You don’t need more space. You need smarter ways to manage it. Across public infrastructure and transport networks, facility usage has dropped, yet costs haven’t. Buildings sit half-empty while heating, security, and maintenance run full steam. If that’s the case, why should your facilities run at 50% but cost 100%?
This mismatch is draining budgets without delivering better service to the public. For transport authorities and government agencies, this isn’t just inefficient; it’s unsustainable.
That’s why public and transport-sector leaders are turning to smart workplace platforms to deliver more services with less space, less cost, and fewer complaints. By leveraging data-driven insights, these systems help you centralize information, optimize scheduling, consolidate underused space, and flag inefficiencies in real time.
The result? Tangible ROI through reduced rental costs, better asset utilization, and more satisfied stakeholders.
Hidden Costs in Public Facilities: Where the Money Leaks
Even in well-funded public sectors, money is sometimes spent without proper tracking. And whilst public pressures are different from the private sector, there is still a need to manage resources efficiently and reduce unnecessary expenses. Those costs may be hiding in:
Underused space, from offices to meeting rooms or citizen hubs
Some office areas may sit empty while employees work from overcrowded open desk areas or small public-facing offices, creating discomfort and inefficiency.
If you had the right information about occupancy and usage, you would see that you don’t need more space, you just need to reorganize what you have. Even with the possibility to save some costs by reducing your workplace based on real usage data.
Reactive maintenance and urgent repairs
Machinery, HVAC or lights can break down or stop working, but you shouldn’t wait until this happens to call maintenance with urgency.
Planning ahead and having a preventive maintenance schedule helps you plan your costs ahead and reduces unplanned downtime and employee disruptions.
Multi-location and unclear Service Level Agreements (SLA)
Lacking visibility over SLA across multiple locations means that facilities are managed without clear oversight, making performance tracking and vendor accountability a guessing game. Some services like security or cleaning may be assigned to do the same work everywhere, without taking into account what is required.
This results in redundant contracts, duplicated cleanings or missed services where they are most needed. There is an opportunity to plan their work more efficiently and allocate resources accordingly.
The ROI of Smart Public Workplaces
The shift to intelligent workplace management isn’t theory. Here’s what real savings look like:
- 50% reduction in ticket resolution time through preventive maintenance and real-time alerts.
- 70% reduction in meeting-room no-shows through automated room release
- 50% cut in office footprint resulting in 200.000€ savings per month
- Connected 485,000 FT² managing over 2,600 users at Government of Flanders
- 38 energy-saving measures identified with average shop savings of 5.6% (up to 22% in some locations) for bonÀrea retail stores
- Power optimization improvements averaging 22% and up to 45% in retail applications
- Up to 40% reduction in operational costs with smart building implementations
These are some of the savings you could achieve as well by using purpose-built software to centralize workplace and facility management.
Download here the detailed ROI cheat sheet in PDF to see more examples of how you can obtain operational efficiencies to manage your facilities.
Why Legacy Workplace Systems Are a Big Risk
Some of the tools you use for maintenance may still be useful, but clinging to outdated systems means gambling with public money.
Disconnected systems and dashboards lead to fragmented insights and slower decision-making. Different departments may be using different systems which are not connected, creating bubbles and making it difficult for you to have an overview of what is going on across multiple locations.
Manual reporting introduces human error and makes compliance with public standards harder and slower. Besides, some teams may record every single detail while others barely provide any feedback. By using software specifically designed for maintenance and workplace management, you can start automating processes and homogenizing data: Giving the front-line teams the right tools to work and making your life easier.
Employee dissatisfaction with uncomfortable, poorly maintained spaces contributes to higher turnover and hiring challenges in the public workforce. And it doesn’t stop there. Users of your public systems, whether it’s transport or government office branches, are also dissatisfied when they receive different and even contradictory indications from different teams.
What a Smart Workplace Looks Like in Transport and Government
The ideal scenario that you could achieve includes centralized visibility across complex and distributed spaces with:
- Integration of software solutions that offer complete transparency of the data and KPIs that matter: air quality, booking, cleaning, and maintenance data.
- A unified process to work proactively by identifying and recording issues before they escalate, reducing downtime and improving service.
- Built-in reports for compliance and SLAs that can be automated and export ready.
- Clear analytics capability to measure the results of your operations and ensure that you’re getting value for the public on the long-term.
That’s not the future: that’s what smart workplace solutions deliver today for public and transport leaders ready to rethink ROI.
Deployed by airports, municipalities, and infrastructure agencies across Europe, Spacewell software solutions are built to help you gain efficiency in your workplace and facility operations.
With a modular rollout to suit your business’ needs, our integration capabilities will make implementation as smooth as possible: Combining existing data and systems like CAFM and BMS with new processes for you and your teams to be operational in no time.
Download our Smart Workplace ROI Cheat Sheet to identify where your savings are and how to start optimizing your processes. And if you want to know how others have implemented smart workplace solutions, don’t miss the case of the Government of Flanders. who improved their FM operations and employee engagement for over 2,500 employees thanks to Spacewell’s software.
