Parking & Mobility — February 2023

The Changing Face of Transportation

Exploring the ever-evolving modes of transit and micro-mobility, the impact of equity, and the future of multi-modal transportation planning.

26University of Colorado Goes Electric

How one university is promoting a ZEV lifestyle through transportation infrastructure, fleets & on-campus buses.

By RJ Harrington

34A Story of Transformation

Today’s Parking and Mobility Professional

By Tom Szubka,

CAPP, and Tania

Schleck

42Scooter Parking

Six Insights from Three Years of Research

By Nicholas Klein, Anne Brown, and Calvin Thigpen

COLUMNS

By Mark Lyons, CAPP

By Rajiv Jain

WHEN I THINK ABOUT multi-modal transportation planning and the evolution of transit and micromobility—I picture a coral reef. Weird, right? Well, as a parking and mobility sector transplant, I suppose I tend to think about our world a little differently than the locals. And when I visualize the world of parking and mobility, I see an ecosystem. It looks like a coral reef.

By Kate Kruk

By Josh Kavanagh, CAPP

By Maggie DiPaolo, PHR, SHRM-CP

An ecosystem is an environment consisting of biotic and abiotic components that function together as a unit - living things and non-living things that create a community consisting of different types of populations coexisting to thrive. It becomes a factor of the community PLUS its environment, and the two need to work together in concert to achieve harmony. Every living thing on a coral reef serves its purpose. Every creature’s survival leads in some way to the success and survival of the whole. All the happenings are driven by changes to the environment and the need to adapt to survive.

By Steven Fernstrom

As my son used to say when he was little—same/same. That is how I see the future of parking and mobility. The environment in which the parking and mobility community exists is changing, rapidly. It will require the entire ecosystem to come together and adapt. But hey, from what I have heard and seen, that is what you all do best.

A partial shift to virtual work will have an impact on parking, but it’s an adaptive flashpoint to rethink parking and how we use it. The electrification and automation of vehicles are leading to new opportunities for parking, not eliminating the need for it.

By Michael W. Tudor, CAPP

The push for sustainability in mobility has led to increased applications for not only traditional bikes and scooters but e-bikes and e-scooters—new additions to the ecosystem to adapt to the environment. The migration from gas to electric for fleets, buses, and trains continues to play a role in the greening of mobility and transportation.

Over half a billion people depend on coral reefs for food, income, and protection. I would go out on a limb and say that about the same, if not more, depend on the mobility ecosystem for survival as well. This issue is dedicated to examining some of the ways our community continues to grow, adapt, and support our ecosystem. I hope it gives you some food for thought and starts conversations. As always, thanks for spending some time with us. We look forward to hearing your thoughts, coral reefs or otherwise!

Melissa Rysak, editor rysak@parking-mobility.org

PUBLISHER

Shawn Conrad, CAE conrad@parking-mobility.org

EDITOR

Melissa Rysak, CPSM rysak@parking-mobility.org

TECHNICAL EDITOR

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

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Changing Face of Transportation EV, TDM,

Active Modes

By Mark Lyons, CAPP

IT SEEMS HARD TO BELIEVE that I spent the past 33 years involved in industries that move people around from one place to another.

During that time, I stepped away from parking for a few years but remained in business development, airports operation, and finding ways to move people cost efficiently. Mobility has always been at the core of my experiences. What I see now is a metamorphosis of our industry and requires we all stay engaged in exploring new ideas and modes of travel.

The world’s view on mobility is changing in the broadest sense of the meaning. Modernizing and managing mobility is a huge business. Whether it is a vendor service pushing wheelchairs in airports, the monitoring scooter and bike rentals, or providing shuttle services for airports and cities, increasing awareness of transportation is done on a micromobility level in today’s world. What does that mean to those of us spending time in this whacky world? It means that we have to look deep into the ways and means of local operations, strive to improve equitable access, and be the progressive voice that encourages these types of infrastructure changes.

Buy why do we need to take this action? Because if we do not expand our thinking about how to connect mobility options, equipment interfaces, and the people we serve, then we will stand to be left behind in the biggest paradigm shift of our industry. Today’s service includes trollies and scooters. Tomorrow’s innovation might be selective advanced parking of on-street spaces. Advancing the means of more efficient use of alternative modes, such as electric charging spots, or finding the nearest scooter parking hub, or aligning the best schedule for travel that mitigates

roads congestion can lead us to more productive and enjoyable lives. And let’s not forget the exciting potential of using parking facilities around the world for drone remote deliveries. It is an exciting time that we live in!

As one of the winners of the 2022 Awards of Excellence in Innovation in a Mobility, Transportation, or Parking Program, I can tell you it was a very proud moment for my municipality. The vision and effort to shift their mindset from old traditional concepts of transportation to meeting the public’s growing need for new mobility options paid off. Thousands of would-be drivers now opt everyday to use alternative modes to get around the city.

Still, it comes down to understanding the customer’s need, and passionately going after fulfillment of their needs. Whether in the business for three years or 33 years, lean in on the metamorphosis of our business and get engaged. Theirs is so much to do! ◆

MARK LYONS, CAPP , is General Manager, Parking and Mobility Division, City of Sarasota (Retired) and a member of the IPMI Board of Directors. He can be reached atmarkslyons@gmail.com

Invisibility of Technology The Frontier for Tech Innovation

By Rajiv Jain

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY IS INTERWOVEN into our daily lives. We interact with multiple forms of technology in almost every activity that we perform. These systems simplify our lives, and we hardly ever notice them as most of these systems are either miniaturized or have become completely invisible to us.

On the other hand, there are some activities where we still actively interact with technologies, and those interactions often become the points of friction for us. For the technology innovators, making technology invisible to the users in those active interactions is the frontier for new product opportunities. Interestingly, innovation does not stop this challenge, as new products often open new points of friction. This cycle will repeat itself till we reach the perfect state where all our interactions with technology become passive and technology becomes completely invisible to us.

Innovations in parking technologies follow the similar lifecycle.

Traditional parking involved several pressure points: driving around looking for available parking facilities; finding a garage with available parking that was often far away from their destination; fumbling at the ticket machine at the entrance; driving around in the garage looking for an empty parking space; getting stressed about losing their parking ticket or about how much would they be charged for parking; spending inordinate amount of time standing in lines to pay; and eventually struggling on their way out trying to understand what are they expected to do to exit.

Innovators of parking technologies, using miniaturized Interconnected Sensors (IoT) and Cloud Computing, built parking solutions that remove several legacy parking procedures from the active interaction path of the motorist, thus automating much of the parking process.

Wayfinding systems, aggregator apps, and curb management solutions, working in concert, determine the nearest and most accessible parking for the motorists, and guide them turn-byturn to that location, Touchless access systems along with LPR systems reduce friction during entry. Digital PARCS systems obviate the need for motorist to carry paper tickets and keep them informed about their parking session and the fees they would incur. Mobile payment systems simplify the parking payment. Touchless access systems and LPR systems enable completely friction-free exit.

But these technologies, while automating the parking process, created new set of active interactions and related points of

friction for the motorists. There was also a new kind of inequity created for those who could not afford to take advantage of these technologies or could not understand how to use them.

Motorists now need to have smartphones, need to download apps, need to learn how to use wayfinding systems and make active driving decisions based on what system are telling them, interact with the touchless access systems to establish relationship between themselves and their car for the parking session, interact with mobile payment systems to pay, and so on just to park.

All these new interactions have created opportunities for the parking technology innovators to build even newer products to make the interaction invisible. Now they are using technologies like edge computing, 5G, connected cars, and blockchain to build parking solutions that would target and remove the active nature of these new interactions.

With this next generation of technologies, motorist would not have any active interaction with technology. Connected cars

would talk to each other and learn from each other; they would talk to the city infrastructure systems like wayfinding systems, curb management systems, traffic control systems, garage realtime availability and access control systems, and get themselves to their parking spots. The next generation digital PARCS systems would talk to the connected car and use the blockchain-based identity management systems, contract management systems, asset ownership systems, and even digital payment systems to automatically establish the previously missing link that exists in the current generation of parking solutions - the missing link between the car that is getting parked, the payment methods of its owner, and the current generation of the digital PARCS system of the garage.

Taking it fast-forward to the next generation of innovation in parking technologies, the shift would happen from the current focus of removing motorist’s active interaction to moving motorist out of the driver seat, and thus making parking and its associated technologies completely automated and invisible.

The final frontier of innovation is in artificial intelligence when the car becomes an intelligent machine in a world of autonomous vehicles. It will be a perfect world of product innovation by the

intelligent machines, rather than the human product innovators, where machines would innovate by simulating unforeseen conditions with digital twins’ simulations, perfecting systems using machine learning techniques like generative adversarial networks (gans), and self-testing systems using AI-based robotic process automation.

In conclusion, I characterize what I see as an “innovation arc”—first we innovate to solve the problems that we see, then we innovate to solve the problems our own solutions created or failed to optimally solve in first place. This is truly the nature of incremental continuous innovation that keeps the product industry always on its toes. Once a while comes the disruptor event in this gradual lifecycle that takes the progression of this lifecycle to a completely different level, but that is the topic for a different column.

RAJIV JAIN is CEO of ParkEngage, and a member of the IPMI Technology Committee. He can be reached at rajiv. jain@parkengage.com

E-Mobility Access in Environmental Justice Communities

By Kate Kruk

ELECTRIC VEHICLE (EV) SALES have seen a monumental rise in the past few years due to increased availability and financial incentives. In response to this shift, developers and parking lot owners are putting more effort toward providing EV charging stations for their patrons, allowing them to access the future of transportation and mobility. This is exemplified in the recent surge in electric vehicle charging installations in major hubs across the country.

The unfortunate reality of this is that for many communities across the U.S., referred to as Environmental Justice (EJ) communities, charging station installation deployments have lagged, becoming another barrier to entry for their citizens. As such, it is necessary for governments and utility providers to recognize these inequities and act on them as quickly as possible.

Environmental Justice communities are regions in the United States which are exposed to higher levels of pollution and disproportionate amounts of environmental hazards, and thus experience a lower quality of life. Their residents generally—though not always—live below the poverty line and have statistically higher rates of health issues, which are often directly related to their physical environment. Conditions like heart disease, stroke, chronic

obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), cancer, and acute lower respiratory infections can all be linked to air pollution in these areas. These overburdened regions, specified as Disadvantaged Communities (DACs), carry the ever-growing weight of both the hazardous environment around them and socioeconomic stressors amplified by their surroundings.

These EJ communities can be found across the United States. Obvious examples are neighborhoods situated near an inner-city highway or an industrial complex. However, surprisingly, you might live or work in an Environmental Justice community and not even realize it. Areas may also qualify if there are chemical remnants from retired industrial practices, links to heavy agricultural runoff, or other forms of environmental hazards that seem inconsequential but can cause damage over time. These regions and

their inhabitants can be subject to widespread pollutants, from their place of employment to the air in their homes and the water used by their families. For this reason, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) along with other federal, state, and local organizations have put programs in place to identify these regions, promote the visibility of the issues they encounter, and address these inequities by creating more opportunities for ecoaccessibility and e-mobility.

