Parker Fall / Winter 2022

PARKER FALL/WIN T E R 2022

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IN THIS ISSUE

7 CPA Partnership Program 8 Where Parking and Mobility Meet

By Ravali Kosaraju

12 When A Parking Solution Isn’t About Parking

By Bill Smith

14 New Board Members 2023

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FALL/WINTER 2022

18 - 23 CPA 2022 Conference and Trade Show – Québec City Recap

32 What Future for Smart Parking?

24 - 27 2023 CPA Award Recipients

34 Press Release - INDIGO Group

28 Data Driven: Municipal Parking Administrators May Be Focusing on the Wrong Types of Data

35 Managing the Curb with Technology

By Brian Wolff

17 Welcoming Members to the CPA

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30 Call for Presentations - Calgary 2023

By Geoffrey Garnier

By Chris Scheppmann

37 The Canadian Parking Association’s Management Training and Certification

OFFICERS AND DIRECTORS

PRESIDENT

Alex MacIsaac University of Toronto a.macisaac@utoronto.ca VICE PRESIDENT

Ralph Bond BA Consulting Group Ltd. bond@bagroup.com SECRETARY

Frank Cavaliere RJC Engineers fcavaliere@rjc.ca

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TREASURER

C PA S T A F F EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Anna Marie O’Connell City of Guelph annamarie.oconnell@guelph.ca

Sam Cusick AIMS (EDC) Corp. sam@aimsparking.com

Sharon Lewinson ACT Canada info@actcanada.com

Carole Whitehorne 613 727 0700 x 10 carole@canadianparking.ca

PAST PRESIDENT

Daniel Germain dgermain1@videotron.ca

Adamo Donatucci Precise Parklink adonatucci@precisebi.com

James Mackay Mackay Meters

ADMINISTRATIVE COORDINATOR

DIRECTORS

Rozanne Haddad interior Health Authority

Rozanne.Haddad@interiorhealth.ca

Randy Topolniski Winnipeg Parking Authority randytopolniski@winnipeg.ca

Ismo Husu City of Victoria ihusu@victoria.ca

Ken Skinner Crombie REIT ken.skinner@crombie.ca

Randy Topolniski Winnipeg Parking Authority randytopolniski@winnipeg.ca Brett Bain Edmonton Airports bbain@flyeia.com

james.mackay@mackaymeters.com

Teresa Buckley 613 727 0700 x 12 teresa@canadianparking.ca BRAND & COMMUNICATIONS

Brenda Hanna 613 727 0700 x 15 brenda@canadianparking.ca

Reachel Knight Calgary Parking Authority Reachel.knight@calgaryparking.com

P A R K E R 2022 | F A L L/ W I N T E R I S S U E

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FROM THE EDITOR CAROLE WHITEHORNE, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

C

hange. Adapt. Repeat. You got this! Its not like this cycle is new, and that we haven’t all been through it many times before. But don’t you think it might just be as close to a ‘new normal’ as we will ever get? If nothing were to change, we’d be slogging across the prairies in wagon trains, searching for the promised land, or worse. It turns out, adapting to change is a natural process – sink or swim, and evolution shows that we are a resilient species (well, most of us are).

Just when you think you’ve nailed it, the winds of change incite the need to evaluate and adapt to new circumstances. Here we go again.

Thankfully, change doesn’t always need to be overwhelming, although those times can be trying.

Change for the worse is usually followed by positive change, depending on how you adapt, of course.

It is without doubt that personally, I’ve come to accept these phases as my gauge and watch for the signs that will launch me into the next with my eyes wide open.

At the Canadian Parking Association, the ChangeAdapt-Repeat cycle also has existed for as long as I’ve been a part of it – coming into 34 years soon I’ve been witness to many changes and a lot of adapting. And it continues!

The Pandemic shook our foundations, but with the dedication and support of a strong membership base, we kept the boat afloat and are facing the future with enthusiasm. The recent Conference and Trade Show held in Quebec City is testament to the value members seek and find with the CPA. Educational content was beyond exceptional and demonstrates that the Parking Industry in Canada has been changing, adapting and better yet, sharing the innovative work that was accomplished during

the two-year lockdown to overflowing session rooms. Kudos to all the presenters for bringing it!

Exhibits were fewer than normal, but the quality was definitely on display. Without the vendors showing their support, this national event would not be the same, so thanks to you all for bringing your best this year.

To say the least, the CPA’s trademark is the ability to offer world-class hospitality and entertainment, all local to the event city. Canada is rich in talent, and it is a pleasure to show it off during the CPA events. How many of you have taken up violin lessons? We will reach for the stars and top this in Calgary from October 1-4, 2023. Just watch us!

As the new Board of Directors starts its work, I look forward working with our newest Directors and to hearing ideas not only from them, but also from CPA members. This is a full, and strong group of parking and mobility professionals and Change is certainly on the agenda. Be sure to add your voice by contacting your director representative or the CPA staff any time. Our contact information is available online and in this issue.

I’d like to extend my sincerest thanks to Brenda Hanna and Teresa Buckley, who round out the CPA Staff Team for their hard work, dedication to the mission and for supporting me through this challenging period of changing and adapting.

The Pandemic shook our foundations, but with the dedication and support of a strong membership base, we kept the boat afloat and are facing the future with enthusiasm.

To all, I wish you a happy and safe holiday season filled with family, friends, love, and a full cup of cheer!n

Carole Whitehorne, Executive Director

CPA Associate Partner

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FROM THE PRESIDENT ALEX MACISAAC, PRESIDENT

I

t’s hard to believe that my first year as President is coming to an end. It’s been a challenging time navigating the world on this side of the Covid-19 pandemic, but things are finally starting to look brighter.

The Quebec City conference was a huge success. The amount of information shared and networking opportunities with new and old friends reflected our eagerness to gather.

The Quebec City conference was a huge success.

The amount of information shared and networking opportunities with new and old friends reflected our eagerness to gather. Once again, Quebec City didn’t disappoint as the host. From the historic buildings and streetscape one can understand the beginnings of our nation not adequately discussed in Canadian history books. Quebec culture was on full display in the warmth and friendliness of the locals that we encountered. Furthermore, the food was amazing no matter where you chose to dine. It was a pleasure to see everyone, listen to the great speakers and catch up where we left off in Vancouver last year. The educational sessions offered during this conference were standing room only, which is a testament to the quality of information presented. And let’s not forget about the closing event. The live music and audience participation created an engaging and fun atmosphere. To say the least, it was spectacular and this is only a buildup to what you will experience in Calgary in October 2023.

It is with great enthusiasm that I welcome the new Directors to the board who were elected by the members at the Annual General Meeting in Quebec City. For the first time in a long while all of the sectors will have a voice on the Board of Directors. Joining the board this year are: Ismo Husu from the City of

Victoria representing the British Columbia region; Adamo Donatucci from Precise Parklink representing the Private Operators; James MacKay from MacKay Meters representing the Maritime region; Rozanne Haddad from Interior Health representing the Hospital sector; and Ken Skinner from Crombie REIT representing Building Owners in Canada. You can read about each of the new Directors’ experience further in this issue of Parker. I am still encouraging members to engage with their respective Director so please feel free to reach out to them with questions, concerns and new ideas that the Board can explore.

Reflecting on the past year, with Covid-19 restrictions lifting, we were finally able to meet in person which led to a higher than anticipated Quebec City conference attendance. We also hosted a Lunch and Learn in Toronto that addressed new government regulations regarding credit card processing. Heading into my second year as President, I am looking forward to all of our members having the opportunity to learn and grow. For those new to the industry, I am hopeful that the CPA can be a conduit for learning more about this industry, while our existing members have the opportunity to understand how the industry is changing. We will continue to expand on our Lunch and Learn and networking events. Cheers to 2023! n

Alex MacIsaac, President

PARKER MAGAZINE EDITOR carole@canadianparking.ca 613-727-0700 x 10 ADMINISTRATION teresa@canadianparking.ca 613-727-0700 x 12 DESIGN AND MARKETING brenda@canadianparking.ca 613-727-0700 x 15

6 P A R K E R 2022 | F A L L /W I N T E R I S S U E

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P A R K E R 2022 | F A L L/ W I N T E R I S S U E

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WHERE PARKING AND MOBILITY MEET

By Ravali Kosaraju, PE, PTOE

P I

n some corners of the parking industry “mobility” is considered a dirty word. For some professionals who have devoted their careers to finding new ways for people to park conveniently and safely, the current emphasis in mobility is off-putting.

