Parking & Mobility, July 2019

INTERNATIONAL PARKING & MOBILITY INSTITUTE JULY 2019

Looking Forward with IPMI Board Chair David Onorato, CAPP

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INTERNATIONAL PARKING & MOBILITY INSTITUTE JULY 2019 VOL. 1 / N0. 2

FEATURES

20

Looking Forward

IPMI Board Chair David Onorato, CAPP, on parking, mobility, teamwork, and those Pittsburgh sports teams.

26

They’ve Had Their Say; Now It’s Our Turn

One realist’s perspective on the future of parking.

By Timothy Haahs, PE, AIA

30

Thoughtful Management

A county’s division of parking management shines in the close-in suburbs of Washington, D.C.

By Sindhu Rao

36

The Internet of Things and the Future of Parking

Chances are, the IoT is already affecting your life.

By Bill Smith, APR

40

Technology, Brainfood, and Networking Abound

The 2019 IPMI Conference & Expo in Anaheim offered professional development, recognition, inspiration, connections, and so much more.

2 PARKING & MOBILITY / JULY 2019 / PARKING-MOBILITY.ORG

COVER PHOTO: JEANINE LEECH PHOTOGRAPHY, PITTSBURGH, PA.

/ EDITOR’S NOTE DEPARTMENTS 4 ENTRANCE IPMI Anaheim: Another Kind of Magic

By Shawn Conrad, CAE

6 FIVE THINGS Mobility Startups We’re Watching 8 THE BUSINESS OF PARKING Listen and Learn

By Bill Smith, APR

10 MOBILITY & TECH The Future of Mobility

By Kelsey Owens

12 THE GREEN STANDARD Taking Stock in What You Have: A Case Study

By Josh Naramore

14 ON THE FRONTLINE Getting Unstuck

By Cindy Campbell

16 PARKING AND MOBILITY SPOTLIGHT Not All Clouds Are Created Equal

By Sam Goodner

19 ASK THE EXPERTS 49 IN SHORT 52 IPMI IN ACTION Taking Your Team to the Next Level

By Rita Pagan

54 STATE & REGIONAL SPOTLIGHT Pennsylvania Parking Association Affects the Future of the Industry

Onward

By Kim Fernandez WELCOME HOME! It took me a few days to reassemble

my work life after the 2019 IPMI Conference & Expo, and I suspect many of you were no different. There were contacts to add to my list, brochures and papers to review, notes to organize, and ideas to assemble into action plans. I found a ton of inspiration in Anaheim, Calif., and I hope you did, too.

We often hear that a huge benefit of attending the IPMI Conference & Expo is the networking and the ability to easily ask questions and share information with colleagues from around the world. I hope if you haven’t already, you’ll continue those conversations and connections on Forum (forum.parking-mobility.org), our members-only online community. Log in with your IPMI dashboard username and password, set up your profile, and then it’s easy to post questions, share thoughts, or search the library for documents and examples. There are quick-start directions on the main Member Forum page; let me know if you’d like a personal walkthrough of the site. It’s a great way to keep that Conference momentum going!

One of my favorite parts of this year’s Conference was our keynote with Larry Burns, who talked about the future of autonomous transportation and how the parking industry can plan now to make the most of it (and yes, there will be a huge role to play!). We continue that talk in this issue with a feature from Timothy Haahs, PE, AIA, about the future of parking. Haahs offers his realistic perspective on what the future holds and how parking and mobility organizations and professionals can plan ahead. Read it starting on p. 26 and then continue on to pieces about the internet of things, a great case study from a close-in Washington, D.C., suburb, and more. And don’t miss all the photos in our Conference wrap-up, starting on p. 40.

I hope you returned home from Anaheim inspired and energized. My brain was stuffed, and I can’t wait to get working on some of the great ideas! As always, I hope you’ll share yours with me—my email is below. Until next month…

By Michelle R. Porter, CAPP

56 AROUND THE INDUSTRY 60 PARKING & MOBILITY CONSULTANTS

fernandez@parking-mobility.org

62 ADVERTISERS INDEX 63 CALENDAR

PARKING-MOBILITY.ORG / JULY 2019 / PARKING & MOBILITY 3

/ ENTRANCE

IPMI Anaheim: Another Kind of Magic

PUBLISHER

Shawn Conrad, CAE

conrad@parking-mobility.org EDITOR

Kim Fernandez

fernandez@parking-mobility.org TECHNICAL EDITOR

Rachel Yoka, CAPP, LEED AP BD+C, WELL AP yoka@parking-mobility.org CONTRIBUTING EDITOR

Bill Smith, APR

bsmith@smith-phillips.com ADVERTISING SALES

Bonnie Watts, CEM

watts@parking-mobility.org SUBSCRIPTIONS

Tina Altman

taltman@parking-mobility.org.

PUBLICATION DESIGN

BonoTom Studio

info@bonotom.com COPY EDITOR

Melanie Padgett Powers For advertising information, contact Bonnie Watts at watts@parking-mobility.org or 571.699.3011.

For subscription changes, contact Tina Altman, taltman@parking-mobility.org.

Parking & Mobility (ISSN 0896-2324 & USPS 001436) is published monthly by the International Parking & Mobility Institute.

1330 Braddock Place, Suite 350 Alexandria, VA 22314 Phone: 571.699.3011 Fax: 703.566.2267 Email: info@parking-mobility.org Website: parking-mobility.org Postmaster note: Send address label changes promptly to: Parking & Mobility 1330 Braddock Place, Suite 350 Alexandria, VA 22314 Interactive electronic version of Parking & Mobility for members and subscribers only at parking-mobility. org/magazine.

Periodical postage paid at Alexandria, Va., and additional mailing offices. Copyright © International Parking & Mobility Institute, 2019. Statements of fact and opinion expressed in articles contained if Parking & Mobility are the sole responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent an official expression of policy or opinion on the part of officers or the members of IPMI. Manuscripts, correspondence, articles, product releases, and all contributed materials are welcomed by Parking & Mobility; however, publication is subject to editing, if deemed necessary to conform to standards of publication.

The subscription rate is included in IPMI annual dues.

Subscription rate for non-members of IPMI is $120 per year (U.S. currency) in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. All other countries, $150. Back issues, $10.

Parking & Mobility is printed on 10 percent recycled paper and on paper from trees grown specifically for that purpose.

I

By Shawn Conrad, CAE

N 2015, IPMI staff was on a mission to find a West Coast venue

to host the 2019 IPMI Conference & Expo. We visited many cities and they all had their merits, but once we arrived in Anaheim the search was over.

The Anaheim Convention Center is adjacent to two large hotels—their proximity to the Expo hall sold us on this location.

Within a short distance an IPMI attendee would have more than 80 hours of educational sessions, GameChangers, keynote speaker from General Motors, segmented Shoptalk discussions, and an exhibit space the size of four football fields. It’s safe to say a big piece of Anaheim was devoted to parking and mobility.

The Conference & Expo started off with a first-time event, Transportation Camp, allowing attendees to do a deep dive into curb management, electronic payments, smart-city issues, planning, and future technology solutions. Once 125 golfers finished teeing off, they joined early arrivers in ever-popular Shoptalks.

The Opening General Session began with an IPMI version of Carpool Karaoke (headbanging included—check it out on YouTube) and a keynote from Larry Burns, former head of research for General Motors. Larry shared his views on the development of the autonomous car, timelines for implementation, and the impacts autonomous vehicles will have on society. But the topic that generated an abundance of interest was curb management. Most of the sessions discussing the curb were standing-room-only—even in the spacious ballroom for a panel discussion between parking and transportation directors from New York, N.Y.; Miami, Fla.; and Los Angeles, Calif. The panelists

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shared vivid details of the competing forces for curb space, and they described how their cities manage this asset.

Some of the most interesting moments likely occurred between sessions or while walking the Expo floor. One gentleman and his assistant director said they felt they knew it all about parking—until they visited with exhibitors. They gained a new appreciation for spending time with parking suppliers and consultants.

Throughout the week, I heard people offer new insights and talk about being challenged with new ways of thinking.

We also design IPMI with networking in mind. There are many opportunities to meet people, talk with solution providers, or connect those in your industry segment.

Regardless of whether you were among the hundreds of first-timers or were a seasoned pro to IPMI, attendees were looking to enhance their skill sets, find an answer to a problem area, or simply build their list of contacts. IPMI has so much to offer a parking and mobility professional.

During the summer, revisit ideas you learned, call someone you met, share with your staff areas where others in the industry are showing improvement. And plan to learn more at IPMI San Antonio, Texas, May 31–June 3, 2020—see you at the Alamo! ◆ SHAWN CONRAD, CAE, is IPMI’s CEO and a member of its Board of Directors. He can be reached at conrad@parkingmobility.org.

Unique requirements Changing demands Parking solutions for a digital world Leaders in smart parking. Scheidt & Bachmann’s future proof systems help you improve your operation and maximize revenues. Let’s talk. parkingsales@scheidt-bachmann-usa.com (781) 272-1664

Mobility Startups We're Watching First it was bikes. Then it was scooters. Docks to no docks, pedal-powered to electric. While shared micro-mobility is a relatively new concept, it’s evolved a whole lot since appearing on the scene. And that appears to be speeding up—Forbes recently spotlighted some shared-mobility startups with very creative ideas. Here are the five we’re watching:

CLEVR. This company got attention for its three-wheeled scooters that can have seats added for use by those with physical disabilities.

But Forbes took notice of the company’s ultraprecise GPS, which can locate a scooter within three feet, allowing the company to retrieve and even slow down too-fast vehicles.

2

BELLHOP. This one aggregates sharedmobility providers into one app, allowing users to book rides at the best rates—like the kayak.com of getting around.

The company says it hopes to incorporate micro-mobility and public transportation into the app in coming years, getting people door-to-door at the best rates.

3

MOBILITY 4 ALL. This company aims to certify transportation network companies and other transportation company drivers specifically for the convenience of elderly people and riders with disabilities. Its MO app will allow drivers, passengers, and caregivers to communicate in one conversation and monitor each ride in real-time. Sounds like a game changer to us.

4

SOMEV. Those issues with scooter batteries needing to be driven around town for recharging?

This one aims to end that, offering universal batteries for scooters and e-bikes that can be swapped out, instead of charged, by users.

The batteries will charge in about two minutes, and the company says its system is cheaper than hiring folks to drive dead batteries around.

5

VELOCIA. Imagine an app that rewards people for parking responsibly, choosing mass transit instead of driving alone, or using bikes instead of cars. That’s what Velocia does, offering users an e-currency when they make green transportation choices; the currency can be exchanged for transit tickets, bike-share time, and other mobility perks. Positive behavior management—we like it!

Source: www.forbes.com/sites/jeffmcmahon/ 2019/03/06/9-shared-mobility-startups-eagerto-disrupt-transportation/#1b245d85177e

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ISTOCK/ MARTIN-DM

1

Strategic Planning and Management Maintenance and Restoration Design and Construction Technologies www.kimley-horn.com/parking

/ THE BUSINESS OF PARKING /MARKETING

Listen and Learn

By Bill Smith, APR

P

ARKING PODCASTS have been generating a lot of excitement in the industry this

year. As a parking marketer, I’m just as excited. Podcasts can be wonderfully effective additions to a marketing program because they allow thought leaders to reach new audiences in an extraordinarily convenient way. And best of all, they are inexpensive and relatively simple to produce.

Getting Information But it’s not just a matter of productivity. Sure, podcasts allow us to make better use of our time. But they also provide an enjoyable new way to access the information on which we rely. Podcasts give us a chance to hear experts discuss parking issues in their own voices. They give us a chance to get to know those experts a little better because their personalities often come through more vibrantly when they are being interviewed.

Interestingly, several industry-specific podcasts, including Parker-X and the Parking Podcast by Isaiah Mouw, CAPP, weren't developed as marketing tools.

“Really, I just wanted to provide value to the parking industry,” says Lester Mascon, vice president of Sentry Control Systems and the man behind Parker-X. “I saw it as a way to bring a modern flair to the industry.”

Parker-X features interviews with industry leaders in a conversational setting. So far, its host has interviewed well-known parking consultants, owners and operators, and technology experts, and he plans to interview dozens more parking leaders in the coming months.

Though it only debuted in mid-March, Parker-X already has over 3,000 views on YouTube, and more than 1,000 more listeners on streaming services (as I write 8 PARKING & MOBILITY / JULY 2019 / PARKING-MOBILITY.ORG

this two weeks after its debut in early April). Listenership and viewership is growing by approximately 10 percent per day.

Finding Great Podcasts Most podcasts are free to access and easy to find. The audio interviews are recorded, and links to podcasts are usually posted on social media. Podcasts can be found through Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts (for Android users), Spotify or on your favorite podcast app. Podcasts offer expertise on many things applicable to parking and mobility: marketing, business growth, human resources issues, finance, and the list goes on.

They are also great opportunities for industry members to get publicity. Offer yourself up as a guest, propose an episode topic, and be ready to jump in and participate. Any number of podcasts are appropriate for parking and mobility professionals, and it’s pretty easy to introduce yourself to a podcast owner or host and offer to share your expertise. That, of course, helps get your name out there and share your message.