Statistically speaking, inhabitants of DACs are most often those who live in rental properties and frequently utilize public transportation, making it difficult for them to influence whether they could transition to electrically fueled vehicles in the first place. Currently, nearly 80% of EV drivers who own their vehicle charge it at home. Since many people in EJ communities do not own their homes, it increases their reliance on public infrastructures such as parking lots and garages to make parking and charging available to them. For those who do not own their own vehicle and rely on public transportation every day, it is additionally challenging for them to control their exposure to harmful transportation-related pollutants. This becomes especially relevant when you take into consideration the fact that the EPA has cited transportation as the largest national contributor to greenhouse gas emissions. Many local delivery and at-home social service suppliers and their fleets are currently producing additional emissions in the very communities that they serve. Without the accessibility to EV fueling stations, organizations offering disability services, Meals on Wheels, and medical bussing are limited to traditional methods of transportation which expose their clients to further pollutants.

With these issues in mind, various utility providers nationwide have created incentives to increase access to EVs and EV charging in EJ community spaces. Thanks to this funding, multiunit dwelling owners will now be able to install EV charging stations in their apartment parking lots or garages with minimal investment. There are additional incentives that can enable public transit companies with the ability to switch their bus fleets to electric more easily. This specific benefit is two-fold; it not only serves to modernize the technologies available to these communities but also reduces air pollution in the process, which affects their residents at a disproportionate rate. It has been estimated by the Environment America Research and Policy Center that electrifying fleet vehicles like buses could

prevent up to two million tons of pollution each year. Utilizing these programs could serve as the next step in benefitting these underrepresented cities and reducing the pollutants that they are regularly exposed to.

Encouraging examples of financial incentive plans can already be seen in steps taken by the U.S. government to create programs like the Justice 40 Initiative, which allocates funding for DACs, public transit, and multi-unit dwellings (MUDs), enabling them to acquire electric vehicle charging stations. Many states have also begun opting to create programs for EV charging incentives. The Multi-Unit Dwelling (MUD) Electric Vehicle Program, which began in July 2022 in New Jersey, is a great example of a program that works to ensure funding for the hardware aspects of level 2 EV charger installations in disadvantaged communities. In other programs such as the PECO Make-Ready Program in Pennsylvania, up to 75% of utility upgrade and connection costs are covered in these regions, compared to 50% in non-EJ communities. Shedding light on the needs of these areas creates more visibility to issues of inequality and gives these communities access to more sustainable transportation alternatives.

These initiatives will benefit EJ communities by setting them up for the future, lessening the environmental hazards, and providing opportunities to access cleaner, cheaper energy alternatives. In addition, community programs that residents rely on, such as their local mail delivery services, emergency response vehicles, social service providers, and many others, could benefit from seeing their vehicles transitioned to electric, saving their cities money and the risks from harmful pollutants in the long run. The key to ensuring that EJ communities can reap the benefits

of electric vehicles in

their regions

is accessibility

The more accessible these services are to disadvantaged communities, the faster they will have opportunities to move into future technologies that will improve their quality of life. EJ community-based incentive programs are how we can work to fight these inequities and ensure accessibility for a better tomorrow.

KATE KRUK is the Director of Community Engagement for Livingston Energy Group. She can be reached at kkruk@solution.energy

The unfortunate reality of this is that for many communities across the U.S., referred to as Environmental Justice (EJ) communities, charging station installation deployments have lagged, becoming another barrier to entry for their citizens.

People Don’t Come Here to Park

By Josh Kavanagh, CAPP

PEOPLE DON’T COME HERE TO PARK; PEOPLE PARK TO COME HERE. While it’s expressed in a variety of ways, that one simple idea permeates the training and operations of every successful parking organization I’ve encountered. This focus on service and aligning our offering to customers’ motivation and true needs creates competitive advantage and strong business outcomes whether your organization measures success by revenue optimization of parking, revenue generation for surrounding retail, employee or student satisfaction, or any other standard. In short, successful parking operations organize parking in the way that best supports the underlying trip.

With the electrification of transportation accelerating, there are many reasons to add electric vehicle (EV) charging to our parking facilities. In some jurisdictions it’s a matter of code compliance. Some organizations or developers may be chasing LEED points. Some may be look to EV charging to create or bolster a “green” reputation. Yet others may see it as a civic duty. Regardless of the motivation for adding charging, we can make that charging successful by adapting that same service philosophy: People don’t come here to charge; people need to charge while they are here. EV charging needs to be an enabler of and value-add for the underlying trip, whether that trip is for retail activity, commuting, entertainment, or recreation. Consequently, the placement, policy, and technology selected for EV charging must be fully aligned to the underlying trip in the same way successful parking programs have been aligning for years.

The Gas Station Metaphor is Outdated

This philosophy that emphasizes the underlying trip purpose flies in the face of the “Gas Station Metaphor”—a way of thinking about charging that was pervasive among parking professionals in the early days of EVs. It was a perspective that I shared myself. Early adopters of EVs skewed heavily toward the wellto-do, folks that owned their homes and, consequently had or could install the necessary infrastructure for home charging. These early adopters of EVs were not only people of means but they were passionate about electric vehicles and accepted the frictional cost of time and effort on the occasions when they needed to use public charging. Public charging, like pumping gas, was

then a service unto itself and disconnected from the primary purpose of the trip.

As prices have fallen and consumer interest climbed, the role of public charging is shifted from luxury to essential service and the tolerance for friction is falling. Without retail, workplace, and school-based charging, renters and residents of multifamily housing will be unable to enter the EV market for lack of charging opportunities. Additionally, those who do have access to home charging will be using disproportionately higher carbon intensity rather than the cleaner energy available during the day when the grid is flush with renewables.

For this new wave of charging customers, the way charging is provided needs to align seamlessly with their daytime travel destination and duration of stay. Deviating from their travel path to find available charging or needing to relocate vehicles when charging is complete are points of friction that drive these customers away. People don’t come here to charge; people need to charge while they are here. To the extent that they have choices about where to shop, recreate, or even park, those choices will be informed by which provider made vehicle charging so easy that it could be (as it should be) secondary to the main purpose of the trip.

Parking professionals have long managed policy about who can park where and for how long with the goal of keeping their parking full (asset utilization) and their customers happy (efficient access). Our understanding that people don’t come here to park; people park to come here underlies how we assign space, from loading-zones to long-term parking, and the technologies we choose to help implement those

policies and manage that space. If we design our EV programs with this basic philosophy in mind, it drives very different decisions for space allocation and charging technology selection than we might otherwise have made. The trip purpose drives the way both parking and EV charging needs to be delivered.

Optimize Placement, Simplify Marketing

In the early days, UC San Diego’s EV charging program was led out of the campus utilities function. Charger placement was optimized for per-plug infrastructure, which made sense as it served those early adopters that were more likely to have home charging and were more likely to accept a small degree of inconvenience. As we’ve scaled the program, diversified our charging technology, and welcomed a broader customer base, we realized that we needed to retool our charger placement to better align with the reasons folks come to campus.

Like most campuses, the majority of our all-day parking is a short walk or shuttle ride from the most popular campus destinations. Placing traditional level two chargers operating at 6.6kW in these locations led to either poor asset utilization, with each charger serving only one customer a day, or poor customer service with policy requirements to move vehicles midday once charging had concluded. Instead, we’ve concentrated these chargers near campus retail, performance venues, gyms, and eateries where the desired dwell time matches the charger’s capacity. We can serve two to four times as many customers with the same equipment and eliminate

friction from poor proximity or the need to move vehicles before customers conclude their business.

We’ve also added Level 3 DC Fast Charging (DCFC) at 50kw and up. We site these stations at the campus perimeter where they can intercept commuters that need to top-up during their a.m., p.m., or lunchtime trips. Outside of these peaks, the perimeter location allows them to support residents of nearby multifamily housing, hotel guests, ride-hail drivers, long distance corridor travelers, and others to improve asset utilization and keep costs low.

At our locations that support all-day parking, we have added abundant all-day charging options at 3.39.8 kW. While these spaces might only serve one to two customers per day, we’ve been able to radically reduce the infrastructure cost per plug, leveraging circuit splitting and adaptive load management. These technical solutions have been game-changers for reducing infrastructure costs by slicing our cost per plug by 50-75%.

Differentiating our types of charging and aligning them to customer needs for dwell time and location had transformational potential if we could communicate our strategy to customers. In the end, we applied the KISS principle and simply rebranded all our EV spaces by the permitted duration of stay with distinctive EV-1, EV-4, and EV-12 space signs designating the allowable hours of parking. This framework is carried forward to our online campus map and communicated in third party directories of EV charging locations.

Scale Quickly with Adaptive Load Management

UC San Diego has grown its charging program to become the is the largest charging hub in San Diego county and among the largest and most diverse deployments in the US. The current portfolio contains 23 EV-1 stalls, 194 EV-4 stalls, and 152 EV-12 stalls. In the next year, the campus plans to more than triple its plug-count; a goal made possible only through the advent of Adaptive Load Management (ALM).

ALM takes a circuit that would normally support a single plug at level two and instead supports four plugs at level two. When starting their charging session, customers indicate with an app their planned duration of stay and the range that they would like to add during their charging session. The ALM controller then intelligently manages the energy distributed to their vehicle, along with any other vehicles on the circuit, so that each charging customer receives the desired range addition before departing. We use ALM on our EV4 and EV12 charging spaces to flatten the demand curve and allow us to support more customers per circuit, stretching our infrastructure dollars and reducing cost per plug by up to 75%.

If the infrastructure cost savings and customer service achievable through ALM weren’t enough, the technology unlocks additional economic and environmental benefits. In addition to flattening the demand curve, ALM can shift the curve. Under normal circumstances, the duration of stay is significantly longer than the time needed to charge all the vehicles on the circuit. The ALM system can use this slack to shift charging activity to achieve the facility owner’s economic and environmental goals. If your energy

provider applies time of use charges (peak period surge pricing), ALM can minimize charging within that period with no customer impact. If you have organizational goals or financial incentive to increase the use of renewables, the ALM system can shift power delivery toward the times when the solar and wind energy in the grid is greatest. At UC San Diego, we also utilize the technology to help shed load during energy events, earning meaningful incentives from our energy providers.

ALM has allowed UC San Diego to move away from the one-size-fits-all charging model of traditional level two charging and to provide a parking and charging solution that is more suitable to our most common trip purposes. That alignment manifests itself in charger placement and charging policy decisions that are more customer centric, helping the destinations we support and catalyzing EV adoption by removing barriers for those that don’t have access to home charging. With ALM, it feels like we have finally found and acquired the tool that has been missing from our parking management and EV charging toolkit. With year over year sales of EVs up 31% in the U.S. and expected to climb significantly as Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act implementation reaches full-steam, ALM’s moment has arrived. It offers a new and affordable way to scale EV parking and charging at a pace that can keep up with EV adoption and deliver that new capacity in a way that is uniquely responsive to customer needs.

JOSH KAVANAGH, CAPP , is Executive Director, TAPS: Triton Auxiliary Programs & Services for UC San Diego and a member of the IPMI EV Readiness Cohort. He can be reached at jnkavanagh@ucsd.edu

The ALM controller intelligently manages the energy distributed to vehicles, so that each charging customer receives the desired range addition before departing. Using ALM on EV4 and EV12 charging spaces to flatten the demand curve, allows us to support more customers per circuit.