In fact, though, parking and mobility are intrinsically connected. Mobility isn’t meant to replace parking; it’s meant to collaborate with it. In fact, as counterintuitive as it may seem, parking is an essential element of mobility.

MOBILITY ISN’T MEANT TO REPLACE PARKING; IT’S MEANT TO COLLABORATE WITH IT

To understand this, it’s first necessary to take a step back and look at what mobility really is. Mobility is the essential element of urban life. It’s about access. Access to the things people need

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to live a healthy and rewarding life. Access to friends and relatives, healthcare and other essential services, entertainment, shopping options, work, and recreation opportunities.

Transportation is an element of mobility, but it’s not the totality of mobility. Rather, mobility is about having high quality transportation options.

What makes mobility options “high quality”?

First is choice. Do residents and visitors have multiple transportation options? Are there opportunities to use their personal vehicles, access ride-share servicers, utilize public transit, and take advantage of micromobility? Is the community pedestrian friendly? Having a single transportation option isn’t conducive to mobility.

A LACK OF PARKING— BOTH PRIVATE AND PUBLIC— UNDERMINES MOBILITY. Time is also a key element. If it takes too long to go to and from destinations in a community, because of traffic or because there are too many stops on a bus line or subway line, you don’t have mobility. No one wants to spend hours to get to a grocery store and back, or from work and back.

spots for people using TNCs. They are also popular places to store and offer micromobility options, housing bike share (and bike lockers) and micromobility areas where people can rent and return bikes and scooters. And as pointed out earlier, parking is essential to the success of many bus and transit systems.

Finally, safety is a key element of mobility. If it isn’t safe to walk, drive, take public transit, or bike you don’t have mobility.

TIME

So, transportation doesn’t equal mobility. You must offer multiple safe, and timely transportation options to have mobility.

WHERE PARKING FITS IN When you look at that definition of mobility, it’s easy to see many places where parking fits. In fact, in some of those places, parking is an essential element of success. Let’s take a deeper dive.

ACCESS Mobility is about access to friends and relatives, healthcare and other essential services, entertainment, shopping options, work, and recreation opportunities. Well, how do people access those things in an urban environment? Some may take buses and other forms of mass transit. Some will walk. But what about those who drive? For drivers, access is limited by the types of parking options they have available to them. If they have parkades and lots available to them near their ultimate destination, they have access to that destination. They can drive to the parkade and walk to where they need to be.

Parking even impacts access for some people who use public transportation. For those who don’t live within walking distance to a bus or train station, parking is essential. If these commuters don’t have access to parking at bus or transit centers, that public transportation is inaccessible to them.

Time is a key to mobility. If it takes too long to go to and from destinations, you don’t have mobility. Having sufficient and easy-to-use parking, both on- and off-street options, significantly impacts the time it can take a driver to get to and from their destination. If drivers need to circle blocks for 10, 20, or more minutes, they are going to give up and go someplace else.

Likewise, if parking lots and parkades are always full, people are going to look for other places to shop, seek entertainment, or do other things. This isn’t mobility.

That’s why urban planners must consider all types of transportation when creating plans for downtown areas and central business districts. A lack of parking—both private and public—undermines mobility.

SAFETY The final element of mobility is safety, an issue that has been at the forefront of parking design and planning since the beginning of the automobile age. Safety is a topic that merits an article of its own, but the measures that have been created to improve visibility within structures are still the best ways to protect parkers from other vehicles and people.

These, combined with sealing off stairwells and other places where attackers could potentially hide, can go a long way towards providing a safe parking experience.

When it comes to parking design, safety outside lots and garages are just as important. It’s essential to keep queuing to a minimum to avoid vehicle backups that could lead to accidents on roadways outside parking entrances. Traditionally, this was accomplished by increasing the number of entrance lanes to get drivers into the garage or lot more quickly. Today, with the advent of advanced PARCS and frictionless parking systems that can admit cars into facilities without having to pull a ticket, drivers can get into parking facilities even more quickly. In fact, modern frictionless parking technology even allows parkades and lots to go completely gateless, which keeps cars moving in and out of parking facilities even faster.

CHOICE Another element of mobility is choice. Do residents and visitors have multiple transportation options, including personal vehicles, access to ride share services, public transit, and perhaps even micromobility?

If the answer is yes to all these questions, where does parking fit? Obviously, parking is a necessity for people using their personal vehicles. But what about the other modes of transportation? Parkades often offer drop-off and pick-up

DOING IT RIGHT Some cities are installing parking guidance technology to keep track of how many spaces are available in each garage or lot at a given time, while at the same time requiring private owners to do the same.

Eventually, the private and public parking facilities will be connected to a smart city app that will tell drivers where parking is available at that moment and how much it costs.

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P As cities implement these programs, it will be essential to not focus solely on parking, but to treat these apps as mobility tools. It’s not enough to show people where parking is available; you want to show them where parking is available near their ultimate destinations or near transit and bus stations or stops. In a good smart city app, parking will be one essential element of the overall mobility network. The app must provide detailed, easy to understand guidance about how to find the best parking space for drivers to reach their ultimate destinations.

In developing a mobility app, cities should be sure that drivers can use the app to see realtime pricing and availability information for municipal and private parkades and lots, both large and small. The app should also provide availability and pricing information for on-street

ULTIMATELY, A MOBILITY APP SHOULD MANAGE MORE THAN PARKING. IT SHOULD BE A CENTRALIZED EVENT PORTAL WHERE EVERY EVENT THAT’S HELD IN THE CITY

parking assets. A good app will also permit cities to introduce dynamic parking pricing to encourage drivers to use lightly utilized spaces.

By eliminating long searches for a parking space by guiding drivers to open spaces while, at the same time, encouraging drivers to park away from more congested areas, cities can expect to significantly reduce congestion and pollution on city streets.

Ultimately, a mobility app should manage more than parking. It should be a centralized event portal where every event that’s held in the city, whether publicly or privately sponsored, will be uploaded onto the platform. It can provide a single point of access where residents and visitors can access everything that’s happening in the city. All of these elements can be combined to provide a true mobility app.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Ravali Kosaraju is director of mobility for WGI, Inc. She can be reached at Ravali.Kosaraju@WGInc.com.

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P A R K E R 2022 | F A L L/ W I N T E R I S S U E

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WHEN A PARKING SOLUTION ISN’T ABOUT PARKING

By Bill Smith

When is a parking solution not about solving a parking problem? It may surprise you to find out that parking garages can also provide solutions to non-parking challenges facing building owners.

Cell phone coverage poses unique challenges in urban high rise residential and commercial buildings. It can be difficult to provide consistent service throughout high-rise buildings, particularly in underground parking areas. The deeper the underground parkade—the tougher it is to provide consistent cell service.

And the problem is only getting worse. The latest cellular standard, “5G”, operates at very high frequencies and doesn’t penetrate buildings as easily as previous generations of Cellular did. While 5G may be great if you’re sitting in your car downtown, you may not be so lucky in areas with less direct sightlines.

Traditionally, developers and building owners have had to install distributed antenna systems ‘DAS’ to provide consistent cell service in their buildings. A distributed antenna system is a network of separated antenna nodes connected to a common source to provide wireless service throughout a structure or geographic area. DAS technology is effective but very expensive—a system can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to install in a single building. And with cellular technology changing so rapidly, there’s no guarantee that these DAS systems will continue to work with each new generation of cellular technology. That’s a lot of financial risk for a building owner to take on. The challenge is particularly acute in underground parking facilities, where 5G is particularly unreliable.

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A PARKING SOLUTION That was the challenge facing Goddard Investment Group in Dallas. Fountain Place, an office building owned by Goddard Investment, was ready for a cell upgrade that would extend reliable cell service into the building’s underground parkade.