Even though Parker-X wasn’t developed by Mascon as a marketing tool, it does provide marketing opportunities for the experts he interviews. Parking professionals who are fortunate enough to be interviewed get to demonstrate their expertise to thousands (soon, tens of thousands) of parking professionals. The same is true of many podcasts—maybe even one that’s a personal favorite already. ◆ BILL SMITH, APR, is principal of SmithPhillips Strategic Communications and contributing editor of Parking & Mobility. He can be reached at bsmith@smith-phillips. com or 603.491.4280.

ISTOCK / SATURATED

It’s estimated that more than 1 in 4 people in the U.S. has listened to a podcast in the past month. That number is going to keep growing. Why are they so popular?

Primarily, it’s because they give people a chance to access valuable content while they are doing other things, such as getting dressed, driving, or even exercising.

How many times have you planned to read an interesting article only to find that deadlines get in the way?

With podcasts, you can listen and learn while you do other things that don’t require all your attention.

/ MOBILITY & TECH

The Future of Mobility

C

By Kelsey Owens

ITIES ARE EVOLVING faster than ever before. Populations are getting denser,

congestion is increasing, and new modes of transportation are being introduced, bringing tremendous opportunities and challenges. With the increasing rate of innovation, what will cities look like five, 10, or 20 years down the road?

Building a Digital Infrastructure Since the introduction of cars, cities have adapted their physical infrastructure to support these vehicles.

Roads, sidewalks, curbs, stop signs, traffic lights, medians, crosswalks, street signs, and parking meters all require physical changes to improve the way vehicles and people move around a city.

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User-oriented Transportation Solutions With many possibilities for getting around, citizens can use multiple modes of transportation to get from point A to point B, but they have to manage each mode separately. Agencies are recognizing this trend and shifting from mode-oriented to ­user-oriented services.

One example is Miami-Dade’s Department of Transportation and Public Works in Florida, which was created to embrace mobility management and improve the transportation experience for citizens.

More cities are considering a similar approach as they understand that when parking, transit, and micro-­ mobility are managed collectively, leaders can make better decisions for positive city outcomes.

SHUTTERSTOCK / EUGENE LU

The future is unknown, but that can’t stop parking and transportation leaders from taking action now. To prepare for the future, cities need to create a digital transportation infrastructure, focus on the customer journey, and develop dynamic pricing models to influence behaviors in order to create fair and equitable solutions.

Most city solutions have been focused on hardware and physical infrastructure, but with the growth of technology, the focus is shifting to software and tech solutions. A decade ago, U.S. cities began to implement mobile pay-for-parking apps to supplement parking meters and provide a digital way to pay. Now, some cities are removing meters altogether in favor of a mobile-only solution.

As the world becomes more digital, transportation leaders should consider changing their city infrastructure at a digital level. To determine if a parking space is full, cities can develop predictive availability models based on historical data and trends. Instead of imposing scooter caps or medallion-like permits, cities can implement a digital solution to manage scooter distribution across their city. A solid digital foundation can help create a more connected mobility ecosystem.

This allows cities to more flexibly adopt new innovations and gives them control over what technologies are implemented to best serve citizens’ needs.

Parking Design to Enhance the Arrival Experience

We’re also seeing a focus on the user journey for firstand last-mile solutions. In 2018, the Charlotte Area Transit System (CATS) began a partnership with Lyft to offer subsidized rides for users of the CATSPass app. Passengers who originate or terminate a trip at specific locations receive a contribution toward their Lyft fares. With this partnership, CATS increased public transit use by providing options to use multiple forms of transportation in a single journey.

Influencing Behaviors through Pricing Dynamic, progressive, and congestion pricing are hot topics in the mobility industry. Some agencies have implemented pricing models, such as the San Francisco Bay Bridge in California, which charges a higher toll during rush hour to reduce bridge traffic, and the Long Island Rail Road in New York, which charges higher fares at peak times. Some cities, such as Boston, Mass., and Chicago, Ill., have tried dynamic pricing models for on-street parking.

Price can be a motivating factor for consumers, influencing behaviors to achieve desired outcomes. By raising parking prices in a downtown area and reducing them outside the city center, people are more inclined to park farther away and find a secondary method of transportation to get to their final destinations. This can lessen circling for parking—a leading cause of city congestion.

The idea of dynamic pricing is going beyond tolls and car parking and is being applied to micro-mobility. The cities of Charlotte, N.C.; Detroit, Mich.; and Omaha, Neb., are in the midst of a six-month pilot program to test pricing models for scooter parking to make them more accessible and decrease sidewalk congestion.

Our industry is at a critical point, with unlimited opportunities, but many unknowns lie ahead. Transportation leaders need to think proactively about how to create systems today that can be adapted easily as new modes and challenges arise. ◆ KELSEY OWENS is director of municipal sales at Passport and a member of IPMI's Technology Committee. She can be reached at kelsey.owens@ passportinc.com.

PARKING-MOBILITY.ORG / JULY 2019 / PARKING & MOBILITY 11

/ THE GREEN STANDARD

Taking Stock in What You Have: A Case Study

I

By Josh Naramore

N THREE YEARS LIVING IN MY HOUSE, I have passed through the

kitchen countless times. The shades that hung above the kitchen windows never impressed me, but when I spontaneously removed them last weekend, I was taken aback by the change. I had more light and could see the beautiful wood trim surrounding the window, and all it took was a different perspective.

Sometimes when things have existed for a long time, we take them for granted, especially in the public sector. It’s important for cities, universities, airports, and other institutions that offer transit service to continually revisit their brand and marketing and not take these assets for granted.

For almost 40 years, the City of Grand Rapids, Mich., has operated a transit service to shuttle commuters from remote parking facilities to job centers throughout our downtown area. This service is paid for with parking revenue and has recently gone through a transformation to better meet the growing demands of the city.

History of DASH The city has operated a transit service since the 1970s; it was originally branded as the Grand Rapids Urban Shuttle—the Gus Bus. In the 1990s, Gus was rebranded to the Downtown Area Shuttle (DASH), with new colors, logo, and bus wraps.

Commuters showed their parking cards and received free transit trips. The service was offered Monday through Friday from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. DASH offered 10-minute service from 6 to 9 a.m. and from 4 to 6 p.m. and 30-minute service the rest of the day.

DASH continued without revision for nearly 20 years. Ridership remained flat during those years with about 1,000 rid-

The Gus Bus. started operating in the 1970s

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ers per day. The service routes had not kept up with changes in the downtown development environment.

Grand Rapids has changed dramatically. There are thousands more residents, and employment has grown to almost 50,000 employees. A new convention center increased the number of downtown visitors, and Van Andel Arena hosts a growing number of concerts, special events, and games of the Grand Rapids Griffins, the American Hockey League affiliate of the Detroit Red Wings. With all this growth and change, DASH faced new challenges and opportunities.

The Rebrand I did not realize what the DASH was until a few months after starting my job with the city. Yet, our department was responsible for the service. A free transit shuttle was a huge asset that was not being fully leveraged—only a small percentage of commuters even knew about it.

Our convention and visitors bureau requested that the city explore increasing DASH service to weekends and later hours of service and rebrand its look and feel. The city partnered with a private marketing firm, The Grey Matter Group, and worked with downtown employers, residents, hotels, and daily users to devise ways to improve the service.

We went into the rebrand exercise with eyes wide open and a willingness to change everything. After ridership surveys of users and drivers and focus groups with other stakeholders, the city decided to keep the name. Our team spent six months workshopping logo designs and color palettes and testing

In August 2018, DASH got a refreshed logo and color scheme

marketing tag lines. We also thoughtfully worked through changes to service routes and hours of operation. Instead of focusing solely on the Monday-Friday daytime commuter population, the service was expanded to target growing retail and service employment as well as visitors.

In August 2018, the new DASH service started with two new routes that offer seven-day service and late-night weekend service. Expanded hours give visitors attending special events access to cheaper parking in remote parking lots. Bus headways are maintained consistently at seven to eight minutes all day. DASH got a refreshed logo and color scheme, along with maps and marketing materials in English and Spanish. For the first time, the city also began purchasing advertising on billboards, at event venues, and in local businesses to market DASH.

and cleanup at all stops. We’ve also started purchasing new compressed natural gas vehicles and will test electric vehicles in partnership with our regional transit agency. All the new vehicles will have more transparent windows to better allow riders to see out and be seen.

The DASH rebranding has demonstrated to our community the effects of expanded mobility accessibility by thoughtfully updating something that has existed in plain sight for a long time. Remember the shades on the window? Often we, as transportation professionals, are under pressure to deliver better customer service by purchasing new technologies or larger capital investments. Sometimes, taking stock and understanding the existing assets in our communities can have a more significant impact. ◆ JOSH NARAMORE is director, mobile GR and parking services, with the City of Grand Rapids, Mich., and Co-Chair of IPMI’s Sustainability Committee. He can be reached at jnaramore@grand-rapids.mi.us.

The Future The expanded service has increased our service costs by 50 percent. Ridership has increased 30 percent year-to-year and continues to grow every month. Parking revenue in historically underutilized surface lots is up 20 percent over previous years.

Because of responsiveness of the hotel and visitor businesses to the changes, the city is exploring the potential for private revenue to help offset some of the increased costs. There is also new demand from residents, employers, and businesses to expand the DASH service into neighborhood business districts outside downtown.

The city has partnered with our downtown development authority and will leverage funding to install improved transit shelters at all DASH stops. These will include solar lighting, trash/recycling receptacles, benches, improved signage, and advertising panels. These ad panels combined with selling advertising space on buses will help pay for snow removal

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PARKING-MOBILITY.ORG / JULY 2019 / PARKING & MOBILITY 13

/ ON THE FRONTLINE

Getting Unstuck

By Cindy Campbell

I

RECENTLY READ AN INTERESTING statement in an online forum: “You know when you

order a new item off the menu and you don’t really like it but you keep eating it—and every bite you’re like, ‘Nope, this is awful, but I already committed to it.’ Yeah, some of us are doing that in our careers.”

This statement reminds me of many discussions I’ve had with colleagues through the years. Perhaps someone you know has talked to you about their job dissatisfaction or maybe you’ve personally experienced this feeling. Whenever someone stays in a job long after they should have identified a new professional path for themselves, you have to wonder what’s keeping them from seeking new opportunities where they might actually find both personal and professional satisfaction.

Finding a Good Fit Why do we stay in a work environment where we’re not blooming? Frequently, we stay for the money. Financial stability is important, but we step into dangerous territory when money becomes our sole reason

for staying in a bad work situation. It happens all too frequently—health and happiness are sacrificed for money. Health issues related to work stress and job dissatisfaction can include high blood pressure, heart and circulatory issues, sleep issues, migraines, depression, ulcers, and obesity, to name just a few.

If any of these sound familiar, I have a couple of questions for you to consider: Do you recall the last time you felt like you had a great day at work? Do you remember what it feels like to enjoy your work? Let me be clear: There isn’t a job that exists where every day at the office will be fulfilling or fun, but life is too short to work in a position that never brings satisfaction. If this is sounding uncomfortably familiar, perhaps it’s time to think about employment options.

Getting Unstuck

There isn’t a job that exists where every day at the office will be fulfilling or fun, but life is too short to work in a position that never brings satisfaction. If this is sounding uncomfortably familiar, perhaps it’s time to think about employment options.

14 PARKING & MOBILITY / JULY 2019 / PARKING-MOBILITY.ORG

Nothing will change without first making the conscious decision to do something different, but how do you go about it?

Here are some things to consider if you’re looking to make a job change: The grass isn’t always greener. Let’s start this conversation with a dose of reality: A 2016 study found more than 50 percent of American workers dislike their current jobs. (You are truly not alone.)

Keep in mind that all jobs have their high and low points. Before deciding to make a career change, make sure your attitude and outlook aren’t major stumbling blocks.

If you’re starting off the day believing it’s going to be bad, it can quickly become a self-fulfilling prophecy. Even that dream job won’t seem so dreamy if you have a perpetually negative attitude.

Invest in yourself. Are you prepared for that next step? There are employment options every day in the mobility industry. If you’re concerned that your current qualifications won’t get you where you want to be, hold off on the job search until you can present yourself in the best possible light. IPMI offers a full array of professional development options. Are you a CAPP? If you haven’t taken this career enhancing step, maybe it’s time (see parking-mobility.org/ capp for information). You can also take advantage of the CAPP Mentor Program to help you along the way.

Follow the leader. Before you can chart your course, it’s helpful to know how someone else achieved their professional goals. Who has a job you

aspire to? How did that person land their current position? You’d be surprised how willing colleagues are to share their stories and to help you achieve your goals.

Bottom line: If you find yourself spending the majority of your time feeling frustrated and unsatisfied with your current position, perhaps it’s time to consider revisiting your priorities. Believe me—your life is worth it. ◆ CINDY CAMPBELL is IPMI’s senior training and development specialist. She is available for onsite training and professional development and can be reached at campbell@parking-mobility.org.

PARKING-MOBILITY.ORG / JULY 2019 / PARKING & MOBILITY 15

/ PARKING & MOBILITY SPOTLIGHT/SYSTEM IT

OPINION

Not All Clouds Are Created Equal

By Sam Goodner

C

HANGE CAN BE DIFFICULT when it comes to the servers, hard drives, and other hardware and

software systems that have long served as the foundation of your company’s IT infrastructure. There’s something reassuring about seeing those machines on their racks with their fans whirring and lights blinking. Your IT team falls into routines of performing regular maintenance and working with vendors to install upgrades, but those things provide only a false sense of security.

Migrating those on-premise systems to a cloud computing platform enables you to save money, eliminate myriad cyber and physical security risks, strengthen your organization’s compliance posture, and introduce new operational efficiencies that increase revenue.