Hold Space for Gratitude

By Maggie DiPaolo, PHR, SHRM-CP

WITH THE HOLIDAY SEASON COMING TO AN END, we are in time of year that many associate with remembering what sparks gratitude in our minds. We were reminded to be thankful. The holidays, for some, bring about a feeling of joy and for some a time of gloominess. It’s different for each one of us. It is important to know that every person comes to every situation with their own personal histories and experiences—good or bad. We have no control over that. It is hope that helps us remember for what we are grateful during this time.

The past few years, as we all understand, have been different. Some may say different is an understatement, and I would agree. Our gatherings were smaller, held virtually or not held at all. Our favorite social events were cancelled. We were not able to gather with our teams for celebrations. Our children were learning at home for years. Our spare bedrooms, closets, basements, or kitchen counters became our offices. We were together with the people we shared home with more than ever before. Nevertheless, that time helped remind us to be grateful for all the things one would expect—our families and friends, the place we call home, food that fills our bellies, and our co-workers that keep us sane. We saw those things in different light and experienced that feeling of gratitude in a new way.

Life as we knew it begins to come back. Children are back in school. Concerts and shows have returned. Holiday parties and gatherings were added to the calendar. Work meetings and conferences are in-person. Our travel schedules have picked up. We have begun to return to the office. I encourage you to remember to hold space for gratitude for the simple things we grew accustomed to but learned could be stripped from us so quickly.

What can we do to remember to hold space for gratitude? You may have your own way to practice mindfulness and find time in your day for that ever so important me time, even if it’s only for a few moments. Remember the new ways in which we grew to connect with one another across the miles over the past few years more than ever. The video calls with relatives and the video meetings and chats with our co-workers became our

gateway to human connection. Many people mastered uses of technology that they never thought possible to connect with one another. We slowed down and enjoyed more time at home.

Continue to practice gratitude with your work teams, families, friends, and social networks. Encourage one another to share what they are most grateful for each day. Remember that no matter how hard your day seems today, there is someone with a deeper struggle somewhere in the world. Channel that feeling and pay it forward.

Hold a few minutes for gratitude at the end of each team meeting. Use today to buy that cup of coffee for the person behind you in the coffee shop drive-thru. Send that text of appreciation or congratulations to your co-worker for a win this week. Thank your employees for a job well done and tell them why you are grateful for them. Send a hand-written note expressing gratitude to a special person in your life. Drop off that little treat on your neighbor’s porch. Call a friend or family member you haven’t talked to in a while.

We have 86,400 seconds each day. Are you using them to make someone’s day a little brighter? It is the small wins along the way that will keep us going and continue to hold space for gratitude. Embrace them. Strive for them. Celebrate them.

MAGGIE DIPAOLO, PHR, SHRM-CP , is Vice President of People + Culture for LAZ Parking. She can be reached at Mdipaolo@lazparking.com

Changing the Narrative: Community Impact

By Steven Fernstrom

SPENDING YEARS IN THE HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY, I was used to being around joyful and excited people, so, it was shocking to see so much hatred and disdain when I came to the parking industry. Some of what we do doesn’t help; we sometimes give parking tickets, although not randomly, and being objectified by the negativity on television shows certainly doesn’t help either. So much of what our organizations do is positive: we create jobs, make our streets safer for pedestrians and bicyclists, assist with developing our communities, and sometimes provide crucial financial funding for our communities. Should handing out parking tickets outperform the good that we do? Do people know what we do? These were questions we asked each other at our leadership meetings. Upon reflection, we felt something was missing from our organization. We felt so ingrained in our community, but maybe we weren’t doing enough to tell our story. Our mission statement mentions community, but were we living up to it?

Very few people walk away from a pay station cheering when their payment has been processed or embrace a parking ticket when they park in front of a fire hydrant. We know we can’t totally break the stigma of parking, we’re very realistic. But what we could try was to negate some of the negativity by showcasing more of the good we do and targeting the right

audience. Our leadership team looked at how we could uncover the good of what we do and expand on it.

Our organization has like-minded team members that enjoy volunteering, and that have interests that intersect with community-driven initiatives. Aside from replacing legacy equipment and software that leads to bad and frustrating experiences, we set out to create and build a relationship with our community. We started by being very visible and approachable.

Our leadership team makes it a habit to walk to our destinations instead of driving. Our city is walkable and beautiful, and we embrace it. The perception and the interactions we have with most people completley different when we meet them on the streets face to face. We’ve found genuine, candid pop-in conversations with visitors, residents, and merchants are much more valuable than emails and phone calls. It’s not unusual to see any member of our leadership team speaking with a merchant on the sidewalks of Main Street or helping a visitor navigate a parking meter.

At first, people would look at us funny: why is this parking person having good conversations with me? Why are they showing up at these meetings? Are they canvassing for parking tickets? It took us a while to form that bond and prove our genuine intentions for good conversations.

Now that the community knew us better, we were ready to create our community outreach program. It was time to start being visible at community events and give our time and energy to volunteering opportunities. This was the framework of our program.

When we started talking about our community outreach program in its conceptual stages, we saw some eyebrows raised and eyes rolling. Totally reasonable. Why is the Parking Authority diving into this pool? But our industry is filled with resilient people, and that’s what you need to get a new and different program off the ground and sustain it. We were very committed to showcasing the good of what we do. As we did with our authority’s sustainability program, we knew that our community outreach program had to be more than a few social media posts and random acts. It had to be well thought out, planned, and executed. We worked with a graphic design team to brand our program, got all our members some cool tee shirts, hired a social media manager, and partnered with an amazing local community relations consultant to work on our action plan.

We started small and chose several community partners and events that meant something to us as an organization, and that captured the stakeholders in the areas in that we wanted to be the most visible.

This year, our team has been fortunate to volunteer our time at:

● Victory House of the Lehigh Valley.

● ArtsQuest.

● Lehigh Valley Hispanic Center.

● Bethlehem Area School District.

● South Side Arts District.

● Northside and South Side Farmers Markets.

We also have a presence at community events, including:

● Bethlehem Halloween Parade.

● Historic Bethlehem Live Advent Calendar.

By committing to this initiative, were very successful in creating another advantageous layer for our organization. Our team members are very proud of the work they do for the community, and they’re even happier when they hear the positive stories being told about them versus the negative. We changed the narrative of the Parking Authority. Our community has embraced our program, and there are many more communities out there that will too.

STEVEN FERNSTROM is Executive Director of the Bethlehem Parking Authority, and a member of IPMI’s Accredited Parking Organization (APO) Board.

The Harman Group, now IMEG

SORA West Parking Garage

THIS 12-LEVEL, 460,762 SF OPEN, LONG SPAN, PRECAST parking garage for 1,479 vehicles was part of an over one million square foot transit-oriented mixed-use development arranged around a new landscaped central plaza. The project is situated on a steeply sloping site in downtown Conshohocken, Pennsylvania, just a short distance uphill from the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority’s (SEPTA) Conshohocken Station along the Manayunk/Norristown line. The Harman Group, now IMEG, provided parking consulting, structural engineering, and full architectural documentation for this parking garage.

Project challenges included the steeply sloping site as well as the limited land available for the garage footprint and other development buildings. In addition, the mostly rectangular garage floor plan has a significant chamfered corner resulting from the existing street layout. The precast parking garage’s functional design is a three-bay, side-by-side helix configuration with one-way traffic and angled stalls on the two outside bays and two-way traffic with 90-degree

stalls in the middle bay. The three lowest levels of the garage are available for public parking to serve the nearby businesses and restaurants and for commuters using the SEPTA station.

The main elevator and stair tower for the garage is highly architectural, since it anchors one end of the plaza space and green space between the buildings on the site. A stage at the base of the elevator/stair tower is used for a variety of events and concerts.

“We were excited to contribute our parking planning and design knowledge and expertise to support this transformative development on this steeply sloping site. Whether you are parking to access SORA West’s office complex and the AmerisourceBergen headquarters, the Hotel West + Main, or another spot in Conshohocken, it gives you a great look at the new courtyard town square. We are honored to take part in Keystone’s vision to transform Conshohocken.”

William Kavanagh, AIA, Associate Principal and Parking Design Lead at The Harman Group, now IMEG

FIRM: The Harman Group, now IMEG

LOCATION: Conshohocken, Pennsylvania

OWNER: Keystone Property Group

PROJECT TEAM MEMBERS:

● Architect: Gensler

● Construction Manager: Intech Construction

STAFF:

● William Kavanagh, AIA, Associate Principal, Parking Design Lead

● Malcolm Bland, PE, Principal, Project Executive—Operations Manager

● Brian Sherman, PE, Project Engineer

Kavanagh Bland Sherman

Mid-South Transportation & Parking Association

Have You Seen the New MSTPA?

By Michael W. Tudor, CAPP

DO YOU EVER GET TIRED of wearing the same old shoes with the same old outfit to the same old conference? Well, MidSouth Transportation & Parking Association (MSTPA) is new and exciting in 2023. Over the past year, MSTPA has made several changes to provide its members with the best value, educational experience, and vendor interaction you will find in the region. Our 2023 Annual Conference will be held in Savannah, Georgia on April 19th–21st during one of the two busiest weeks of the year for tourist activity. What can you expect to find at the conference?

● The weather will be spot on (not too hot, not too cold).

● Golfing will be ideal with sponsored holes and give aways.

● Golf proceeds will go to support a local charity.

● Operational tours and activities will be plentiful.

● Casino night will be filled with winners (and some losers).

● Vendor floor will be the largest MSTPA has ever had.

● Educational and training sessions will provide key information for today’s parking professional.

What else has happened in the last 12 months with MSTPA?

Glad you asked. As many of you already know, we have combined forces with the Parking & Transportation Association of Georgia (PTAG) and added two board seats to accommodate new PTAG board members for a two-year term. After which, MSTPA will go back to its original board member designation. We worked to

create a new logo and brand guide that we have begun utilizing in all areas of marketing and social media. The new logo for MSTPA represents a clean modern, and bold statement that is simple in appearance. The map pinpoint icon, we believe, is a modern but now timeless symbol of all things transportation. It communicates that we have made it to our destination.

When you come join us for the 2023 conference, go out and buy yourself a new set of shoes, to go with your new outfit, to attend an exciting and new MidSouth Transportation & Parking Association conference. We can’t wait to see you there! ◆

MICHAEL W. TUDOR, CAPP , is Executive Director of the Parking Authority of River City, Inc., and President of MSTPA. He can be reached at mike.tudor@louisvilleky. gov

PRESIDENT

Mike Tudor, CAPP Parking Authority of River City, Inc.

John Ashburn

Huntsville, Alabama

Adele Clements Emory University

2022–2023 Board of Directors

EXECUTIVE DIRECTORS

VICE PRESIDENT

Arishna Lastinger

Auburn University

TREASURER

Steve Hernandez, CAPP The Car Park

BOARD MEMBERS:

Matt Davis, CAPP

Oxford, Mississippi

Mark Hairr, CAPP University of Tennessee

Jon Martens, AICP, CAPP Walker Consultants

Brett Munkel, CAPP SP Plus

EVENTS MANAGEMENT

SECRETARY

Brent Matthews, CAPP

Chattanooga Area Regional Transit

Mitch Skyer Pasio Technologies, Inc. and Solstice Transportation Group

Ed Trammell

Lexington, Kentucky

Dawn Marti

Heather Matthews

ELSAG® LICENSE PLATE READER PARKING MANAGEMENT SOLUTIONS

LPR Automation for increased revenues

Save time and money with ELSAG® LPR technologies. Our ELSAG MPH900 cameras mount to a variety of vehicles to aid time-limit and permit enforcement, as well as scofflaw detection. Our ELSAG VPH900 uses select IP cameras to validate lot and garage permits, record entry and exit times, determine time parked, and much more.

