The Parking Professional February 2016

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Connectivity and Parking

THE INTERNATIONAL PARKING INSTITUTE

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Gorgeous!

This year’s photo contest winners.

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Autonomous Vehicles Myths Busted

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Park Tank Contestants Speak

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Intelligent Transportation Systems

FEBRUARY 2016

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WAYFINDING FEBRUARY 2016 | Volume 32 | Number 2

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The Eye of the Beholder

THE EYE OF THE BEHOLDER THE WINNERS OF THE PARKING PROFESSIONAL’S 2015 PHOTO CONTEST

Parking professionals show off their creative eyes in The Parking Professional’s annual photo contest, with amazing results.

IT’S THE MOST WONDERFUL TIME OF THE YEAR— photo contest time! Every year, IPI staff gather ‘round to judge the entries we get from parking professionals in all parts of the industry. This year was particularly tough to judge, with a record number of entries and lots of really

difficult decisions. Parking professionals are a creative bunch! Thanks to everyone who entered this year’s photo contest and many congratulations to this year’s winners!

The 2016 contest will launch this fall—keep an eye out and be sure to enter. 

LOT

Photographer: Laurel Von Ragan Project Manager, Oregon Health & Science University Laurel snapped this gorgeous reflection of the Ross Island Bridge in a parking lot puddle in South Waterfront district, Portland, Ore. If only all rainy days produced such beautiful results.

PEOPLE

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Photographer: Graham Crothers Creative Content Executive, ParkCloud ParkCloud transformed its front lot into a Park(ing) Day haven of peace and serenity. Two teams participated in an all-day yoga session, and this photo was one result. Namaste.

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Myths Busted

The winners of The Parking Professional’s 2015 photo contest.

By Thomas E. Curtis, CAPP

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arking garages will be obsolete by 2025 (2020 if you

●

believe Uber CEO Travis Kalanick). Of course, the paperless office was hinted at in 1964 and predicted by 1975.

●

Decades later, the use of office paper is only starting to level off, and we are still tens of years away from that visionary

INTERNATIONAL PARKING INSTITUTE | FEBRUARY 2016

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ing garages? Probably not and definitely not anytime soon.

In May 2013, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) released a policy on automated vehicle development that enumerated a classification system: parking.org/tpp

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Getting Connected

By Chris Chettle, CAPP; Mike Drow, CAPP; and Peter Lange

Connectivity is the exploding technology trend of 2016. Are you on board?

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efrigerators that help you create a shopping list, cars that provide real-time pressure information

for each tire, roads that talk to vehicles to inform drivers of current driving conditions, and watches that let you know when you have not reached your target number of daily steps: These are just a few of the advances in technology that create more intelligent devices and enable these devices to connect to each other to share information and drive new applications for consumers.

These advances are allowing us to: Connect to devices that tell us about the environment around us.

Connect to consumers to provide enhanced services.

Connect to the world to share and gather disparate data and information for our use.

Just as in our daily lives and in many other industries, each of these connections is driving change in our parking operations and service offerings.

Understanding the opportunities that exist in each connection will help us continue to evolve the parking services we deliver.

● ● ●

Connectivity is the exploding technology trend of 2016. Are you on board?

parking.org/tpp

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A new way of thinking about parking eliminates extreme road congestion

at the Calgary Zoo.

By Bill Franklin, P.Eng.

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he Calgary Zoo had a really big problem:

It was too popular. On warm, sunny days, excited children and accommodating parents filled family cars and SUVs in lines that stretched hundreds of yards from the entrance and often grew to more than a mile long. The line snaked back to impede traffic on a main corridor into Calgary and dangerously reaches all the way up to and onto Calgary’s big and busy highway, the DeerfootTrail.

Families at the back of the queue could wait an hour or more in their vehicles before finally gaining access to the large-capacity parking lot. Zoo visitors were unhappy and city and police officials concerned. Complaints rained in for a remedy to reduce the length of time to enter the park.

The Calgary Zoo management proactively looked for a solution and reached out to several industry experts, who proposed a solution that would revolutionize zoo access and reduce queuing and waiting to virtually zero.

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Taming More than Lions

CASE STUDY

Evolution to a Parking Crisis

The Calgary Zoo is located in the City of Calgary, a booming metropolis in Alberta, Canada, that’s home to some 1.2 million citizens. As the city grew, so did the zoo. The Calgary Zoo remains one of the most popular and endearing attractions in Calgary and is constantly innovating to increase attendance while providing a comfortable environment for the animal residents.

Initially, parking at the zoo was free. In time, the zoo began to look at new and additional revenue models with a careful eye on retaining an attractive and family-friendly demeanor. For example, the zoo wanted the ability for vehicles to enter the zoo parking lot, drop off people, and leave without paying for parking if the process took less than 30 minutes.

In 2009, the zoo embarked on a major parking lot renovation that included expansion of the parking facilities and the installation of a gated automatic parking access system comprised of credit card and zoo card readers, ticket issuers, and gates.

Soon the Calgary Zoo was welcoming 1.5 million visitors annually and boasted 70,000 members—30,000 of whom subscribed to contract

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An entry lane into the 1,800-vehicle lot. The readers are visible just past the bollard marked “2,” and the gates are at the end of the kiosk. parking. Contract parkers used the same magnetic stripe-equipped zoo card as other zoo members, but theirs were configured to open parking lot gates when inserted into card readers. In theory, the gated system should have worked just fine; in reality, it quickly became a serious headache for both zoo members and managers alike.

Congestion at the Gates Occasional (non-member) zoo visitors would stop at the automatic kiosks, press a button, and pull a

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A new way of thinking about parking eliminates extreme road congestion at the Calgary Zoo.

ON THE COVER: Sean Rodgers, Oregon Health & Science University, took the Best in Show photo in the 2015 photo contest.

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Full Self-Driving Automation (Level 4): The vehicle performs all safety-critical functions for an entire trip. The driver provides navigation input but is not expected to be available for control at any time.

SAE International enumerates an alternative classification system that has five levels ranging from driver control to self-driving.

We have seen in the past decades, and will continue to see during the next several years, autonomous features added to standard vehicles. We are now seeing Level 2 features offered in higher-end vehicles: lane-departure warnings combined with adaptive cruise-control that speeds up or slows down cars to maintain their spacing in traffic. These are the features that move

us toward the driverless car and are available from most automakers today. Some auto manufacturers claim Level 3 features will be available in the next five to seven years. Examples of these vehicles are being tested by auto manufacturers and technology firms on public streets today.

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facing

the

SHARKS INTERNATIONAL PARKING INSTITUTE | FEBRUARY 2016

Self-Driving Prophecies

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Facing the Sharks

Last year’s IPI Park Tank™ contestants say the competition was fierce but came with huge benefits to their fledgeling companies.

By Kim Fernandez

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RE YOU READY TO JUMP INTO THE PARK TANK™?

IPI launched its live game show, modeled after tele-

vision’s “Shark Tank,” at the 2015 IPI Conference & Expo in Las Vegas and gave five parking entrepreneurs the chance to wow industry judges and launch their companies right there on stage. The event was popular with both fledgling companies and the audience in Las Vegas—so much so that a second Park Tank will happen at the 2016 IPI Conference in Nashville, Tenn., this May—but what happened to the entrepreneurs who jumped into the tank?

In a word: lots. After receiving great publicity to valuable feedback from judges and audience members after the show, the people who faced the judges and presented their ideas under the hot lights on stage say Park Tank was a fantastic springboard for their products and companies and they’d do it again in a heartbeat (your chance is coming up quickly—more on that in a few minutes!).

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INTERNATIONAL PARKING INSTITUTE | FEBRUARY 2016

48 s I write this, I’m heading off to the New York State Parking Association conference to see many old friends and hopefully meet a few new ones. While beginning my nearly six-hour train ride, I wonder: Does the person next to me know what intelligent transportation systems (ITS) are?

I would imagine the smartphone he just used to view our estimated time of arrival is connected to an ITS. How about when he departs the train and then uses a bus or personal vehicle to get to his

location due to an accident or roadwork along the way?

These are just a few examples of the ways ITS affects our everyday lives; they also detail the greatest chal-

next destination? Will there be signage in the bus shelter indicating how long (in real time) he’ll wait until the next bus arrives? Maybe he can use that smartphone

lenge faced by IPI’s ITS Task Force. How do we convey our message, not just to the parking industry alone, but to all sectors of ITS users? This question and the

again to see the bus on a GPS tracker— hard-copy schedules are becoming harder and harder to find as fewer people use them and demand lessens. What about

challenge it presents will help guide us down an informative ITS path, which will eventually include a case study that highlights a transportation management

variable message signs (VMS) along the roadways that specify it may take 30 to 40 minutes to get home from his current

center. ITS itself is pretty new, and the task force is only a few years old. So who are we, and what is our message anyway?

Transportation management centers are one example of ITS in action.

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INTERNATIONAL PARKING INSTITUTE | FEBRUARY 2016

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Last year’s IPI Park Tank™ contestants say the competition was fierce, but came with huge benefits to their fledgeling companies.

Boosting Intelligence

By Jason M. Jones

A An IPI task force takes on intelligent transportation systems and how they might work with parking, and members want your input.

Will autonomous vehicles really lead to the demise of the parking garage?

Kalanick and Elon Musk, co-founder of Tesla Motors, believe self-driving vehicles (Level 4) will be here in five or six years. Musk does, however, concede regulatory impediments will slow the transition to market saturation.

What else will slow the transition to the driverless car?

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34

TaminG More than Lions

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Busted

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44 INTERNATIONAL PARKING INSTITUTE | FEBRUARY 2016

28

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dream. So, will the driverless car eliminate the need for park-



BEAUTIFUL

Photographer: Ryan Willis Computer User Support Analyst 2, Oregon Health & Science University Ryan may be the luckiest guy we know—look how amazing his morning commute is! This is a shot of the morning light over the TriMet Orange Line in Milwaukie, Ore. We’d never linger for a second cup of coffee at home if our morning drive looked like this.

No-Automation (Level 0): The driver is in complete control of the primary vehicle controls at all times.

Function-Specific Automation (Level 1): Automation involves one or more specific control functions, such as electronic stability control or lane-keeping assist.

Combined Function Automation (Level 2): At least two primary control functions work in unison, such as adaptive cruise control in combination with lane assist.

Limited Self-Driving Automation (Level 3): The driver can cede full control of all safety-critical functions in certain traffic conditions.

The driver is expected to be available for control with the system, providing sufficient time for transition.

Will autonomous vehicles really lead to the demise of the parking garage?

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An IPI task force takes on intelligent transportation systems and how they might work with parking, and members want your input.