The term “cloud computing” refers to the delivery of computing services—servers, storage, databases, networking, software, analytics, and more—via the internet. Cloud computing has become one of the most important technological innovations driving digital transformation across most industries, including transportation and parking. It allows businesses to run operations and scale more quickly, efficiently, and cost-­ effectively while also significantly reducing the risks of the loss or theft of business-critical data.

The cloud computing model resembles the electricity grid.

Instead of buying, installing, and maintaining a power generator and other necessary equipment on your property, you connect 16 PARKING & MOBILITY / JULY 2019 / PARKING-MOBILITY.ORG

to the grid and offload those responsibilities and costs to your utility provider. The utility company generates and delivers electricity and maintains all equipment. If the amount of electricity you require fluctuates throughout the day, you don’t have to worry about whether there’s an adequate supply to meet your needs. You just flip the switch and draw more from the grid. In return, you pay the utility provider a monthly fee.

If you’re a Netflix subscriber, you’re familiar with cloud computing. You don’t have to install hardware and store all of Netflix’s movies and shows in your home. You pay a monthly fee to access that content via Netflix’s app, which connects you to its servers over the internet.

On Premises: Expensive and Risky If you cancel your Netflix subscription, you lose access to its content. That loss of ownership and control is a common crutch that organizations lean on when making the argument for keeping their IT systems on premises. What they don’t realize is how much time and money they waste maintaining those systems while simultaneously increasing the risks that system downtime or a security threat will cripple their operations.

Hardware requires ongoing maintenance and replacement, and the software solutions running on those systems need to be patched, upgraded, or replaced on a regular basis. You must have IT professionals on staff with the necessary expertise to constantly make those upgrades, patch servers, and create and maintain data backups in case your hard drives crash or are damaged in a disaster such as a fire or a flood. The worst-case

scenario is your server going down unexpectedly and bringing your operations to a halt.

If you accept credit card payments, you are collecting, processing, and storing your customers’ highly sensitive information. Hackers covet that financial data for their own use or to sell to other thieves on the so-called “dark web.”

That is why the PCI Security Standards Council (PCI SSC) established the Payment Card Industry (PCI) Data Security Standard (DSS), a set of technical and operational requirements that apply to any organization that collects, processes, transmits, and/or stores cardholder data. These requirements include: ■■ Building and maintaining a secure network.

■■ Implementing technologies to protect data, such as end-toend encryption, anti-malware, access control solutions, etc.

■■ Regularly monitoring and testing networks and proving compliance to auditors.

PARKING-MOBILITY.ORG / JULY 2019 / PARKING & MOBILITY 17

Cloud Computing Business and Compliance Benefits Migrating your on-premise systems to the cloud eliminates all of these IT, security, and compliance risks.

You no longer have to purchase, maintain, and update equipment or software. You shift those responsibilities to your cloud services provider partner, freeing you and your staff to focus on your core competencies and business priorities. System updates and upgrades are done remotely with virtually no downtime, so there is no need to shut down lanes. Additionally, you can standardize multiple locations on one platform.

Scaling resources up or down based on need is quick and easy because you’re paying for more or less cloud space rather than purchasing and provisioning new physical servers.

McKinsey & Company reports cloud-specific spending will grow at more than six times the rate of general IT spending through 2020.

The result is much faster and a more satisfying customer experience. It is easier for your guests to find parking, which reduces congestion and improves traffic flow. Using real-time data, you can control your revenue and parking operations from virtually anywhere 24/7, including via mobile devices to maximize occupancy and revenue. Accessing and using real-time intelligence enables you to introduce new, more efficient, and cost-effective operating processes, which translates to a significant drop in support calls/emails and in higher customer satisfaction levels.

A parking strategy should also go beyond just controlling access and revenue; a parking technology provider should deliver an ecosystem of future-ready mobility solutions that will evolve with technologies such as private sector ride-sharing services, driverless cars, and frictionless access to better serve urban communities.

Migrating to the cloud will also significantly improve your security and compliance postures. As soon as a customer swipes a credit card, the information stored on the card is encrypted at the head of your credit card readers and sent directly to the payment gateway. You do not store payment card information 18 PARKING & MOBILITY / JULY 2019 / PARKING-MOBILITY.ORG

locally and you achieve instant and ongoing complete PCI compliance.

That raises an important consideration when you’re evaluating any cloud services provider. Your vendor should not store your customers’ payment card information on its systems either. It should partner with a proven cloud platform provider, such as Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud, or Microsoft Azure, which has the necessary resources and expertise to protect sensitive business information without interrupting your daily workflows.

Don’t Let Cloud-lite Fool You Not all clouds are the same. A vendor may offer to house the IT systems locally at its own data center.

However, that hosted, or hybrid model—also known as “cloud-lite”—sometimes has many of the same limitations of an on-premise operation, especially when it comes to maintenance, security, and future-ready capabilities.

Yes, it removes the responsibility of maintaining the hardware from your shoulders, but the IT architecture doesn’t change. The burden of PCI compliance remains on your shoulders, just as it did with your onsite servers. To achieve PCI compliance with a hosted model, you must follow the hundreds of guidelines and ongoing maintenance required as opposed to a cloud-based system managed by a PCI DSS level 1 service provider, who takes on 98 percent of the burden for you.

No Time to Waste McKinsey & Company reports cloud-specific spending will grow at more than six times the rate of general IT spending through 2020. The chances are that group includes your competitors. Don’t fall behind. Migrate your IT systems to the cloud to create a dynamic, future-proof system that will expand and support new capabilities as technology and customer demand evolves. The parking industry has been dominated by complicated, unreliable technology and processes for too long. Your guests deserve better, and so do you. ◆ SAM GOODNER is president of FlashParking. He can be reached at sam. goodner@flashparking.com.

ASK

THE

EXPERTS What can parking and mobility organizations do to get people who normally drive to try transit?

Marlene Cramer, CAPP

Larry J. Cohen, CAPP

Director, Transportation & Parking Services Cal Poly San Luis Obispo

Executive Director Lancaster Parking Authority, Lancaster, Pa.

Get pledges and offer fun incentives. Partner with event hosts so that event attendees consider taking public transit instead of driving. Tie messages to your organization’s sustainability goals.

You cannot normally force someone to change their commuting behaviors, but positive and negative financial pressures can create positive passive changes. These include the high cost of gas and parking on the negative side and various forms of financial incentives to subsidize public transportation on the positive side.

Mark Lyons, CAPP

Brian Shaw, CAPP

Parking Manager City of Sarasota, Fla.

Executive Director, Parking & Transportation Stanford University, California

Implementing paid parking is one of the strongest methods of motivating people away from driving. Make transit less corporate feeling and more personal by using smaller vehicles, hiring personable drivers (think Southwest Airline attendants), and increasing frequency.

Charging for parking is a great motivator to shift modal choices.

Casey Jones, CAPP Encouraging people to switch modes takes a lot of hand-holding because the fear of the unknown can be a daunting barrier. I once met a colleague at the bus stop to show her how to use transit. From that point on, she became a frequent transit user.

/ HAVE A QUESTION? Send it to editor@parking-mobility.org and watch this space for answers from the experts.

The opinions and thoughts expressed by the contributors do not necessarily reflect the opinions and viewpoints of the International Parking & Mobility Institute or official policies of IPMI.

PARKING-MOBILITY.ORG / JULY 2019 / PARKING & MOBILITY 19

Looking

IPMI Board Chair David Onorato, CAPP, on parking, mobility, teamwork, and those Pittsburgh sports teams.

L

IKE SO MANY INDUSTRY PROFESSIONALS, David Onorato, CAPP, sort of fell into parking. “It was by luck,” he says. “I was working with the [Pittsburgh] city finance department and there was an opening in the parking authority. I was asked if I wanted to move there and I said yes. It’s parking—how hard can it be, right? Little did I know.”

Since that move in 1995, Onorato has built a reputation as an industry leader, and his parking authority has been credited with helping transform Pittsburgh’s reputation from steel town to technology leader, tourist destination, and popular place to live and work. Now, he’s looking ahead to industry changes, how they’ll affect his operation and his beloved hometown, and how they’ll change things

for members of IPMI, where he was installed as Board of Directors chair in June.

“The industry is unique,” he says. “Both in its field of operation and in the co-workers and peers you meet. Everyone is very willing to share information, and we’re all in the same boat together. The networking is stronger in this industry than any other industry I’ve seen.”

PHOTOS BY JEANINE LEECH PHOTOGRAPHY, PITTSBURGH, PA.

20 PARKING & MOBILITY / JULY 2019 / PARKING-MOBILITY.ORG

 Forward

IPMI set the standard with APO. When they launched it, we were excited and wanted our organization to apply. It proved more beneficial than I first realized.

Onorato and his wife, Cathy, have been married for 34 years and have three children, David, Lauren, and Matt.

Onorato grew up on the north side of Pittsburgh with a brother and three sisters. His dad, Geno, was a machinist, and his mom, Vivian, taught grade school. Onorato says his parents always emphasized education as the path to success.

Growing up in a large Italian family meant weekly Sunday dinners. “Our parents always gave us comfort in that we felt we had everything we needed.” The family, all 33 members, vacationed together every year for 30 years. “People would wonder how we survived the vacations,” he says with a laugh. The extended family is still close-knit.

Onorato earned a bachelor’s degree from Clarion University and a master’s from Robert Morris University (both in Pennsylvania), worked for the city finance department, transferred to the parking authority, and soon got involved with the Pennsylvania Parking Association and IPMI, earning his CAPP certificate in 2010.

It wasn’t long before the Pittsburgh Parking Authority started making headlines as a forward-thinking municipal organization.

Pittsburgh Parking Grows “I was involved with the regional association and IPMI in 2010, and that’s when the public-private partnerships (P3s) were being considered,” he says. “The mayor asked me to run a P3 to evaluate the options.” A successful bid was received but was rejected for political reasons. Onorato calls the process eye-opening.

“The private operators were doing it, and they gave us a blueprint,” he says. “The larger value was in on-street parking, and I remember saying that if we do nothing, we can’t be upset if we’re not here in five years. We knew what had to be done.”

22 PARKING & MOBILITY / JULY 2019 / PARKING-MOBILITY.ORG

The city’s meters were single-space, 30-year-old devices. Onorato’s team hired a consultant to evaluate what was available in the market, and they issued an RFP for multi-space meters. Ten bids were received, and five companies were interviewed. Then pay-byplate came onto the scene. “We decided to reject all the bids and go with pay-by-plate,” Onorato says. “We did our due diligence. We knew it had never been done in the U.S., and we knew we didn’t want a major capital improvement that would be obsolete in three years.”

Pittsburgh installed pay-by-plate and launched it in 2012, carefully educating the public along the way.

“They were very accepting,” Onorato says—so much so that two years later, the city began offering pay-byphone. Today, 50 percent of parking transactions are conducted that way, and Pittsburgh has hosted about 10 cities whose officials visited to see how similar setups could work for them.

The city was named IPMI’s Parking Organization of the Year in 2015 and earned Accredited Parking Organization (APO) status, becoming one of the first municipalities to be accredited. “IPMI set the standard with APO,” Onorato says. “When they launched it, we were excited and wanted our organization to apply. It proved more beneficial than I first realized. It established where we were at as an organization and set the bar for the goals we needed to reach. It was a great learning tool for the entire organization.

JEANINE LEECH PHOTOGRAPHY, PITTSBURGH, PA.

Getting There

“APO helped us evaluate our operations against established industry standards,” he continues. “We used it as an educational tool for internal processes—we were doing things and took them for granted.”

The process, he says, made authority staff better at what they were doing, and the recertification requirement helps keep them focused on continual improvement. “We keep it in our vision,” he says. “We always think about what we need to do to meet the APO requirements moving forward. It puts us—the parking industry—on a playing field with other industries that have standards, so we’re recognized as leaders and as professionals.”

“I got to know the staff,” he says. “I liked what the organization represented, and I decided this was the path I wanted to take.” Having the Conference in his hometown, he says, offered him a great perspective into the behind-the-scenes work and allowed him to witness firsthand how everyone in the organization worked together.

“I decided to run for the Board,” he says. “It took several times, but I got there. And I am very impressed with the Board and their knowledge and background and skill and the way they get things done. There’s a lot of teamwork there.”

He eventually became treasurer and then chair-elect and was installed as chair last month, in Anaheim, Calif.

Getting Involved

Goals

Onorato attended his first IPMI (then IPI) Conference & Expo in 2005, looking to get more immersed in his industry. “I was impressed and knew I wanted to get involved,” he says. “My first thought was to earn CAPP.” He and Christopher Speers, CAPP, the authority's director of parking services, both earned their certifications in 2010 and aimed for more involvement at the next year’s Conference—in Pittsburgh.

“I want to keep the organization on the path it’s on now,” he says.

“We’ve had great leadership in past years that has established our path for the future. I want to continue to build upon our past successes.” Onorato noted that adding “mobility” to the organization’s name last fall was a major decision in keeping parking organizations relevant, ensuring they are key players going forward. “Mobility is a major factor. It has to be a key aspect of our

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vision, and we have to stay on that path as far as transportation network companies, electric vehicles, bikes, shared rides, and transit. It’s not just about parking, but we have to maintain parking as a vital role in the industry. It’s up to us to keep the seat at the table now that we have it.”