But the prospect of spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on technology that may only work for a short period of time was unappealing.

“We needed a reliable, future-proof, and costeffective answer,” said Jason Williams, Senior Vice President of Construction and Property Management for Goddard Investment Group.

“The people who work in and visit our building are often on their phones as they drive into the parking area, and we need to be able to provide seamless cell service so they can continue doing business as they arrive.”

With the help of his parking technology consultant, Williams found that the perfect solution was already at hand.

“It was actually our parking technology consultant, Brent Van Loggerenberg of Professional Parking Technologies, who came up with the solution,” said Williams. “He convinced us to change the way we viewed the issue and focus on WiFi rather than cell service.”

Van Loggerenberg proposed extending re-engineered WiFi coverage throughout the underground parkade and areas inside the building that could benefit from stronger cellular

coverage. He reasoned that most modern cell phones have WiFi calling capabilities, and that by extending a customized and managed WiFi solution, Goddard Investment could provide phone coverage for the garage and the building for a fraction of the cost of a conventional DAS. And because most of Fountain Place’s tenants already had their own WiFi setups in their offices, it would only be necessary to install WiFi technology in the underground parkade and common areas.

strategically placed almost fifty repeaters throughout the garage to provide the necessary coverage, even for people who are driving.

Additional repeaters were placed in the underground common areas of Fountain Place to make sure that there is a strong and consistent signal throughout.

The heart of the system is located in the underground parkade, which was where Van Loggerenberg was presented with the greatest coverage and penetration challenges. A powerful Cisco-based enterprise solution offered high speeds, strong signal, and the ability to re-engineer the solution to specific cellular needs. He also

“It was the perfect solution,” said Van Loggerenberg, managing partner of Professional Parking Technologies. “We created a tailored network of access points in the subgrade lobbies, hallways, and the parking garage. It provided better coverage than they would have gotten with a DAS system, and it was much less expensive.”

“Now, the minute anyone enters the underground garage, they pick up this specific WiFi signal,” said Williams.

PARKING BENEFITS Of course, a parking solution should also provide parking benefits too. Because newer IP-based PARCS systems rely heavily on connectivity, the WiFi provided by the system can also be used to connect PARCS and other parking technology to cloud-based applications or to communicate with command centers and other remote sites.

“This solution was designed to provide seamless calling coverage, but it certainly provides parking benefits as well,” said Van Loggerenberg. “Connectivity is the name of the game when it comes to parking technology, and this type of system can easily handle the connectivity requirements of PARCS, Parking Guidance, EV Chargers and other technologies.

“When parkers use other parking technologies like mobile payment, pre-booking or EV Charging, they need their smart phones to be able to connect to those payment and reservations systems,” added Van Loggerenberg. “This system provides that connection.”

According to Van Loggerenberg, this approach can also help keep tech upgrade costs down. Owners who are looking to upgrade their technology can save a lot of money by avoiding having to replace costly wiring and other infrastructure.

“When I agreed to give this a try, I wasn’t thinking about how it could benefit my parking operations,” said Williams. “I was fortunate to have a partner in this process who fully understood parking facilities and how my existing parking assets could be used to provide WiFi to all my tenants. The fact that this system can save me money down the road when I upgrade my parking technology is a huge added benefit.”

Williams thinks every building or complex owner should consider this approach.

“This really is a great option for any building,” said Williams. “It provided terrific Wi-Fi coverage, which my tenants can use to connect their phones, and it saved me potentially hundreds of thousands of dollars. I am very satisfied with this solution and believe we have provided our tenants with an excellent end product.” n

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Bill Smith is a business writer specializing in the parking industry.

He can be reached at bsmith@smith-phillips.com.

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NEW BOARD MEMBERS 2023

ROZANNE HADDAD

ISMO HUSU

Parking Coordinator Interior Health Parking Services Rozanne has 16 years experience in the Parking Industr y beginning in 2007 with the Winnipeg Parking Authority. Working in Administration and Finance, she soon moved on to Operations Coordinator for several years. During that time Rozanne was the T2 Administrator while coordinating the day to day operations of the city’s many parking facilities.

In 2013 Rozanne accepted the opportunity to return to BC joining Interior Health Authority based out of the Okanagan. Rozanne manages healthcare facility parking from the east Kootenays up through the central and north Okanagan balancing the unique and diversified requirements in all areas.

Outside of the office, Rozanne enjoys the outdoor Okanagan lifestyle hiking, camping, and kayaking with family and friends. Rozanne has been a CPA member since 2009 and looks forward to representing the healthcare sector while sharing the benefits of CPA membership.

Manager, Parking Services Finance, City of Victoria I have worked for the City of Victoria’s Parking Services since 1993. I first began as an auxiliary parkade attendant while going to school. Over the years, I transitioned into the office and held positions as the Parkades Clerk and Parking Services Co-ordinator (later upgraded to Parking Services Supervisor).

Working along side my mentor Victor Van den Boomen, I spearheaded many operational changes. In 2007 (same year I was introduced to the CPA) I had the opportunity to direct and shape the future of parking in Victoria with the creation of the city’s Parking Strategy, which culminated in being the project lead for our single headed meter upgrade to pay by space pay stations in 2009/10. In 2012, with Victor’s retirement, I accepted the position of Parking Services Manager. This led me through a long process of a Parking Services Review 2015, that has seen many substantial changes to our operations (parking app, in-house parking enforcement, change in Parkade operations).

I have always appreciated the CPA and it’s membership so I’m really looking forward to these next couple of years. I’ll be working on creating awareness to some of the smaller municipalities, institutions and other organizations here in BC about the community that we have here and with that, the information we openly share with each other. See you in Calgary…

JAMES MACKAY V.P. of Sales, J.J. MacKay Canada Ltd James Mackay is the V.P. of Sales for J.J. MacKay Canada Ltd., and MacKay Meters Inc. (MacKay) Since starting with MacKay 15 years ago, James has held roles with the Production team, Marketing team, and now looks after the North American and International sales team for the company. James also looks after the company’s strategic direction, and is a member of MacKay’s Executive team.

James was born into the Parking Industry, so has been learning from original CPA members for over 40+ years.

His unique knowledge of the industry’s ‘History’, blended with an innovative approach to both Hardware and Software solutions, has helped MacKay grow its client base and product offering, all while continuing to be a true international leader in the Parking Industry.

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NEW BOARD MEMBERS 2023

ADAMO DONATUCCI

Business Development and Strategy Officer, Precise ParkLink In his role as Business Development and Strategy Officer at Precise ParkLink, Adamo Donatucci shares the company's vision of utilizing technology and connectivity to manage parking operations on behalf of property owners. Adamo's experience ideally positions him to lead cutting-edge technology initiatives that will identify and build operating efficiencies, deliver exceptional customer experiences, and continue to fuel Precise ParkLink's position as Canada's parking and mobility industry leader.

With over 25 years of parking industry experience in urban mobility, strategic planning and people management, Adamo can bring together industry experts, key technology partners, and creative problem solvers to develop product programs that optimize operations and maximize revenues.

To remain up to date with commercial properties' parking needs, Adamo is a member of and regular contributor to the National Parking Association and Canadian Parking Association, as well as several commercial associations such as BOMA Toronto. What's more, he's an accredited Parksmart advisor and professional member in good standing of the Association of Professional Canadian Consultants, demonstrating a commitment to independence, credibility, and advocacy.

Recently appointed the Private Operators and Developers seat on the Canadian Parking Association's Board of Directors, Adamo looks forward to providing insight to current and future members into where parking and mobility management and technology solutions are heading.

KEN SKINNER

Manager Parking Services Crombie REIT I am currently the Manager of Parking Services for Crombie REIT and have been with the company for 10 years. Before that, I was the General Manager of the Atlantic Region for Impark for 26 years. Over that time, I had the privilege of working with many different property owners and their parking Clients.

My parking industry career has been divided between parking management for other property owners and now on the owner operations side of things.

I believe that breadth of experience will allow me a unique opportunity to serve the membership of the Canadian Parking Association in a meaningful way.