Editor’s Note

DEPARTMENTS

FAVORITES 4 Entrance 6 IPI Board Member Profile 8 Consultants Corner 1 0 The Green Standard 1 2 The Business of Parking 1 4 Financial Matters 1 6 Parking Spotlight 18 IPI’s Ask the Experts 5 2 IPI in Action 54 State & Regional Spotlight 5 6 Community Digest 6 0 Parking Consultants 62 Advertisers Index 62 Parking Break 63 New IPI Members 64 Calendar of Events

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his is one of my favorite issues of the year. For weeks, my email was filled with beautiful, funny, and fun photos of the parking world. Lots, structures, and people (my favorite!) brightened up my computer screen every day, and as always, it was really a pleasure to sort through them for the judges of this year’s The Parking Professional photo contest.

These photos are a great way to see the parking industry through the eyes of those on the ground, so to speak, day in and day out, and we hope you enjoy them. Many congratulations to this year’s winners. Know that you faced some very tough competition!

This is also my favorite issue because of our annual feature from IPI’s Technology Committee—the people who keep their fingers firmly on the pulse of what’s coming in the land of apps, programs, and gadgets. I am a self-proclaimed gadget nerd who can spend hours perusing the latest app offerings and techy advances, and their insight is fascinating. Their story starts on p. 28, and it’s worth tearing out and passing around the office.

This issue is packed full of case studies and information, from the innovative ways the Calgary Zoo used parking to end road congestion (p. 34) to a look at autonomous cars and what they might mean for this industry in particular (p. 40). And don’t miss our look back at last year’s Park Tank™ competition on p. 44—this year’s show is coming up fast! Contestants from the 2015 event say it propelled their companies forward in ways they never imagined. Now is the time to apply if you’ve got a great new idea to launch.

I hope you enjoy this month’s The Parking Professional. As always, I’d love your ideas and feedback—my email is below, and I look forward to hearing from you.

Until next month…

fernandez@parking.org p.s.: If you haven’t seen it already, the first issue of Industria del Estacionamiento Profesional—IPI’s new Spanish-language magazine—is out. Visit parking. org to see it and email me for your free subscription.

parking.org/tpp

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ENTRANCE Publisher Shawn Conrad, CAE conrad@parking.org Editor Kim Fernandez fernandez@parking.org Contributing Editor Bill Smith, APR bsmith@smith-phillips.com Technical Editor Rachel Yoka, LEED AP BD+C yoka@parking.org Advertising Sales Bonnie Watts, CEM watts@parking.org Subscriptions Tina Altman taltman@parking.org.

Graphic Design BonoTom Studio info@bonotom.com Proofreader Melanie Padgett Powers For advertising information, contact Bonnie Watts at watts@parking.org or 571.699.3011.

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

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

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

Periodical postage paid at Alexandria, Va., and additional mailing offices. Copyright © International Parking Institute, 2016. Statements of fact and opinion expressed in articles contained in The Parking Professional are the sole responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent an official expression of policy or opinion on the part of officers or the members of IPI. Manuscripts, correspondence, articles, product releases, and all contributed materials are welcomed

by The Parking Professional; however, publication is subject to editing, if deemed necessary to conform to standards of publication.

The subscription rate is included in IPI annual dues.

Subscription rate for non-members of IPI is $120 per year (U.S. currency) in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico.

All other countries, $150. Back issues, $10.

By Wanda Brown

A

s I reflect on the past year and the myriad of opportunities and challenges that came with being a parking professional, the one thing I was keenly aware of and thankful for was the collaborative expertise that I found in IPI. Who doesn’t like growth? I was extremely happy to see my campus increasing its services and academic goals, but that growth created a host of issues that required me to stretch my industry knowledge and abilities. After exhaling, I realized I had at my disposal what many have—industry experience that crosses the country. I immediately pulled out my 2015 IPI Conference & Expo Program Guide and began making vendor calls, which offered welcome relief. What a benefit and resource I found in my association membership!

Across the country, startup companies are pushing the parking industry into new territory as technology and social media fuel the flames of innovation. While dealing with the industry changes created by Lyft and Uber, our industry has to anticipate what else may be coming as a result of the dot-com movement and the changing driver habits of the next generation.

I recently watched the HBO documentary “San Francisco 2.0,” in which one of the technology speakers began explaining the business side of Lyft, Uber, and Airbnb. He provided an interesting perspective into why they are the subject of a lot of controversy across the country. He offered an explanation on how these companies are getting around the requirements of paying taxes and meeting certain required codes that traditional cab drivers and hotels must meet.

He stated, with laughter, the benefits of technology—the power of an app. If an app can change and shift business requirements, what else will it be able to achieve in the future?

As more traditional ways of thinking dissipate, out-of-the-box thinking is dominating as technology continues to create new business paradigms. Many questions come to my mind as I face the future of parking. Will these companies stand the test of time? How will these changes change the business of American transportation?

What will the financial effects be?

What is certain is that our experiences and expertise will become sharper, more innovative, and forward-moving. I think the greater industry excitement is yet to come.

WANDA BROWN is assistant manager, parking and transportation services, at the University of California Davis Medical Center and a member of IPI’s Board of Directors. She can be reached at wanda. brown@ucdmc. ucdavis.edu.

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KEEPING UP, REACHING OUT

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INTERNATIONAL PARKING INSTITUTE | FEBRUARY 2016

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IPI BOARD MEMBER PROFILE

BRIDGETTE BRADY, CAPP Senior Director of Transportation and Mail Services Cornell University Member, IPI Board of Directors

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any of my most cherished friendships are a result of working in this industry. There is a mysteriously unique bond in the parking world that brings us together. I’ve been blessed to know this for most of my career but probably no more so than in my most recent years.

Roughly two years ago, I relocated to Ithaca, N.Y., from Pullman, Wash., for new challenges at the prestigious Cornell University. It was a difficult decision to leave Washington State University (WSU), a world-class institution with much to be proud of, as it had been my home for more than 20 years.

It was exponentially more difficult to leave my WSU family. We had been together through it all: celebrations of success, standing beside each other through challenges, and comforting one another when life just wasn’t quite right. Together, we made it through some of the roughest financial years imagined in higher education and still came out on top. It was truly one of the most difficult farewells in my lifetime, and I miss those friends and colleagues very much.

What I experienced on my arrival in Ithaca is testimony to my point—I was provided every opportunity to know it as my home. I was greeted by my Cornell colleagues with open arms. Even prior to moving, I was invited to join an obstacle course team and running club, run a race, volunteer for a local theater benefit, and, of course, experience all of the adventures my new home had to offer—wine trailing and waterfall hiking being some of my favorites. I was also very fortunate to step into a department full of energy for change and a wanting to make a difference in the industry.

I don’t dare say the warm reception ended at Cornell. Fellow colleagues in the New York State Parking Association reached out days after my arrival to extend a welcome and invitation to participate in association activities. Once again within days of me starting the new position, Ivy League brethren offered support in my transition to the private-university experience.

My life is enriched by all of your support, and I would be remiss if I didn’t take this opportunity to thank you. I couldn’t imagine my life without you.

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INTERNATIONAL PARKING INSTITUTE | FEBRUARY 2016

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CONSULTANTS CORNER

WHERE IT’S OK TO TALK BACK

By Mark Santos, PE

I

n the parking consulting arena, we work in different environments and provide a wide range of services to assist our clients:

We work with everyone from well-established parking departments to those just starting at the ground level. ●● We work with all sorts of budgets, from those with surpluses that result in planning efforts to those that aren’t quite as robust and strive to just meet operational costs. ●● We work on situations ranging from implementing payment for parking (for the first time in some cases) to considering variable parking pricing in more established parking payment situations. ●● We range from exploring the construction of a client’s first parking structure to expanding existing garages and lots. ●●

Finding Experts

MARK SANTOS, PE, is a parking practice builder with KimleyHorn and a member of IPI’s Consultants Committee. He can be reached at mark. santos@kimley-horn. com or 305.535.7705.

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What this means is we are all at different stages in our parking lives, so a one-size-fits-all recommendation is likely not going to work in most cases. That means we in parking and transportation turn to the experts.

At the 2015 IPI Conference & Expo in Las Vegas, the Consultants Committee led a moderated panel titled “Talk Back: Consultants Share Their Perspectives on Planning, Design, Operations, and Where the Industry Is Headed.” I had the pleasure of moderating the panel, comprised of four parking industry experts with diverse project and client experiences: ●● Joe Scuilli, CAPP, Chance Management Advisors/ planning and studies. ●● Michelle Wendler, AIA, Watry Design/sustainability and innovation. ●● Jeremy Rocha, PE, Walter P Moore/design and construction. ●● John Porter, PE, Simpson Gumpertz Heger/restoration and maintenance.

The panel provided specific insight on an industry hot topic—strategic parking plans. Municipalities and universities are taking charge of where their operations, supply, and management of parking are headed, not just for the next year or two but forecasting budgets and plans for five- and 10-year horizons. Municipalities and universities strive to balance their focus on today’s urgent needs with the future outlook of their

INTERNATIONAL PARKING INSTITUTE | FEBRUARY 2016

parking programs and what will change or be needed down the road.

Other highlights of the educational session included: ●● Automated parking, especially regarding installed locations in mostly larger cities and typically associated with residential uses. Conversation about the major variable with automated parking—car retrieval time—was a prominent feature of this discussion, focusing on the need to lessen this technology’s average retrieval time. ●● The positive effects of the use of social media to engage the public by allowing drivers and our customers to easily obtain information on parking availability while providing an additional communication channel for public input. ●● The use of shared parking and its wide spectrum of acceptance in different municipalities, ranging from situations in which shared parking isn’t even permitted to those that specify occupancy percentages for each parking use. Shared parking analysis helps determine right-size parking amount and minimizes overbuild by considering the hourly parking occupancy of different uses. ●● The effects of maintaining multi-million dollar capital investments—parking structures—from the perspectives of durability, safety, and security. Ultimately, the options are quite simple. Choose proactivity and maintain parking structures regularly, resulting in more manageable costs and operational impacts. Or, based on other circumstances, look to maintain parking structures at less-frequent intervals, likely resulting in increased costs and operational effects.

See You in Nashville The panel enjoyed the audience engagement as well as their targeted questions on these topics, and the Consultants Committee looks forward to your attendance for the next round of discussion on hot parking topics at the 2016 IPI Conference & Expo, May 17–20 in Nashville, Tenn., (IPIConference.parking.org). My fellow committee members and I look forward to seeing you and addressing more of your questions and concerns there.

THE GREEN STANDARD

PREVENTIVE MAINTENANCE IS THE ORIGINAL

By Mike Mitchell

A

s a manufacturer of protective coatings and preventive maintenance products, I might be accused by some readers of having a biased opinion. While that’s very much true, I can also make the case that protecting your existing parking facilities is the most sustainable and greenest option available.

I’m going to focus primarily on surface parking (as that is the world I live in on a daily basis), but the concept transfers well to parking structures, onstreet parking, signage, etc. Let me start by putting a few facts on the table: ●● Asphalt is the single most recycled/reused material on the planet; the Federal Highway Administration says approximately 99 percent of asphalt is recycled. ●● The average cost to tear out and replace a 15-yearold asphalt parking lot is $39.07 per square yard, according to the Asphalt Institute. ●● The average cost to perform preventive maintenance for 15 years on an asphalt parking lot is $23.84 per square yard, says the Asphalt Institute.