Data is also top-of-mind. “All users want to see data,” he says. “We have the technology today to collect mass volumes of data, and it is what we do with the data that will determine the future of the industry.

Data has the potential to enhance the industry and the end user’s experience. And with that, and mobility,

the thought has to be how we keep people satisfied with changing needs. We have to set the trends and decide what the future of parking and mobility is going forward.”

Onorato remains grateful to past Boards and their members and says the mentors he met at the beginning of his parking career remain so and have since become great friends.

“There are two past chairs to whom I’m very grateful to. I met them early on at the then-IPI conferences, and they have been my sounding board for vetting my strategies. Those two are Roamy Valera, CAPP, and Kim Jackson, CAPP, who are recognized as industry leaders. They always have given me good advice that was a basis for my decisions.”

ALREADY SIGNED UP for IPMI’s Leadership Summit in Pittsburgh this October?

Dave Onorato, CAPP, can’t wait to show you around. He already has a list of suggested restaurants for your nights in town: • Sienna Mercato • Bakersfield—Tacos, Tequila & Whiskey • Eleven • Revel + Roost • Gaucho • Meat & Potatoes • Pork and Beans • Lastly, everyone must try the famous Primanti’s sandwich.

Looking for more advice on what to do in Pittsburgh? We know who you can ask!

24 PARKING & MOBILITY / JULY 2019 / PARKING-MOBILITY.ORG

Onorato says he can’t wait to welcome IPMI members back to Pittsburgh for the IPMI Leadership Summit in October (parking-mobility.org/100).

“My first role as chair of the organization will be to host the meeting in Pittsburgh, and I’m very excited about that,” he says. “I’m looking forward to welcoming everyone to the city and would encourage them to get out and see the city. We have restaurants, theaters, and lots to see right in the CBD. The perception of Pittsburgh is different than the reality once you get here, and I’m going to encourage first-timers to take the time to enjoy the city.”

The Pittsburgh Parking Authority enjoys a great, productive relationship with the mayor and city council. Onorato says that comes from time spent building trust.

“We have a great relationship, and we work as a team,” he says. “We had some learning curves—we’re an authority and separate and self-sufficient, but without the city, there is no authority. So we work handin-hand, helping fund some operations and different organizations. We understand our relationship with the city, and they understand theirs with us. They see us as a team player, and our individual success comes from our joint success.”

During his free time, Onorato enjoys following Pittsburgh sports teams, which showcase the city on a national level. He is a frequent spectator at games and has been fortunate enough to attend three Super Bowls and one Stanley Cup Finals. He also enjoys time at his lake house with his family. It’s frequently visited by their children and their friends. “I see them more up there on the weekends than I do at home,” he laughs. ◆

JEANINE LEECH PHOTOGRAPHY, PITTSBURGH, PA.

Back to Pittsburgh

BUILD YOUR SKILLS. INSPIRE YOUR TEAM. DISRUPT YOUR FUTURE.

October 3-4, 201 9 Pittsbur gh, Pa.

Attendance is limited to 100 IPMI members.

parking-mobility.org/100

They’ve Had Their Say.

Now It's Our Turn.

One realist’s perspective on the future of parking

By Timothy Haahs, PE, AIA

26 PARKING & MOBILITY / JULY 2019 / PARKING-MOBILITY.ORG

OPINION

F

OR THE PAST SEVERAL YEARS, there’s been a debate on the future of parking. From advanc-

SHUTTERSTOCK / L I G H T P O E T / HQUALITY

ing technologies, demographic shifts, diversifying transportation options, and more, there has been no shortage of potential influences on parking and mobility. There have been even more individual predictions and opinions on how they would disrupt the status quo.

What Technology Experts Say

The Realist’s Perspective

Technology experts from a variety of backgrounds have taken center stage, often predicting parking will likely go away altogether, or at least significantly transform. Experts have warned that we should begin to prepare for a future in which the primary means of transportation will be driverless vehicles and ride-sharing alternatives. Many have referenced changes in demographics and, even more, the significant strides in technology, to forecast major changes in the transportation and mobility landscape in the near future, determining that very soon people will no longer have a use for ­single-occupant vehicles. Instead, we will move completely toward alternatives, specifically ride-­sharing and driverless vehicles. In summary, no longer will there be a need for parking and its infrastructure. We’ll no longer need actual garages and lots, nor the supporting technologies and equipment.

I have always been a realist when it comes to predicting the future of our industry. While technology will of course continue to transform, there are many reasons to believe that parking will continue to play an important role in supporting the successful integration and adaptation of these solutions.

These reasons include: ■■ An increasing demand for upgrading and extending

regional rail.

■■ The impetus for faster and higher quality public transporta-

tion options.

■■ The improvement of highway infrastructure.

■■ The expansion of the suburbs.

■■ Population increases.

■■ An increasing focus on connectivity.

PARKING-MOBILITY.ORG / JULY 2019 / PARKING & MOBILITY 27

Some combination of each of these factors will ultimately prevail, transforming the transportation and mobility landscape, yet maintaining the need for supportive infrastructure, including parking. Parking will continue to play an important role in the success of future development, considering that many of these concepts will depend upon parking infrastructure and technology to enhance them.

In addition to the predicted changes regarding future transportation and related technologies, much discussion has revolved around predicting what effect the up-and-coming generations will have—particularly the often-cited millennials. For at least the past decade, we have continually heard “the millennials are coming …”

The assumption has been that millennials would move to and stay in the cities, unlike the generations before them who left the cities in their mid- to late 20s as soon as they married or had children. Millennials have been the first generation expected to stay living and working in the city in greater numbers than their predecessors.

I have always been a realist when it comes to predicting the future of our industry.

While technology will of course continue to transform, there are many reasons to believe that parking will continue to play an important role in supporting for the successful integration and adaptation of these solutions.

Along those lines, younger generations supposedly have less interest in owning vehicles, as they are living in cities that are becoming more and more walkable. However, is this because they don’t want to own vehicles or is it an issue of affordability?

There is no real guarantee or definite assumption related to the future of the parking, transportation, and mobility industry and how future generations and changing cultures are going to evolve. The recent transformations and future predictions related to transportation and mobility technology are exciting. Our lives and those of our children and grandchildren are going to be dramatically affected, and in many cases, improved thanks to future technologies. Driverless cars, ride-sharing, mobile apps, alternative transportation and mobility options, and more 28 PARKING & MOBILITY / JULY 2019 / PARKING-MOBILITY.ORG

that we likely haven’t even considered yet are coming.

For instance, the millennial generation may not necessarily be choosing to stay in the city after getting married and having children—they may just be doing so longer than previous generations. That remains to be seen. Yes, they may stay in the city in greater numbers than before, but many may likely ultimately decide that city life with a family is not affordable (or convenient) and still eventually make their way out to the suburbs.

Further, another demographic shift that has played a role in predicting the whats, whens, and hows of future transportation and technology trends is immigration.

It is expected that during the next 40–50 years nearly 100 million new immigrants will arrive in the U.S.—a 30 percent increase in population. That is sure to have a significant impact on these trends.

While many new residents may choose to live in U.S. cities, a large number will also end up residing in more suburban areas. Part of the American dream has always included vehicle ownership. This coupled with the fact that, given these large population increases, the suburbs are likely to grow means there will still be a dependence on single-occupant vehicles.

These changes are going to alter our lifestyles and bring greater comfort, convenience, and even safety to our lives. And yes, these will affect the parking industry; where we work, what we create, and how we implement products, solutions, and services will change. Already in urban areas, destinations such as restaurants and nightclubs are seeing a significant reduction in parking demand as a result of ride-sharing services. Airports are seeing similar trends as are colleges and universities. The way people are transporting themselves to certain places has already transformed significantly in recent years.

However, there are still many questions that will continue to be answered in the next decade and even further.

Will Individual Vehicles Be Things of the Past?

At the end of the day, outside of the urban core (and judging by traffic levels, still somewhat in the urban core) most Americans still love their cars. Even if they don’t, they still depend on them to deliver them, their families, and their belongings in a safe, convenient, and efficient manner. Yes, ride-sharing services have specifically reduced the use of services such as rental cars and taxis, but they haven’t necessarily reduced car ownership.

What about Public Transportation and Transit-oriented Development?

The past few years, commercial real estate trends have included an increased focus on transit-oriented development (TOD). Particularly in areas outside the urban core, these developments provide residents right outside cities and in suburbs with a more convenient option to take public transportation to their jobs or other destinations in the cities. Many of these developments have included significant residential, retail, entertainment, and office space—and yes, of course, even parking. New TODs are now thriving in communities throughout the country and offer the option for a suburban lifestyle with convenient access to the city.

Further, public transportation is vital to reducing traffic congestion on already stressed roadway systems and for transporting large numbers of people at one time on shorter rides such as daily commutes, as well as longer corridor trips. These systems will continue to depend on parking as a supplemental infrastructure to ensure their success. However, they will also have to continue to provide timely schedules, quality infrastructure, and safe and effective service.

Will Driverless Be Preferred?

While the advancement of this technology is inevitable, there are many issues that will need to be addressed to make them a true reality. And those issues may not be resolved as soon as some expect. In addition to the need to continue to expand and support public transportation to reduce congestion, any significant increase in the dependence on driverless vehicles will lead to the consideration and even legislation of a number of issues, including: ■■ Curb management (pick-up and drop-off areas) and the effect on urban walkability.

■■ Highway and infrastructure capacity.

■■ Insurance and liability matters.

■■ Cyber-hacking (a threat to both public safety and data and identify security).

Finally, What about Parking?

Much of what has already been discussed, when considered from a more realistic perspective, highlights the fact that parking will continue to play an important role in future development. If driverless vehicles do become the norm, they will still need to be parked

At the end of the day, it will be a long time before Americans completely give up their love for their cars, be it for nostalgia or the genuine comfort, convenience, and independence that they offer.

That said, they will need to park somewhere. somewhere to recharge or be staged for their next pick-up. Parking will continue to be critical infrastructure to supporting public transit and transit-oriented development and ensuring their success. And at the end of the day, it will be a long time before Americans completely give up their love for their cars, be it for nostalgia or the genuine comfort, convenience, and independence they offer. That said, they will need to park somewhere.

Now What?

Future technology shouldn’t be hindered by fears or limitations, but these are all issues that will require significant consideration and resolution. These are all very likely to impact any anticipated timeline for the increased dependence upon driverless technology.

Many of the ideas and questions outlined herein are simply based upon perception versus reality and truly understanding the balance between advancing technologies and intuitive human behavior. The ultimate question is: Will human behavior be dictated by technology or will technology respond to human needs?

As with many disruptors and innovative ideas throughout history, time will tell how these changes in technology are going to affect parking, transportation, and mobility overall. Our objective is to move people in the safest, fastest, and most convenient manner possible and to provide the infrastructure to support this goal. Ultimately, future connectivity is going to advance toward whichever combination of mobility solutions is successful at doing so. Our industry will continue to play an important role in supporting these changes and has an incredible opportunity for growth, rather than decline, well into the future. ◆ TIMOTHY HAAHS, PE, AIA, is president of Timothy Haahs & Associates, Inc. He can be reached at thaahs@timhaahs.com.

PARKING-MOBILITY.ORG / JULY 2019 / PARKING & MOBILITY 29

A county’s division of parking management shines in the close-in suburbs of Washington, D.C.

By Sindhu Rao

30 PARKING & MOBILITY / JULY 2019 / PARKING-MOBILITY.ORG

Thoughtful Management

I

N MONTGOMERY COUNTY, MD., the

Department of Transportation’s (MCDOT) Division of Parking Management has served the parking lot districts (PLDs) of the Washington, D.C. suburbs of Bethesda, Silver Spring, and Wheaton for more than 60 years with thoughtful parking management techniques.

Charged with addressing on- and off-street parking needs while supporting economic and transportation-­related initiatives, the PLDs continually implement new parking management and operations solutions to enhance the competitiveness of these traditional and urban environments. The PLDs receive no direct government subsidies and are responsible for generating sufficient revenue to cover capital, operational, and debt service costs.

Additionally, a certain amount of PLD funds are transferred to the county for the promotion of transit benefits, streetscape and lighting improvements, and other public amenities.

PARKING-MOBILITY.ORG / JULY 2019 / PARKING & MOBILITY 31

The Montgomery County, Md., Department of Transportation's Division of Parking Management serves the parking lot districts of the Washington, D.C. suburbs of Bethesda, Silver Spring, and Wheaton.

Organizational Structure MCDOT’s Division of Parking Management is responsible for the administration of the county’s three PLDs. The division’s mission is to promote economic growth by offering sufficient parking, encouraging efficient transportation mode choice through a careful balance of parking rates and supply, and developing parking management strategies to maximize the usage of available parking.

The PLDs are a single administrative entity, giving it full control over on- and off-street parking management, regulatory and compliance coordination, and customer service. As an enterprise fund, the PLDs must generate enough revenue on an ongoing basis to not only be self-sufficient, but also to transfer millions of dollars to transit funds, urban districts, and the county’s general reserve every year.

The division governance structure is organized into four sectional units: administrative management, financial management, engineering and capital project management, and parking operations. Their roles are divvied up in the following ways: ■■ The administrative management section manages the planning, information technology, and customer and administration services staff to optimize organi-

32 PARKING & MOBILITY / JULY 2019 / PARKING-MOBILITY.ORG

zational effectiveness. The section plans for the strategic redevelopment of PLD real property. The planning team leads the division’s innovation initiatives and plans for growth in the PLDs through short-term demand studies and long-term strategic plans.