During my time with Impark, and, because of the strong affiliations with those property owners, I was invited to sit on the BOMA (Building Owners and Managers Association) Nova Scotia Board of Directors. I served for eight years, first as a member, then as Vice President, President and Past President, including a two-year seat on the BOMA Canada Board. That experience gave me a more comprehensive understanding of the real estate industry and I believe it will also help me contribute to the CPA Board as we work to grow our services to the membership, retain existing members and to recruit new ones.

I have been privileged to be a member of CPA for a many years.

It’s been my pleasure to meet so many owners, operators and suppliers and I look forward to meeting many more. These relationships are the life blood of our industry.

New CPA Directors complete the Board, with all sectors filled for 2023.

Find your representative's contact information on page 3.

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CONNECTING PARKING & MOBILITY PROFESSIONALS IN CANADA CPA 2023 MEMBERSHIP DRIVE “We bring together professionals from across a broad spectrum of the parking and mobility industries to network, provide training, develop and adapt new technologies and enhance customer experiences for the betterment of our communities and industry.” – CPA BOARD OF DIRECTORS

NOT A MEMBER YET? Are you involved in the management, design, ownership or development of parking operations, mobility initiatives, urban planning, transportation, equipment and services development, consulting or other related specialties?

You will find value in the opportunities offered by the Canadian Parking Association to help you learn more about the advancements in the industry through networking, local events, specific training programs and much more.

MEMBERSHIP FORM Be sure to add the name of the member who referred you to us on the area provided

CALLING ALL CPA MEMBERS! Your assistance in recruiting new members to the association has benefits. Refer and recruit a new member from your contacts and you will be ELIGIBLE TO WIN A GIFT CARD or refer and recruit more than one new member and be eligible to win a Complimentary Conference Delegate Registration for Calgary 2023.

The Canadian Parking Association was founded in 1983 by members of the industry, with the primary goal to bring together interested parties to form a cohesive national voice for the parking industry in Canada.

Since that time, the CPA has grown to a membership base of more than 650 professionals from across the country and from various sectors to form an association rich with informed and experienced people that drive the evolution of the parking and mobility industries in Canada.

WELCOMING MEMBERS TO THE CPA We welcome the following new members to the Canadian Parking Association. Some are new to the industry, and some familiar names have been a part of the industry for several years, and are now included in the CPA membership.

Thanks to all members for your support.

Interchange

TheAgencé de mobiité durable

Antoine Sambin 640, rue Saint-Paul Quest, #200 Montréal, Québec, H3C1L9

Master Builders Solutions Julien Thibeault 13960 116 Ave. Surrey, BC, V3R 0E1

The Calgary Parking Authority Chrisopher Jones Zak Ryan 200 Airport Road, NE Calgary, AB, T2E 6W5

Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT) Kevin Mayer 11762-106 St. NW Edmonton, AB, T5G 2R1

Diminoff Bernard Tetu 1015 Ave. Wilfred-Pelletier, Suite 410 Québec, QC, G1W 0C4

Red River College Polytech Kyle Cox D100, 2055 Notre Dame Ave. Winnipeg, AB, R3H 0J9

Flash Parking Thomas Dishman 3801 South Capital of Texas Highway, Suite 250 Austin, TX 78704 USA Flexpost Inc., Canada Dave Fabello 339½ Centre Street Petrolia, ON, NoN 1R0

Société Parc-Auto du Québec Inc. Bruno Godin 1011, avenue De Vitré Québec, QC, G1J 3Z2

Univerité Laval Marie-Josée Hébert Pavillion Maurice-Pollack 2305, rue de l’Univeristé, local 1255 Québec, QC, G1V 0A6

Toronto Parking Authority Faiyaz Patel 33 Queen St., E. Toronto, ON, M5C 1R5

Winnipeg Parking Authority Lisa Patterson 495 Portage Ave. Winnipeg, MB, R3B 2E4

Turnstone Data Inc. Joshua van Wijk 97 Marshall St. Waterloo, ON, N2J 2T5

RJC Engineers Laura Talboys #200, 1816 Crowchild Trail, NW Calgary, AB, T2M 3Y7 Skyxe Saskatoon Airport Jackie Porter 2625 Airport Dr., Saskatoon, SK, S7L 7L1

Membership Renewal The CPA membership continues to grow, and with the generous support and contributions of its members, the Association thrives in this busy industry.

Membership renewal notices have been distributed and are due January 1, 2023. If you have already updated your membership, thank you! If not, keep your membership current so you don’t miss out. Help us grow - now is the time to add more staff and colleagues to the CPA membership.

If you did not receive your renewal notice, or would like to make some changes, please contact teresa@canadianparking.ca by January 31, 2023.

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CONFERENCE REVIEW

THANK YOU FOR YOUR HOSPITALITY QUÉBEC CITY

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CONFERENCE REVIEW

CONFERENCE SPONSORS

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2022 CONFERENCE REVIEW

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2022 CONFERENCE REVIEW

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2022 CONFERENCE REVIEW

VISIT THE WEBSITE FOR SLIDESHOW AND PRESENTATIONS: canadianparking.ca/quebec2022 22 P A R K E R 2022 | F A L L /W I N T E R I S S U E

2022 EXHIBITOR SHOWCASE

2022 EXHIBITING COMPANIES ACCEO Solutions Inc. (gtechna)

HONK

SenSen.ai

AIMS (EDC Corporation)

HotSpot Parking Inc.

Sika Canada Inc.

Amano McGann Canada Inc.

HUB

Smart Parking Solutions Inc.

Bornes Quebec

Indigo Park Canada Inc.

Solutions Hesion Canada Inc.

Canada Ticket

J. J. MacKay Canada Limited

Southland Printing

Concord Parking

Master Builders Solutions

T2

Dimonoff

Municipal Parking Services

Tannery Creek Systems Inc.

Electromega Ltd.

Offstreet Technology

TIBA

eleven – x

ParkMobile

VenTek International

FlashParking

Parkplus System

WPS Canada Inc.

Flexpost Inc.

PayByPhone

ZipBy USA LLC

Genetec Inc.

Precise Parklink

globatech

Scheidt & Bachmann

www.gtechna.com

www.aimsparking.com

www.amanomcgann.ca

www.bornesquebec.com www.canadaticket.com www.concordparking.com www.dimonoff.com www.electromega.com exactpark.com www.flashparking.com www.flexpostinc.com www.genetec.com parknet.net/en/home/

www.honkmobile.com www.htsp.ca

www.hubparking.com www.parkindigo.ca

www.mackaymeters.com www.mbcc-group.com

www.municipalparkingservices.com www.joinoffstreet.com www.parkmobile.com www.getparkplus.com www.paybyphone.com

www.sensen.ai www.sika.ca

www.smartparkingsolutions.ca www.hesion-park.com/en/

www.southlandprinting.com www.t2systems.com www.tannerycreeksystems.com www.tibaparking.com www.ventek-intl.com www.wps-na.com

www.zipby.com.au

www.preciseparklink.com www.scheift-bachmann.com

THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO CONTRIBUTED TO THE SUCCCESS OF THE 2022 CONFERENCE AND TRADE SHOW P A R K E R 2022 | F A L L/W I N T E R I S S U E

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FOUNDERS AWARDS

2023 TED SEEBERG AWARD WINNER ABOUT THE AWARD - TED SEEBERG HEADED RJC’S PARKING DIVISION FROM 1964 UNTIL HIS UNTIMELY DEATH IN DECEMBER OF 1985. HE WAS A CHARTER MEMBER OF THE PARKING CONSULTANT’S COUNCIL AND A MEMBER OF BOTH THE NPA AND THE THEN IMPC (NOW KNOWN AS IPI). MR. SEEBERG WAS PRESENT AT THE FOUNDING CONVENTION OF THE CPA AND WORKED CLOSELY WITH FOUNDING OFFICERS TO BUILD AND EXPAND OUR CANADIAN ASSOCIATION.

DANIEL GERMAIN Daniel Joined the Board of Directors of the CPA in 2010, and has served as a director and in each of the Executive Positions on the Board. He is currently the Past President.