In addition, the parking lot will be in good condition for years to come (as long as preventive maintenance is continued).

ROI

MIKE MITCHELL is product development manager with Vance Brothers, Inc., and a member of IPI’s Sustainability Committee. He can be reached at memitchell@ vancebrothers.com.

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Certain aspects of facility management have great ROI stories. For example, replacing or retrofitting an old lighting system with an energy-efficient system can have a payback period of two years or less. Additionally, making the lighting switch is good for the environment.

Similarly, garage ventilation upgrades can significantly lower your energy consumption and provide a 94 percent decrease in monthly costs. In those instances, replacing an old system is the greenest option available. But before the technological advances were made that offered those results, the systems required preventive maintenance to maintain operating efficiencies. In the ventilation example you would change the filters, check the condition of sensors, and maintain the air handlers.

While there have been technological advances in the construction of surface lots, parking structures, signage, etc., earlier numbers from the asphalt industry show a direct savings in the maintenance of parking facilities.

Very few studies have been done comparing the carbon

INTERNATIONAL PARKING INSTITUTE | FEBRUARY 2016

footprint difference in maintaining vs. replacing asphalt surfaces, but one study done in the U.K. shows a 95 percent reduction in carbon footprint in the application of preventive maintenance surface treatments. In lieu of additional studies, empirical data would seemingly confirm the U.K. study, as the energy needed to remove, manufacture, and construct a parking lot/parking structure is significantly higher.

Going back to the numbers from the Asphalt Institute for a second, the life-cycle cost savings of preventive maintenance should not be ignored. During the course of 15 years, every 400 parking spaces that are maintained provide a savings of $357,000. That $357,000 doesn’t even account for the fact that your savings will continue forward as preventive maintenance keeps your facility in good working condition. An additional consideration is that the $357,000 in savings could be allocated for additional green projects (lighting, ticketing, smart meters, ventilation), which would double down on reducing the carbon footprint of your facility.

SUSTAINABILITY Planning Ted Mattingly, CFM, director of facilities and administration services for The National Recreation and Park Association (NRPA), writes, “A preventive maintenance program can help you plan away at least 75 percent of your typical problems and 90 to 95 percent of your critical component issues.” He continues, “Preventive maintenance programs are also a central factor in reducing overall energy consumption in an organization, further emphasizing its importance as a key component in sustainable practices.”

What Ted is saying is that the systems in a facility are most efficient when they are maintained in a way that keeps them in proper working condition. Of course,

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as with any program, the data should be tracked and measured to ensure you are getting the right bang for your buck.

Parking professionals should continue to put preventive maintenance at the top of their priority list. It is easy for any of us to get wrapped up in the day-to-day operations and the necessity to put out fires, but a preventive maintenance plan that is properly implemented will have a direct impact on both your bottom line and sustainability initiatives. It is easy to overlook the boring side of your parking assets (asphalt, concrete, signage, etc.) and focus on the sexy projects (LED lights, solar, etc.), but there is a need for both in a comprehensive sustainability program.

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THE BUSINESS OF PARKING HUMAN RESOURCES LEGAL

WATCH IT!

By Julius E. Rhodes, SPHR

I

have have heard it said many times that if there is a choice between what you say and what you do, people will always pay attention to what you do. While I do not disagree with this statement, I would like to add another point of view on the subject.

To be sure, actions are essential to the way others form their opinions of you and about how you conduct yourself. What I have also learned, though, is that this assumes the people watching you have unbiased motives and can and will assess your actions for what they are instead of what they wish them to be or want to read into them. Of course, we all realize we don’t live in a world free of biases or full of pure intentions.

So where does this leave us? The old adage I referenced above needs to be updated to reflect the modern reality; technology has made our world much smaller and subjects our lives to much greater scrutiny on a variety of levels. Therefore, I think the new saying might more appropriately be: If there is a choice between what you say and what you do, people will pay attention to what you do but also what you say and how you say it.

Words Matter Words matter, and now more than ever people will attempt to read into your words based on how you present them. They hear whatever interpretation they believe will best represent their intentions, not yours. Without being overly cynical, I do want to tell you there is hope for a brighter tomorrow, but it requires patience and a great deal of work.

To overcome the pitfall of having people insert their intentions into your words and actions, you need to be consistent and develop advocates who can and will carry your message forward in the way you intended (A word of

JULIUS E. RHODES, SPHR, is founder and principal of the mpr group and author of BRAND: YOU Personal Branding for Success in Life and Business.

He can be reached at jrhodes@mprgroup. info or 773.548.8037.

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INTERNATIONAL PARKING INSTITUTE | FEBRUARY 2016

caution: I believe you will never be able to totally eliminate the challenge. There is always residual risk involved.).

This is difficult and requires patience, as you will need to check in with people early and often to ensure the messages you are communicating through words and actions are being received in the manner you intended.

Ultimately, you cannot run around trying to track down everything you do to ensure what you meant syncs with how others interpret it, but you will need to identify key stakeholders who are willing to listen to you and share their unbiased point of view. The more time you invest doing this, the better off you will be down the road.

The Real World Here is how this works out in a real-world situation many of you have faced or know about. I contend that anybody can paint a wall. However, the difference between painting a wall and painting a wall well is the prep work required to ensure a proper foundation so your efforts have the best result. Proper painting requires masking off the areas you don’t want painted, putting down drop cloths, and investing in the right tools to do the job in the best possible way.

There is similar prep work required for your actions and words to be interpreted properly. Yes, it is time consuming, and yes, it’s not always the most enjoyable work, but doing so will make for a much better outcome and save you heartache down the road.

FINANCIAL MATTERS

GEN X TURNS 50: PLANNING TO RETIRE

By Mark A. Vergenes

G

eneration X is used to being the younger generation. Growing up in the shadow of the baby boomers, Gen Xers were, for decades, considered the cooler, more skeptical generation. So how can the generation that grew up with MTV and “Reality Bites”—the generation now pushing 50 years old—possibly plan for retirement?

After so many years of feeling like the young kids on the block, it’s understandable that Gen Xers might be a little behind in retirement planning. Nothing sets off the pre-­retirement jitters like a 50th birthday party. Are you saving enough?

Are your savings invested correctly?

How will you possibly have enough saved to stop working in 15 years?

Long-Term Care Insurance While more and more people are living active, healthy lives well into their 80s, many people 50 and older will begin to experience health issues.

Your 50th birthday is a great time to reconsider long-term care insurance.

Long-term care insurance can help prevent your retirement savings from being used to cover expenses from an unexpected long-term illness, rather than financing the retirement lifestyle you planned.

Rebalancing Assets Turning 50 is a great excuse to find out if it’s a good time to rebalance your portfolio. At 50, you have a pretty good idea of where your income is coming from and where it’s going. It’s a great time to look at the asset allocations for your retirement nest egg to determine whether you need to change that makeup.

As you get closer to your retirement age, you may need to choose investments that are less risky as there is less time to recover investment losses.

Catch-Up Exceptions

MARK A. VERGENES is president of MIRUS Financial Partners and chair of the Lancaster (Pa.) Parking Authority. He can be reached at mark@ mirusfinancialpartners. com.

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You may already be enrolled in a 401(k) plan. The good news for those turning 50 is that the IRS says you’re now eligible for some special catch-up exceptions. Most workers are limited to contributing $18,000 per year in a 401(k), but if you are 50 or older in 2016, you can contribute an additional $6,000 as an annual catch-up contribution. That means for contributors 50 and older, your cap is now $24,000 a year. If you’re one of the lucky ones who is close to paying off colleges or a mortgage, this is a time to redirect the money budgeted for those expenses into a retirement plan.

There are also favorable exceptions for individual retirement account (IRA) contributors. While younger savers may be eligible to contribute up to $5,500 per year to an IRA, those 50 and older can contribute an extra $1,000 to those accounts.

The IRS has details on catch-up amounts for other plans, including a 403(b), at irs.gov.

INTERNATIONAL PARKING INSTITUTE | FEBRUARY 2016

Life Insurance As you enter your fifth decade, it’s a great time to think hard about what would happen to your loved ones if you passed unexpectedly. Would your spouse be able to make it without your income? Would your children be able to finish college? Will others be able to cover your parents’ assisted living expenses? Make sure you have enough life insurance to cover your growing responsibilities.

Turning 50 is a big deal. You’ve graduated from youngster to established leader. Make sure your financial planning is up to date and that you’ve covered all your bases.

And happy birthday, Gen X! MIRUS Financial Partners nor Cetera Advisor Networks LLC, give tax or legal advice. Opinions expressed are not intended as investment advice, and it may not be relied on for the purpose of determining your social security benefits, eligibility, or avoiding any federal tax penalties. All information is believed to be from reliable sources; however, we make no representations as to its completeness or accuracy. All economic and performance information is historical and indicative of future results.

PARKING SPOTLIGHT NEWS

TEXAS A&M PARKING PROFESSIONALS SAVE DRIVER’S LIFE

By Kim Fernandez

I

f you could save a stranger’s life by risking your own, would you do it? That was the real-life question sprung on two parking and transportation professionals at Texas A&M University in November during their early-morning drives to work: a car into a tree, a trapped driver, flames under the hood, and no time to think about possible consequences. What would you do?

The Crash

KIM FERNANDEZ is editor of The Parking Professional. She can be reached at fernandez@parking.org.

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Nov. 14 was game day at Texas A&M—the last regular football game of the season. Joel Luce, nighttime enforcement supervisor, and Gregg Stuenkel, facilities maintenance leader, were on their way to start setting up at 5:30 a.m. when they came upon an unthinkable scene.

“I was driving down George Bush Drive when I saw a vehicle that appeared to have hit a tree,” says Luce, who’s worked for the university for 16 years. He asked two people sitting nearby if they were all right. They pointed to the car and said the driver was still inside.

“I turned to look at the car and saw it was on fire underneath,” Luce says. “I ran to his door and saw he was pinned and had blood running down his face. I asked him if he was OK, and he said, ‘Please, just get me out of here.’ I told him, ‘I’m not going to leave you.’”

Stuenkel, Luce’s colleague came up the road in his truck at about that moment and saw the car in the tree with flames under the hood. “I didn’t know anyone was in there,” he says. “Then Joel yelled for me to come help get the guy out.” After a desperate search for a fire extinguisher came up empty, the two men grabbed a sledgehammer and started breaking windows and pulling on door handles hard enough to break them off.

College Station Police Officer Patricia Marty arrived on the scene, handed Stuenkel a fire extinguisher, and went to work trying to free the car’s driver while Stuenkel tried to put the fire out. “I got the fire out,” he says, “but the extinguisher ran out.” Within seconds, the flames reignited.