■■ The financial management section has overall responsibility for recording and reconciling all revenue, the management of the encumbrance and invoice payment process, the revenue bond debt, and budget. In 2018, the section was responsible for managing program-wide revenue of nearly $38 million.

■■ The engineering and capital project management section provides engineering and project management for the design and construction of new parking facilities.

The program ensures the preservation and structural integrity of existing parking facilities. It also provides services such as snow and ice removal; housekeeping services; equipment maintenance for elevators, electrical, and HVAC systems; and groundskeeping care.

■■ The parking operations section is responsible for collecting and processing parking revenue from the many methods of payment offered by the division. It is also responsible for managing the parking citation database, providing onsite security, and overseeing the appeal process for parking tickets.

Biennial Customer Service Survey As bounded by Montgomery County government bylaws, the Division of Parking Management is required to conduct a parking customer service survey every two years to gauge customers’ perception of the public parking system’s performance. The division hires a consultant to administer the survey, ensuring it is completed in an independent manner. The survey targets two subgroups—permit holders and visitors—and offers those customers an opportunity to provide feedback on a wide range of parking issues. The survey results are used by MCDOT staff to measure the division’s performance. In the most recent survey, visitors and permit holders gave their highest marks to the conditions of facilities, safety and security, and convenience to destination. Overall satisfaction with the PLD’s facilities was high, with an average rating of 4.7 out of 5.

Recent Accomplishments and Initiatives The county recently became one of the first jurisdictions in the U.S. to partner with two mobile payment vendors. The two-vendor mobile payment system was phased in during six months and is now available at more than 10,000 meters throughout the county. By offering two choices, MCDOT is providing greater flexibility and convenience for parkers.

Another technology adopted by the division is a digital parking guidance system, which offers ­real-time message signs outside and inside garages to direct people to available parking.

This information is published to websites and mobile applications as well. The division’s electric vehicle (EV) infrastructure overview plan addresses the need and pathway for installing electric-vehicle charging stations in PLD facilities. To date, 16 charging stations that can serve 32 vehicles system-wide are operational with plans to install additional stations.

Another positive change the division made in its parking operations is an upgraded lighting system in each of the division’s 20 garages. The new high-output lamps are not only brighter but have saved the division around 20 percent in ­energy-related expenditures per facility.

Finally, with its partnership with Zipcar, the division has been a leader in promoting the usage of car-share. The division has more than 30 car-share spaces in a mixture of lots, garages, and on-street. To promote the visibility of car-share and encourage MCDOT’s alternative transportation objectives, the division has located the on-street car-share spaces near vibrant retail centers.

Additional initiatives implemented recently include a new residential permit program using mobile license plate recognition (LPR) enforcement, modernization of four parking facilities from single-space parking meters to master meters, a variable parking policy program, a dynamic parking map

embedded on the county’s website, the county’s first “cycle-track” bike lane, and revamping the Ad Valorem tax program that helps fund the PLDs. To support the general tax base and improve pedestrian experience, the division has repositioned land by developing three surface lots into mixed-use centers. As part of a public-private partnership, the division transformed an existing 200-space parking lot in downtown Bethesda into a 950-space subterranean parking garage with first-floor retail and a multi-story residential building above. The publicly owned and operated garage was needed to release pressure off a nearby garage that frequently operated at capacity during peak hours.

The project included wider sidewalk space, a pedestrian cutthrough connection to an adjacent trail, a public plaza, restaurants, and the addition of hundreds of residents within a short walk of a transit station.

Two other public-private partnerships are currently underway. In Wheaton, the division is redeveloping a 160-space parking lot; by 2020, it will have been converted into a 400-space underground garage with first floor retail, a town square, and a 310,000-square-foot office building above. And in

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Silver Spring, construction recently wrapped up on a 162-space underground public parking garage with a residential tower above and associated plaza on what was formerly the site of a county parking lot. Beyond these projects, the division is in various planning stages for the future redevelopment of additional PLD lots and garages.

Dual Vendor Mobile Payment System Mobile payment technology is a win-win. For customers, it is a convenient cashless solution. For parking management agencies, it requires little financial investment or continual operating costs. As the second largest jurisdiction in the Washington metropolitan area, Montgomery County has a significant demand for parking from employees, residents, and visitors in its urban areas.

In 2010, the division introduced a mobile payment solution to its payment ecosystem. The division partnered with MobileNOW, and success followed immediately with high adoption rates. Today, the program processes more than 150,000 parking sessions monthly and has generated over $30 million in revenue since its inception.

To build on this success, the county explored solutions to further increase mobile payment use for several reasons. First, mobile payment systems have minimal infrastructure requirements

and limited ongoing operational costs and lack credit card processing fees. Benefits flow to customers too, including the ability to conveniently pay for parking, receive a text message when parking time is close to expiring, extend the parking session remotely, pay for only time parked, and track personal parking activity.

Second, the county serves a cross-jurisdictional consumer base. A substantial portion of MCDOT’s parking facility users come from outside the county. Consequently, these parkers are accustomed to using the mobile payment provider offered in their hometown, which may differ from Montgomery County’s.

Wanting to avoid balancing multiple payment accounts, there’s a segment of the customer base that’s disinclined to register with the county’s vendor’s app. Therefore, to mitigate the downside of parkers eschewing mobile payment due to unfamiliarity with the county’s vendor, improving mobile payment access became a division priority.

Ultimately, the county decided to become one of the country’s first jurisdictions to provide customers with a choice of mobile payment vendors. The county wanted to capitalize on the opportunity to nudge customers in the mobile payment direction.

The county issued a request for proposals in early 2017, and following the bidding process partnered with its existing vendor,

In the most recent survey, visitors and permit holders gave their highest marks to the conditions of facilities, safety and security, and convenience to destination. Overall satisfaction with the PLD’s facilities was high, with an average rating of 4.7 out of 5.

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MobileNOW, and a new vendor with a well-established presence in the Washington, D.C.-area market, ParkMobile.

Prior to the rollout, a few issues needed resolution.

For example, the county needed to get both vendors on board with a sign package. To keep sign clutter to a minimum, it was apparent that both vendors’ branding would have to be integrated into the same signs. The county spearheaded the design process, contracted with a local graphic designer, and developed instructional signage to be installed in visibly prominent locations within garages. Both vendors provided feedback during the design process and approved final drawings.

The result was a cohesive sign package that reduced visual clutter in parking facilities.

Another issue impeding a smooth deployment was enforcement complications. The county was challenged with integrating both vendors’ parking enforcement technology into a single software platform.

MCDOT collaborated with the vendors’ IT teams for workable solutions, and the county’s enforcement officers are now able to view transaction data from each vendor on their handheld devices in real time.

Decals on meters inform customers of the mobile payment option. However, relinquishing space on meter heads exclusively to vendor decals could have negative future consequences if either vendor folded or did not meet contractual obligations. To work around this potential problem, the county configured a consistent meter layout with four distinct decals: ■■ MobileNOW’s decal displaying a QR code and space number.

■■ ParkMobile’s decal displaying a QR code and space number.

■■ A Montgomery County decal displaying the space number.

■■ A Montgomery County decal displaying a URL address directing patrons to the county’s website with mobile payment instructions.

This approach eases the transition if the partnership with one of the vendors were to end. That company’s decal could be removed or replaced without disrupting the mobile payment program.

By late 2017, the county began an incremental

launch. A phased approach was adopted as staff was tasked with installing the four decals on more than 10,000 meters throughout the PLDs. By mid-2018 the launch was complete with 10 garages, 20 lots, and more than 2,300 on-street meters in the PLDs outfitted with dual vendor mobile payment capability. The county plans to expand the program to additional facilities, including pay-by-space environments.

Program Outcomes Due to the widespread diffusion of mobile technology, consumers have come to expect convenience in many aspects of their lives. While the county has modernized the payment systems in several facilities, budgetary realities have prevented the county from modernizing the entire parking system. This has given rise to frustrated customers. Paying for parking with coins is a common pain point. Indeed, the dual vendor mobile payment system has provided MCDOT and its customers with tangible benefits and improved experience. For MCDOT, the system has proven powerful because it does not require new equipment or maintenance costs. For customers, it has aligned with the convenience that technology has brought elsewhere in their lives.

The county has access to a comprehensive webbased collection of reports from both vendors, enabling analyses of mobile payment activities. To benchmark success of the program, the county tracked mobile payment sessions and revenue per facility in the months leading up to the dual-vendor implementation and tracked sessions and revenue post-implementation.

Since implementation of the dual vendor system, yearover-year total parking sessions increased over 20 percent and revenue by $1.3 million.

MCDOT plans to expand the dual vendor mobile payment system to additional parking facilities. The system is currently only available in facilities operated by single-space meters and pay-and-display environments. The county anticipates rolling out the dual vendor system in its pay-by-space garages and lots soon.

With this impending expansion, MCDOT will reap further benefits, and greater convenience will flow to additional county parkers. ◆ SINDHU RAO is IT specialist III in the Division of Parking Management of the Montgomery Department of Transportation.

She can be reached at sindhu.rao@ montgomerycountymd.gov.

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Internet THE

Things F uture of Parking of

AND THE

BY BILL SMITH, APR

Y

OU MAY NOT HAVE HEARD OF THE INTERNET OF THINGS (IOT),

or perhaps you’ve heard of it but aren’t really sure what it is. If you aren’t familiar with the IoT, it’s time to acquaint yourself with the topic because chances are it’s already affecting your day-to-day life.

The IoT is the system of internet connectivity through which technologies and the devices we use in our everyday lives are connected online so they can interact with each other and be controlled remotely. So, if you use a smart thermostat or web-enabled security systems or remotely controllable doors ( just to name a few common devices), you are already using the IoT. Go ahead, pat yourself on the back because you are officially an IoT trendsetter.

The IoT is already transforming our personal lives, and that lifestyle trend is accelerating dramatically. It won’t be long before we are all

constantly in contact with our homes, vehicles, and other elements of our lives (sadly, this includes the office).

Taking Control of Mobility The IoT is having just as significant an effect on the parking industry. Many of the most important technologies that have been introduced in recent years offer internet connectivity.

As a result, they allow parkers, and parking owners and operators as well, to instantly access parking resources from any computer or smartphone.

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“Online connectivity has become very important in don’t have to fumble for a credit card or cash when it’s recent years,” says Dan Kupferman, CAPP, director of time to leave.” car park management systems for Walker Consultants.

When you can reserve parking and manage your “Many new connected technologies have been introparking session in advance, you have another way to duced to make the parking experience much more contake control of your mobility. venient for drivers and more manageable for owners Kupferman agrees that pre-booking is a vital eleand operators.” ment of IoT-driven parking: “Owners are starting to The most recognizable IoT-enabled parking techsell parking like entertainment venues sell tickets. nology is the mobile payment app. During the past That trend will only grow in the coming years.” decade, a number of apps have been introduced that permit drivers to pay for parking on their smartphones IoT Benefits Owners and Operators Too from the convenience of their vehicles.

As many industries have already discovered, the IoT “Look at how technology impacts your day-to-day can offer extraordinary benefits to companies as well. life,” says Roamy Valera, CAPP, CEO, Canada and U.S. That includes parking owners and operators. Connecfor PayByPhone. “We already manage so many aspects tivity provides tremendous management advantages of our day-to-day lives with our smartphones, iPads, that benefit owners and operators, as well as patrons. and laptops. When it comes to mobility, parking pro“When parking equipment is always connected vides the introduction to the IoT. it’s possible to complete management tasks from any“The IoT and mobility where, anytime,” says Waldestart with you and your mar Batistella, national prodThe IoT is already transforming phone,” continues Valera. uct portfolio manager, SKIour personal lives, and that lifestyle DATA. “For instance, owners “Think about how much trend is accelerating dramatically. and operators can manage better the parking experience is when we apply their contract parkers online It won’t be long before we are these concepts to parking. from anywhere. They can also all constantly in contact with Drivers can pay with their view detailed data on their our homes, vehicles, and other phones, keep track of how operation, as well as the status much time is left on the of equipment. Some owners elements of our lives (sadly, this parking session, and add even use connected technolincludes the office). more time remotely. When ogy to remotely manage their you can manage your parkgarages. Today, owners and ing session with your personal phone you can take con- operators don’t need to have a physical presence withtrol over your journey.” in the parking facility to keep it operating smoothly.”

The IoT’s impact on parking can even begin before Selim Esen, CEO and chief technology officer of the driver leaves the house. Parking pre-booking platAVPM, says the remote monitoring benefits of the IoT forms allow drivers to reserve a space before they set are significant. “The IoT allows owners to constantly out on the journey. Rather than having to search for a monitor the performance of their equipment,” he says. space when they arrive at their destination, drivers can “PARCS and other types of parking equipment often just go online, input a payment credential, and reserve include monitoring software that allows clients to cona space. Some parking facilities even let you reserve trol their parking assets wherever they are, from nearly specific spaces online. anywhere. They can manage their machines, processes, “For many people, parking can be a stressful expeand systems to control costs and help increase safety rience,” says Theresa Hughes, CEO of Chauntry, Ltd. and improve customer satisfaction.”

