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Almost every parking barrier made in the last twenty years already accepts an external open signal through a dry-contact relay. A retrofit gateway wires into that same input and connects the barrier to the internet, so a reservation, a licence plate, or a phone can open it. The install takes about ten minutes and costs roughly $200 per lane, against $15,000 or more for a replacement system.

A parking automation system replaces the four jobs a human attendant does — identifying who is allowed in, opening the barrier, taking payment, and keeping the books. A single-shift attendant costs at least $40,000 a year. A retrofitted automation system costs roughly $1,120 in its first year and about $120 a year after that. The gap is not a rounding error. It is the entire operating margin of most small and mid-size car parks.