“We kept talking to him,” Stuenkel says. The man was awake, aware, and terrified, pinned in the car by his legs, listening to Luce repeat, “If you go, I’m going with you.” Working together, the two men and the police officer bent the driver-side window frame with their hands, pulled the driver through the opening, and dragged him clear of the wreck. Fire first responders

INTERNATIONAL PARKING INSTITUTE | FEBRUARY 2016

arrived and extinguished the fire, and the 21-year-old car driver was taken to the hospital, but no one was sure he’d survive his multiple injuries along with breathing in heavy smoke.

“There was so much smoke,” says Luce, who was treated for inhalation after the incident. “I backed off the car a few times so I could breathe, and we were trying to break the back windshield with a radio to give the driver some air.”

Reaction Peter Lange, executive director of transportation services at Texas A&M, says the story seemed unbelievable when people started hearing it later that day.

“Our people were some of the first on campus that day,” he says. “We didn’t hear about it until we got to campus, and it was like, ‘Wow, I can’t believe that happened. I can’t believe everybody is OK.’” While his first reaction was surprise, he says he didn’t doubt for a second that his people would risk their own lives to save another. “I’d be surprised if they didn’t help,” he says. “Nobody ever has to help, but I’m not surprised they did.” Watching the police dashcam video of the incident, he says, drove home the professionalism of Luce and Stuenkel.

“You see Gregg shooting the fire extinguisher and the fire goes out,” he says. “Two seconds later, the fire’s back.”

Both Luce and Stuenkel says while it felt like they were on-scene for a long time, the whole thing was over in minutes, giving them very little time to think about what they were doing.

“I really didn’t think about my own safety,” says Luce. “It wasn’t an option to leave him.

That thought never crossed my mind. I was outside the car—he had it much worse than I did. I thought the car was going to blow up like you see in the movies, but I had a better chance of making it than he did.”

Stuenkel agrees: “If I was in a car like that, I’d want somebody to get me out,” he says. “The adrenaline was pumping for sure, and we knew we had to get him out. That’s all I could think about.” He may have had the line of the day—when the driver was out and the fire department had extinguished the fire, he remembers asking if he could leave. “I had things to do,” he says.

“We didn’t think of it as being heroes,” he says. “It was just helping somebody in need. We’d want somebody to help us if we were in that situation.”

Others, however, disagree. Luce has heard from the driver’s aunt and the driver himself since the accident—he survived and is recovering from multiple injuries and surgeries—and they definitely think of everyone involved as a hero. So does the community: The incident made headlines both locally and as far away as the U.K., where the Mirror covered it about a week parking.org/tpp

later. Lange and his staff say they’ve heard that Luce has been nominated by the driver’s family for a Carnegie Hero award.

“We are extremely proud,” says Lange.

“It was a huge effort. People who saw the car and the tree couldn’t believe anyone survived. In fact, we didn’t know the driver survived for a few days after.”

“I wasn’t expecting attention at all,” Luce says. “Co-workers started calling me later that afternoon. You know, we have people who do this sort of thing every day. Those are our firefighters and police officers. I just happened to be there before they were, and I did what I think anybody would have done.”

FEBRUARY 2016 | INTERNATIONAL PARKING INSTITUTE

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What college major would you recommend to a budding parking professional and why?

Timothy Haahs, PE, AIA

Larry Cohen, CAPP Executive Director

President and CEO

Lancaster Parking Authority

Timothy Haas & Associates, Inc.

Business and psychology (so you can learn to deal with irrational people when it comes to parking!).

As we have been saying, parking isn’t just about simply parking but is becoming central to people and to all modes of transportation. For a non-technical career in parking, I believe the study of hospitality management will serve well as it deals with how business operates and the success of an organization.

Lance Lunsway

David Hill, CAPP

Senior Director, Parking and Transportation Services

CEO

Clayton Hill Associates, Ltd.

Georgia Tech This is an interesting question, and I’m curious to see the other responses. I’m inclined to say a business degree with a minor in psychology and/or customer relations. The business degree is obvious, but the psychology is beneficial with dealing with our clientele.

Retail or hospitality management. These are industries that reflect what parking will be in 10 to 20 years.

Dennis Burns, CAPP Regional Vice President Kimley-Horn The University of Washington offers a program in sustainable transportation. If I were younger, this is a program I would pursue.

Have a question for IPI’s experts? Send it to fernandez@parking.org and watch this space for answers!

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INTERNATIONAL PARKING INSTITUTE | FEBRUARY 2016

The opinions, beliefs, and thoughts expressed by the contributors do not necessarily reflect the opinions and viewpoints of the International Parking Institute or official policies of IPI.

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THE EYE OF THE BEHOLDER THE WINNERS OF THE PARKING PROFESSIONAL’S 2015 PHOTO CONTEST

Parking professionals show off their creative eyes in The Parking Professional’s annual photo contest, with amazing results.

IT’S THE MOST WONDERFUL TIME OF THE YEAR— photo contest time! Every year, IPI staff gather ‘round to judge the entries we get from parking professionals in all parts of the industry. This year was particularly tough to judge, with a record number of entries and lots of really

BEAUTIFUL

difficult decisions. Parking professionals are a creative bunch! Thanks to everyone who entered this year’s photo contest and many congratulations to this year’s winners!

The 2016 contest will launch this fall—keep an eye out and be sure to enter.



Photographer: Ryan Willis Computer User Support Analyst 2, Oregon Health & Science University Ryan may be the luckiest guy we know—look how amazing his morning commute is! This is a shot of the morning light over the TriMet Orange Line in Milwaukie, Ore. We’d never linger for a second cup of coffee at home if our morning drive looked like this.

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INTERNATIONAL PARKING INSTITUTE | FEBRUARY 2016



LOT

Photographer: Laurel Von Ragan Project Manager, Oregon Health & Science University Laurel snapped this gorgeous reflection of the Ross Island Bridge in a parking lot puddle in South Waterfront district, Portland, Ore. If only all rainy days produced such beautiful results.

PEOPLE



Photographer: Graham Crothers Creative Content Executive, ParkCloud ParkCloud transformed its front lot into a Park(ing) Day haven of peace and serenity. Two teams participated in an all-day yoga session, and this photo was one result. Namaste.

parking.org/tpp

FEBRUARY 2016 | INTERNATIONAL PARKING INSTITUTE

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

STRUCTURE

Photographer: Gina Amo Supervisor, Parking and Ground Transportation, Spokane International Airport The calm before the storm—Gina took this photo of her department’s new parking office and exit lanes early the Sunday after Thanksgiving, which is a bit of a banner day for airports. The resulting shot was worth the day’s chaos!

TECHNOLOGY



Photographer: Larry J. Cohen, CAPP Executive Director, Lancaster Parking Authority We love this creative shot of a parking kiosk locker room!

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INTERNATIONAL PARKING INSTITUTE | FEBRUARY 2016



OFFBEAT / UNUSUAL / FUNNY Photographer: Michelle Rasmussen Director of Parking and Transportation Services, Eastern Washington University Not so fast, officer—your chopper’s outside the lines. It’s a tough crowd at Eastern Washington University, where even a police helicopter isn’t immune from parking citations.

BEST IN SHOW



Photographer: Sean Rodgers Associate Director of Transportation and Parking, Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) Does OHSU have a pretty parking lot or what? Sean has probably never been so glad to have to wait for an electrician to fix a pay station, which is exactly what he was doing when these trees caught his eye and he reached for his camera. Thanks for the beautiful photo, Sean!

parking.org/tpp

FEBRUARY 2016 | INTERNATIONAL PARKING INSTITUTE

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EYE OF THE BEHOLDER RUNNERS-UP

Judging is hard work, and there were lots of photos we loved in addition to our winners. Here’s a sampling.

Photographer: Larry J. Cohen, CAPP Lancaster Parking Authority

Photographer: Elise Hughes Bloomsburg, Pa. Police Department

Photographer: Laurel Von Ragan Oregon Health & Science University

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INTERNATIONAL PARKING INSTITUTE | FEBRUARY 2016

Photographer: Jeff Pinyot ECO Parking Lights

Photographer: Heather Sinisgalli City of New Haven, Conn.

Nashville, TN

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Learn from industry leaders, engage in upbeat Ignite sessions, participate in peer-to-peer roundtables, and jump into track education. With over 45 educational sessions to choose from, you’re sure to find several opportunites to fine-tune your knowledge of the parking industry.

Don’t miss your chance to learn from the best!

IPIConference.parking.org

3,200+ Attendees from 45+ Countries 250 Exhibitors | 45 Educational Sessions

By Chris Chettle, CAPP; Mike Drow, CAPP; and Peter Lange

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INTERNATIONAL PARKING INSTITUTE | FEBRUARY 2016

Connectivity is the exploding technology trend of 2016. Are you on board?

parking.org/tpp

R

efrigerators that help you create a shopping list, cars that provide real-time pressure information for each tire, roads that talk to vehicles to inform drivers of current driving conditions, and watches that let you know when you have not reached your target number of daily steps: These are just a few of the advances in technology that create more intelligent devices and enable these devices to connect to each other to share information and drive new applications for consumers.

These advances are allowing us to: Connect to devices that tell us about the environment around us. ●● Connect to consumers to provide enhanced services. ●● Connect to the world to share and gather disparate data and information for our use.

Just as in our daily lives and in many other industries, each of these connections is driving change in our parking operations and service offerings.

Understanding the opportunities that exist in each connection will help us continue to evolve the parking services we deliver. ●●

FEBRUARY 2016 | INTERNATIONAL PARKING INSTITUTE

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Parking space sensors

Connecting to Devices The first connection is the one closet to our facilities: the connection to sensor devices that tell us about the environment around us. This connection is often referred to as the Internet of Things (IoT). Parking operations have been connecting to devices for many years—examples include security cameras that deliver video to closed-­circuit televisions (CCTV) in an office and loops in parking entrances and exit lanes that identify the presence of a vehicle (or at least a mass of metal). With the explosion of technology, the miniaturization of a variety of sensors, and the reliability of Wi-Fi communication, we have the ability to detect significantly more things and send data to a central site more economically than ever before. We now have sensor devices (cameras, temperature sensors, pressure sensors) around us that measure and monitor a variety of things in real time on our phones, home appliances, and many other places.

These sensors enable the machines and equipment to collect and exchange data. Examples in our personal lives include smart watches that measure our heart rate and speed and distance walked/run and then push this data to a mobile application on our smartphones or computers. Businesses are also installing and connecting devices to support applications in environmental monitoring, urban and rural infrastructure control, and manufacturing automation.

Significant investments are being made by many industries in IoT technologies to capitalize on the promise of creating new services for consumers and driving efficiencies with better, real-time information. Disney is one such example; it is estimated to be investing between $800 million and $1 billion on an IoT initiative launched in 2013. This initiative gives every one of its 30 million annual visitors a wristband, called the Magic Band, that’s embedded with a chip.