“That stress can be significantly reduced by providing According to Esen, by monitoring performance in access to a parking space before the driver even leaves real time, not only can owners and operators identify home. Garages offering pre-booking technology essenproblems when they happen, but they can also often tially allow patrons to connect with them from home, anticipate issues before they occur. That’s because sysensuring they’ll have a place to park when they arrive. tem breakdowns will often be proceeded by impaired Pre-booking platforms also allow them to enter their performance; when that happens, remote fixes can payment credentials in advance, which means they often be implemented.

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Gorm Tuxen, president of parking software provider IPsens, agrees. And he says that when equipment doesn’t come with its own monitoring software, independent monitoring technology can handle the task.

“Independent maintenance software allows streamlining of the preventive system maintenance procedures, allowing problems to be fixed remotely in many cases before dispatching expensive field service personnel,” Tuxen says. “It also provides an ongoing history of the performance of the hardware over time. It’s sort of like having an independent monitor on hand to make sure everything is working properly.”

Parking guidance is also an important part of the IoT. Sensors play a leading role in IoT connectivity in other industries and it stands to reason that they would play just as vital a role for the parking industry.

“Parking guidance technology provides constant two-way communication,” says Jake Bezzant, CEO of Parking Sense. “The sensors tell drivers where they can find available parking and at the same time, communicate with owners and operators, telling them which spots are full and when, and providing data about how long parkers occupy their spaces and which spaces are most popular within a structure.”

The benefits of this two-way communication are obvious. Drivers benefit by gaining convenient access to available parking while owners collect real-time data they can use to better manage their parking facilities and make informed planning decisions.

Connected parking technology is even making its way to America’s highways. Departments of transportation (DOT) in Florida and across the Midwest recently implemented systems combining parking guidance sensors and specialized software to help fatigued truck drivers find the closest available truck stop or rest area parking space.

The programs, which are managed separately by each state’s DOT, use parking sensors installed in truck stop and rest area parking spaces to monitor individual space availability and communicate that information to truck drivers via roadside signage and a specialized smartphone app. The systems are managed by a custom-made open source software platform with an application programming interface (API) that connects the system with the apps drivers use to find available parking, allowing drivers to connect with the system no matter where they are. The API can integrate to any network within a state’s system and is able to provide real-time data about where parking is available for tired drivers. All drivers have to do

is open the app on their phones and the technology does the rest.

“These programs are already saving lives, and they will become standard equipment on America’s highways over the next 10 years,” Tuxen says. “The technology allows truck drivers to constantly be connected with servers that can guide them to a safe resting place.

Ultimately, as smart cities mature, the same technology will be in our cars and will direct us to the closest available parking space to our downtown destinations.”

Looking to the Future As important as the IoT already is to our daily lives, it’s still in its infancy. As new parking technologies continue to be introduced and added to the grid of connected technologies, garages and vehicles will become more dependent upon them.

“Some of the advances we’ll come to rely on in the future are already in place,” Bezzant says. “For instance, many parking guidance sensors have Bluetooth chips to facilitate payment. In the future, this same Bluetooth technology will be able to manage reserved parking areas for autonomous vehicles, guide the vehicles to open spaces, and manage the transaction.”

According to Kupferman, when it comes to the IoT, the future is limited only by the limits of our imaginations.

“Connectivity offers so much promise for the future of parking, mobility, and transportation,” Kupferman says. “When all these connected technologies are tied together, we can build parking transportation suites that ensure a seamless parking experience while constantly collecting incredible amounts of data that can be used to manage parking facilities better.

“And more amazing breakthroughs are right around the corner,” he continues. “For instance, roadways can now be built with materials that include sensors and computer chips that can collect immense amounts of data about vehicle and pedestrian patterns. There’s even a connected glass road covering that, in addition to recording data, can permit lanes to be realigned in response to utilization patterns identified by its sensors. When it comes to IoT and mobility, the future really is unlimited.” ◆ BILL SMITH, APR, is principal of SmithPhillips Strategic Communications and contributing editor of Parking & Mobility. He can be reached at bsmith@smith-phillips. com or 603.491.4280.

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Technology,

Brainfood, and Networking

ABOUND

The 2019 IPMI Conference & Expo in Anaheim offered professional development, recognition, inspiration, connections, and so much more!

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A

CONFERENCE PHOTOS BY JOHN KREIS

GREAT TIME WAS HAD BY ALL! From dozens of education sessions, GameChangers, keynotes and panel discussions, and Shoptalks, to aisles and aisles of technologies and services at the Expo, to networking like nowhere else—even under the stars—the 2019 IPMI Conference & Expo lived up to its reputation as the biggest and best event in the parking and mobility industry. Four amazing days in Anaheim, Calif., brought together thousands of industry and related-industry professionals and experts, from newbies to seasoned executives, for an incredible amount of learning and inspiration.

Things kicked off with several pre-Conference courses presented by IPMI and the University of Virginia, along with TransportationCamp—a super-interactive unconference by IPMI and Mobility Lab, that saw attendees tackle the biggest challenges of today with an agenda they built that morning, expertise offered by everyone, and loads of sharing and inspiration. It was an unforgettable day that offered food for thought, solutions, collaboration, and a great look into the short- and long-term future of mobility.

First-time attendees enjoyed a breakfast bootcamp that oriented them to the Conference and sent them off with a great game plan to make the most of their experience—along with a few new friends. Connecting was easy at the Light the Night opening event—food trucks, music, glow-in-thedark corn hole, and fabulous company provided the perfect block-party evening of fun, deliciousness, and networking.

And facility tours offered firsthand looks into some of the innovative ways local leaders are transforming and growing their parking and mobility programs.

General sessions were crowded and with good reason: This year’s speakers and panelists offered 360-degree views of what the future holds and how parking and mobility professionals and organizations can best position themselves to play big roles. Larry Burns, former head of research and development at General Motors, consultant to Waymo, and author of “Autonomy: The Quest to Build the Driverless Car—and How it Will Reshape Our World,” engaged the audience with a look

at electric, autonomous technology and how it will grow in the next five to 20 years. Parking has a major role to play, he said, but it’s all about investing in that future now. He offered statistics, information, and a glimpse into how smart industry professionals will start changing how they think and what investments they make to play a big part in the way people get around when the vision of autonomous, shared vehicles becomes the norm.

IPMI’s Tuesday General Session provided a little something different – a panel of city leaders discussing innovation in our cities. The dynamic discussion ranged from smart cities and planning for an asset-light future, to disruptive and leading technologies, the value of the curb, planning for greater efficiency, and the future of parking as an industry.

Moderated by Rachel Yoka, CAPP, IPMI vice president of program development, the panel brought together Jay W. Kim, PE, assistant general manager, Los Angeles Department of Transportation; Art Noriega, chief executive officer, Miami Parking Authority; and David Stein, director of parking and planning, NYC Department of Transportation for a rapid-fire, cutting-edge conversation.

The annual presentation of awards recognized innovative people and projects in the industry with a great dose of inspiration and takeaways (see the June issue for more on this).

And in a proud moment for the industry, this year’s new CAPP certificants walked the stage and received their certificates to much well-deserved applause.

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F

EDUCATION

ROM CURB MANAGEMENT—definitely the hot topic

of the year—to sustainability to using data and beyond, this year’s education sessions were hugely popular. There was also fun to be had, from a Family Feud-modeled game to a white-coated “data doctor” and beyond, learning came with laughter and participation. GameChanger sessions offered dives into cutting-edge technologies and hot trends, while the ever-popular Shoptalks grouped participants into industry segments to discuss and brainstorm on specific topics and challenges they’re facing—along with a top networking opportunity.

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M

GOLF

ORE THAN 150 GOLFERS TEED UP for a day of

fun, friendly competition, food, and fundraising for the CAPP Scholarship Fund at this year’s William M. Voigt CAPP Classic Golf Tournament at the Tustin Ranch Golf Club. There’s nothing quite like a day on the links in California’s spectacular weather, especially when it funds scholarship opportunities for CAPP candidates—a win-win for sure.

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T

THE 2019 EXPO HIS YEAR’S EXPO BROUGHT TOGETHER hundreds of technology and service providers

who shared their expertise and their products—there was a ton of learning going on! Fun came onto the scene with acrobats, dog snuggles, games, and plenty of themed swag all over the massive hall. Learning Labs scheduled throughout Expo hours saw mini-seminars about all things new and innovative from top experts, while Engage presentations in the IPMI Community Center offered tips and information on making the most of association memberships. A big draw was the Startup Pavilion, bringing together new companies with industry members looking for innovation and the next great things. And, as always, walking the aisles offered limitless opportunities to meet and connect with others from around the world—we can’t begin to guess how many business cards exchanged hands!

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PARKING-MOBILITY.ORG / JULY 2019 / PARKING & MOBILITY 45

THIS YEAR’S TOP BOOTHS 2019 Best in Show Winners

100-300 sq ft 1st place – Vigilant Solutions – Booth 751 (left to right) Sean Bruecken, Heather Richardson, Mark Alper, Alexandra Wells, Susan Crandall, IPMI Chair Roamy Valera, Alex Tallentire, Steven Leshinger, Bill Geraghty

400-600 sq ft Gotcha Group (left to right) Wesley Swymer, Griffin Blackwelder, Stefan Winkler, Caroline Walker, Kristina Matthews, IPMI Chair Roamy Valera

2nd place – Indect USA Corporation – Booth 448 (left to right) Stephens Evans, Dylan Prep, Michael Warren, Joseph Livingston, IPMI Chair Roamy Valera.

800+ sq ft and larger Flowbird – Booth 721 Backrow to front row (left to right) Benoit Reliquet, Sally Donatiello, William Johannsen, David Guevara, Tom Szubka, Scott Fox, Sean Renn, Peter MacDonald, IPMI Chair Roamy Valera, Julianne Wilhelm, Rachel Smith, Kerry Loomis, Andreas Jansson

3rd place – Timothy Haahs & Associates, Inc – Booth 541 (left to right) Mike App, Christina Haahs, IPMI Chair Roamy Valera

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PEOPLE’S CHOICE AWARD - Flowbird – Booth 721

OTHER WINNERS FOR PRIZES SCANVenger Hunt Prizes

First Place $500 Omar Garcia, City of Tucson, Park Tucson

Second Place Apple Airpods Michael Randolph – University of Pennsylvania

Third Place $50 Amazon Gift Card Cameron Neufeld, University of Manitoba

Second Chance Prize Winner $175 Disney Gift Cards Stacy Stockard, Texas Tech University

50,000 LOYALTY BRAND POINT WINNERS FOR HOST HOTELS (inside block) Hilton – Heather Matthews, University of Vermont Marriott – Ryan Connaghan, Penn State

AWARDS AND RECOGNITION

E

VERY YEAR, outstanding industry profes-

sionals are recognized with special awards.

IPMI Chairman Roamy Valera, CAPP, presented several dedicated professionals with special awards this year:

Chairman’s Awards Chairman’s Awards were presented to Maria Irshad, CAPP, MPA, assistant director, ParkHouston; and Brett Wood, CAPP, PE, parking and transportation consultant, Kimley Horn, for their outstanding dedication to IPMI and the greater industry.

Lifetime Achievement Awards This year’s IPMI Lifetime Achievement Awards were presented to Barbara Chance, PhD, CEO, CHANCE Management Advisors, Inc.; and Brian Scoggins, CAPP, director of consulting services, SP+.

For more information on this year’s Chairman’s and Lifetime Achievement Awards, please visit parking-mobility.org and navigate to IPMI and Member News.

In addition to those awards, new Parksmart certified properties and Accredited Parking Organizations were recognized, along with other awards. For more information, see the IPMI and Member News section of parking-mobility.org and the June issue of Parking & Mobility.

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LIGHTING THE NIGHT

P

ARKING AND MOBILITY is

known as a very friendly and supportive industry and bringing together several thousand members in an outdoor block party proved it—as the song says, oh what a night!

A variety of food trucks offered great food while music and dancing, glowin-the-dark games, and plenty of camaraderie and laughter filled the evening under lights, bright stars, and palm trees. It was definitely a highlight of the year!

Save the Date!

Have a great week in Anaheim? Mark your calendars now and save May 31 - June 3 for the 2020 IPMI Conference & Expo in San Antonio, Texas! Our boots are already tapping—see you there!

Thanks to our Logos Strategic Partners, who make #IPMI2019 possible: HUB - White

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IN

short

Highlights from the IPMI Blog

HOW CONGESTION AFFECTS AIRPORT PARKING

By Tim Maloney With airports adapting to ride-share disruption with extra fees or complete overhauls of their dropoff and pick-up stations, many have questioned how to get more travelers parking. Their concerns are valid: According to the Worcester Business Journal, Uber and Lyft drivers made 12 million trips to and from Logan International Airport in 2018.

Even though ride-share has disrupted the decades-old airport parking ecosystem, driving is still a transportation route many travelers take and parking represents a significant revenue opportunity for airports.

As ride-share popularity grows, so does the cost to the rider. The industry has already seen fee spikes at airports where ride-share is taking over the curb. Those fees are passed onto the passenger and can make the cost of their ride more unpredictable than ever. Between charges and surge pricing during peak hours, unpredictable amounts of money leave the traveler’s pocket and the airport customer experience weakens.

Travelers try to pick their driver’s silver sedan out from a sea of identical cars while their post-trip frustration grows.

One way airport customers minimize this frustration is with planning. The end goal is to make it to the gate at the perfect time by controlling as many factors as possible. Travel factors include stops between home and the airport, the accuracy of the driver, and the overall ride-share experience. Parking is a solution to airport travel frustration. By making it easier for travelers to plan their trip in advance and park, we give airport customers control.