Daniel German experience spans over 30 years with his initial introduction in parking equipment sales with Cincinnati ( Amano) to the parking management side as an Operations Manager and Shareholder with Gestiparc in 1998.

At that time, Gestiparc was a new Quebec based company operating in Montreal but under his leadership, contributed to its unprecedented growth expanding in Ottawa with the eventual sale to a leading global parking company VINCI Park in 2004.

Since 2004 and to his eventual retirement in 2021, he lead VINCI Park ( now Indigo) in the capacity of Operations Vice-President/COO to become one of the leading National Parking Management companies based on size, market share and contract value.

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He provided the proven leadership, innovation and management philosophy to expand by opening new offices throughout Canada ( Vancouver to Halifax)leading all due diligence and eventual acquisition of 7 parking companies and driving new business lines and sectors including a successful Airport Division.

Daniel was instrumental in fostering a new philosophy in the parking management industry be delivering new and innovative ideas and each corresponding success eventually changed the industry as a whole.

Some of his many achievements include: • Providing incentivized parking contracts based on hitting targets, SLA’s and other benchmarks with a focus on the parking operator to produce results and away form traditional contracts.

• Establishig a Business Intelligence Division to provide further analytical data and insight to support each contract.

• Creation of a 24/7 Customer Assistance Support service that was Nationally used and Bilingual to support all parking locations.

• Introduction of a “white glove” valet component to compliment a full turnkey parking management solution

required in many airports, hotels and retail setting across Canada.

• First to deliver pay by phone, cashless payments and live intercom assistance to any National transportation contract deploying Pay by Plate only technology.

• Instrumental in the conversion of non gated to fully automated gated systems throughout Canada and utilizing various companies.

• Integrating reservation platforms with most equipment suppliers across Canada.

• Lead a team of over 2500 employees including 10 regional offices.

In addition to Daniel’s many accomplishments, he has been, and remains a mentor to many in the industry.

FOUNDERS AWARDS

2023 ED KEATE AWARD WINNER ABOUT THE AWARD - ED KEATE WAS A FOUNDING MEMBER OF THE CANADIAN PARKING ASSOCIATION. HE WAS MANAGER OF THE VANCOUVER DOWNTOWN PARKING CORPORATION BUT HIS FAMILY BACKGROUND IN THE

NEWSPAPER BUSINESS RUBBED OFF ON HIM. HE WAS A “SCRIBE”, FASCINATED WITH THE WRITTEN WORD. HE STARTED THE PARKER AS A MEANS TO PASS ON KNOWLEDGE.

SCOTT WALLACE As a long time member of the CPA, Scott joined the Board of directors in 2006, serving as Director for several years.

Scott was appointed to the Executive Committee and served as Vice President, President and Past President from 2016 – 2019.

As an accomplished Professional Structural Engineer with RJC Engineers (Read Jones Christoffersen Ltd.), Scott has lead and been involved with the Structural and Functional plan designs of dozens of parkades across Canada and

across the world, including some very large designs under the beaches of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil and for Airports in the rapidly expanding the Far East. His biggest positive impact of course has been right here at home where he has been appreciated best. He has assisted many University, Airport, Municipal, Residential and Commercial operators of parkades in their efforts to successfully resolve functional plans and cost effective designs for their much-needed renovations and new infrastructure needs.

Past leaders of RJC were contributors to successful parkade design as early as the 1950’s and 60’s; long before Scott came along but, he has built upon the work of people like Ted Seeberg, Ted Stone and Norm Webster, to create a lasting legacy of parking knowledge within RJC.

His commitment to the parking industry has extended beyond RJC for a number of decades with his involvement with the CPA, many of those years as a member of the Board and the Executive. Throughout his time with the CPA, he made it a mandate to share his knowledge of parkade design with all members through conferences, publications, as well as informal discussions in the Exhibition Halls and networking sessions over the years. He has presented innovative parkade project designs so members may appreciate what is possible when they are considering their parking needs.

It is with great pride, and without hesitation, that I nominate Scott Wallace for this year’s Ed Keate Award.

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CANADIAN PARKING ASSOCIATION AWARDS

PARKING SUPERVISOR OF THE YEAR

DAVE DUNCAN

PARKING SERVICES MANAGER, CITY OF KELOWNA

Dave Duncan leads the Parking operations as Parking Services Manager with the City of Kelowna, directing his unending focus to ensure the City’s parking operation is leading the charge. Whether it’s embracing new technology, finding better ways to serve stakeholders, or expanding parking infrastructure, Dave displays exemplary leadership and service.

As technology continues to advance in the parking industry, Dave has embraced and adapted to the ever-changing parking technology landscape. Whether it’s meeting with industry contacts to discuss big latest ideas or collaborating with vendors to trial cutting-edge parking systems and technology, you can bet that Dave is always pushing the industry forward. He understands the power of this technology and the advantages it provides for our operation and its customers. Dave has forged close relationships with parking innovators and consistently challenges them to provide a solution that will be embraced industry wide, understanding the power of constant innovation and how technology rapidly shifts.

In a highly visible public position in the city, Dave manages the interests of many different stakeholders, including citizens, tourists, businesses, community groups, and industry groups (i.e., film industry). His experience and

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professional character enable him to balance the diverse needs of these groups and satisfy the expectations placed on him by council and the organization.

Dave works closely with groups like the Downtown Kelowna Association, which is a collection of downtown advocates and business leaders, to ensure parking solutions are functioning as intended, while also regularly inviting criticism from citizens and stakeholders and encouraging partnerships to support the expansion of private off-street parking.

Dave has worked to implement datadriven parking management solutions to enact variable rates and manage occupancies across major parking areas, while also managing extreme seasonal demand and encouraging mobility options. Especially during COVID, smart parking options were required to satisfy competing market forces and shifting priorities of the community, while also generating sufficient revenue to sustain and grow efficient operations. Dave enacted flexible parking options for the city’s parkades and worked to find the right solution for expanded patio programs in place of parking. During COVID, the City of Kelowna launched “Meet Me on Bernard,” which closed five of the busiest downtown blocks and

parking spaces to vehicle traffic. Dave was able to successfully navigate the challenges of shifting occupancy levels and revenue displacement by using parking data management solutions to ensure nearby parking areas were operating as designed. Lastly, Dave successfully implemented hybrid loading zones to ensure food delivery services and businesses were satisfied.

Dave is enthusiastically committed to the profession and the parking industry as a whole. He works tirelessly to ensure the operation is running at the high service level he believes in and continuously challenges himself and his team to meet world-class standards. The City of Kelowna holds four corporate values: innovation, working as one team, serving proudly, and leading responsibly.

These values align perfectly with the requirements for success in the parking industry; Dave echo’s these values and lives them out every single day. Under Dave’s leadership, the parking department has grown from a one-person operation to a team of focused, dedicated individuals and contractors pushing the envelope on what can be accomplished.

He believes in raising up leaders internally and empowering them to be successful.

Dave has the unique capacity to balance exceptionally the diverse needs of his community and the ever- changing requirements of a successful parking operation. He operates an efficient and successful parking system and consistently innovates to improve the local operation. Dave’s commitment to best practices and technology benefits the entire industry and his consistency builds relationships with vendors and staff. His leadership is unmatched, and professionalism respected among staff, peers, and friends. Dave is a shining example of what it means to be a Parking Manager.

CANADIAN PARKING ASSOCIATION AWARDS

2023 PARKING STAFF MEMBER effort at each event by three hours.

She championed the creation and maintenance of a complete set of standard operating procedures for the department, providing a training manual for consistency and reducing errors.

MARG LEMOINE PARKING COORDINATOR, CITY OF GUELPH

Marg has been working for the City of Guelph for almost 22 years. She began her municipal career in Vaughan in 1984 and then moved to Guelph in 2001 and has excelled as a front-line customer service specialist. After several years in Parks and Recreation, she moved into Transit and has been with our parking department for the past 4+ years.

Marg is a fabulous employee, as well as a huge asset to our department. She is so deserving of this award and recognition.