Megan Leinart Newman Concepts Made

ASK THE EXPERTS

As transportation, transit, and micro-mobility modes continue to evolve, what does the future of multimodal transportation look like?

Marla Westervelt Principal Planner Populus

Future cities will have a robust menu of transportation options that allow people to get where they want to go when they need to get there. As travel patterns change in a post-pandemic world, cities will leverage robust software solutions to become mobility managers delivering both high-capacity and flexible transport modes. This will allow cities to equitably serve residents.

Ravali Kosaraju, PE, PTOE Director, Mobility WGI

The future will be mobility as a service with the choices that best suit each individual’s lifestyle, needs and budget. With the evolution of travel modes beyond those we know today, mobility will come with freedom of choice. In a few generations, there will be universal mobility wallets that make movement across cities, counties, states, may be even countries seamless. I imagine this to the natural progression in the next few decades.

Shawn McCormick Director-Parking Enforcement and Traffic, Streets Division San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency

The future is already in San Francisco today with autonomous vehicles (AV). Revenue service has already started with passengers getting into vehicles with no driver behind the wheel. Companies have already started building truly autonomous vehicles without driver controls and are awaiting approval from the federal level for deployment of the new style vehicles.

Robert Ferrin, CAPP Senior Project Manager Kimley-Horn

The future of multi-modal transportation will be on-demand to meet user needs and be flexible and adaptable to changing conditions and will increasingly be electric and/or zero-emission to meet climate action goals. What does this mean for parking and mobility practitioners? Understanding customer demands through data collection and analysis, being flexible in testing pilot programs in real-time, and knowing what funding and programmatic opportunities exist to provide clean mobility options for your constituents.

Daniel DeMott Chief Technology Officer Elite Parking Services

The future of multi-modal transportation will be a blend of current modes expressed as new transportation offerings like electric aerial ridesharing. Passenger preferences will increase focus on connectivity, flexibility, and autonomous scale of modal services.

Tim Wayland Chief Commercial Officer WeDriveU

We’re seeing growing interest in ondemand mobility options to supplement fixed route and other shared transportation services connecting people to universities, employers, and communities. These demand-responsive solutions—especially when they’re powered by zero emission vehicles—bring the flexibility and sustainability today’s dynamic campuses and workplaces need to optimize what we call the ‘four Ps’—people, parking, productivity, and the planet.

Debbie Lollar,

Executive Director Texas A & M University—College Station

The future of multi-modal transportation includes more infrastructure development plus integration to plan, reserve and pay for multiple transportation modes in one app. Also, there will be increased use of micromobility devices and development of safety standards for their manufacturing, use and storage.

Casey Jones,

Senior Director, Customer Success FLASH Parking

The future of multi-modal transportation will feature vehicle and mobile device native solutions that offer seamlessness, integration, and flexibility.  Users will struggle less with mobility choices and will be able to move from one modality to another routinely and effortlessly without switching technology platforms or worrying needlessly about payment flow and security.

Scott C. Bauman, CAPP Manager of Parking & Mobility Services City of Aurora, CO

With the impact and strain on our current infrastructure caused by an overreliance on personal vehicles, the arrival of new and evolving technologies, linked multi-modal solutions, and unified smart transit initiatives will be changing the face of future transportation. Shared autonomous vehicles and greater access/detail to real-time data will also play a major part in transforming the industry by creating a fully integrated smart city transportation system where all modes are interconnected and therefore can instantly response to environmental changes in the network while managing people and freight in the most efficient manner possible.

Jennifer

What I would love to see is that, for the consumer’s sake, Mobility as a Service services will develop standardized API’s so that the services can be white labeled and consolidated into a single interface for the consumer.  This may be a daunting challenge, but it would improve the consumer experience and increase access to these services.

CAPP

CAPP

I. Tougas, Ph.D., CAPP AVP Business Services Western Kentucky University

University of Colorado

By RJ Harrington

ABOUT 50 MILES NORTHWEST of the Denver International Airport sits the vibrant Town of Boulder, Colorado, a 27-square mile mountain community with 97,000 residents and a community-wide love of nature. Boulder is home to companies big and small, from food innovation startups to tech and aerospace firms including Google and Lockheed Martin. And at the heart of it all is the award-winning University of Colorado (CU Boulder), the flagship of the University of Colorado System, where 29,000 undergrad and graduate students come annually to learn, innovate, and evolve into the change-makers of the future.

Nestled Between the Mountains and Reality

Boulder is famous for its environmental preservation, education, and quality of life. Nestled within this idyllic setting is truly a hotbed of change and innovation.

There is an innovative spirit deeply embedded in the fabric of CU Boulder and it has long been part of the school’s vision: The University of Colorado will be a premier, accessible, and transformative public university that provides a quality and affordable education with outstanding teaching, learning, research, service, and health care.

This vision permeates every aspect of their four campuses from the classrooms to the parking lots.

Long known for their engineering prowess, the university has been at the forefront of electric vehicle (EV) technology since the early 2000s. In 2011 the U.S. Department of Energy awarded the University of Colorado in Colorado Springs (UCCS) a five-year, $954,000 grant to develop master’s level course work dialing in on engineering careers and new technologies for vehicles using electric drivetrains.

In 2020, CU Boulder announced they would also have a major role in the new ASPIRE Center—Advancing Sustainability through Powered Infrastructure for Roadway Electrification focused on developing infrastructure and systems facilitating widespread adoption of EVs funded by a $26 million National

Science Foundation (NSF) grant

And these two examples are just the tip of the proverbial iceberg.

The Climate is Changing in their Backyard

Much of University of Colorado’s interest in electrification is rooted in the real-world climate crises which surround their campuses. From drought induced wildfires to flooding, mudslides, and unpredictable weather patterns, climate change is regularly visible throughout Colorado.

It’s hard to forget the Marshall Fire that ripped through Boulder County, where nearly 1100 homes were lost in a matter of hours, just days after Christmas in 2021. Similarly, in 2013, Boulder was home to unprecedented flooding that took three lives, ushered in unimaginable mudslides and cost over $1 billion in property damage. So, when it comes to combating climate change, the university has a vested interest, well beyond building careers.

“The signs of the climate crisis are all around us, and the signs are undeniable,” Jonathan Koehn, Chief Sustainability and Resilience Officer for the City of Boulder and instructor in CU Boulder’s Masters of the Environment graduate program, shared at the inaugural Right Here, Right Now Global Climate Summit at CU Boulder this past October. “It is here, and it is now.”

Boulder is famous for its environmental preservation, education, and quality of life. Nestled within this idyllic setting is truly a hotbed of change and innovation.

Practicing What They Teach.

In the fall of 2022, CU Boulder kicked off their comprehensive Climate Action Plan and laid out a path for mitigating climate change by fully examining all campus operations and procurement with the goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 50% by 2030 and achieving total operational carbon neutrality no later than 2050.

“I am pleased we are in the process of developing the Climate Action Plan to move our university toward carbon neutrality, solidifying our efforts in the pursuit of climate action and justice,” said Chief Sustainability Officer Heidi VanGenderen. “It is essential for us to begin this process and lessen the effect of climate change on vulnerable communities. We must use the resources available as a leading institution in climate solutions, encouraging leadership within students, staff, and faculty to pursue climate action and fostering resilience in the process.”

All four of the University of Colorado campuses—Boulder, Aurora, Colorado Springs, and

Denver—are united in championing their sustainability efforts which include energy consumption, sustainability planning, facility design and LEED certification, water conversation and diversion, and of course, transportation.

Creating a Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) Lifestyle

CU Boulder, whose passion for the environment can be traced back to 1970 when the nation’s first student-led environmental center was established, has long promoted the use of alternative modes of transportation and the use of new fuel vehicles to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from travel to and through its campuses.

Bike lanes, walking paths, campus buses, and ride sharing have long been strategically important initiatives and part of the fabric of the CU culture. A great example of this in action is the fleet of more than 100 BCycle eBikes—all free (with a universityissued permit) for full-time students, faculty, and staff members. Additionally, 17 eBikes were distributed to frontline service employees through the Can Do Colorado eBike program

This robust eBike sharing program is further supported with more than 15 B-cycle stations located campus wide, endless miles of procured campus and town bike routes, and student staffed bike stations which offer services like safety checks, inflating tires, lubricating chains, adjusting brakes, and fixing flats year round.

Bike lanes, walking paths, campus buses, and ride sharing have long been strategically important initiatives and part of the fabric of the CU culture.

These resources are so popular, the University boasts that on any given September day, more than 50% of CU commuters employ energy efficient “micromobility transportation” including walking, riding on a bike, skateboard or scooter to travel between home and campus.

Environmental Leadership Continues with Transportation Electrification

It was only natural for the University to carry this spirit forward into their “macromobility” or internal combustion engine motorized transportation.

Beginning in 2011, a 100-kW carport was installed at CU Boulder’s Bear Creek Apartment Complex, shading numerous vehicles from the 300 days of Colorado sunshine and generating enough power to fuel the equivalent of 20 single-family homes for a year.

This project was shortly followed by introducing the state’s first public EV charging station, and the University’s transportation strategy has only grown and “greened” from there.

Over the past ten years, CU Boulder has added and integrated 56 Level-2 charging plugs across the campus. The EV program was accelerated partially from grants through Charge Ahead Colorado, a program designed to incentivize widespread charging infrastructure throughout Colorado and that has made awards for more than 2,000 EV charging stations across the state.

All the CU chargers are open to any plug-in EV user and run via the ChargePoint network. Unlike the B-cycle program, the chargers are not free, but rather function as

a parking payment machine that assesses a small $1.50 hourly charging fee plus a variable short term parking fee for visitors or staff without a CU permit.

With the average EV gaining 20-25 miles of driving range from an hour of Level-2 charging, the hourly ‘fueling’ fee is a relative bargain when compared to current gas prices, and the University can cover the costs of the energy dispensed.

Fleet Electrification

In addition to bringing electric fueling to their parking lots, the University’s Transportation Services team launched an aggressive electrification initiative from light to heavy duty vehicles just prior to the pandemic. Ten of more than 50 of the University’s Level-2 charging plugs are reserved specifically for this burgeoning campus fleet, which is gradually shifting from fossil fuels to electricity.

For example, the Distribution Center, which manages deliveries across CU Boulder campuses, is now using a fully electric Ford eTransit as well as a Chevy Bolt for daily trips to CU properties in Denver.

Electric Busing

There is also an aggressive plan in place to electrify the campus wide busing system. The first two eBuses came on line this past fall. These buses replaced existing diesel counterparts that were more than 28 years old and had driven over 700K miles around campus. As Assistant Director of Transportation Services Tom Christian says, “they’re ready to pass the torch.”

The new buses, which were partially funded by a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Diesel Emissions Reduction Act (DERA) grant, look exactly the same except for a lightning bolt icon, and feature safety sounds for turns and backing up, since there is no engine noise.