Regardless of how the everyday traveler is getting to and from the airport, everything will need a place

to park–temporarily while waiting, or for the longterm. Getting ride-share vehicles off the road and into queue lots reduces frustrating congestion around the terminal. In the future, autonomous vehicle fleets will need rest spots while they wait to be summoned.

While airport parking adapts to the mobility revolution, integrating our technologies can solve urban congestion.

Driving and parking remain at the root of the industry, regardless of the limitless options travelers are given. Figuring out a way for airports to maximize parking revenue by making it easy for all vehicles, whether personally owned or ride-share, to park and not contribute to congestion is vital. The mobility revolution has created space for technology, integrations, and partnerships TIM MALONEY is director, strategic partnerships with

SpotHero.

Ready for more? Read IPMI’s blog every business day in your daily Forum digest email (10 a.m. Eastern) or at parking-mobility.org/blog.

Have something to say? Send post submissions to editor Kim Fernandez at fernandez@parking-mobility.org.

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FOLLOW UP: ELLICOTT CITY FLOOD

By David Feehan Several weeks ago, I wrote about disaster planning and the horrendous flood that nearly destroyed downtown Ellicott City, Md. Now, County Executive Calvin Ball has proposed a more expensive flood mitigation plan for the city. The price tag could easily reach $140 million–no small number for a relatively small town.

I worked for a number of years in Kalamazoo, Mich., as the president of the downtown organization, Downtown Kalamazoo Incorporated. We had negotiated a novel contract to manage the city downtown parking system. One of the challenges was to incorporate parking planning into the massive Arcadia Commons project, which would encompass several blocks of downtown in a 100-year flood plain.

With recent flooding of downtowns in the Midwest, isn’t it time to think seriously about how parking systems can not only survive downtown floods, but be used creatively to mitigate damage to the overall community?

I’m no civil engineer. But I would like to challenge IPMI members who are engineers to come up with new ideas as to how parking lots and garages can be used as part of an overall flood control program. Certainly stormwater retention pools,

rain gardens, and other engineering features can be used to proactively anticipate flood conditions and lessen damage to other structures.

Climate change is almost certainly going to increase the severity of flooding. We should be thinking about not only how to avoid damage to our systems, both physically and financially, but about how we can be part of a larger strategy to mitigate damage and reduce cost.

DAVID FEEHAN is president of Civitas Consultants, LLC.

UNLOCKING THE POWER OF PRICING TO DRIVE REVENUE

By Guy Barnes Time to plan your next vacation. Choose a destination—check.

Book your flights and lodging—check, check. You’re happy to do this in advance, securing a spot and locking in your price.

Travelers have grown to expect to make these purchases online. We demand a choice of products and services, and we want what we buy to be digitally-accessible, convenient, and immediate.

Now back to booking your trip…have you thought about whether space in your preferred parking lot will be available when you get to the airport? If only you could pre-book a parking spot and lock in the price you will pay.

Trailblazing airports around the world, like Raleigh-Durham and Avinor Oslo, are actively growing pre-book parking and using data and analytics to offer the right parking product to the right customer, at the right price, at the right time. It’s a practice called revenue management and it’s been used by airlines and hotels for decades. Not only does it improve the traveler experience, but it optimizes occupancy and maximizes parking revenue.

It’s quite simple. A parking spot, like an airplane seat, is a perishable asset. If the spot isn’t filled, it doesn’t generate any revenue for that day. If it’s filled at a low price when the consumer is willing to pay more, the business misses out on additional revenue.

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It’s also quite complex. How do you pick the perfect price that factors in demand, price sensitivity, and varied arrival dates and lengths of stay? Thanks to advances in automated analytics technology, sophisticated tools are now available that replace guesswork with empirical science and data-driven pricing decisions.

It’s only a matter of time before booking a place for your car to stay is just another step in the planning process of your next getaway.

GUY BARNES is head of global sales, parking, with IDeaS

Revenue Solutions.

Bicycles and gate arms • Skateboarders • Dashboardstyle enforcement • Pigeons in ramps • Parking lot inspection sheet • Shift differentials • Overnight pay • On-street parking without time limits • Chalking tires • Citation counts with LPR • Shared parking • Airport

I’ll take my morning coffee with Forum, please.

employee parking benchmarking • EV planning ratio • Categorizing bikes, scooters • Mobile payments • Restoration services RFP • Parking garage fires • Ridesharing staging agreement • Using data effectively • Unbundled parking • Installing and removal of meter poles • Street sweeping operations • School permits in RPP zones • Customer loyalty programs • Meter hoods • Fees for EV charging • Parking enforcement of oversized vehicles • Ramp/garage speed signs • Art murals on garage facades • Parking revenue audit RFP • Pre-payments and reserved parking • Disabled parking • Cam-

Every day, the latest discussions on

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Forum, along with the daily IPMI Blog

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post, are delivered to your inbox –

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brewed just right for connecting

methodology • Violation policies • Private-public part-

with colleagues, stimulating ideas, and energizing your work life. Look under the coffee cup to get a taste of the stimulating topics swirling about lately.

nership agreements • On-demand shuttle RFP • Parking deck agreements • Donor parking privileges • Gate arm unattended facility intercoms • Rotary car carousels • Bike-sharing polices • Reverse back-in parking • Boot and tow • Suicide in garages • Snow emergency plans • Passenger counting systems • Salaries • Sample RFPs • Collection agency recovery rates • Car fire SOP • Compact car definition • Game day operations and tailgating • Capitalization rate for on-street spaces • Fireworks viewing atop parking garages • LPR retention

Open 24/7

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policy • Pavement marking tape • Motorcycle parking ordinance • Alternative transportation apps • Expectant mother parking • Left side ADA parallel parking • Smartphone lot • Depreciation model for asphalt maintenance

/ IPMI IN ACTION / IPMI 2019 LEADERSHIP SUMMIT

Taking Your Team to the Next Level

T

By Rita Pagan

HE 2019 IPMI LEADERSHIP SUMMIT, designed for both up-and-coming and seasoned

professionals, offers attendees the opportunity to learn and collaborate in an intimate setting. The event is designed to foster connections and engage the parking, transportation, and mobility community. IPMI will host this year’s event in October in Steel City—Pittsburgh, Pa.—the perfect place to see innovation and change at work in our industry.

IPMI will deliver all new content from powerful speakers on the leadership topics you need to hear.

Here’s your sneak peek at a few of the topics we will tackle: ■■ Bravery and Failure: Risk Tolerance, Project Success, and Lessons Learned—A Panel Discussion.

■■ Be the CFO of Your Personal Finances.

■■ How Big Tech Fosters Diversity and Inclusion.

■■ How to Free Up Capacity for the Work that Matters Most.

■■ The Practical Coach: How to Stretch and Develop Others While Getting Work Done.

■■ Mind

Yo’ Data. and Life Balance 2.0: The Shift to Whole Living.

Build relationships with an amazing and inspiring group of peers, and get your competitive side out and about at our sports-themed Game Night Mixer. Join in our opening welcome reception with the IPMI Board of Directors, and get all the free consulting you can handle from our subject matter experts at the hubs.

If you attended last year, be sure to join us, or send a team member (or two)!

If you didn’t have the chance, make this your year.

We are limited to 100 IPMI members for this oneof-a-kind experience. Creative sponsorships available.

Register today at parking-mobility.org/100. ◆ ■■ Work

52 PARKING & MOBILITY / JULY 2019 / PARKING-MOBILITY.ORG

SHUTTERSTOCK / BANANA OIL

RITA PAGAN is IPMI’s events and exhibits manager. She can be reached at pagan@ parking-mobility.org.

SAV E T H E DAT E CONFERENCE & EXPO

TEXAS

2020 May 31- June 3

Mark your calendar! Save the date for the world’s largest parking, mobility, & transportation event – the 2020 IPMI Conference & Expo.

IPMIConference.parking-mobility.org

/ STATE & REGIONAL SPOTLIGHT/PENNSYLVANIA PARKING ASSOCIATION

Pennsylvania Parking Association Affects the Future of the Industry

T

By Michelle R. Porter, CAPP

HE PENNSYLVANIA PARKING ASSOCIATION (PPA) has had an active year. We have

seen a growth in membership and event attendee numbers, held successful events, and sought to identify and influence issues and policies that have and will continue to affect the industry in our state and beyond.

Annual Conference and Fall Training During the past year, we were able to successfully transition our two primary events. For the first time, we held our annual conference in the spring and offered our annual training program in the fall.

Our first Spring Conference & Golf Outing, held in Pittsburgh in May 2018, focused on upcoming changes in mobility and technology in cities and real estate developments throughout Pennsylvania. Attendees learned about the latest trends affecting parking and transportation throughout the state, how trends in real estate development and mobility will shape the future of parking design, and how technology will continue to evolve and affect our industry.

54 PARKING & MOBILITY / JULY 2019 / PARKING-MOBILITY.ORG

Our Fall Training program, held at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pa., focused on “Controlling the Curb.”

Leaders from numerous regional parking authorities, and other parking management experts, discussed their approach to these changes and how they anticipate this issue to develop.

Finally, the PPA held our second Annual Spring Conference & Golf Outing in Philadelphia May 8–10.

The knowledge offered at these events provided attendees with the assets they need to enhance and improve their parking operation back home and effectively serve their patrons. These programs also provided essential education, networking, and professional development opportunities.

Transportation Network Company Legislation In addition to focusing on curb management as the theme of our Fall Training program, the PPA has also begun an effort to use our experience and resources to influence a local parking and transportation issue. We understand that curb management is a significant issue moving forward in our industry, and we are committed to engaging our members on this topic and providing the information and resources necessary to help them manage this complex issue.

The PPA has been asked to participate in a working group to help formulate, advise, and advocate for new legislation that will be proposed in the state Legislature in the coming months related to transportation network company (TNC) regulations. The current Pennsylvania TNC statute expires later this year, and the PPA is dedicated to providing the valuable insight and necessary resources to positively impact the updated legislation.

We expect to hold a webinar for members in the near future to provide an update on the progress of this initiative.

As always, we want to thank our members and sponsors for their continued support of the PPA. We look forward to continuing to provide valuable education, networking opportunities, and technical expertise for parking, transportation, and mobility professionals from around Pennsylvania and beyond. ◆ MICHELLE R. PORTER, CAPP, is director of parking and transportation services at Carnegie Mellon University. She can be reached at mporter@andrew.cmu.edu.

PARKING-MOBILITY.ORG / JULY 2019 / PARKING & MOBILITY 55

/ Propark America Announces Rebrand To Propark Mobility The name change reinforces the company’s investment in innovation and the changing mobility landscape.

The nation’s largest privately-owned parking company, formerly known as Propark America, has changed its name to Propark Mobility. The rebranding of the company reflects its growing involvement in transportation and ­mobility solutions.

“Propark has always been an innovator, an industry market leader and a pioneer in forward-thinking technologies. In a rapidly changing mobility world, and in that spirit of innovation, I am so excited to announce that we are changing our name to reflect the evolution in the urban mobility marketplace from Propark America to Propark Mobility,” explained Propark Mobility’s Chief Executive Officer, John Schmid.

“This change reflects our forward-thinking shift from parking cars to the new landscape of mobility services, and contemplates the intersection of mobile intelligence and smart garages in the new era of urban mobility within city centers.”

Repositioned as a technology company, Propark Mobility is the compilation of disruptive technology strategies that reflect the patterns of the mobility options that are now available to accelerate ease of movement within urban ecosystems. The new urban garage is now a sustainable “neighborhood-centric nest” for mobility services, including electric vehicle charging stations, mobile phone parking apps, mass transit connectivity hubs, package delivery locker stations, and much more.

“We realize the urban garage in a smart city is a mobility facilitator. We also understand the importance of big data and analytics and have made significant investments into providing more value for our clients,” continued Schmid. “We recognize the mobility landscape is rapidly changing and that real estate asset valuation will be contingent on forward thinking adaptability.”

Park Assist Awarded Parking Guidance System Contract for Park SFO Park Assist was awarded the parking guidance system (PGS) for Park SFO, located in South San Francisco, Calif. Located just minutes from San Francisco International Airport, the facility has been in business for more than 30 years, providing travelers with a state-of-the-art parking facility at a reasonable price. Park Assist’s M4 Parking Guidance System is being installed into Park SFO’s new parking structure, which will contain over 1,500 parking stalls when completed.

With convenience in mind, Park SFO chose to implement Park Assist’s M4 PGS with Park Finder, mobile API, and park alerts. The M4 camera-based smart-sensor PGS is used to help quickly and effortlessly guide visitors to available parking spaces. The patented, camera-based technology guides visitors upon entry to vacant spots using color-coded

56 PARKING & MOBILITY / JULY 2019 / PARKING-MOBILITY.ORG

smart-sensors, saving visitors time and getting them to their destination faster. Upon return, travelers will easily be able to locate their vehicle using Park Assist’s Park Finder integrated with a mobile API. Parkers simply enter their license plate number, and Park Assist’s M4 system quickly searches the database to find the car’s exact location using license plate recognition technology. Parking management will also gain valuable controls over the garage with Park Alerts. The software product is designed to ensure compliance with parking policies is upheld. Automated alerts signal parking management that a vehicle has been improperly parked.

“Park Assist is excited to partner with Park SFO to deliver a convenient, efficient, and stress-free parking experience for their customers,” says Vince Balsamo, general manager of Park Assist, North America.

