateless model.

The rollout, led by the city’s Department of Public Services, was implemented in phases across multiple locations as Cincinnati looked to reduce maintenance issues, improve traffic flow and modernise the parking experience.

Dan Fortinberry, Parking Services Division Manager, City of Cincinnati Department of Public Services, said the city took a controlled approach to evaluating whether gateless parking could outperform conventional systems.

“We intentionally held rates, hours of operation, and parking capacity constant during the transition,” he told Cities Today. “That allowed us to isolate the operational impact of removing gates without introducing external variables.”

According to Fortinberry, the first pilot site, a surface lot, recorded more than 100 percent revenue growth in its first year, while gains across the wider portfolio consistently ranged between 30 and 40 percent as more facilities came online.

“What we saw was clear,” he said. “The takeaway wasn’t just higher revenue, it was more reliable and consistent revenue capture, which ultimately validated that a gateless system could outperform a traditional gated model.”

The city replaced gates with a combination of mobile payments, text-to-pay services, on-site kiosks, Licence Plate Recognition technology and increased enforcement visibility.

Historically, Fortinberry said, gates had been viewed as the primary mechanism for ensuring payment compliance. However, the city instead shifted towards a system focused on accessibility, visibility and operational oversight.

“Ultimately, we didn’t lose accountability, we gained more precise control over it,” he said.

Each site transitioned over a 30 to 45-day period, allowing the city to respond to operational and behavioural challenges in real time. One of the main issues was helping drivers adapt to a different parking process after years of using ticketed entry and exit systems.

Fortinberry said the city focused on simplified signage, on-site staff presence and proactive communication throughout implementation. Monthly permit holders also received direct outreach and onboarding support.

“One of the most telling outcomes: We did not receive significant complaints from the public, council members, or the city manager’s office during implementation,” he said. “That level of stability reinforced that the transition was not only operationally sound but also publicly acceptable.”

The city now sees the system as part of a wider mobility and urban management strategy. Fortinberry said access to real-time occupancy trends, turnover rates and demand patterns is helping Cincinnati make more informed decisions around parking operations, congestion and future kerbside management.

“Perhaps most importantly, we’ve shifted from managing parking through physical barriers and controls at a single point to managing parking through data, operations, and transparency,” he said.

Main image: Siam Pukkato | Dreamstime.com