The MagicBand serves as a ticket, FastPass reservation, payment device, room key for onsite resort guests, and many other things.

As consumers walk around Disney and use their MagicBands, Disney is tracking each person’s action and movement. The data

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INTERNATIONAL PARKING INSTITUTE | FEBRUARY 2016

are then used to deliver personalized messages to users through Disney’s mobile and web-based applications while identifying how guests interact with the park and services. Through these tools, Disney understands how guests move through the park, learns which attractions they like and do not like, and gains the ability to offer promotions to move guests into underused areas of the park throughout the day.

The same connectivity of devices is occurring within our parking infrastructure. Sensors detect vehicles in parking spaces, monitor how our parking equipment is operating, and turn lights on and off based on movement.

Fixed cameras also act as a form of sensor by identifying license plates and permit credentials to track payments and drive enforcement activities. These devices then have the potential to connect to each other and share information about their surroundings with the operations management team. This information can be used to deliver improvements in areas such as the proactive response to maintenance conditions before they become a bigger problem and reduce costs for enforcement and operations such as lighting.

Remote management of parking facilities is also made possible through the availability of new technologies such as sensors. Information and control provided by the devices within and outside a facility are delivered to a centralized command center, providing the ability to remotely vend a gate, process payment, push a new rate to the in-lane payment device, support a customer’s service needs, and much more.

Connecting to Consumers The next level of connectivity is the connection to consumers. This is the one that allows us to provide relevant and useful information and services to consumers, in many cases, in a personalized manner. Parking is taking advantage of this connection in many ways: reservations, virtual permitting, mobile payment, and wayfinding are just a few, with many happening before a driver enters a parking facility.

There has been a big shift in the management and distribution of parking permits as a result of this consumer

connectivity. As parking operations connect to consumers via apps and websites, there is a migration from physical to virtual permits. The benefits of this transition include consumers’ ability to serve themselves online (when they are available vs. when the garage office is open), the ability to handle payment activities online, the elimination of paper permits, and the potential for more automated enforcement methodologies. One parking operation capitalizing on this trend is the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, which has eliminated payment kiosks and cash honor boxes by moving to virtual permits on a mobile app. The app allows a parker to pay for parking, reserve a spot, or buy a daily pass.

Wayfinding is another consumer application that connects the parking operation to the consumer. By collecting availability data from the parking facility, the parking operation is able to guide parkers to the ideal open parking spots, thereby reducing congestion in the garage and improving the consumer’s experience. By collecting data from sensors, the parking operation team is able to connect to consumers by providing real-time information on available spaces through an app or website. The City of Santa Monica, Calif., created such an integrated wayfinding and real-time data program for its downtown district. Wayfinding signage was installed throughout the downtown, directing visitors and residents to various amenities and motorists to various parking garages.

Prepaid parking is also a hot trend based on the increased percentage of transactions completed (electronically/online/mobile) during the past 18 months.

Prepaid parking allows a parking operation to connect to consumers and offer them different services at different price points. Consumers who want a guaranteed, reserved parking space are able to purchase in advance of their arrival, while other customers looking for discounted parking can find operations that are willing to reserve parking in advance at a lower price, but without the guarantee for a specific space. In addition to delivering a parking space in advance of arrival, prepaid parking applications provide information about additional services that are available at a facility, such as car washes.

With the growth in mobile apps, no single app will be the most useful for consumers. Consumers will want to see all of their parking options, whether the spaces are on- or off-street. In addition, people park their vehicles to do other things, such as go to work, school, dinner, an event, or the doctor. This means there is a need for parking operations to increase partnerships parking.org/tpp

The next level of connectivity is the connection to consumers. This is the one that allows us to provide relevant and useful information and services to consumers, in many cases, in a personalized manner. with businesses, municipalities, and other organizations to aggregate all of this information and to connect to consumesr to help them do the other things.

Connecting to the World The final pillar of the connectivity trend is how a parking infrastructure connects to the larger world, sharing information the parking facility is collecting with other entities that can use it to provide services to their customers. The other entities interacting with the parking data can be associated industries, such as transit operations, or fit into the broader evolution of the Smart Cities concept.

Connections between devices, consumers, and city infrastructure are being developed to provide a better experience for parkers, city visitors, and residents as well as a more efficient, responsive range of services and functions within the city itself. Connected cities use data collected from parking and transit operations via sensors, cameras, and the voluntary participation of customers to provide information (parking rates or customer satisfaction, for example). Cities are then using this aggregated data to make smart decisions.

These decisions may concern frequency of trash pickup, regulation of street lights, or deployment of parking enforcement officers.

Of course, Smart Cities depend to a great extent on the existence of the IoT—the connection to devices that are in the infrastructure. For example, traffic sensors and cameras allow the city to provide real-time traffic light response so that when cars are going in one predominant direction, lights can switch to have longer green phases for those in rush hour and shorter for the more sparsely traveled direction. Cities often provide the communication infrastructure for these services with municipal Wi-Fi and other communication methodologies that can extend to the automobile itself through infrastructure-to-vehicle (I2V) communications.

Car manufacturers are also getting involved with vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication systems, but these are more focused on road safety than the support of new services. Finally, mobile phone providers are FEBRUARY 2016 | INTERNATIONAL PARKING INSTITUTE

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With the growth in mobile apps, no single app will be the most useful for consumers. Consumers will want to see all of their parking options, whether the spaces are on- or off-street.

CHRIS CHETTLE, CAPP, is EVP and general manager of T2 Systems Canada and a member of IPI’s Parking Technology Committee. He can be reached at chris. chettle@t2systems.com.

MIKE DROW, CAPP, is SVP technology integration at SP+ and co-chair of IPI’s Parking Technology Committee.

He can be reached at mdrow@spplus.com.

PETER LANGE is executive director, transportation, at Texas A&M University, College Station, and co-chair of IPI’s Parking Technology Committee.

He can be reached at plange@tamu.edu.

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contributing to these trends with the development of near-field communication (NFC). NFC can be used for payment, access as a credential, and other services linked to an individual based on his or her specific identity.

Parking is an intersection in the Smart City concept where transit, merchants, and sustainability meet.

These meeting points open up more opportunities for parking professionals to serve customers by acting as a liaison between parking motorists and their next stop—a merchant, a theater, a bike-share program, a walk down the street, or the bus stop to create what is being called a frictionless experience. The concept of friction reduction is essentially taking the pain out city life by making everything easier, as recently demonstrated by disruptive applications, such as Uber for ride sharing.

Imagine a garage that alerts a local traffic signal that a large number of cars are exiting, nudging the traffic signal to adjust its timing to allow the cars to exit the garage quickly, reducing congestion in the road and in the garage. This is possible because of the connectionto-the-world trend.

Navigating Technology Change As exciting and readily available as these three trends are to the parking industry, there are changes that we need to consider in our operations to take full advantage of them.

Traditional parking operations have largely focused on inthe-garage operations, or specifically, what happens within the facility when the gate is opened and the car enters and eventually leaves a facility. This typically includes activities such as checking if the garage is clean, lights are working, and if ticket spitters and receipt paper are full. Historically, consumer communication or marketing was also managed with an in-the-garage focus: signs at the entrance ramp showing promotion rates, signage hanging on the garage wall detailing hourly and monthly parking rates and vehicle restrictions, all viewable to the consumer once he or she was in the facility.

This approach has worked well for decades, but the three connectivity trends are changing that focus. Consumers no longer wait to make their decisions until they are driving around the block looking for a convenient place to park. As a result, garage operations need to be more effective and able to address changing needs and consumer expectations. These changes include being able to price parking based on local area activity or

INTERNATIONAL PARKING INSTITUTE | FEBRUARY 2016

operationally supporting a surge in parking activity in the lanes due to local event or failure of lane equipment.

Consumers are more sophisticated, with greater access to information and tools to make decisions in advance of even getting in their car.

This shift has a created a resource gap between the traditional mechanical world within a garage to the digital world that exists outside the garage, but it is quickly becoming a part of the inside of the garage. The skills we need to manage a parking operation are evolving, and the resource gap we need to fill should consider our new business strategies and the new technologies we will deploy. All of this leads to acquiring new people and/or skills to support the future operations.

People with parking experience and knowledge will always be a critical foundation to make the right decisions for our operations, but emerging technologies are becoming more sophisticated to evaluate, implement, and support, so a broader skill set in your team is needed.

New positions in your organization to support these changes might include dedicated parking-specific IT personnel who support network design and support; technicians to implement and maintain various sensor devices (cameras, space detection, equipment sensors, light sensors); database administrators to build data warehouses to store the collected data; data analysts to dig into the information with new software tools; and Internet marketing specialists to create social media outreach programs so customers don’t just find out about you when they get to your parking facility.

In some organizations, it may be appropriate to elevate a technically savvy manager to a leadership position to help guide the operations to take advantage of these three trends. We see this occurring in more and more parking organizations utilizing a range of technologies.

In one major North American municipality, the parking department has its own chief technology officer and team that includes a dedicated IT manager and 15 technical staff, all dedicated to parking.

The explosion of connectivity with devices, consumers, and the larger world is pushing our industry in new ways that can only be expected to accelerate.

These trends are leading to an expanded view of what parking can and should be to better integrate with intermodal transportation options and cities as a whole while also capitalizing on consumer expectations for Internet-based services, improved choice, and better customer service. If we all take leadership in these areas, parking will provide broader and better solutions for our customers while being well-prepared for the changes going on around us.

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Relevant and practical as well as goaloriented and visionary, APO will advance the parking industry and your organization.

Required reading: Download the APO Manual for Applicants at parking.org/apo.

Taming More

A new way of thinking

about parking eliminates extreme road congestion at the Calgary Zoo.

By Bill Franklin, P.Eng.

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INTERNATIONAL PARKING INSTITUTE | FEBRUARY 2016

T

he Calgary Zoo had a really big problem: It was too popular. On warm, sunny days, excited children and accommodating parents filled family cars and SUVs in lines that stretched hundreds of yards from the entrance and often grew to more than a mile long. The line snaked back to impede traffic on a main corridor into Calgary and dangerously reached all the way up to and onto Calgary’s big and busy highway, the DeerfootTrail.

Families at the back of the queue could wait an hour or more in their vehicles before finally gaining access to the large-capacity parking lot. Zoo visitors were unhappy and city and police officials concerned. Complaints rained in for a remedy to reduce the length of time to enter the park.

The Calgary Zoo management proactively looked for a solution and reached out to several industry experts, who proposed a solution that would revolutionize zoo access and reduce queuing and waiting to virtually zero.

than Lions

CASE STUDY

Evolution to a Parking Crisis

The Calgary Zoo is located in the City of Calgary, a booming metropolis in Alberta, Canada, that’s home to some 1.2 million citizens. As the city grew, so did the zoo. The Calgary Zoo remains one of the most popular and endearing attractions in Calgary and is constantly innovating to increase attendance while providing a comfortable environment for the animal residents.

