Case Study

I arrived at Rodeo Drive Plaza at 9:30 AM—thirty minutes before the stores opened. The lot was quiet, almost empty, save for a few cars from overnight subscriptions. It felt like the calm before a real-world experiment.

After a brief conversation, one of the lot owners agreed to let us run Garaje live—on one condition: no actual money collected. This was purely a systems test. Real cars, real flow, real pressure—just without payments changing hands.

At exactly 10:00 AM, the first cars rolled in.

At this stage, Garaje was still early. Plate numbers were entered manually, but the moment a plate was approved, the clock started. Each vehicle was checked in cleanly and instantly.

I won't lie—I felt nervous.

This is usually where systems struggle. Volume builds. People rush. Something breaks.

But Garaje held.

Cars checked in steadily, one after another. The dashboard updated in real time—capacity filling up, sessions logging properly, everything staying in sync. No lag. No confusion. No errors. What surprised me most wasn't just that it worked, but how natural the flow felt.

For the lot owners, the process was straightforward: set a rate, input the plate number on entry, input it again on exit. Everything else—time tracking, digital receipts, session history, and accounting data—was quietly recorded in the background.

At one point, one of the owners, Gelo DeLeon, looked at the screen and said:

"Galing ah. So this does booking, accounting, and data recording—all in one app?"

That question stuck with me. It meant the system didn't feel technical. It felt usable.

By 6:00 PM, we had logged 84 vehicles.

Zero technical issues.

Zero complaints.

Just smooth operations from morning to evening.

When I reviewed the dashboard at the end of the day, Garaje had generated a full operational dataset—accurate time-ins and time-outs, session history, and projected revenue based on the configured rates. For a 25-slot lot that used to sit mostly idle during an eight-hour shift, the numbers showed clear potential.

That day at Rodeo Drive Plaza wasn't about making money.

It was about proving that parking operations can be modern, calm, and reliable—even in a live environment. Garaje showed that the hardest part isn't charging people. It's making the system disappear and letting the work speak for itself.

If you manage a parking lot and want to see what a clean, stress-free operation could look like—Garaje is already being tested where it matters most.