These buses are integral to reducing CU Boulder’s

With the average EV gaining 20-25 miles of driving range from an hour of Level-2 charging, the hourly ‘fueling’ fee is a relative bargain when compared to current gas prices, and the University can cover the costs of the energy dispensed.

carbon footprint. “The positive environmental impact of the buses will be immense,” shared Ed von Bleichert, the University’s Sustainability and Resilience Program Manager. “By taking two diesel vehicles off the road, we are reducing the end-of-pipe emissions by roughly 150 tons of carbon dioxide, and we will save more than 13,000 gallons of diesel. Electric vehicles have their own emissions, to be sure, but we will only see more benefits as the technology improves.”

What’s Next?

Among the many sustainable initiatives in the works in planning for 2023 is an electric car sharing (or eCar Share) program that will be integrated as part of one of the University’s newest buildings, Williams Village North, which is also billed as one of the greenest buildings on campus.

As the nation’s largest LEED Platinum residence hall, Williams Village North uses 39% less energy than traditional buildings of its size. It was also constructed using many recycled and locally sourced materials and uses ditch water for landscape irrigation, among its dozens of other environmentally responsible attributes.

The hall is just one of the 30 LEED-certified buildings on campus and as you might suspect, many of these LEED buildings host EV charging infrastructure.

Building a Better Tomorrow

As the Williams Village North project demonstrates, the sustainability lens creates focus for much of the University of Colorado’s decision making and action. Mitigating climate change is truly integrated into every aspect of student campus life—because it needs to be.

In the words of University Chancellor Phil DisStefano, “The imperative to address climate change has never been greater. In discussing this issue with student leaders, we agree that the scientific evidence of climate change overwhelmingly demands action now to address the climate emergency. This means redoubling our resolve to unleash the immense human capacity for innovation and applied solutions at sufficient speed and scale.”

While there is always an opportunity to do more, the University of Colorado has built an infrastructure foundation to meet today’s needs while crafting a flexible vision for future transportation electrification—all in service of meeting their goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 50% by 2030—just eight short years away. ◆

RJ HARRINGTON is SVP of Business Development at National Car Charging. He can be reached at rjharrington@ nationalcarcharging.com

#IPMI2023 Strategic Partners

The 2023 IPMI Parking & Mobility Expo offers experts, suppliers, & service providers covering every corner of the industry!

Check out just a few of the exhibitors found the largest Expo Hall in parking and mobility, including new first-time exhibitors*:

ABM

Amano McGann

Automotus, Inc.

Cleverciti Systems Corp

Commend Americas

Conduent

CTI Gas Detection*

Conduent

Transportation

DESIGNA USA

DESMAN

EVBOLT Inc.*

Fishbeck

FLASH

gtechna

HONK

Hormann High Performance Doors*

In-Parking, Inc.*

Innova Systems Group*

Kimley-Horn and Associates, Inc.

National Car Charging

Optec LED Lighting

Orbility

Parker Technology

ParkHelp Technologies

ParkHub

Parking Logix

Parking Revenue

Recovery Services

Parkmobile

Passio Technologies

Passport

Proterra Inc

Restocon Corporation

SKIDATA

Smarter City Solutions

SpotHero

TEZ

TIBA Parking Systems

Park Assist

VLT, LLC*

Walker Consultants

By Tom Szubka, CAPP, and Tania Schleck

THESE DAYS, EVERYTHING AROUND US is getting smart—your phone, your watch, even the lightbulbs in your house. Smart can make things easier—you can have groceries delivered to your door by hollering at Alexa without getting out of bed. Smart can be annoying—Alexa can also holler back at you when it is time to wake up (to put away the groceries just getting delivered).

Smart has been coming fast at us for the last several years and maybe faster by the pandemic. Yet, it seems some cities, communities, and large institutions have a hard time keeping up. We know “smart” has come to the parking and mobility world, however, there are places still using “old-fashioned” parking meters and collecting cash with a cigar box.

To be fair, smart can be overwhelming. Especially if you are a large institution, city, or community, which often have limited resources, a diverse citizen base, and have been historically reactionary with technology and policy advancement. Missteps in the public sector are overwhelmingly scrutinized, unlike in the private sector where the same paths are part of the research or product development cycle. There is far more incentive to get it right, than to keep up.

Still, it is important not to be left behind and organizations should start trying to understand what to expect when beginning their journey into the realm of the smart.

Defining Smart

When you google the definition of ‘smart,’ the two definitions of its use as an adjective read:

1. Having or showing a quick-witted intelligence.

2. (Of a device) programmed to be capable of some independent action. Drilling down a bit more on the first definition, having a quick wit is a characteristic of thinking and responding quickly, while intelligence is having the ability to acquire and apply knowledge and skills. This infers the ability to apply information and skills quickly and effectively.

A device in today’s environment is marketed as smart, however by the second definition it must be programmed to do something without direct instruction (independent action). A smartphone isn’t any smarter than an old rotary phone if its “smart” capabilities are not used.

How to Begin Creating Smart Communities in Parking

Getting Smart

Smart can be simply stated as how well you use what you have.

The tools we use in a smart community are not inherently smart, but the system or users can become smart with the proper use of the tools and data they generate.

For years communities have had systems (trash, roads, parking, water, sewer, etc.) working independently. Now, with technology improving data gathering and communication, these communities need to bring it all together.

This all seems reasonable but let us consider why a community wants to invest effort and dollars into creating this smart infrastructure.

The Purpose of a Smart Community

Gathering a consensus of what defines a smart city/ community/campus, similar phrases and adjectives are used to describe the what and the why:

A smart community…

● uses information and communication technologies.

● understands the potential of information technology.

● uses devices and applications to create new experiences or services.

● make a conscious decision to use technology.

…as a way to (purpose)…

● transform life and work in significant and positive ways.

● improve both the quality of government services and citizen welfare.

● facilitate operational efficiency.

● optimize the flow of energy, people, and data.

While there is no sole definition of a smart city/ community/campus, it can generally be deduced that the goal is to simply Make Life Better

Making Life Better

The utilization of technology and data crosses all industries and services comprising a community. The integration and multi-disciplinary sharing of technology, data, and resources promote more efficient and effective use of all three to improve the services and experiences of the community.

Smart solutions make life better from a variety of perspectives: transactional, movement, storage, curb management, aggregation, planning, and efficiency. Following are examples of smart solutions and how communities use smart technology to make life better for people.

Transactional

Numerous financial transactions are made every day. Smart technology helps to streamline the transaction process and provide convenience for consumers.

● Mobile wallets, such as Apple Pay, store information from a credit or debit card on a cell phone and can consolidate multiple payment types into one location. Mobile wallets have added levels of security as authentication is needed to access the app and the data stored in mobile wallets is encrypted so actual card numbers are not transmitted. The pandemic has accelerated the use of contactless mobile payments, as consumers are becoming more sensitive to cashier and device interactions. More than 92 million Americans made at least one mobile payment during a 6-month period in 2020.1

● Peer to peer payment such as Paypal and Venmo (owned by Paypal), which allow people to quickly pay one another without sharing account details, have also risen in popularity. As of Q1 2022, there were 429 million active Paypal accounts worldwide.2

● Relating this to parking, pay by cell phone can be more convenient for parkers and operators. Parkers can pay in a secured and sheltered environment, and do not have to carry exact change to feed the meter. Operators

Smart can be simply stated as how well you use what you have.

choosing to implement a pay-by-cell only environment can save substantially on parking equipment, operations, maintenance costs, and cash handling expenses. The adoption rate for pay by cell phone is increasing, as noted by a Walker Consultants survey of 50 U.S. state capital cities identifying the presence of on-street pay by cell options, finding that 79% of capital cities charging for on-street parking offer pay by cell.3

Movement

Smart city solutions have improved the way we move by providing us with more smart mobility options.

● Transportation Network Companies such as Uber and Lyft make it quicker and more convenient to book rides using a smartphone. For Uber alone, 6.9 billion trips were completed in 2019.4

● Micromobility solutions such as dockless scooters and bike shares enable people to book with a smartphone app. These solutions can be particularly beneficial in providing first-

mile/last mile connections and to help people circulate around certain land uses such as college campuses.

● Microtransit relies on smartphone apps or other technology platforms for ride requests and routing details. The app-based approach allows operators to match requests to routes and available vehicles in real-

ISTOCK/ JASKOLDS

time. Microtransit can fill gaps in the transit service network, such as in rural areas lacking the population density necessary for fixed-route service, or it can serve as a first-last mile service to high-frequency transit such as Seattle’s Via to Transit program, which helps connect riders directly to light rail stations.

help with data capture, processing, and visualization by capturing curb activity throughout the day.

Washington, D.C. conducted a three-month pilot where curb parking was removed at nine locations to create loading zones for commercial pick up and drop off. The city partnered with curbFlow to provide a curb management app enabling commercial drivers to reserve time slots in loading zones, on-demand or in-advance. As a result, incidents of double parking and illegal U-turns decreased by an estimated 64% in immediate proximity to the zones.6 The City also collected valuable data on curb activity to inform future planning efforts.

Vehicle Storage

Smart solutions can make finding a parking space easier and faster. The City of San Francisco implemented SF Park, a demand-responsive parking program, where the city installed smart parking meters and in-ground sensors to measure parking occupancy. When demand is high, parking prices increase and when demand is low prices decrease. As a result of the initial SF Park pilot program, the following improvements were seen in SF Park areas:5

● Parking availability improved—time of target parking occupancy increased by 31%.

● Economic activity increased—sales tax revenue increased 22%.

● Parking rates were lower - average hourly meter rates reduced by 11 cents; garage rates reduced by 42 cents.

● Parking search time decreased - parking search time decreased by 43%.

Due to the success of the pilot program, the SF Park program became permanent and was expanded citywide.

Curb Management

The curb has numerous demands, including parking, commercial deliveries, TNC pick-up/drop-offs, food delivery services, shared bikes and scooters, and outdoor community spaces. Smart technology solutions help cities more effectively plan for and manage their curb with inventory, utilization, and visualizing their current mix of curb uses and regulations. Cameras using video analytics, mapping, and smartphone app-based technologies can

Curb management technology is still new and continuously evolving and opportunities to vet and test the range of new curb management technology products in the field are ongoing. For example, Walker Consultants worked with the City of Sacramento on a passenger loading pilot and tested curb activity with computer vision technology. The city had anecdotal reports of frequent pickup and drop-off activity at the curb across the street from a hospital. During the pilot, the city removed the parking meters, marking the area as a passenger loading zone, and collected curb activity data during the pilot using camera and video analytic technology. The data disproved the anecdotal reports as people were still parking in this space long term, despite the labels for passenger loading, proving there was not enough activity to warrant a passenger loading zone. The pilot provided the city with valuable data to make informed decisions and criteria for future curb planning efforts.

Aggregation

A critical component of successful smart cities is the aggregation of data. Boston Consulting Group (BCG) examined approximately 75 smart-city applications in a variety of categories including buildings, energy, environment, health, mobility, and public services.7 Nearly half the applications require data sourced from multiple industries or platforms. For example, a parking reservation app assembles garage occupancy data, historical traffic data, current weather data, and information on upcoming public events to determine real-time parking costs. In looking at a broader sense of future applications, BCG found 85% will require cross-industry data aggregation.

Planning

Cities are using technology to plan their infrastructure more effectively.