Initially, parking at the zoo was free. In time, the zoo began to look at new and additional revenue models with a careful eye on retaining an attractive and family-friendly demeanor. For example, the zoo wanted the ability for vehicles to enter the zoo parking lot, drop off people, and leave without paying for parking if the process took less than 30 minutes.

In 2009, the zoo embarked on a major parking lot renovation that included expansion of the parking facilities and the installation of a gated automatic parking access system comprised of credit card and zoo card readers, ticket issuers, and gates.

Soon the Calgary Zoo was welcoming 1.5 million visitors annually and boasted 70,000 members—30,000 of whom subscribed to contract

parking.org/tpp

An entry lane into the 1,800-vehicle lot. The readers are visible just past the bollard marked “2,” and the gates are at the end of the kiosk. parking. Contract parkers used the same magnetic stripe-equipped zoo card as other zoo members, but theirs were configured to open parking lot gates when inserted into card readers. In theory, the gated system should have worked just fine; in reality, it quickly became a serious headache for both zoo members and managers alike.

Congestion at the Gates Occasional (non-member) zoo visitors would stop at the automatic kiosks, press a button, and pull

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Science Center

Zoo Parking

Calgary Zoo

Entrance

3 cm/2-mile Queue 2+ hour wait 0.9 km/0.6-mile queue 30-minute wait 1,800 Car Parking Lot

A closer look at the feeder roads and long queues and waits to get into the zoo. a ticket. The visitor would pay with a credit card at the gate either on the way in or out of the park.

Zoo members (who pre-paid for parking) could just insert their zoo membership cards into the card reader and, once validated, the gate would rise for access to the park.

Unfortunately, the system didn’t work nearly as well in practice as in theory. Zoo attendees had multiple difficulties with it: ●● They misplaced or forgot their zoo membership cards or credit cards.

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Rooting around in their purse/wallet/car cabin or trunk wasted minutes. ●● Cards became damaged (scratched mag stripe or demagnetized). ●● Visitors inserted their cards incorrectly. (The card could be inserted in four different ways, only one of which worked.) ●● Zoo parking contracts were not renewed. ●● Zoo memberships were misconfigured. ●● Dropped cards at the reader were difficult to retrieve without moving the car. ●●

Cars were trapped at the reader with no room to back up or otherwise get out of the line of traffic. ●● Massive lineups and traffic disruption required the zoo to open gates, forfeiting revenue as vehicles streamed in without paying.

Moreover, these challenges occurred at both the entry and exit, both of which required card insertion.

Independent consultants observed zoo members entering and leaving and characterized the duration for either ingress or egress to be at least 30 seconds on average, occasionally stretching to eight minutes or more. The lengthy time for a successful transaction caused large queues to rapidly form. Zoo members complained of waits of an hour or more, and lineups stretched for 1.5 miles in peak conditions and occasionally to almost two miles.

The massive backup of vehicles spilled onto one of the busiest roads into the downtown core, and when the queues reached their maximum of nearly two miles, stretched right out onto a major highway. Reactions were predictable.

After two years trying to use the troublesome gated system, the Calgary Zoo approached the Calgary Parking Authority (CPA) for ideas on solving the seemingly intractable problem. ●●

An Innovative, Practical Solution The CPA fulfills the City of Calgary’s parking mandates and implements the municipality’s parking policies by managing on- and off-street public parking facilities and enforcement programs and providing parking parking.org/tpp

advisory services. The CPA and Tannery Creek Systems had worked on a number of fixed-camera solutions for Calgary’s ParkPlus System using pay-by-license-plate methodology. The fixed-camera system eliminated queuing by removing gates and entry readers and moving pinch points to pay machines located in the lobbies of the garages. Here as many pay stations as were reasonably required were installed, greatly increasing the number of visitors who could be served simultaneously.

Moreover, if a pay machine failed, others were available.

Alternatively one could pay using a smartphone and MyParking app.

CPA is a very progressive organization, testing and implementing new and innovative technology and organizational models. Because it controls both parking and enforcement, the organization can create business models that optimize parker experience, parking resources, and operations, facilitating the growth of local business while retaining an efficient revenue stream for the city.

The Calgary Parking Authority has incorporated new technology into its garages throughout the area and had experience with it before the Calgary Zoo project began.

Design Goals The Calgary Zoo requested the solution offer these features: ●● No gates. ●● Reach across four lanes (about 60 feet). ●● Accommodate large vehicles such as buses and trucks. ●● Feature triggering that could determine vehicle direction and capture cheaters. ●● Offer vehicle detection very close to 100 percent regardless of visibility of plates. ●● Accommodate non-reflective license plates.

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These drawings show entry and exit lanes, the new gantry and cameras and lights, and the vehicle detection triggers. Red cameras and arrows indicate the cheater direction, i.e., parkers entering the park via the exit lanes and exiting via the entry lanes. Because these vehicles have their plates captured, the process of checking their payment is the same as normal users.

The dual triggering system uses lasers or reflective light depending on the environmental and system requirements.

It determines vehicle direction and filters out pedestrian traffic.

Be completely automatic.

Have the ability to turn all lanes into one direction for event type parking if desired. ●● Allow 30-minute visits for no charge. ●● Be out of reach of vandals. ●● Accommodate harsh winter weather. ●● Withstand lightning strikes. ●● Be reliable. ●● Offer a high degree of support.

Mike Derbyshire, general manager of the CPA, says, “When the zoo approached us and laid out the problem ●● ●●

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they were having with queuing, we knew that a gateless solution was the answer because we were already using it in our parkades with great success.”

It quickly became apparent that a gantry design would provide the best results. This design provided an excellent view of license plates, provided clearance for large tour buses, and made it difficult for vandals to damage cameras. On the ground, light sensors or lasers assembled in pairs could determine the direction of vehicles and turn on the appropriate cameras and lights.

Design and development started in January 2014 and took approximately nine months, including the gantry, civil engineering, and design of a large outdoor system. In July and August, ground preparation was performed—installing islands, conduit and pylons, and an equipment shed. By September, the final push was on.

Miles Dyck, now with the city roads department but formerly with the CPA, says, “The access and egress issues at the zoo parking lot created significant challenges for the CPA, and this was our first installation of the ParkPlus System outside of our own parking facilities. … The tight teamwork between the Calgary Parking Authority, the zoo, and Tannery was instrumental in successfully implementing each component of the project, including Tannery’s ongoing support after construction was completed and it became operational.”

A gantry design offered the best results. It provided an excellent view of the license plates, provided clearance for large tour buses, and made it difficult for vandals to damage the cameras.

A close-up of the camera and light. Because Alberta license plates are non-reflective, LED lights are quite bright at 20,000 lumens.

The new system in operation. The system went live just 10 days from installation of the gantry, wiring, cameras, lasers, and control cabinets.

Results So Far The zoo access system went live in October 2014 and has been in continual operation since. Compliance is incredibly high at 99.3 percent. Because the system detects all vehicles entering and exiting, excellent counts are obtained, and the prominence of the camera gear is highly persuasive to those who might otherwise cheat.

The average duration of vehicles passing through the camera system is quick, averaging about four seconds and some 10 times faster than the previous gated system.

In addition, because vehicles simply drive through, previous experiences of malfunction or other significant problems (such as card misreads) are nonexistent and major delays, traffic congestion, and revenue forfeiture are avoided. The numerous pay stations are conveniently located in the parking lot and greatly improve throughput. Zoo members with contract parking are already registered by license plate, are automatically recognized and processed when they arrive, and have no need to do anything more when visiting the park.

Taxis and parents dropping off their passengers have up to 30 minutes to do so without incurring parking charges, and the system automatically checks and validates their free time duration. The bidirectional ability of the system captures all vehicles entering and leaving the park no matter which lanes they chose to use, and parking.org/tpp

the zoo has the ability, if required, to redirect all four lanes to exit, expediting emptying of the park.

The system has been reliable and was designed with redundancy: Computers control only one lane, and if they fail, the lane can be temporarily blocked and the second redundant lane used instead.

The biggest challenge to date has been with snow occasionally causing spurious triggering of lasers and sunset and sunrise sometimes creating solar glare on the plates. The project partners are working on these issues to minimize their effect, but they’ve had no apparent affect on compliance and revenue.

Perhaps the most important conclusion is by the client, the Calgary Zoo, whose director of guest services Peter Findley, says, “The Calgary Zoo is very pleased with the Calgary Parking Solution ParkPlus parking system for many reasons. The system has eliminated the backup that occurred accessing our parking lots, it is accurate, and the equipment works extremely well in all types of weather. The integration of the program did not inconvenience our members or our staff.”

All serious problems caused by delays at the entrance and exit have been resolved resulting in much happier Calgary Zoo members, zoo management and city and police officials.

BILL FRANKLIN, P.Eng., is president of Tannery Creek Systems, Inc. He can be reached at bfranklin@ tannerycreeksystems. com.

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By Thomas E. Curtis, CAPP

P

arking garages will be obsolete by 2025 (2020 if you believe Uber CEO Travis Kalanick). Of course, the paperless office was hinted at in 1964 and predicted by 1975.

Decades later, the use of office paper is only starting to level off, and we are still tens of years away from that visionary dream. So, will the driverless car eliminate the need for parking garages? Probably not and definitely not anytime soon.

In May 2013, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) released a policy on automated vehicle development that enumerated a classification system:

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No-Automation (Level 0): The driver is in complete control of the primary vehicle controls at all times. ●● Function-Specific Automation (Level 1): Automation involves one or more specific control functions, such as electronic stability control or lane-keeping assist. ●● Combined Function Automation (Level 2): At least two primary control functions work in unison, such as adaptive cruise control in combination with lane assist. ●● Limited Self-Driving Automation (Level 3): The driver can cede full control of all safety-critical functions in certain traffic conditions.

The driver is expected to be available for control with the system, providing sufficient time for transition. ●●

Busted Will autonomous vehicles really lead to the demise of the parking garage?

Full Self-Driving Automation (Level 4): The vehicle performs all safety-critical functions for an entire trip. The driver provides navigation input but is not expected to be available for control at any time.

SAE International enumerates an alternative classification system that has five levels ranging from driver control to self-driving.

We have seen in the past decades, and will continue to see during the next several years, autonomous features added to standard vehicles. We are now seeing Level 2 features offered in higher-end vehicles: lane-departure warnings combined with adaptive cruise-control that speeds up or slows down cars to maintain their spacing in traffic. These are the features that move

us toward the driverless car and are available from most automakers today. Some auto manufacturers claim Level 3 features will be available in the next five to seven years. Examples of these vehicles are being tested by auto manufacturers and technology firms on public streets today.

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●●

Self-Driving Prophecies Kalanick and Elon Musk, co-founder of Tesla Motors, believe self-driving vehicles (Level 4) will be here in five or six years. Musk does, however, concede regulatory impediments will slow the transition to market saturation.

