As a workforce grows, parking is often one of the first resources to run short. Spaces become scarce, disagreements arise over who can use them and expanding a car park requires an investment many businesses cannot or do not want to make.
One alternative is to reduce the number of cars arriving at the workplace each day. Employees can share a car and make use of vehicles already travelling along similar routes. This article looks at company parking challenges, ways to optimise available spaces and the role employee carpooling can play in a workplace mobility strategy.
The company parking problem
A shortage of parking spaces at work is usually caused by several factors, which can overlap:
- Workforce growth is not always matched by an increase in available space.
- Shift start and finish times concentrate demand at particular times of day.
- Managing access to spaces can lead to disagreements among employees.
- Individual commutes often mean that each employee needs a space for their own vehicle.
The result can be constant pressure on parking: employees lose time looking for a space, complaints reach HR or facilities teams, and demand exceeds capacity. Before expanding the car park, it is worth analysing how the current space is used and which measures could reduce demand for spaces.
How much does a company parking space cost?
In Spain, renting a company parking space typically costs between €75 and €180 per space per month, although prices depend greatly on the urban area and type of office building. The cost may also include maintenance, signage, security, access control and other space-management expenses.
For example, a company that needs 20 extra spaces could pay between €1,500 and €3,600 a month in rent alone, before any applicable maintenance or management costs. If the need is ongoing, this becomes a recurring expense that can rise as the workforce grows.
For this reason, reducing the need for company parking spaces may be worth considering before expanding or renting more space.
Strategies to optimise company parking
Before building, renting or adding spaces, several measures can improve the management of existing parking:
- Stagger arrival and departure times, where the work and shifts allow it, so demand is not concentrated in one period.
- Set objective access criteria, taking into account whether a vehicle is genuinely needed for the role and which transport alternatives are available.
- Encourage other ways to commute, such as public transport, cycling or walking where practical.
- Promote carpooling among employees so people with compatible journeys can travel together.
These measures can be combined as part of a Sustainable Mobility to Work Plan (PMST) to address employee travel as a whole.
Employee carpooling: an option to reduce parking demand
The reasoning is simple: when people who previously drove to work in separate cars start sharing, one car can cover the journeys of several employees. For example, if 50 of 200 employees who usually drive start carpooling in pairs, they could go from potentially needing 50 vehicles to using 25, provided their routes and schedules are compatible.
In this hypothetical scenario, 25 spaces would be freed up. Actual results depend on participation, vehicle occupancy and whether routes and schedules match. The aim is to identify which journeys can be grouped to reduce the number of vehicles that need parking.
How to launch a corporate carpooling programme
For a corporate carpooling programme to work, the company needs to help employees find travel companions and provide a straightforward way to manage the scheme. Three aspects are especially important:
- Identify route matches: find employees with the same origins, destinations and schedules.
- Build trust: establish identification processes and, where appropriate, check that drivers meet the necessary requirements.
- Measure results: track participation and shared journeys to assess the programme’s impact.
Tools such as Waiis can make this easier. Employees enter their regular routine—day, time, origin and destination—and the platform identifies possible matches. This means the company does not have to coordinate manually who travels with whom and can manage the programme centrally.
What are the benefits of carpooling at work?
Optimising parking is not the only potential benefit of encouraging employees to share cars:
- Fewer vehicles commuting to work: several people can make the same journey in one car instead of travelling separately.
- Savings for employees: sharing travel costs can reduce what each person pays compared with travelling alone.
- Less pressure on parking: when employees arrive together, fewer vehicles need a space at the workplace.
- Support for sustainable mobility: carpooling can form part of a broader workplace mobility strategy.
Mobility management information: a digital platform can help a company understand how its workforce travels and track initiatives such as carpooling.
Carpooling and the company mobility plan
Carpooling can be included in a company mobility plan connected with the Sustainable Mobility Act as one measure to improve employee journeys. It may be particularly relevant at workplaces that rely heavily on private cars, operate shifts or have limited public transport connections.
Analysing employee journeys can reveal opportunities to share trips and help assess the potential effect on parking demand. Carpooling does not have to be the only solution: it can be combined with other workplace mobility measures suited to each site.