Her dedication to our customers, both internal and external as well as her co-workers is just one reason to be recognized. Her excellent organizational skills and natural ability to motivate people and situations is another example of the team player that she is.

Marg launched the customer self-service portal, which not only made the permit program customer friendly, but reduced our administrative burden by 43%. She also co-led the introduction of HONK mobile applications with zero customer downtime and tracked an adoption rate which doubles every five weeks. She also led the automation of Moneris payment processing for monthly permit billing and credit card payment.

Marg assisted with the introduction of cashless payment options at event parking, reducing administrative

Along with launching improved processes for monthly revenue reconciliation activities, this also reduced revenue leakage by 12%. Marg developed and launched a monthly collection and reporting process on facility usage, occupancy, duration, and turnover, providing critical business intelligence for decision making.

gone, but it will give someone else the opportunity to know the great people that I work with.

Quote – “I wouldn’t change one thing – if I did, that would not have gotten me to where I am now”.

In closing, we were thrilled to have Marg with us in her role of Parking Coordinator, trainer, mentor, and friend and not only is she so very deserving of this award, but we wish her all the best in her retirement!!

Congratulations Marg!

Marg’s friendly outgoing personality shines with co-workers, management and our customers and stakeholders. Her “Get it Done” attitude sets an example of an excellent employee/team member.

Marg has just announced her retirement to be finalized at the end of this year and is now in the process of training her replacement.

As always, her professionalism, dedication to her job and our customers will be passed along to our newest staff member, but she has some pretty big shoes to fill.

When asking Marg about her journey with the City, she highlights each department that she has worked in, Recreation, Transit and Parking and while all have been aggravating at times, each have also been a huge source of happiness each and every day. My parking family welcomed me in with open arms and I worry what will happen when I am

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DATA DRIVEN: Municipal Parking Administrators May Be Focusing on the Wrong Types of Data

By Brian Wolff

Over the past decade, municipal parking has become extremely data centric. As municipal parking administrators have come to rely increasingly on technology to improve the parking experience, they’ve discovered that these same tools can provide valuable operational data that can be used to manage parkades more efficiently and effectively.

PARCS systems, parking guidance, LPR, and mobile payment apps are wonderful management tools that provide important utilization data. Need to know how full your lot or parkade is, and when it tends to be most full? These technologies can tell you, often in real-time on any device. Want to know what types of parkers are using your parkade, an automated permitting program tied to your PARCS system can tell you that.

It’s obvious why these types of data are so valuable.

Benchmarking is an essential element of any parking management program. If you understand your parking trends you can make sensible decisions about how to manage your parking programs. It’s why so many parking owners and operators rely on their PARCS and guidance tools for data.

if you are focused solely on utilization data, you are only getting half the story; and you may not be getting the most important half.

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Ask the Customer But if you are focused solely on utilization data, you are only getting half the story; and you may not be getting the most important half. As important as it is to know who is parking in your facility, and when, it’s even more important to know how their experience was. Did they have trouble getting in and out of the parkade or lot? Did their payment go smoothly? Did gates and ticket machines work as expected? These are essential issues if you want to earn repeat business from parkers.

The most obvious way to get this information is by surveying customers.

Hearing about parkers’ experiences straight from their own mouths is the best way to see how they viewed the parking experience. This can be relatively easy to do with permit parkers since you have their contact information already.

Likewise, if the customer has set up an account for automatic payment, they may be reachable. By emailing them a short, easy-to-complete questionnaire, you can learn a lot about customers’ experiences and how you can improve your services. If they respond.

But it’s harder to get this type of information if you primarily provide services to transient parkers. In these cases, you aren’t likely to have useful contact information and it can be difficult to reach them. Sure, you can put a URL linking to a questionnaire on parking tickets and receipts, but what are the odds that your customers will make the effort to go online and answer your questions?

For that matter, how likely is it that they will even respond to an email if you

Customer service data is essential to understanding the customer experience they are offering

do have their address? We are all busy in our day-to-day lives and most of us don’t have time to respond to every request for feedback that we receive (and if you’re like me, you get a lot of requests!).

can help diagnose the issues and help parking administrators address them more efficiently and cost-effectively.

As with utilization data, technology can help provide customer service data.

In this case, a customer service platform can provide the information you are looking for.

A customer service platform is a parking-specific technology solution that supports parking operations. It is connected to a parkade or lot’s PARCS equipment via the cloud and can be engaged with the push of a button when something goes wrong with the equipment. Basic systems provide a live audio connection to a trained customer service professional who can help solve parkers’ problems. The most advanced system offers two-way video conferencing so the customer service representative can see for him or herself what the issue is and solve it.

In essence, the data collection elements of a customer service platform serve as a direct link to the customer experience. It lets municipal parking administrators know if something went wrong during the parking experience and exactly what the problem was. It also allows them to determine if problems were one-time issues or an indication of an ongoing equipment or operational failure. And as with most technological data collection tools, the information can be accessed in real-time, at any time.

Customer Service Data

Get the Whole Story

Because a customer service platform documents every aspect of every call, it also provides data about how many calls are made on a given day, week, or month. The technology also analyzes the nature of each call. For instance, owners and operators can monitor how many entry/exit issues, ghost calls (accidental calls caused by drivers pushing the wrong button), invalid validations or permits, credit card payment issues, invalid tickets (obtained by the driver upon entering the facility), or any other issues.

Municipal parking administrators have come to rely on the operational data that’s provided by their various parking technology tools. But if they are only accessing operational data, they may be missing the most important information. Customer service data is essential to understanding the customer experience they are offering. A customer service platform can provide that data, letting owners and operators know whether their operations have issues, and providing the vital first step to understanding how to fix them. n

This is valuable information that municipal parking administrators can use to improve their operations and customer service. For instance, if there is an excessive number of invalid tickets, that could be an indication that the PARCS equipment located at the entrance is malfunctioning and needs to be repaired or replaced. The same conclusion might be drawn if there is an unusually high number of credit card payment issues. Or, if there are too many invalid validations or permits, it could indicate that the permit readers are malfunctioning or that the equipment that creates the permits themselves is faulty. No matter what types of problems arise, the data created by the system

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Brian Wolff is President & CEO of Parker Technology.

He can be reached at brian.wolff@helpmeparker. com. Learn more at www.helpmeparker.com.

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CALL FOR PRESENTATIONS The CPA is inviting submissions from industry experts who are proficient at providing dynamic and interactive programming as part of the overall conference learning experience.

The 2023 agenda will serve to continue delivering timely information that is impacting the parking industry and the people who work to improve the services provided to their communities.

The Main Stage will be reserved for accomplished speakers who will deliver diverse topics of interest and unique concepts that provoke thought, discussion and guide the direction of the future parking and mobility industries.

PRESENTATION TOPICS Topics should focus on present-day and near future developments, as well as long term scenarios that are relevant to a variety of parking and mobility interest groups:

Airports Hospitals Universities/Colleges Municipalities

Concepts & Topic Suggestions • Blending Parking & Mobility – Finding the Balance

• Infrastructure: Facilities, Operations, Management

• Curbside Design & Management

• Structures: Asset or Liability?

• Industry Disruptors: Embrace or Avoid

• Facilities Maintenance Plan

• Anchoring Parking in New Urban Design Concepts • Car Share / Ride Share

• Data: Revenue, Occupancy, etc.

• Developing an RFP • Service: Valet and Event Parking • Parking in a Multi-Modal Community

Mobility Managers

• Solutions to First & Last Mile Commute

Transportation Demand Management

• Electric Vehicle (EV) Parking

• Human Resources, Training & Personal Development

• Pacing Technology Changes: LPR, Mobile Apps

• Emergency Preparedness

Urban Planners

CALGARY 2023 30 PARKER | FALL/WINTER 2022

SAVE THE DATE

OCT 1-3

2023

SESSION FORMATS

PRESENTERS

CASE STUDIES: Municipal, institutional, or private operations share timely information on actual projects from start to finish.

Regardless of the outcome – successful or not – shared experiences and lessons learned can save time and resources for those contemplating a similar project.