Coord Introduces Curb Analytics Coord announces Curb Analytics, the first data tool designed specifically for curbs. Curb Analytics presents asset data and regulations in a highly visual and adaptable way, making it easier for city agencies, engineering firms, and urban planners to see the effect curbs have on their cities’ mobility.

Curb Analytics works with Surveyor and Coord’s API, giving users a simple way to view, analyze, and interpret curb features and regulations, exactly as they are in each metro area.

Curb Analytics presents both curb assets and curb regulations through an interactive map, along with tools to help analyze the data and make more informed decisions and recommendations.

The first step in using Curb Analytics is getting the data. Coord has already collected data in New York, N.Y.; Seattle, Wash.; Los Angeles, Calif.; and San Francisco, Calif., with more cities coming soon. Users can also collect curb data through Surveyor or integrate existing curb data into the platform.

Once the data is inside Coord’s system, it’s run through the rules engine to figure out what the curb information means for people who want to park, pick up or drop off passengers, or load and unload goods. The data is presented in two different map views that allow users to see curb data in detail as well as get aggregate statistics about the curbs in a particular area or across the whole city.

The Asset map helps cities better manage the physical assets that live on the curb. It gives users a direct visualization of curb asset inventory, such as curb paint, parking spaces, fire hydrants, and more to answer questions. It can answer questions such as: ■■ How many feet of curb are painted red in a downtown area?

■■ Which streets in a given neighborhood are missing street cleaning signs?

■■ Which intersections have accessible tactile curb ramps?

The Regulations map shows the exact rules of the curb. This includes what uses curb space is designated for (such as parking, loading, or street cleaning); who is allowed to use the space (such as motorcyclists, trucks, or handicapped placard holders); how much users have to pay to park in a given parking spot; and how long they’re allowed to stay there.

The Regulations map helps answer: ■■ How many spaces are reserved for truck loading and unloading in the mornings?

■■ How many designated accessible parking spaces are there in a particular commercial area?

■■ Which neighborhoods have the most taxi stands?

■■ Where are all of the 30-minute parking spots in the city?

Curb Analytics makes it easy to export the data to share and analyze further. Not only can you export into a GeoJSON file or a Shapefile for use in GIS software, you can also export as PDF, complete with beautiful charts, making presentations a snap.

TimHaahs Participates in Newark Green Street Mixeduse Facility Groundbreaking

Timothy Haahs & Associates, Inc. (TimHaahs) is working with the Newark Parking Authority (NPA) on the upcoming Green Street Mixed-use Facility in Newark, N.J. The project officially broke ground this spring, kicking off this transformative community project.

TimHaahs is providing prime design services, including architectural, structural engineering, and parking planning and design services, for the 640-space parking facility, which will also include retail space, serve as the new NPA headquarters and finance department, and provide a liner building to accommodate municipal court and office space.

The design of the parking facility will complement the historic setting of the surrounding area, including Newark City Hall, the Newark City Hall Annex, and the Historic U.S. Post Office and Courthouse. The project is important to the redevelopment and revitalization of this area of Newark and will contribute to the overall public benefit.

The facility will provide much-needed parking to the city, including reserved spaces for city employees. The garage will also serve the nearby event parking at the Prudential Center, which hosts numerous sporting events and concerts throughout the year.

PARKING-MOBILITY.ORG / JULY 2019 / PARKING & MOBILITY 57

/ Reading, U.K., Opts for New Smart Parking System from APT Skidata Reading Borough Council in the U.K. chose an innovative parking solution from APT Skidata to deliver an enhanced customer experience for visitors to two car parks in the town, including the upgraded Broad Street Mall car park, which can accommodate more than 700 vehicles.

Central to the new contract is APT Skidata’s skiosk Smart ‘Parking’ solution, a new cashless payment kiosk with interactive touchscreen display that is redefining the customer and operator experience and creating a new class of payment terminal.

Designed to help car park operators expand their current business model, skiosk Smart ‘Parking’ provides users and operators with multiple payment options, supporting both barcode and RFID reading technologies. The handling of banknotes and coins can also be accommodated, thus maximizing customer choice.

At the heart of the new system is a 10.4-inch touchscreen display in full HD color (a 21.5-inch display is also available as an

option), providing customers with clear and simple information and operating instructions and a split-screen function to enable operators to sell advertising space. This not only provides an additional source of income, but also allows operators to add further value to the customer journey by targeting specific promotions.

A particular innovation is that the screen can be adjusted to different heights to accommodate varying customer needs, including mobility issues. The coin slot is also in a more accessible position, and a special amplifier links to AFILS-compatible hearing aids to provide improved intelligibility and sound quality.

Pete Brown, managing director of APT Skidata, says he is delighted with the council’s decision to use skiosk. “Reading Borough Council is leading the way in adopting new technologies to deliver a better customer experience and attracting shoppers into the town,” he says.

APT Skidata is a joint venture of SWARCO AG and Skidata AG in Austria.

Passio Technologies Acquires ParaPlan Software Passio announced that ParaPlan software is now a part of the Passio family.

Passio will acquire the assets, people, software, and customer contracts of EnGraph, LLC. The new company will operate as Passio Technologies, Inc. and will continue to be headquartered in Atlanta, Ga., with regional offices in Greenville, S.C., and Lenexa, Kan. ParaPlan Software has been a provider of paratransit, non-emergency medical transport (NEMT), and on-demand technology for more than 20 years. The company has a deep understanding of the paratransit and NEMT industries. By using customer feedback and close personal relationships, they have developed a product that runs operations more efficiently, makes driv-

ers lives easier, and empowers riders.

The combined company will have over 200 customers throughout the U.S. and Canada.

Passio Technologies is a service-oriented transit company dedicated to developing technology to meet the specific needs of transit and shuttle systems. Passengers, operators, and managers benefit significantly from right-sized transit technology solutions.

Whether for light-duty shuttle buses or heavy-use transit systems, technology improves the rider’s experience, enhances operational ability, and increases management’s visibility. Passio’s customers include leading universities, airports, corporations, health care systems, and cities. The company provides

58 PARKING & MOBILITY / JULY 2019 / PARKING-MOBILITY.ORG

passengers with real-time apps and manages services and resources instantly from the field or the office.

EnGraph and Passio’s growth and commitment to changing the world through mobility mirror each other in many ways. Both companies are actively managed by their founders and owners; focus on customer support, retention, and responsiveness above all else; have a mission to create an environment in which employees are valued and heard and believe in the mission.

Incorporating ParaPlan software and Engraph’s team of dedicated and visionary professionals into the Passio team will provide customers with the tools they need to meet the increasing needs of their passengers.

City of Trenton Modernizes Parking System in Partnership with Flowbird The City of Trenton, N.J., has begun the long-awaited upgrade to the city’s aging parking meters, replacing old, broken meters with Flowbird’s Strada multispace pay stations. At press time, 22 of 83 pay stations were installed, providing motorists with additional payment methods and customer ease.

The easy-to-use solarpowered Flowbird Strada Pay Stations will be installed on the majority of blocks and in downtown parking lots throughout Trenton. The pay stations feature a seven-inch, full-color display screen that walks users step-by-step through the transaction, accepting coins, bills, credit cards, and debit cards at all pay stations.

Users will get a receipt at the end of the transaction and place it on their dashboard for enforcement officers.

The new Flowbird system brings the ability for the pay stations to alert city technicians of any maintenance issues so uptime can be optimized. Flowbird’s robust cloud-based data intelligence platform also provides secure and actionable information to city staff, such as metrics, data visualization, and automated reporting.

“This is something we’ve been trying to do in the Capital City for a long time, and we anticipate that the new parking system will have a very positive impact on downtown Trenton,” says Mayor Reed Gusciora. “Paying for parking will be very convenient, and the data we collect will let us create better parking policies to make finding a parking space much easier.”

The parking upgrade comes as a resolution to a parking problem years in the making. According to the city council, the city was losing thousands of dollars of revenue each year due to broken meters.

Parking enforcement officers were only able to ticket cars at some of the city’s meters because many meters were broken or missing.

Downtown business owners reported that broken meters allowed employees to park in front of their stores all day for free, taking up spots that should be available for customers. With the new pay stations, the city council believes businesses will now draw more customers because parking enforcement will produce more open spaces.

According to Gusciora, the city has been taking in just more than $100,000 each year in parking revenue, but with the combination of new meters, kiosks, and enforcement, the city will be able to bring in more than $1 million a year.

The remainder of the 83 Flowbird Strada Pay Stations are scheduled to be rolled out this summer, starting in higher traffic areas.

PARKING-MOBILITY.ORG / JULY 2019 / PARKING & MOBILITY 59

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/ Aims Parking. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

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leonardocompany-us.com 877.773.5724 parkmobile.io 678.681.9433

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quercus-technologies.com +34977300377 richassoc.com 248.353.5080

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timhaahs.com 484.342.0200 tnrdoors.com 705.792.9968

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/ CALENDAR

2019 JULY 24-26

SEPTEMBER 25–27

NOVEMBER 16

Pacific Intermountain Parking & Transportation Association 2019 Conference & Expo

Southwest Parking and Transportation Association Fall Conference

Transportation Network Companies: The Uber/Lyft Effect at HartsfieldJackson Atlanta International Airport

pipta.org

southwestparking.org

JULY 25-26

SEPTEMBER 29– OCTOBER 2

Boise, Idaho

Florida Parking & Transportation Association Educational Seminar University of North Florida

Las Vegas, Nev.

IPMI Webinar

Campus Parking and Transportation Association University of Missouri, Columbia

flapta.org

cptaonline.org

JULY 31 How to Cater Excellent Customer Service on a Multi-building Property

by Maximizing Shuttle Routes IPMI Webinar

IPMI Leadership Summit Pittsburgh, Pa.

OCTOBER 9–11

AUGUST 14 New England Parking Council 10 Annual Charity Golf Tournament

th

Stow, Mass.

newenglandparkingcouncil.org

AUGUST 14 Shared Mobility and Technologies’ Effects on Parking Design and Curbside Management IPMI Webinar

Florida Parking and Transportation Association Conference & Tradeshow Clearwater Beach, Fla.

DECEMBER 13 Campus Cruzin’: Everything You Need to Know to Operate a Successful Scooter and University Partnership

New York State Parking & Transportation Association Fall Conference & Expo

IPMI Webinar

nysparkingandtransportation.com

2020

Saratoga Springs, NY

OCTOBER 15 Parksmart Advisor — Online, Instructor-Led Training begins parking-mobility.org/parksmart

parking-mobility.org/webinars

OCTOBER 16–18

SEPTEMBER 10, 12, 17 & 19 APO Online Site Reviewer Course

Parking Association of the Virginias 2019 Annual Fall Workshop and Tradeshow

www.parking-mobility.org/professionaldevelopment/education-and-training/

Williamsburg, Va. pavonline.org

SEPTEMBER 18

OCTOBER 23-24

To Email, Text or Meet? That is the Perpetual Question!

2019 Brazilian Parking & Mobility Conference

parking-mobility.org/webinars

abrapark.com/br

IPMI Webinar

DECEMBER 2–6

flapta.org

OCTOBER 3–4 parking-mobility.org/100

parking-mobility.org/webinars

parking-mobility.org/webinar

parking-mobility.org/webinars

MAY 31 - JUNE 3, 2020 IPMI Conference & Expo San Antonio, Texas

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Sao Paulo, Brazil

PARKING-MOBILITY.ORG / JULY 2019 / PARKING & MOBILITY 63

W W W . PARKING-MOBILITY. OR G

In Case You Missed It...

ON THE BLOG a Court Decision That Could Undermine Downtown Planning Across the ➚➚InU.S.,Saginaw,

by Shawn Conrad, CAE

➚➚Creating a Sense of Community Through Parking. ➚➚Correction vs. Encouragement, by Jay Manno ➚➚Making Time for Mentoring, by John Mason, CAPP, PMP, QIR ➚➚Follow-up: Ellicott City Flood, by David Feehan these and more (and submit our own posts) at parking-mobility.org/blog and in ➚➚Read your daily Forum email.

AT THE FORUM

➚➚Policies and procedures governing parklets. ➚➚Reserving space for visitors at colleges and universities. ➚➚Parking enterprise funds. ➚➚LPR best practices. ➚➚Body cameras for PEOs. ➚➚Ideas for facility rules signage. your own questions, offer your expertise, and network with colleagues from ➚➚Ask around the world at forum.parking-mobility.org.

ON THE LEADERSHIP SUMMIT SITE Summit! Read about this year’s speakers and sessions, plan your ➚➚Leadership networking events, and resister. parking-mobility.org/100. development! Sign up for webinars, take online courses, and schedule ➚➚Professional your CAPP exam.

➚➚Resource Center! Read white papers, look up research, and review past articles. ➚➚Get certified! APO, Parksmart, and CAPP—all at your fingertips. ➚➚Don’t miss it. parking-mobility.org.

All from your desk, on your time, at parking-mobility.org.

64 PARKING & MOBILITY / JULY 2019 / PARKING-MOBILITY.ORG

San Diego, CA – IPS Smart City

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Gumby and Gumby characters are trademarks of Prema Toy Company, Inc. All rights reserved. Š2018 Prema Toy Company, Inc.

JULY 2019

/ LOOKING FORWARD WITH DAVE ONORATO, CAPP / A REALIST ON THE FUTURE OF PARKING / THE IOT / MUNICIPAL CASE STUDY / #IPMI2019 WRAP-UP