The term is PARCS, parking access and revenue control system. Strictly it means the whole package, entry and exit gates, ticket or credential readers, the payment kiosk, and the back-end that reconciles what came in against what should have. Loosely people say "the gate system" and mean the same thing, and vendors will let you use either word.
What the app quote leaves out is enforcement. A gated lot physically stops a non-payer. An ungated pay-by-plate lot depends on someone walking the rows, comparing plates against paid sessions, and issuing a notice or calling a tow. Plate compliance on unenforced lots is genuinely bad, and the leak shows up as revenue you never see rather than a bill you can point at. So price the enforcement contract next to the app fee. Patrol services in many markets charge per visit or a flat monthly fee, and towing is usually structured so the tow company gets paid by the vehicle owner, though what you're allowed to sign and post varies by state and often by city.
Also net out card processing, which runs around 3% and is separate from the app's cut in most agreements. Read whether their percentage is taken off gross or off net of processing, because on $96,000 a year that difference is real money.
One cost people discover late is signage. Rate boards and tow warnings usually have to meet specific local requirements on size, wording, and placement to make enforcement stick, so read the ordinance for that city before you order anything.