● Chicago has a smart lighting program where they are changing out 270,000 streetlights to LED lighting equipped with intelligent controls which make the lights stay dim when no cars or people are around and light up when they detect someone is coming. This will save the city an estimated $10 million per year in energy costs.8

● New York City deployed smart trash and recycling stations in Times Square with built-in compaction, fullness sensing and collection notification.9 As a result of the program, the total trash capacity increased by almost 200% and 50% less time was spent collecting bins. The bins also increased the recycling rate—40% of public waste was being recycled, up from 15%.

● New digital channels for the public to communicate with local officials could make cities more responsive. New York City, Austin, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, Philadelphia, and Toronto have shifted 311 non-emergency service requests to mobile apps. Companies such as SeeClickFix have created an open-source app that cities can deploy for citizens to report issues such as potholes, graffiti, broken streetlights, and dangerous intersections.

Efficiency

Smart solutions help improve efficiency for the administering entity and the end user.

● Wayfinding has been revolutionized by navigation apps, such as Google Maps or Waze, assisting users in finding the most efficient route to get to their destination, as well as providing local governments data for planning and management. The City of Louisville signed a data-sharing agreement with Waze, gaining access to real-time traffic data while also providing the public with up-to-date information on road closures through the app.10

● Improvement of traffic flow through dynamic optimization of traffic lights and speed limits can lead to less frequent stop-and-go conditions. The City of Seattle implemented dynamic signaling at 32 intersections along one of its congested traffic corridors. Sensors were installed at these intersections collecting data on traffic volume, vehicle speeds, and direction of travel to make stoplight signal adjustments in real-time. As a result, corridor travel time averages dropped from 34 minutes to 17 minutes.11

● Automated parking guidance systems (APGS) make it easier to find a parking space and can help maximize the existing parking supply. A study conducted by Two Willows Consulting at Brisbane International Airport in Australia showed after installing a robust single space APGS, the average per car travel time was reduced by 90 seconds, equating to an annual travel time of 85,312 hours, resulting in reduced greenhouse gas emissions.12

When communities can “bring it all together,” more comprehensive and robust solutions become available, broadening the appeal and experience of community life.

The Details are in the Data

Data is how the knowledge and experience of a community is expressed, making data the currency of any smart community. How data it is gathered, communicated, and utilized is really the essence of what constitutes a smart community. The “smart” infrastructure provides the process and tools that collect the data, process the data into usable formats, communicate the data, and analyze the data. All of which becomes a perpetual feedback loop when decisions makers use the analyzed data to make life better for its citizens.

Tools

Tools are necessary in any environment where data collection is required. Tools:

● Can be used to encourage behavior.

● Generate, or more accurately, collect data.

● Are necessary to operate a system.

Tools have been a focus in our industry for many years, however, by themselves they cannot go beyond the execution of

their intended use. This creates the need to integrate multiple tool and data types into a data management platform.

Smart Management Platform

The platform is the “behind the scenes” workhorse organizing and formatting the data collected to facilitate use. Ideally the platform can:

● Take the data inputs from multiple sources with an agnostic approach to the tools, i.e., an open Application Programming Interface (API) with multiple vendors, making its value based on how it collects and uses the data rather than where the data originates.

● Control how the tools are used or implemented.

● Provide a basis for improved development of tools to streamline data collection and operations. The data should now be in a usable format to communicate and analyze for operational and policy adjustments.

It is often static in its application, however, as ‘ondemand’ data is integrated into the analysis, more success with predictive analysis can be achieved.

Predictive Analysis

Predictive analysis can have a direct influence on real-time operations and allows for more efficient uses of resources for day-to-day operations. By using more nuanced, real-time data, (such as weather, event schedules, traffic conditions, etc.) in conjunction with trend analysis, more detailed and accurate results can be found. This allows for smart solutions to be programmed with machine learning capabilities, leading to automated (predictive) decisions being made within operations. When effective data analysis and improved operations are paired with the proper communication to the public, the goal of making life better begins to be realized.

Getting Started

Once the goals are set, it is important to understand the components of implementing a smart community strategy. These key elements are tools, commitment, and focus.

Tools

Tools are the tactical elements of the smart community as they are the practical solutions for delivering the products and services of the community and are the primary source of data collection. It is imperative that tools are:

● Usable—if not practical, it will not help the system. It is important to focus on the best in class to encourage the best results in compliance and data gathering.

● Customer Friendly—if not used, data will not be captured. It should be easy for the customer (both internal and external) to access and be engaged.

● Integrative—needs to work well with other solutions and multiple platforms. Open API is key.

Data Analysis

Data analysis can be categorized into two methodologies:

Trend Analysis

Trend analysis has been the traditional use of data and is important for planning purposes. This type of analysis takes the past occurrences, or trends, to help make decisions about future needs or performance.

The quality of the data and the ability to organize and interpret data starts with the tools. It is important to be intentional when selecting the tools and platforms to support the smart community solution.

Commitment

Inherent in the success of any endeavor is the commitment of its champion(s). This will help keep the process on track and will protect against detractors or

overzealous supporters. Important for smart community success is to have commitment to:

● The use of experts—experts are your vendors, consultants, industry associations, etc. These experts are often in the thick of the early adoption process for other communities, giving them the expertise through their experiences, both good and bad. Ride the coattails of those who have gone before.

● Stakeholders—super users, data inputters, constituents, ambassadors, administrators, community groups, business owners, etc. Keep stakeholders involved, especially those who ‘carry the torch’ so they can celebrate in the success and not be blindsided by the setbacks. Stakeholders can make or break a community’s ability to commit to the process.

● Quality of input—you can only get out what you put in. If you ensure quality data is entered, you will have a more accurate analysis. The goal is to give the process the best chance of success to keep commitment strong.

Focus

Having strong focus will keep the goal as clear as possible. It is important to focus intently on a few action items, work through the process to achieve the results and only then move on to the next goal. You will want to avoid the temptation of trying to do too much at the beginning by attempting to execute on parallel project goals. This can unintentionally involve too many stakeholders, strain funding resources, and create too many opportunities for something to go wrong.

Having milestone successes will allow opportunities to prove the model as you go and increase the chances of buy-in momentum as you progress. By limiting the focus and progressing intentionally, you can ensure the best technologies are available when you are ready.

Simply put, smart communities make the best use of the resources at their disposal to improve the quality of life for citizens. A smart community platform will help collect and organize data for analysis to improve operational and predictive services. When paired with a strategy that implements proper tools, is committed, and stays focused, a smart community can truly help Make Life Better.

THOMAS SZUBKA, CAPP, is a Senior Consultant with Walker Consultants. He can be reached at tszubka@walkerconsultants.com

TANIA SCHLECK is a Parking and Mobility Consultant with Walker Consultants. She can be reached at tschleck@walkerconsultants.com

REFERENCES

1. Fueled by pandemic, contactless mobile payments to surpass half of all smartphone users in US by 2025. By Sarah Perez. April 5, 2021. https:// techcrunch.com/2021/04/05/ fueled-by-pandemic-contactless-mobile-payments-to-surpass-half-ofall-smartphone-users-in-u-s-by-2025/

2. https://www.statista.com/statistics/218493/ paypals-total-active-registered-accounts-from-2010/

3. The Case for Exclusive Pay-by-Cell. By Jim Corbett, CAPP and John Dorsett, AICP. Published in International Parking & Mobility Institute Parking and Mobility. May 2021.

4. Uber Revenue and Usage Statistics (2022). By Mansoor Iqbal. https:// www.businessofapps.com/data/uber-statistics/

5. SFPark Pilot Project Evaluation. By San Francisco Municipal Transit Transportation Agency. June 2014. https://www.sfmta.com/sites/ default/files/reports-and-documents/2018/08/sfpark_pilot_project_ evaluation.pdf

6. DDOT, curbFlow Research Project Finds High Demand for Pickup, Dropoff Zones. By District Department of Transportation. November 13, 2019. https://ddot.dc.gov/release/ddot-curbflow-research-project-findshigh-demand-pickup-dropoff-zones

7. The Risks and Rewards of Data Sharing for Smart Cities. By Massimo Russo and Tian Feng. August 10, 2020. https://www.bcg.com/ publications/2020/smart-cities-need-to-understand-the-risks-andrewards-of-data-sharing-part-3

8. Chicago Smart Lighting Program Fact Sheet. City of Chicago. Undated. https://chicagosmartlighting-chicago.opendata.arcgis.com/pages/ program-background-and-benefits

9. New York City’s Times Square Efficiently Manages 26,056 Gallons of Waste and Recycling Each Day with Bigbelly. http://info.bigbelly.com/ case-study/times-square-new-york-city

10. Louisville uses Waze data to drive cost-effective traffic improvements By Lindsay Pica-Alfano. Undated. https://govlaunch.com/stories/ louisville-uses-waze-data-to-drive-cost-effective-traffic-improvements

11. The Latest with Mercer Signal Timing. By Seattle Department of Transportation. November 21, 2017. https://sdotblog.seattle. gov/2017/11/21/the-latest-with-mercer-signal-timing/

12. Parking Assist PGS Environmental Impact Assessment. Two Willows Consulting, LLC. October 9, 2018.

Smart communities improve the quality of life for citizens.

Scooter

Six

Insights from Three Years of Research

By Nicholas Klein, Anne Brown, and Calvin Thigpen

The following contribution is based on the research article Clutter and Compliance: Scooter Parking Interventions and Perceptions published in Active Travel Studies Volume 3, Issue 1, dated January 9, 2023. Click here for the full research article

SHARED SCOOTERS BEGAN WITH A FLURRY OF ACTIVITY in 2017 when Bird introduced scooters to the streets of Santa Monica, California. In the five years since, the shared scooter industry has matured and expanded, with dozens of companies operating in hundreds of cities around the globe. During these years, scooter parking has emerged as a particularly salient issue for riders, the public, and public officials. Our research team has spent the past three years examining these issues. In this article, we share six insights from our research including important results and their implications for parking policy and practice.

1

Improper scooter parking is infrequent (and cars mis-park more often).

First, we needed to establish a baseline: how much scooter mis-parking occurs? What types of mis-parking happen most often? And how does scooter mis-parking compare to mis-parking by other modes? As detailed in a previous IPMI article (Brown et al., 2021), we observed scooter, car, and bike parking behaviors in five US cities in 2020. We found that scooter mis-parking is rare: less than 1% of all parked scooters impeded pedestrian access across the five cities we studied. By comparison, a quarter of parked cars impeded travel for other road users.

In follow-up research in Auckland, New Zealand and Washington, DC in 2021, we found roughly similar results: 5-6% of scooters impeded pedestrian access, although 15-19% were mis-parked according to local regulations (e.g. parked against buildings, on landscaped vegetation, etc.). These findings align with studies conducted by others (Fang et al., 2018; Seattle Department of Transportation, 2019). (See Figure 1)

2

People overestimate rates of improper scooter parking.

While we observed low rates of scooter mis-parking, we were curious to know if public perception matched observed parking behaviors. We therefore complemented our field observations in Auckland and Washington, DC with surveys of the public. We asked respondents how often they thought scooters were parked improperly; in both cities, people overestimated rates of improper scooter parking. Most respondents in DC thought that more than 30% of scooters were mis-parked, when in reality fewer than 20% of scooters were mis-parked

and only 6% impeded access. The average Auckland respondent thought that between 20 and 30% of scooters were mis-parked. Again, this is an overestimate: only 14% were mis-parked and fewer than 5% impeded access.