Submissions must include all speakers’ names, company names and acknowledgement of their willingness to participate in the presentation. Changes, additions, and substitutions will not be allowed. Each presenter must acknowledge conference registration is required and all personal expenses will be their responsibility.

PANEL DISCUSSIONS: form your team from various stakeholder groups and focus on a single topic. Each presenter is given time to present their perspective and the audience then joins in a Q&A session, moderated by a topic exert.

WORKSHOPS: should be formatted to include full participation, starting with the topic introduction, then working through an interactive discussion and/or exercise that will leave the attendees with valuable information to implement at their operations.

VENDOR LEARNING LOUNGE: will be a focus group available to exhibitors and vendors to present proprietary content and gather feedback from the attendees.

Scheduled outside of exhibit hours as a component of the educational program.

These sessions will be available for a fee.

Discounts will be available for registered exhibiting companies.

Participants agree to provide a summary article suitable for publication in Parker magazine after the conference.

OUR GOAL Attendees will leave the conference with new skills, knowledge and insight into the evolving parking and mobility forum, equipped with the essentials to develop a go-forward action plan. Participants agree to provide a summary article suitable for publication in Parker magazine after the conference.

SUBMISSION PROCESS

names and panelists must be identified during the submission process. Substitutions of presenters and panelists will not be allowed after the close date and may result in the presentation being disqualified.

SELECTION PROCESS Submissions will be evaluated based on quality of topic content presented in the abstract, relevance of content to the current environment, innovativeness, learning objectives provided, range of interest and schedule availability.

EXCLUSIONS All presentations must be non-proprietary and may not be used as an opportunity to promote brands, products, or services in any way. All commercial activities will be limited to the Vendors’ Learning Lounge or on trade show area for registered exhibitors only. Violation of this policy will result in the presenter(s) being banned from future speaking opportunities.

Proposals will be accepted online until January 15, 2023.

ACCEPTANCE PROCESS

The individual submitting the proposal must also be the presenter and main contact for further communications. Co-presenter(s)

If your submission is accepted, a formal email confirmation will be sent to you on or before April 15, 2023.

CHANGE. ADAPT. REPEAT. canadianparking.ca/calgary2023

PARKER | FALL/WINTER 2022

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WHAT FUTURE FOR SMART PARKING?

By Geoffrey Garnier

WHAT DOES THE CITY OF TOMORROW LOOK LIKE? The city of tomorrow, which calls itself “smart,” will implement connected solutions (thanks to sensors, artificial intelligence, Internet of Things, etc.) that will collect a set of usable and concrete data to make the best possible decisions.

The benefits for these cities are multiple: first, it allows them to improve the engagement of public authorities and citizens by providing solutions that involve them and offer them a better quality of life.

But also, to solve their environmental problems with solutions that are ecologically oriented.

SOME SOBERING PARKING FIGURES… 95%, 17h, 900,000 tons… But what do these numbers correspond to?

These figures are all related to parking and are the results of different studies around the world: n

(International Parking Institute, Why parking matters, 2015)

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17h?

n

The average time a typical user spends looking for a parking space over the course of a year. And that same average is 107 hours in New York. (INRIX, The Impact of Parking Pain in the US, UK, and Germany, 2017)

n

Greenhouse gas emissions that can be avoided through smart parking solutions. (Köln auf dem Weg zur Smart City, 2017)

Cities are therefore more connected, efficient in their decision making and eco-responsible.

North American cities are particularly ahead of the curve on this smart city concept with the aim of improving their productivity as well as their connectivity. Many of them have joined the Cities for Climate Protection™ campaign organized by the UN, which commits them to implementing eco-responsible solutions to promote the climate transition. Of the 650 participating municipalities, nearly half are North American: 159 are American and 133 are Canadian.

95%? The time that a private vehicle remains in a parking space.

900,000 tons?

These figures can be thought-provoking.

Indeed, parking lots are very often neglected and little or not at all exploited to the detriment of other assets. Its importance is underestimated, and municipalities do not see the potential of connected solutions and therefore do not invest in them.

On the other hand, these connected solutions can greatly improve the quality of life of a fellow citizen.

To illustrate this, let’s take intelligent guidance as an example. Instead of looking for a parking space for several minutes, or even tens of minutes, the user will simply follow a panel indicating that there are still parking spaces available at a given location. Reducing search time also means reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

In addition to improving the quality of life of its citizens, this is also an eco-responsible approach.

Let’s push our thinking to the limit. Having installed this dynamic guidance solution in a municipality, or simply a neighborhood, has allowed us to reduce the time it takes to find a parking space and the number of greenhouse gas emissions produced by the vehicle.

This example is one of many. There are many different solutions that can be implemented to make a city and a parking lot a little more intelligent every day.

Establishing a car-sharing dynamic will reduce the amount of time a private vehicle will remain parked.

INNOVATIONS AND THE FUTURE OF PARKING Research shows that within a decade, not only cities, but all parking lots will be intelligent and equipped with solutions that will guide users from their starting point to the nearest free parking space to their destination.

Since the pandemic, we are facing new behaviors as well as new forms of mobility: working from home, car sharing, carpooling, increased use of public transportation or other more ecological transportation such as bicycles or electric scooters. Parking facilities will also have to take this into account and adapt to it.

The « old » parking lots, dark, without panels, without charging stations for electric vehicles, without bicycles shelters and with very archaic methods of payment, are already beginning to be abandoned in favor of new parking lots, which are emerging but with a futuristic look.

These new parking lots have a design that looks like anything but a parking lot. They are open, airy, have dynamic panels and lights to guide and indicate whether spaces are occupied or available.

Several floors accommodate a variety of users: electric vehicles, car sharing vehicles, “family” vehicles, carpooling vehicles, places to park and lock your bike. Managers are going even further, creating pedestrian zones, or even transforming their parking lot for a weekend into a playground or ceremony room to host fashion show.

These parking lots are on the rise and will continue to shine thanks to their innovative solutions but also thanks to their different uses. n

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Geoffrey Garnier, Solutions Hesion Canada Inc. can be reached at 514-503-1638 or via email at g.garnier@hesion.ca.

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PARK INDIGO APP EVOLVES TO BECOME INDIGO NEO Indigo Neo is at the heart of Indigo Canada’s shift towards a more digital future, making it quicker and more convenient for customers to search, book and pay for parking TORONTO (Sept. 15, 2022) – Park Indigo, the mobile app from leading parking and urban mobility provider, Indigo Canada, is evolving to become Indigo Neo. This new image signals Indigo’s strategic evolution towards a digital future that puts innovation and enhanced customer experience at the heart of its business model.

Indigo Neo is Canada’s most comprehensive parking app, offering a single platform for users to manage their accounts and take advantage of Indigo’s various parking plans — casual, subscription and pre-paid card. Through the Indigo Neo app, parking guests can search, book, and pay for parking at more than 1,000 parking locations across Canada, making the act of traveling to and through the city more seamless than ever before.

Today’s announcement is yet another example of how Indigo is harnessing the technological and marketing expertise necessary to deliver a fully integrated mobile-centric platform and marks a meaningful step in the company’s digital transformation.

“Delivering enhanced mobile capability to our customers is central to our value proposition and a key driver of our growth,” said John Laires, CEO at Indigo Park Canada. “Through Indigo Neo, we will continue to strengthen our position in the Canadian market and move towards the future as the most seamless platform to find, reserve and pay for parking.”

In line with Indigo’s mission of creating smarter and more peaceful cities, Indigo Neo offers a range of efficiency and sustainability benefits for the communities it serves. The app’s best-in-class technology makes it faster for users to find parking thereby reducing their time spent circling the block or idling in traffic and emitting pollution. Furthermore, Indigo Neo’s hands-free interface eliminates the need for paper tickets and reduces the necessity for bulky parking meters, embracing Indigo’s Go for Climate plan to reduce CO2 emissions.

To date, one percent of the Canadian population has downloaded Indigo’s mobile app with one-in-two Indigo customers using it to pay for parking in their day-to-day travel. All Indigo businesses and customers will have the ability to pay for parking and electric vehicles via the enhanced Indigo Neo app by 2023.