What else will slow the transition to the driverless car?

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Technology

Infrastructure

Currently, less-than-ideal weather conditions are a concern because technology doesn’t allow the vehicle to navigate in snow or heavy rain. Then there is the recent software hack of the Jeep Cherokee. And, of course, there are ubiquitous computer glitches. The old “blue screen of death” might not be just a figure of speech anymore. However, most in the automotive industry believe these technology hurdles will be crossed in the near future.

There are those who have their doubts. Richard Ni and Jason Leung, in their paper “Safety and Liability of Autonomous Vehicle Technologies,” state that Professor John Leonard of MIT has noted that the leap between Level 2 and Level 3 technology is quite extreme and that Google’s test environments have not accounted for extreme but realistic conditions such as snow, glare from the sun, and difficult left-turn situations. He noted that little progress has been made and expressed doubts that Level 3 technology will be available as quickly as car manufacturers claim.

Infrastructure will be a major concern. Automakers say that a driverless vehicle needs to be connected to an external system that feeds it information about surrounding vehicles, traffic conditions, road work, and the like. Autonomous features such as lane-keeping assist technology needs to “see” the lane markings. It may not activate or work at 100 percent effectiveness when the markings are not sufficiently visible. Because the road cannot communicate with the vehicle and the vehicles can’t yet communicate with each other, the current autonomous system depends on being able to see objects and the lines on the road. This makes it good for superhighways but not so much on smaller roads.

The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) has encouraged the development of roadway sensors. It also funds research for the Connected Vehicle Program. However, Anthony Foxx, U.S. secretary of transportation, in his introduction to “Beyond Traffic 2045,” notes, “The federal government alone cannot achieve resolution of all of the issues and concerns the future will bring.” A few states—notably California, Nevada, Iowa, Michigan, and Florida—do appear to be focused and invested in driverless vehicle technology and infrastructure. This may cause development of incompatible infrastructure between states.

Cost Cost of the technology will be a factor well into the future. According to industry experts, technology costs will increase to about $3,000 per vehicle in 2035, down from $7,000 to $10,000 in 2025. Top-of-the-line, 64-laser rotating Lidar systems retail for about $45,000, though prices will drop as people start buying. The Audi A7 that drove semi-autonomously from Silicon Valley to Las Vegas in early 2015 carried two LIDARs, two shortrange Radars, four mid-range Radars, two long-range Radars, four top-view cameras, one 3-D camera, and four ultrasonic sensors.

Audi’s current active safety package, which includes adaptive cruise control, emergency braking and blindspot detection, is priced at $2,550. And it’s not just the technology that is expensive but the manufacturing as well. As noted by the Victoria Transport Policy Institute, “Because system failures could be fatal to both vehicle occupants and other road users, all critical components will need to meet high manufacturing, installation, repair, testing, and maintenance standards, similar to aircraft components, and so will probably be relatively expensive.”

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Regulation Regulation will be problematic. NHTSA has shown little interest in promulgating regulations. To this point, regulations have primarily been handled at the state level.

Bryant Walker Smith, professor at the University Of South Carolina School of Law, states, “Typically, federal mandates for new technology arrive only after it dominates the market.” Examples of this include seat belts, air bags and backup cameras. What happens when the task is delegated to the states? Inconsistent state regulations pose the risk of 50 states with 50 different regulations.

The Audi test car was allowed to test in California and Nevada, but the states have different regulations and license plates. The test car was stopped for a license plate change when it crossed state lines.

Liability If we believe regulation will be problematic where does that leave liability? How do we insure a vehicle not con-

Steven Shladover, transportation researcher at the University of California, Berkeley, insists that Level 5 vehicles—robocars that require no human input— “are not on the horizon.” Autonomous cars with drivers still require parking and people generally like to park close to their destinations. trolled by a person? Who is responsible in an accident? Is it the owner, the driver, the service provider (Uber, Lyft), the infrastructure provider (DOT), the manufacturer?

The RAND Corporation in its report “Autonomous Vehicle Technology,” enumerated several options. The recommendation is that “aggressive intervention with respect to regulation or liability is premature.”

Other Vehicles Then there is the problem of the more than 250 million cars and trucks already on the road in the U.S. These cars aren’t going away anytime soon. The average vehicle age is estimated to be 11.7 years by 2019. This is generally because of higher quality. The Oak Ridge National Laboratory recently projected car and truck survivability rate at more than 50 percent after 13 years. Even if we assume that the driverless car is available and working by 2020, there will still be more than 100 million cars on the road that are driver-operated in 2035. Musk notes that even if driverless cars were available tomorrow, it would take 20 years to replace the entire fleet of vehicles on the road.

People Last but certainly not least is the consumer: people.

Consider that a lot of us own cars because we like cars.

We like driving cars. Cars are very personal things. I don’t see us giving up cars for a Kalanick vision of an on-call Uber fleet anytime soon.

Even if we keep personal vehicles, many have concerns about Big Brother. The electronic data recorders (EDRs) in vehicles today record a tremendous amount of information about us already. How safe is that information in a self-driving connected vehicle? Jim Farley, Ford Motor Company’s top sales executive, told a panel at the 2014 Consumer Electronics Show, “We know everyone who breaks the law. We know when you’re doing it. We have GPS in your car, so we know what you’re doing.”

What It All Means How does all this affect parking and the parking garage?

Well, it appears doubtful that parking lots and garages will become obsolete within the next few decades, but they will change. They are already changing with cashierless and gateless implementations. And there are an increasing number of robotic garages. parking.org/tpp

One thing parking professionals should note is that there is a difference between autonomous cars and driverless cars. In July 2015, Business Insider Intelligence predicted that “Fully autonomous cars are further divided into user-operated and driverless vehicles. Because of regulatory and insurance questions, user-operated fully autonomous cars will come to market within the next five years, while driverless cars will remain a long ways off.”

Steven Shladover, transportation researcher at the University of California, Berkeley, insists that Level 5 vehicles—robocars that require no human input—“are not on the horizon.” Autonomous cars with drivers still require parking, and people generally like to park close to their destinations. In the near future, we will continue to see the incremental changes being made in our industry. Even IHS automotive, which aggressively predicts self-driving cars by 2025, forecasts that only a very small percentage will be driverless. And even those may be severely restricted to driverless zones.

Sometime in the distant future, there may be fewer cars.

There may be fewer parking spaces. Currently it is easy to envision a distant future where there will be small robotic garages strategically placed outside of the city center and in suburban hubs—places where drivers send and summon their cars or driverless vehicles go to charge their batteries.

But for the next few decades, it’s very likely that the only vehicles able to take us from home to work while we focus attention on our electronic gadgets will still be taxis and limos.

There is no doubt that change is coming, but it will most likely be evolution, not revolution. Although the change may be slow, now is the time for stakeholders to come together. Consideration should be given to both design and operation of the garage of the future. There are many changes coming that the young professionals in parking and other stakeholders should consider now.

So, how does the parking industry adapt? What will the parking garage of 2060 really look like? Will it be a completely automated, robotic garage with charging ports? Will it be more efficient? Will current garages be converted to the SCADPad, a 16 × 8 foot dwelling designed for a single occupant fitted with a bed, kitchenette, and bathroom? All are considerations for another article.

As a side note, this article was created and transmitted electronically. No paper was used.

THOMAS E. CURTIS, CAPP, is a division manager for Platinum Parking in Houston.

He can be reached at thomascurtis@ platinumparking.com.

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facing

the

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Last year’s IPI Park Tank™ contestants say the competition was fierce but came with huge benefits to their fledgeling companies.

By Kim Fernandez

A

RE YOU READY TO JUMP INTO THE PARK TANK™?

IPI launched its live game show, modeled after television’s “Shark Tank,” at the 2015 IPI Conference &

Expo in Las Vegas and gave five parking entrepreneurs the chance to wow industry judges and launch their companies right there on stage. The event was popular with both fledgling companies and the audience in Las Vegas—so much so that a second Park Tank will happen at the 2016 IPI Conference in Nashville, Tenn., this May—but what happened to the entrepreneurs who jumped into the tank?

In a word: lots. After receiving great publicity to valuable feedback from judges and audience members after the show, the people who faced the judges and presented their ideas under the hot lights on stage say Park Tank was a fantastic springboard for their products and companies and they’d do it again in a heartbeat (your chance is coming up quickly—more on that in a few minutes!).

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The Winners Few attendees of last year’s Conference in Las Vegas will forget Smarking: From the clever name to the seamless live presentation its leaders presented at Park Tank, the company made a huge impression that’s continued growing since then.

“Outsmart your spreadsheet,” says the company, and its Park Tank presentation made a big splash. Company CEO Wen Sang says he knew Park Tank was a great idea as soon as he heard it, and he quickly applied for one of its five spots.

“The experience exceeded our expectations by far,” he says. “The setup of the event was quite amazing—it felt like a real TV show! It was also well-attended and did a lot for our business.”

Sang says he applied for Park Tank for three main reasons: ●● To learn about the industry from great people, including judges, peers, and audience experts. ●● To become a member of the parking community and begin to make industry friends. ●● To introduce Smarking to industry owners and operators.

“We are a company with a new technology and solution,” says Sang. “We need the critics and advice from the industry to refine and improve. Park Tank was the best opportunity for that as it gathered the best professional minds and technology pioneers and enthusiasts together.”

From the first time he heard about it, says Sang, he knew the game-show format and live audience presented an opportunity he couldn’t pass up.

“Park Tank is the best ideas and product release publicity opportunity for Smarking as it has cross-sector and international exposure,” he says.

Other Participants Smarking was just one of five Park Tank participants last year, and all said their experiences were worth the

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effort of putting together presentations and facing tough questions on stage.

“I was immediately excited about Park Tank when I was informed about it,” says Jeremy Crane, founder, StadiumPark, which offers a mobile app that gives users access to stadium and special-event parking. “I saw Park Tank as a very unique, innovative, and fun event. It was a great opportunity to showcase StadiumPark in front of parking professionals and investors.”

Brian Mitchell, founder of Advanced Parking Analytic Solutions, had a similar reaction. “One of the more difficult issues I have had in presenting our concept is the fact that it is very new and unproven,” he says. “The Park Tank at IPI has given the concept of analytics a great deal of credibility in the parking industry. As a result of the presentation, companies have been much more receptive to the concept of analytics.”

Participants said preparing for the event was a challenge—while they knew how television’s “Shark Tank” worked, there was no way to tell what parking judges might want to know about their ideas.

Crane says he spent time preparing his marketing materials for the judges and having them printed onto the on-stage displays for audience viewing. He also carefully scripted his remarks and practiced over and over to ensure they hit the mark in the allotted time.

All of the prep, he says, was definitely worth it in the end. “It was even better than I expected,” he says.

“I thought the time, effort, and production put into the event was superb. The judges and companies chosen were great! As a result, I feel as though I got great exposure and made relationships that are valuable to this day.”