(See Figure 2a)

Transportation professionals also overestimate scooter mis-parking. We surveyed audiences at transportation webinars and conferences and found that nearly 40% of practitioners believe that more than 30% of scooters are parked improperly. This mismatch between professional perceptions and observed parking behaviors could present practical challenges as transportation professionals are often responsible for designing micromobility programs and policies. (See Figure 2b)

3 Riders and the public intuit that scooters should not impede sidewalks

The mismatch between public perceptions and observed rates of mis-parking begs the question: what does the public think constitutes scooter mis-parking?

To answer this question, we surveyed people on the street in scooter-dense areas in Auckland and DC and conducted an online survey of scooter users in Auckland, New Zealand; Cologne, Germany; Milton Keynes, England; Nashville, U.S.; and Rome, Italy. We showed people pictures of scooters parking in various positions and asked them if the scooter was parked properly or improperly.

Both riders and the public clearly understand the importance of a clear pedestrian right-of-way: most respondents reported that scooters that were tipped over, blocked a crosswalk curb cut, were parked in the middle of the sidewalk, and blocked a door were improperly parked. (See Figure 3)

4

People think that tidy parking is proper parking

Up to this point, we analyzed whether scooters block pedestrian access and whether they adhere to local scooter parking regulations. These first two dimensions, access and regulatory adherence, are often the focus of policymakers and, by extension, scooter policy. But we find that the public often focuses on a third dimension of scooter parking not typically addressed by regulations: aesthetics. We presented survey respondents with two nearly identical scenarios of scooter parking. In both images, three scooters are parked in the furniture zone of a wide sidewalk, not obstructing pedestrian travel; the only difference between the two images is the orientation of the parked scooters.

To distinguish between regulations and aesthetics, we asked people (a) whether the pictured scooters were parked in accordance with local regulations and (b) whether they cluttered the street. Respondents overwhelmingly reported that the scooters parked parallel to one another were tidy and properly parked, while the scooters parked at angles relative to one another were viewed as cluttered and improperly parked. Furthermore, when looking across all ten of the parking scenarios we tested, a strong linear relationship appears between perceptions of clutter and proper parking. In other words: the public perceives scooters that park tidily as properly parked and vice versa. (See Figure 4)

5

Scooter riders want to do the right thing

We find that most scooters are properly parked; one explanation for this may be that most riders themselves report wanting to do the right thing. In our surveys, three-quarters reported that they have never parked a scooter improperly. These riders stated that the most important reason for proper parking was: “I care about how my parking might affect other travelers.” In contrast, those who mis-parked stated that the main reasons for mis-parking were unclear rules or not knowing the rules.

Given underlying motivations to park properly reported by most riders, we wanted to test if simple educational messages and reminders could affect riders’ parking behaviors.

Figure 1

Figure 2a

Figure 2b

Figure 3

In Washington, DC, we introduced in-app message reminders about proper parking for Lime users. Following their introduction, we observed improvements across all meaningful measures of parking behavior. The percentage of scooters impeding pedestrian access dropped from 6% to 0% and misparking according to local regulations dropped by 80%. In large part these changes were driven by reduced parking in the middle of the sidewalk and increased parking at bike racks. (See Figures 5a & 5b)

In Auckland, we installed sidewalk decals in partnership with the city, to provide clear wayfinding and encouragement to use dedicated parking corrals. Again, parking compliance marginally improved, and corral use increased. (See Figures 5c & 5d)

6

Provide plentiful, intuitive parking and scooter riders will use it

In-app messages and sidewalk decals represent smallscale interventions that cities can implement to reduce scooter mis-parking, and both proved marginally effective at doing so. Cities can also implement broader scale interventions such as lock-to requirements, where scooters must be parked and physically locked to bike racks or other infrastructure. In the U.S., just four cities impose “lock-to” requirements (Brown, 2021). Fortuitously, we were able to test the effect that lock-to requirements have on scooter parking behavior. During our DC field observations, DC’s Department of Transportation introduced scooter lockto requirements, and we examined the effect of lock-to by comparing scooter parking behaviors before and after these new regulations went into place (October 1, 2021).

Following lock-to requirements, scooter parking compliance improved substantially, attributable mostly to a twelve-fold increase in scooters parking at bike racks. An increase in scooters parked at bike racks was accompanied by a corresponding decline in scooters parked in the furniture zone, the middle of the sidewalk, and against buildings. (See Figure 6)

Calls to Action

The mismatch between actual and perceived rates of mis-parking suggests a potential need to reassess current parking regulations to better match observed parking behaviors. Our survey data suggest that scooter parking should be permitted in locations such as bike racks and parking corrals, where the majority of the public feel scooters are properly parked, where they do not impede access by other travelers, and where parking is consistent with other micromobility vehicles like bicycles.

Allowing scooter riders to use intuitive parking solutions is likely to have several related benefits: reduced non-compliant parking and improved public perceptions. In Chicago, for example, the introduction of physical locks resulted in 97.3% compliance in parking audits and a dramatic, 80% reduction of complaints (Chicago Department of Transportation, 2021). We likewise find that the introduction of lock-to requirements in DC resulted in a twelve-fold increase in bike rack parking and a substantial improvement in compliant parking.

Cities can kick off a positive feedback loop of improved parking behavior and public opinion: install more physical infrastructure to park micromobility

Figure 4

vehicles - shared or personally owned. Physical infrastructure communicates parking regulations to riders and the wider public, unlike digital solutions. Cities can leverage fees paid by scooter companies to pay for additional parking infrastructure. If designed well, parking infrastructure can also encourage scooter users to ride on the road rather than the sidewalk.

Micromobility companies can play a part in proper vehicle parking by clearly communicating parking rules and providing regular reminders. Our research shows that simple in-app reminders can improve parking compliance, and wayfinding can likewise help direct riders, who are overwhelmingly inclined to park appropriately, to dedicated parking infrastructure. Over time, these measures, like the institutionalization of car parking rules and signage, can

make scooter parking simpler and improve compliance. Finally, we urge policymakers to focus on simple, effective solutions, which ideally resolve problems before they occur, rather flashy technological fixes, which often react to problems that have already emerged. Parking racks and corrals provide dedicated space for tidy compliant parking; riders may encounter “geofenced” parking bans and other technological solutions after they’ve already begun parking the scooter, making it difficult for them to backtrack to a proper location for parking. In addition, implementing parking regulations and enforcement through digital platforms has a spotty track record and only communicates rules to riders while remaining invisible to the public (Dunn, 2020). Further, riders may encounter difficulties crossreferencing rules presented on a digital map against their

Figure 5b

Figure 5d

Figure 5a

Figure 5c

location in the cityscape, and they too would benefit from the “certainty” provided by physical infrastructure. Adorning shared scooters with a multitude of advanced technologies (expensive GPS units, cameras, automated reality, autonomous parking) is a distraction, especially when effective, low-cost, tested solutions are already available. ◆

Please click here to read the full research article. The article summarizes the scholarly and gray literature on scooter parking. It then presents the methods and findings from the first study and the second study in sequence. They conclude with a general discussion that ties the two studies together and offers suggestions for policy.

NICHOLAS KLEIN is an Assistant Professor at Cornell University. He can be reached at n.klein@cornell.edu

READ MORE

Brown, Anne, Nicholas J. Klein, Calvin Thigpen, and Nicholas Williams. 2020. “Impeding Access: The Frequency and Characteristics of Improper Scooter, Bike, and Car Parking.” Transportation Research Interdisciplinary Perspectives 4 (March): 100099. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trip.2020.100099

Brown, Anne, Nicholas J. Klein, and Calvin Thigpen. 2021. “Can You Park Your Scooter There? Why Scooter Riders Mispark and What to Do About It.” Findings, February, 19537. https://doi.org/10.32866/001c.19537

Brown, Anne, Nicholas Klein, and Calvin Thigpen. 2020. “Sizing Up Multi-Modal Parking Violations.” Parking & Mobility Magazine, September, 24–27. https://issuu.com/theparkingprofessional/docs/ pm_2020_09_issuu_v2/26

Brown, Anne. 2021. “Micromobility, Macro Goals: Aligning Scooter Parking Policy with Broader City Objectives.” Transportation Research Interdisciplinary Perspectives 12 (December): 100508. https://doi. org/10.1016/j.trip.2021.100508

Chicago Department of Transportation. (2021). 2020 E-Scooter Pilot Evaluation. Available from https://www.chicago.gov/content/dam/city/ depts/cdot/Misc/EScooters/2021/2020%20Chicago%20E-scooter%20 Evaluation%20-%20Final.pdf.

Dunn, Peter T. 2020. “Participatory Infrastructures: The Politics of Mobility Platforms.” Urban Planning 5 (4): 335–46. https://doi.org/10.17645/ up.v5i4.3483

ANNE BROWN is an Assistant Professor at the University of Oregon. She can be reached at abrown33@uoregon.edu

CALVIN THIGPEN is Director of Policy Research at Lime. He can be reached at calvin.thigpen@li.me

Fang, Kevin, Asha Weinstein Agrawal, Jeremy Steele, John Joseph Hunter, and Ashley M Hooper. 2018. “Where Do Riders Park Dockless, Shared Electric Scooters? Findings from San Jose, California.” Project 1713. San Jose, California: Mineta Transportation Institute, San José State University. https://transweb.sjsu.edu/ research/1713-WP-Parking-Scooters

Klein, Nicholas, Anne Brown, and Calvin Thigpen. 2022. “Naughty Scooter Parking: Public Perceptions & Policy Intervention.” SocArXiv. https://doi. org/10.31235/osf.io/su8wx

Seattle Department of Transportation, 2019. 2019 Quarter 3 Bike Share Summary Report. Seattle, WA. https://www.seattle.gov/Documents/ Departments/SDOT/BikeProgram/2019Q3_BikeShare_Summary_Report. pdf

Figure 6

University of Nevada, Reno Celebrates Grand Opening of the Gateway Parking Complex

UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA , Reno celebrated the opening of the new Gateway Parking Structure with a ribbon-cutting event on January 19th. The seven-level, 814-stall parking structure brings much-needed parking to the new Gateway Precinct and serves university students, faculty, staff, and visitors.

University officials, including UNR President Brian Sandoval, UNR Vice President of Advising and Finance Vic Redding and Vice Chair of NSHE Board of regents Joe Arrascada attended the ribbon cutting, which featured vintage vehicles from the Reno Automobile Museum, including the 1966 Batmobile.

Completion of the parking structure paves the way for expansion of the Mathewson University Gateway, future home of a business building, a life science building, and a hotel conference center.

A pedestrian bridge on the 4th level of the structure provides safe passage over 9th Street. Design of the bridge reflects Reno’s deep ties to the railroad, including exposed trusses to evoke a historic railway bridge, and a train-inspired curved roof.

In addition to celebrating Reno’s history, the bridge is fully accessibility to those with disabilities and connects the Mathewson University Gateway to the main campus, while also improving connectivity to downtown Reno.

“This is what the Mathewson University Gateway is all about,” said Sandoval. “Connection, collaboration, contact between a campus and a community.”

Watry Design, Inc. designed the structure, with Clark/Sullivan Construction serving as the general contractor. The structure opened to the public on January 20, 2023.

