Federal Parking

A driver pulls up to the entry kiosk of a downtown parking garage on a weekday morning. Coffee cup in one hand and office badge clipped to his shirt, he’s already running late for a meeting. He leans out with his card, the machine beeps and then freezes. The line of cars behind him idles in a sea of brake lights. He tries again, and the kiosk flashes another prompt, but the barrier doesn’t raise.

Picture the same scene repeated across cities, from staff arriving at hospitals to travelers heading to airport decks. Each time, the seconds lost at the gate compound stress, and routine entry points become daily choke points in the flow of urban life.

Federal Parking addresses this gap with a human-centered model of automation.

“Moments like these reflect a larger issue across the U.S.,” says Barrett Goodman, owner and CFO. “Parking has been digitalized, but not always humanized. Automated platforms handle payments and issue receipts, but they cannot mediate tempers, guide someone through a failed transaction or keep vehicles moving when a system hiccup stalls the lane.”

Federal Parking draws the line between ordinary efficiency and real-world reliability. Its license plate recognition, QR-enabled entry and gateless systems make daily parking seamless. Yet when technology stumbles—as it inevitably does—trained professionals are on-site to intervene, de-escalate and restore flow. The company’s approach ensures automation handles the routine, while people handle the exceptions.

It’s a technology augmenting a human-managed service experience. Whether it’s a high-traffic commercial garage, a mixed-use development or a premium residential building, Federal Parking tailors its approach to each property. The advanced technology with robust safety protocols and intuitive customer engagement tools creates a cohesive, responsive ecosystem that meets the expectations of both property owners and end users.

Emerging from a local operation in Baltimore to becoming one of the Mid-Atlantic’s leading privately owned parking and transportation management firms, Federal Parking’s growth reflects a shift in what municipalities and property owners now expect from their parking partners. They demand streamlined operations, along with better situational awareness that can adapt in real time.

Maximizing Parking in Constrained Urban Spaces

Nowhere is the value of the human-plus-tech parking model more evident than during high-demand events. Large gatherings like parades, Fourth of July fireworks, state fairs and major sporting events push parking systems to their limits. Federal Parking’s end-to-end services, from garage operations to valet and directional staff, are structured to manage these surges with efficiency. Its ability to coordinate thousands of vehicles in real time turns potential bottlenecks into an orderly flow. For municipal parking systems, these occasions carry more than operational weight. When access is smooth, public trust is reinforced.

The challenge of urban parking does not stop at event surges. In dense downtowns, the more enduring test is how to do more with less. Museums, government buildings and cultural venues face a constant stream of visitors with finite space to accommodate them.

This tension became apparent at a Bank of America building in downtown Baltimore, where the property owner leased space to the Maryland Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation. The property had to suddenly accommodate 800 vehicles in a garage designed initially for just 250.

Federal Parking met their challenge by reimagining the garage as a dynamic system rather than a static structure. The team deployed valet services and strategic stacking, where vehicles were parked bumper to bumper and shifted as needed by trained attendants. With these tactics, the parking space became more fluid, adapting throughout the day to match the rates of arrivals and departures. The garage now consistently operates at 125 percent of its intended capacity, without compromising order or safety.

A One-Stop Destination for Managing Your Luxury Car Collections

Although best known for managing the pressures of high-traffic garages in America’s busiest cities, Federal Parking extends the same precision to a very different audience; automobile collectors.

Collector’s Car Corral, the company’s ultra-luxury division, doesn’t just park rare vehicles; it preserves them.

Its 50,000-square-foot flagship facility feels less like a garage and more like a sanctuary. Inside, nearly 200 automobiles, from century-old American classics to modern Formula One machines, are stored with museum-grade care. A $10 million Ferrari can rest beside a Locomobile from the dawn of motoring, each maintained under conditions designed to maintain historic and performative value. Advanced climate control shields delicate leathers, woods and finishes, 24/7 surveillance safeguards each investment and concierge-level service assures owners that every detail of arrival and departure is managed with precision.

Included in the concierge-level service are advanced treatments like ceramic coatings that enhance durability and shine, and paint protection film (PPF), a transparent layer that guards against chips, scratches and road debris. To deepen that experience, Federal introduced Encore Detailing and Washing, a comprehensive on-site vehicle care program available at both the Corral and private residences. A collector simply needs to make a request, “Can you have it detailed before I return?” and the process is set in motion. The detailing team is trained in everything from luxury sedans to vintage exotics, so results can be delivered without the risks of outsourcing to third parties. Mobile cleaning teams arrive equipped with professional-grade tools and eco-friendly products, ensuring showroom-quality finishes with a commitment to environmental responsibility.

These services have evolved into an ecosystem for premium car care, encompassing preservation, protection and service, all under one roof. For vintage or sports car collectors and automotive enthusiasts, it represents a new model of trust and attention, redefining what a parking partner can be in the luxury market.

The Parking Revolutionary

When Goodman opened Federal Parking’s first garage three decades ago, operations were tracked in handwritten ledgers. From a single garage in Baltimore, the company expanded steadily until the pandemic struck. Almost overnight, garages went dark. Cars vanished, revenue evaporated and Goodman had to let go of his entire workforce while fixed costs like leases and insurance kept mounting.

“I was sitting in my basement in 2021,” Goodman recalls. “I still had the garages. I just didn’t have a business model that made sense anymore.”

What could have been the end became a turning point. To keep the lights on, Goodman tried short-term fixes like leasing garages for container storage or overflow space to the Port of Baltimore. But it was during those months of uncertainty that the bigger idea took shape: if parking, as it was, was no longer working, perhaps it was time to reinvent it.

That realization is finally coming to shape now with Goodman’s new venture, ParkAnywhere.com, a universal access system designed to do for parking what E-ZPass did for toll roads. A small electronic tag on a windshield links directly to a driver’s digital account, enabling seamless entry, parking and exiting across participating garages without tickets, scanners or on-site payments.

The shift from handwritten ledgers to a fully digital network reflects Goodman’s vision of unifying parking on a global scale. His vision continues to shape Federal Parking’s innovations across the industry.

For Goodman, parking has never been just a transaction; it is a service shaped by trust, efficiency and adaptability, and that conviction drives his company, Federal Parking, to set new benchmarks in the industry where property owners maximize revenue and car owners enjoy a seamless and stress-free parking experience.