Mount Lebanon staff recommend modern cloud-based parking system for North Garage; cost estimated at $140,000

Mount Lebanon staff told commissioners they will seek approval to replace the North Garage's parking access and revenue-control system, saying the current on-premise system (installed in 2016) is failing and lacks modern features such as automated permit uploads, mobile payment and robust offline resilience.

Parking operations staff described device failures (in-lane credit-card units that can cost $2,500 to $3,500 to replace), manual permit updates and ticket-roll printers that jam. After demos of three vendors, staff recommended T2's cloud-based system for its integration with the municipality's permitting software and its growing regional support.

"We are moving to a company called T2," the presenter said, describing QR-code tickets, mobile-pay options that let patrons pay on their phones and walk away, anti-passback permit controls to prevent permit sharing, and better offline/gate-down resilience.

Staff estimated capital costs for the North Garage system at about $140,000, with ongoing warranty/support costs in the $12,000–$15,000 range annually. They said some existing hardware could be salvaged to support the south garage, which is planned for more extensive work in the future. Staff also projected a potential revenue improvement of $20,000–$30,000 if gate-down inventory counts and other operational changes are implemented properly.

Implementation timing presented to the commission targeted a September go-live, subject to procurement lead times and shipping. Staff emphasized options remain for later additions (license-plate readers or proximity readers) but recommended starting with the T2 cloud platform because of its permitting integration and feature set.

The parking system replacement is on the regular agenda for a formal approval vote in the commission's regular session; tonight's discussion was to review technical details, cost, and timing and to field commissioners' questions.