Bethlehem Parking Authority Announces Smart Loading Zone Pilot

THE BETHLEHEM PARKING AUTHORITY (BPA) announced today that it’s launching a Smart Loading Zone program with Automotus. The pilot project aims to increase short-term parking efficiency, relieve congestion, and make the streets safer by applying automated progressive payments and data management in existing loading zones. The city will designate Loading Zones in the most congested sections of the city as “Smart Loading Zones.”

Automotus, an automated curb management solutions company, selected Bethlehem to receive up to $100,000 in support to launch a Smart Loading Zone Pilot program. Bethlehem is in good company, as the cities of Pittsburgh, Los Angeles, CA, and Omaha, NE have been past recipients.

Over the past 24 months, the parking and transportation industries have significantly changed as more people opt for delivery and pick-up methods. Increased demand for delivered goods means more commercial deliveries and rideshare drivers are on the road, and congestion in city streets is further exacerbated by the increased competition for curbside parking.

“Loading Zone abuse causes drivers to find other places to park. Unfortunately, we see those other places as double parking in travel lanes or crosswalks,” said Ken Jones, Enforcement Manager. “It’s our goal to make the streets safer for all visitors of Bethlehem,” he added.

The BPA is also working with the city to identify over twenty short-term parking zones, called Pick Up and Delivery Zones. “Pick-Up/Delivery Zones and parking meters could be used for shorter-term

parkers, saving the Smart Loading Zones for deliveries that need more time,” said Dick Lynn, Facilities Manager. “These options will create the turnover needed for a more efficient and safer parking system,” he added.

“We’ve seen different user groups competing for parking in Bethlehem, so we need to think beyond our curbs as just places where vehicles park for long periods. We’re going to continue to apply forward-thinking parking practices and develop strategies that allow all user groups to access our curbs safely and efficiently,” said Steven Fernstrom, Executive Director.

Through the pilot process, the BPA will donate the revenue to the Downtown Bethlehem Association and Southside Arts District. “We’re fortunate to have been selected to receive this support which made it possible to roll this out at no cost, and we’re happy that this new temporary funding source can be used to enhance our downtowns,” Fernstrom added.

“The Downtown Bethlehem Association has a positive partnership with the Bethlehem Parking Authority and is encouraged by BPA’s action to find new ways to relieve traffic congestion and to provide continued parking solutions for all who visit the Historic District,” states Neville Gardner, President, Downtown Bethlehem Association.

“We’re excited to work with a forwardthinking organization like the Bethlehem Parking Authority and the City of Bethlehem on the Smart Loading Zones program,” said Jordan Justus, CEO of Automotus. “Cities of all sizes can benefit from better managed streets that result in increased parking turnover that drives

more business to local stores, safer streets through the reduction of double parking, and less congestion to make our trips through the city a lot less frustrating.”

Automotus has been operating a similar program in partnership with the Pittsburgh Department of Mobility and Infrastructure and the Pittsburgh Parking Authority since April 2022 and has seen a 20% reduction in average park duration and a 42% reduction in double parking. Pittsburgh City Council recently approved the extension of the Smart Loading Zones program for another two years and expansion of up to 200 loading zones.

The Bethlehem Smart Loading Zone Pilot Project will launch in January 2023 and last for approximately three years.

Individual drivers and fleets will be able to register one time by providing license plate and payment information. The zones will be fully automated and completely hands-off for drivers once they register and will be charged by the minute only for the time the vehicle is parked. Details on signing up will be published prior to the launch.

Stillwater, MN Digitizes Parking and Mobility Management with Passport

Year-round travel destination in Minnesota launches Passport Parking for easy, contactless parking payments.

THE CITY OF STILLWATER is partnering with mobility software and payments company Passport to provide its community with an easier and more convenient way to pay for parking. With Passport’s platform in place, the City can also access real-time parking insights and data and operate more efficiently

Passport’s mobile payment application, Passport Parking, makes paying to park seamless and hassle-free. After downloading the free app from the App Store or Google Play, a user enters the respective zone number, license plate number and the desired length of time for parking. Users can receive notifications when their sessions are about to expire and view receipts and parking history directly from their smartphones.

“Passport’s technology streamlines our operations and gives our residents and visitors more parking payment options,” says Community Development Director at the City of Stillwater, Tim Gladhill. “With this launch, our residents and visitors can park with peace of mind and spend more time enjoying Stillwater’s exquisite dining, live music entertainment and more.”

More than 800 cities, private operators, and universities in North America trust Passport’s digital mobility platform as the only end-to-end system for managing mobile pay parking, parking enforcement, digital parking permits and mobility management. Later this year, the City will leverage Passport’s platform to digitally enforce its curb through license plate recognition (LPR) technology.

“We are thrilled for this partnership with the City of Stillwater,” says Jake Breig , Passport account executive. “In addition to offering the community a convenient way to pay for parking, the City of Stillwater can now collect, aggregate and visualize all mobility data in one central location through our platform.”

The Passport Parking app is free to download from the App Store and Google Play. Users can also manage their parking online at passportparking.com.

Carolinas Parking and Mobility Association Announces

Reelected and New Additions to the Board of Directors

CPMA is pleased to announce the appointment of two new affiliate board members, Tim MacEldowney with IPS Group, Inc. and Pete Thompson of Cleanstreak. Each individual is serving a two-year term commencing January 1, 2023.

“Our Board of Directors is comprised of a dedicated team of experts and leaders committed to improving the mobility industry” said Carl DePinto, President. “We are excited to channel Tim and Pete’s talent, expertise and energy into furthering our mission.” Two existing Board of Directors have also been reappointed by their respective board of directors and the members of the North and South Carolinas Parking and Mobility Association. Clint Joy, Chief Executive Officer of Carolina Time and Parking Group is renamed as Vice President and member of our Board of Directors and Cheryl Stout, Executive Director of Transportation and Parking at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill continues as a valued board member. Each individual is serving a two year-term commencing January 1, 2023.

“We are excited to welcome back Clint and Cheryl to the evergrowing Carolinas Parking and Mobility Association Board of Directors as thoughtful and passionate leaders that have assisted in expanding our association and improving our mobility members’ lives” said Carl DePinto, President. “I know that all of us will benefit from their leadership and expertise in the mobility profession.”

Thompson Stout

South Orange Parking Authority Updates Its Parking System with User-Friendly Solution

New, updated solar-powered pay stations offer faster options than ever before.

THE VILLAGE OF SOUTH ORANGE , New Jersey, and the South Orange Parking Authority (SOPA) have announced an exciting upgrade to its parking system in partnership with Flowbird Group, the leader in curbside management and urban mobility solutions. SOPA is replacing its aging pay-by-space parking stations with Flowbird’s Pay-by-Plate Solar-Powered Smart Parking Kiosks, fully equipped with the industry’s latest technology. The upgrade is a part of SOPA’s continuing efforts to enhance the customer service experience with a modernized solution.

The new parking system will feature pay-by-plate parking kiosks that are accessible for all customers, including meeting ADA standards. To begin, the user simply enters their license plate number and desired length of stay. Payment will be accepted with either coins, cash, debit, or credit card. Once payment has been made, the parking session has started and there is no need to walk back to their vehicle to display a receipt.

By implementing modernized pay stations with convenient payment options, SOPA will be able to better manage parking turnover and visitor influx during peak periods. The switch to these multi-space pay stations will bring a consistent and higher level of customer service to the parking public.

All transaction data from the pay stations are sent in realtime to Flowbird’s intelligent data management suite and shared with the SOPA’s enforcement solution, ready to be integrated with other payment modes such as mobile phone payments. Using the data provided by the Flowbird system, SOPA staff can enforce all permit and daily parking fee payments and track the highest areas of use throughout the day. This data can be valuable to help determine future parking plans.

The new pay stations are live as of January 2023.

Currently, Flowbird supports over 47,000 parking pay stations for 900 customers throughout the U.S. This implementation will add to Flowbird’s expanding list of cities in New Jersey including Trenton, Newark, Morristown, Rahway, and Bloomfield.

Click here to find out why George earned his CAPP, and what it's meant for his career, and the Miami Parking Authority.

George Mclean, CAPP Senior Business Analyst Miami Parking Authority

eleven-x’s Innovative Parking Solution eXactpark Wins “Overall Smart City Solution Of The Year” from 2023 IoT Breakthrough Awards Program

Prestigious Annual Awards Program Recognize Standout Internet-of-Things Companies and Product.

eleven-x , a global leader providing comprehensive, high-performance, wireless IoT and Smart City solutions, today announced that its eXactpark solution has been named “Overall Smart City Solution of The Year” in the 7th annual IoT Breakthrough Awards program conducted by IoT Breakthrough, a leading market intelligence organization that recognizes the top companies, technologies and products in the global Internet-of-Things (IoT) market today.

The innovative smart parking monitoring solution, which is already being utilized by cities and institutions across North America, enables a stress-free parking experience for drivers and improved oversight for parking managers. The comprehensive solution combines a sensor-based real-time occupancy monitoring technology and a complete software platform that provides insight on parking availability for wayfinding as well as more efficient parking management.

“Parking has a major impact on driver experience, budgets, and traffic congestion for cities, campuses, and all types of private organizations. A ‘smart’ parking experience starts with drivers knowing exactly where an available space is and ends with seamless payment,” said James Johnson, managing director at IoT Breakthrough. “eleven-x is delivering on this experience, transforming the parking experience through its breakthrough parking technology, eXactpark. Their smart platform provides elements for anyone that engages with parking by combining sensorbased space occupancy monitoring, real-time data, and intelligent enforcement amongst other features included in the comprehensive platform.’”

The foundation of the eXactpark smart parking solution is a wireless SPS-X parking sensor, which received the IoT Breakthrough Award for “IoT Sensor Product of the Year” last year. The patent-pending sensor employs multiple technologies along with advanced edge processing,

to provide ultra-long battery life, reliability and most importantly greater than 99.5% accuracy – the highest in the industry. It can be installed in various environments including on-street and surface lots as well as above or in-ground, ensuring accuracy in any environmental condition. The eXactpark software suite provides advanced real-time analytics of more than 20 key parking metrics such as stall occupancy status, turnover, demand overtime, duration, and pinch point indicators. Insights gained through historical data can be used for dynamic pricing initiatives and infrastructure planning efforts. Parking administrators can set overstay alarms and alerts that are specific to different zones, stall types, and duration to ensure effective management of spaces. Additionally, the solution’s wayfinding app provides drivers with realtime access to parking availability removing the need for circling and searching. It can also highlight the location and usage status of specialty spaces like those for EV Charging and Accessibility.

“Parking has wide ranging impact on everything from climate change to land use, economic development and community livability,” said Dan Mathers, CEO & Co-Founder of eleven-x. “With eXactpark, smart cities can address traffic congestion, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, improve urban mobility and better utilize limited resources. These collective outcomes not only help improve the parking experience, but also the overall lives of residents and visitors. Because of this, we are thrilled eXactpark was chosen as the ‘Overall Smart City Solution Of The Year.”

The mission of the IoT Breakthrough Awards program is to recognize the innovators, leaders, and visionaries from around the globe in a range of IoT categories, including Industrial and Enterprise IoT, Smart City technology, Connected Home and Home Automation, Connected Car, and many more. This year’s program attracted more than 4,000 nominations from companies all over the world.

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