For more information about Indigo Park Canada or the rollout of Indigo Neo, please contact cara@1milk2sugars.com.

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About INDIGO The INDIGO Group is the world leader in parking, personal mobility, and related services, with 14,500 employees in 9 countries and 700 cities. INDIGO operates 5,570 parking lots worldwide (2.4 million spaces) and manages more than 2,100 km of on-street parking facilities. It is the only operator in the sector to be present on three continents with local authorities as well as private players (hospitals, shopping centers, train stations, airports, universities, etc.).

The Group's businesses cover the entire mobility and parking value chain: on-street parking facilities and related services; a comprehensive digital offering (Indigo Neo); parking enforcement and management of public spaces; soft mobility and last-mile logistics, optimizing the use of available space to serve the city and its citizens.

Firmly committed to a global CSR approach, the INDIGO Group is ranked 44th worldwide by the Vigeo Eiris rating agency out of a panel of 4,903 companies evaluated according to their extra-financial performance.

MANAGING THE CURB WITH TECHNOLOGY

By Chris Scheppmann

The urban transportation landscape is rapidly changing, with ride sharing services becoming ubiquitous and self-driving vehicles on the horizon. No longer do most travelers drive themselves to a parking facility near their ultimate destinations; today they are just as likely to be dropped off by an Uber or Lyft driver right at the curb in front of their destination.

This trend has had a significant impact on downtown traffic, cluttering the curb with unmanaged vehicle movement and creating an unsafe environment for drivers and pedestrians alike. And curbs will become even more cluttered when self-driving vehicles begin to populate our streets in significant numbers, dropping off their passengers and then taking off.

In fact, over the past two years we have already begun to experience these changes because of the Covid-19 pandemic. At the height of the initial wave of Covid, restaurants and stores introduced curbside pickup to serve their customers (and to survive).

In many neighborhoods curbsides are now more like a free-for-all, with drivers pulling up wherever they like for however long they want. The proliferation of self-driving vehicles will just exacerbate this already serious issue.

A TECHNOLOGICAL SOLUTION The answer to these new curbside pressures can be found in Intelligent Camera Technology. Intelligent Camera Technology leverages the latest advancements in vison-based software technology to provide accurate and affordable curb management. The cameras monitor curbside activity in real time, analyzing what types of vehicles are using the curb and for how long, and transmitting that information to a cloud-based platform that determines whether each vehicle’s use of the curb is appropriate.

The heart of the curb management suite is specialized software that constantly receives data from curbside cameras and analyzes that data in real-time. The software manages a host of essential curbrelated tasks, including TNC monitoring, automated enforcement, live occupancy monitoring, and data analytics. Altogether, the curb management technology plays two distinct roles: 1) real-time curb management and enforcement, and 2) data collection and analysis to improve mobility and transportation planning.

The technology can be set up to manage curbs in any manner city planners wish. For instance, zones can be broken down by function, with one zone set aside for deliveries and another for drop-offs.

When set up this way, the system can recognize what types of vehicles are using the given space and determine whether that use is appropriate. If vehicles are using curb space inappropriately, enforcement offers can be notified.

Similarly, if the curb is set up to permit any type of use, but for a limited time, the Intelligent Camera system can monitor how long vehicles are utilizing the space. If they overstay the permitted length of time, enforcement officials can be notified.

One unique benefit of Intelligent Camera technology is that it utilizes machine learning, a type of artificial intelligence (AI). Equipment with Machine Learning can modify itself when exposed to more data.

As such, it is dynamic and doesn’t require human programmers

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or designers to make certain changes. As a result, the Machine Learning elements of a piece of equipment are always improving the utility of that equipment.

Machine Learning uses algorithms that predict certain outcomes and minimize errors in those predictions. They rely on neural networks, to keep measuring errors and modifying the program to minimize—and hopefully eliminate—those errors. These neural networks, which are modeled loosely on the human brain, allow technology to learn to perform a task by analyzing training examples. An object recognition system, for instance, might be fed thousands of labeled images of cars, trucks, motorcycles, buses, etc., so it can find visual patterns in the images that consistently correlate with particular labels. In short, it learns how to differentiate between objects by analyzing the shapes of different objects.

This is invaluable for managing the curb. Not only can the system differentiate between different types of vehicles and uses (i.e.,

delivery trucks vs. passenger vehicles), but as new types of vehicles are introduced (such as self-driving vehicles, micromobility vehicles, etc.), the technology can learn to differentiate between them as they are introduced. As circumstances change, the system teaches itself about these changes so it can keep up.

Not only does that make the technology more useful, but it also assures that it won’t have to be replaced as newer types of transportation are added to the mix.

Finally, Intelligent Camera systems collect and analyze data about how the curb is being utilized to assist city planners in mobility planning. It provides a better understanding into the traffic and parking habits of all types of transportation users, including TNCs, delivery trucks, e-scooters, buses, passenger vehicles, bikes, and pedestrians. The technology can tell planners exactly how their curbs are being used by all these groups, and planners can use this data and analysis to make more informed decisions about what types of strategies can help them manage the curb better.

WHERE PARKING MEETS CURB MANAGEMENT ABOUT THE AUTHOR Chris Scheppmann is managing member of EnSight Technologies.

He can be reached at chris@ ensight-technologies.com.

Intelligent Camera Technology was developed to provide accurate and affordable parking guidance, but it’s also the perfect tool for automated curb management. Because it provides the dual benefit of being able to manage curbs while also providing parking guidance, it will be an important technology in the future as the smart city movement continues to evolve and mature. The guidance elements will guide drivers directly to available parking spaces close to their destination while the curb management elements will help keep traffic flowing around curbs and other drop-off and delivery areas.

At a time when cities’ focus is turning increasingly to mobility, curb management has become an essential element of urban and transportation planning. With the introduction of Intelligent Camera Technology, cities now have an affordable and effective tool for managing the curb. n

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The Canadian Parking Association’s Management Training and Certification.

The Parking Management Certification program (PMC) addresses the training needs of management teams and front-line supervisors who oversee parking operations.

This program sets performance and service standards at the point where the parking operation, technology, mobility, and the customer meet. The PMC credential is the standard by which performance can be measured.

Standards

The Examination

Recognized as the benchmark for supervisory and management level employees in the Canadian parking industry, the program offers candidates a comprehensive study program that includes relevant and essential aspects of a standard parking operation.

The computerized PMC examination is composed of 150 four-option multiple-choice questions and is administered during a 3-hour testing session held in close proximity to the candidate’s home or workplace.

The course is designed for quality and fairness in assessing the skill set for the industry and may be used by employers to evaluate candidates during the hiring processes.

Former CCPFM Graduates

Development of the Certification Program The study materials and examination outline contain information fundamental to the defined roles and responsibilities of parking managers. Content has been compiled from a cross-section of parking professionals from Canada and has been updated to include current information relative to today’s parking industry.

Holders of current CCPFM designation will be offered a discounted fee to study the revised materials and retake the examination. If certification has lapsed, full fees will apply.

Parking Industry Credential The Canadian Parking Association, as the national authority for the industry in Canada, has the authority to grant or rescind the use of the professional designation of Parking Management Certification “PMC” to candidates who successfully complete the program.

Course Content OPERATIONS: Types, Design, Regulations, Loss Prevention, Equipment/Systems/Technology, Safety REVENUE CONTROL: Accounting, Auditing MOBILITY MANAGEMENT (TDM) CUSTOMER SERVICE MARKETING/ADMINISTRATION MAINTENANCE HUMAN RESOURCES

Training Course Registration & Information canadianparking.ca/pmc/

We are dedicated to providing our clients with innovative parking solutions through cutting-edge hardware and the most comprehensive and flexible software in the industry.

Comprehensive Off-Street, Validation, and Valet Solutions Extensive Sales & Service Network Your Partner for Contactless Solutions

YOUR PARKING TECHNOLOGY PARTNER Toll Free

Tel. 1-877-408-6776 amanomcgann.ca

Head Office 4123 Belgreen Drive, Unit 1 Ottawa, ON Tel. 613-738-8047