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As a workforce grows, parking is often one of the first resources to run short. Spaces become scarce, disagreements arise over who can use them and expanding a car park requires an investment many businesses cannot or do not want to make.
One alternative is to reduce the number of cars arriving at the workplace each day. Employees can share a car and make use of vehicles already travelling along similar routes. This article looks at company parking challenges, ways to optimise available spaces and the role employee carpooling can play in a workplace mobility strategy.
The company parking problem
A shortage of parking spaces at work is usually caused by several factors, which can overlap:
- Workforce growth is not always matched by an increase in available space.
- Shift start and finish times concentrate demand at particular times of day.
- Managing access to spaces can lead to disagreements among employees.
- Individual commutes often mean that each employee needs a space for their own vehicle.
The result can be constant pressure on parking: employees lose time looking for a space, complaints reach HR or facilities teams, and demand exceeds capacity. Before expanding the car park, it is worth analysing how the current space is used and which measures could reduce demand for spaces.
How much does a company parking space cost?
In Spain, renting a company parking space typically costs between €75 and €180 per space per month, although prices depend greatly on the urban area and type of office building. The cost may also include maintenance, signage, security, access control and other space-management expenses.
For example, a company that needs 20 extra spaces could pay between €1,500 and €3,600 a month in rent alone, before any applicable maintenance or management costs. If the need is ongoing, this becomes a recurring expense that can rise as the workforce grows.
For this reason, reducing the need for company parking spaces may be worth considering before expanding or renting more space.
Strategies to optimise company parking
Before building, renting or adding spaces, several measures can improve the management of existing parking:
- Stagger arrival and departure times, where the work and shifts allow it, so demand is not concentrated in one period.
- Set objective access criteria, taking into account whether a vehicle is genuinely needed for the role and which transport alternatives are available.
- Encourage other ways to commute, such as public transport, cycling or walking where practical.
- Promote carpooling among employees so people with compatible journeys can travel together.
These measures can be combined as part of a Sustainable Mobility to Work Plan (PMST) to address employee travel as a whole.
Employee carpooling: an option to reduce parking demand
The reasoning is simple: when people who previously drove to work in separate cars start sharing, one car can cover the journeys of several employees. For example, if 50 of 200 employees who usually drive start carpooling in pairs, they could go from potentially needing 50 vehicles to using 25, provided their routes and schedules are compatible.
In this hypothetical scenario, 25 spaces would be freed up. Actual results depend on participation, vehicle occupancy and whether routes and schedules match. The aim is to identify which journeys can be grouped to reduce the number of vehicles that need parking.
How to launch a corporate carpooling programme
For a corporate carpooling programme to work, the company needs to help employees find travel companions and provide a straightforward way to manage the scheme. Three aspects are especially important:
- Identify route matches: find employees with the same origins, destinations and schedules.
- Build trust: establish identification processes and, where appropriate, check that drivers meet the necessary requirements.
- Measure results: track participation and shared journeys to assess the programme’s impact.
Tools such as Waiis can make this easier. Employees enter their regular routine—day, time, origin and destination—and the platform identifies possible matches. This means the company does not have to coordinate manually who travels with whom and can manage the programme centrally.
What are the benefits of carpooling at work?
Optimising parking is not the only potential benefit of encouraging employees to share cars:
- Fewer vehicles commuting to work: several people can make the same journey in one car instead of travelling separately.
- Savings for employees: sharing travel costs can reduce what each person pays compared with travelling alone.
- Less pressure on parking: when employees arrive together, fewer vehicles need a space at the workplace.
- Support for sustainable mobility: carpooling can form part of a broader workplace mobility strategy.
Mobility management information: a digital platform can help a company understand how its workforce travels and track initiatives such as carpooling.
Carpooling and the company mobility plan
Carpooling can be included in a company mobility plan connected with the Sustainable Mobility Act as one measure to improve employee journeys. It may be particularly relevant at workplaces that rely heavily on private cars, operate shifts or have limited public transport connections.
Analysing employee journeys can reveal opportunities to share trips and help assess the potential effect on parking demand. Carpooling does not have to be the only solution: it can be combined with other workplace mobility measures suited to each site.