Mitchell says he was surprised when judges wanted to focus more on his business plan than the soundness of his basic concept; most investors, he says, want to know about the idea of analytics. “The judges already understood the value of analytics,” he says. “If I could do it all over, I would create a more sound business plan and spend less time convincing people of the value of analytics.”

Sang took a bit of a different approach. His company had already worked with Y Combinator, a Silicon Valley venture-capital company that accelerates the value of startups, and received some training from that establishment, following in the footsteps of such firms as Airbnb and Dropbox. That experience, he says, gave him some ideas of what Park Tank judges might ask.

Then, he says, “We rehearsed our pitch many, many times.” While it wasn’t hard to talk about Smarking’s ideas, doing so in a short period of time was a challenge.

“The hardest part was making sure we conveyed the goal of our business without running out of time,” he says.

Since Then What’s happened to the participating entrepreneurs since the show last summer? A lot—all of them say participating in Park Tank gave their ideas terrific legs.

“Since the IPI Conference has given me credibility, selling the concept to operators has been much easier,” says Mitchell. “I am working with operators in the sea to gain more insight to the type of information they need to make the product more marketable. The long-term goal is to create a software program that can provide my customers a user-friendly method of turning data into revenue-generating business decisions.”

“We have had collaboration offers from several large companies,” says contestant Santanu Dutta, Transparent Wireless Systems, LLC., who says Park Tank gave his new company great visibility. “These discussions are ongoing.”

Crane says participating in Park Tank gave him similar benefits. “StadiumPark continues to grow and progress each day,” he says. “Since the competition, we have been talking and meeting with venues throughout the U.S. We have continued to develop our application, which is more user-friendly and robust than ever before.

We expect to begin service at a number of venues and raise our first round of institutional capital in the first two quarters of 2016.” parking.org/tpp

Ready to Jump in the Park Tank?

Last year’s participants say the Park Tank experience was like nothing else—and well-worth the application and preparation process to present their ideas in front of industry judges and audience members. So are you ready?

Park Tank welcomes all ideas—large and small—with a parking focus.

The competition is open to all startup companies, new exhibitors, and entrepreneurs. The first step is applying at IPIConference.parking.org/ parktank. Ideas that make the cut will be presented on stage at the 2016 IPI Conference & Expo, May 17–20 in Nashville, Tenn., where our panel of industry sharks will quiz, question, and query each entrepreneur and business owner on the merits of his or her concepts and business plans. The winner will receive recognition and IPI exhibit and advertising space—a $4,000 value. The application deadline is March 4. Slots are very limited, and competition is fierce!

What about Smarking, which emerged victorious from the 2015 Park Tank? Sang says life is good.

“Our company has experienced a tremendous amount of traction,” he says. “As a new entrant to the parking industry, Park Tank provided a stage for us to share our business with many parking professionals. To date, IPI members still email or contact us simply because they remembered our pitch at Park Tank.”

Sang says the visibility of the event was great for his company, even more so because it won. “Winning the event provided us a certain credibility that provided a tremendous boost to our company,” he says. “On a personal level, we made great friends with lots of folks in the community and have felt beloved since then—this is indeed tremendous to an early-stage tech company like Smarking. Not every industry can provide such love to younger generations.”

KIM FERNANDEZ is editor of The Parking Professional. She can be reached at fernandez@parking.org.

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An IPI task force takes on intelligent transportation systems and how they might work with parking, and members want your input.

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By Jason M. Jones

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s I write this, I’m heading off to the New York State Parking Association conference to see many old friends and hopefully meet a few new ones. While beginning my nearly six-hour train ride, I wonder: Does the person next to me know what intelligent transportation systems (ITS) are?

I would imagine the smartphone he just used to view our estimated time of arrival is connected to an ITS. How about when he departs the train and then uses a bus or personal vehicle to get to his next destination? Will there be signage in the bus shelter indicating how long (in real time) he’ll wait until the next bus arrives? Maybe he can use that smartphone again to see the bus on a GPS tracker— hard-copy schedules are becoming harder and harder to find as fewer people use them and demand lessens. What about variable message signs (VMS) along the roadways that specify it may take 30 to 40 minutes to get home from his current

location due to an accident or roadwork along the way?

These are just a few examples of the ways ITS affects our everyday lives; they also detail the greatest challenge faced by IPI’s ITS Task Force. How do we convey our message, not just to the parking industry alone, but to all sectors of ITS users? This question and the challenge it presents will help guide us down an informative ITS path, which will eventually include a case study that highlights a transportation management center. ITS itself is pretty new, and the task force is only a few years old. So who are we, and what is our message anyway?

Transportation management centers are one example of ITS in action.

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The Task Force Formed in late 2012 the IPI-ITS Task Force was charged with discussing how ITS and parking can work in conjunction with one another while improving the driver experience. The task force was charged with considering many opportunities to collaborate between these two systems. Co-chaired by Richard Easley, CAPP, and Tracey Bruch, CAPP, they received assistance from nearly 20 committee members. During this time frame, the task force generally had quarterly conference calls, developed an informative presentation, and welcomed the opportunity to meet face-to-face during many events, with productive dialogue and future planning being gained.

Fast forward to 2015, and the second version of this task force has recently welcomed several new volunteer members. Co-chairs are now Ken Smith, City of Omaha, and me. Richard and Tracey were eager to continue their involvement and decided to stay on the task force, much to Ken’s and my delight.

The June 2015 issue of The Parking Professional referenced the many volunteer committees within IPI and what they were working on. Obviously, my first question for the ITS Task Force at our meeting in Las Vegas that month was “where’s the wave pool?” All joking aside, my real question was “where is the ITS Parking Task Force?” It was clear our work was far from over (or really even started). Based on that meeting and our first conference call afterward with new members, it was decided that we needed to further highlight our focus, which is currently broken down to three main objectives: ●● Our first main goal is to educate parking professionals about ITS through state and regional parking associations and related organizations, using participation, presentations, forums, and articles we’ll write and publish within and outside of the industry. This has

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always been a main goal of the task force, as we offered our presentation at IPI’s 2014 and 2015 conferences; state & regional parking association conferences including New York; and different opportunities, such as a local Clean Cities Program run through the Department of Energy. ●● Our second emphasis is to educate non-parking professionals and those beyond the industry about parking and ITS and how they intersect. ●● Lastly, our third focus is greater collaboration and coordination with ITS organizations, including the Intelligent Transportation Society of America, to encourage visibility and awareness of the parking industry and the connections between parking technology, planning, and ITS. Conversely, with new task force members come new ideas, so as this article is being written, the focus is changing, which is what a committee should do, right? Develop a base message/ purpose, critique/strengthen that message/purpose, deliver that message/purpose, and update/refine that message/purpose over time.

(Article break: That guy sitting next to me just got off the train in Syracuse, N.Y., and called his friend to pick him up. It’s impossible not to listen these days as everyone seems to talk openly. The friend indicated he was parked in a loading/unloading zone, even though the train had yet to arrive. Classic, right? Parking is an afterthought for some and lifeline for others. OK, back on track, literally.)

ITS in Action One of the ways ITS is illustrated is at a traffic or transportation management center (TMC). Having served at a TMC facility for a moderate period of my career, I’ve been exposed to the inner workings and how this type of facility really helps the public, specifically those in transit. In my area of Albany, N.Y., the New

York State Police and department of transportation (DOT) established a TMC back in 1999, from which to operate an advanced system to monitor, evaluate, and respond to roadway incidents on the most active highways in the area. The TMC allows state troopers, DOT Highway Emergency Local Patrol (HELP) trucks, and other emergency personnel to respond rapidly to accident locations and other highway issues. DOT maintenance crews are routinely dispatched to help restore traffic flow to normal operating conditions during these events.

The TMC was viewed so favorably after introduction that the first facility quickly became outdated and a new TMC was constructed. This new facility was completed in conjunction with a new state police headquarters in 2012.

To fully understand what most TMC personnel specifically do, here is a brief listing: ●● Organize responses to emergencies and incidents through observation of strategically placed cameras and computer-linked sensors implanted in the roadways. ●● Answer calls from drivers needing fuel, help changing a tire, directions, etc. ●● Distribute information about highway conditions and traffic to public safety agencies, traffic news outlets, and public transit personnel. ●● Alert drivers to highway incidents and recommend alternate routes using variable message signs (VMS) that are situated along multiple highways, highway advisory radios (HAR), and websites such as 511ny.org.

Before walking into the TMC, I had no idea these people were helping me even though their work was on frequent display. Whether it was VMS, CCTV, HELP trucks, traveler websites with real-time information, television, or text alerts, the information provided is often timely and accurate. But it can be puzzling as well.

Sometimes these notification mechanisms indicate that there is is an accident ahead but drivers find nothing in the roadway when they make it there. So what happens then? Lots of drivers decide that next time they won’t believe those notifications and just proceed on their scheduled path. We in transportation know that’s not the best decision.

One of the main objectives of a TMC is to divert traffic away from a congested area. Although it is helpful to alert a motorist already stuck in traffic that there is an accident ahead in the right lane, it is equally—if not more—important to alert the motorist who is three to 20 miles away about what’s coming ahead. This allows the driver to have a chance to safely divert his or her path of travel while not adding to the already-congested area. parking.org/tpp

What about residual delays? We know that for every minute a lane is blocked, three minutes of congestion builds. There is lots to understand and a great deal of information to decipher, but how do we connect parking?

Inviting Parking to the Party Outside of the times VMS were activated for various events, parking was not initially primarily part of the TMC discussion. One of the IPI task force’s traditional comments during presentations is that although it is great that these systems can tell you it will take 20 to 30 minutes to get to your destination, what they are lacking is information that it will take another 15 to 20 minutes to find a place to park once you arrive.

During the past few years, we have become more adept at obtaining and harnessing this information, but a monumental gap still exists between ITS and parking. How do we close that gap? That is what task force members are currently working on. The above TMC discussion highlights our challenge.

All that said, TMCs are just one small sample of what the ITS Parking Task Force is focused on. We are very interested in commercial vehicle operations, such as weight-in-motion screening; advanced public transportation systems, which are commonly displayed in ETA signage; and advanced vehicle control systems, which are seen in vehicle-to-vehicle and highway infrastructure communications.

IPI’s ITS Parking Task Force holds monthly conference calls, has renewed its outreach campaign, will be presenting at various events and places of business nationwide, and is working hard on delivering an updated message based on past feedback, current committee members, and industry advances. There may be tours planned in the future as well. I hope you are now interested enough to join us.

JASON M. JONES is director of parking and mass transit services at the University at Albany and co-chair of the IPI-ITS Parking Task Force. He can be reached at jjones6@ albany.edu.

FEBRUARY 2016 | INTERNATIONAL PARKING INSTITUTE

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IPI IN ACTION PUBLICATIONS

TELL YOUR STORY

By Kim Fernandez

H

ave a story to tell? Of course you do—you’re a parking professional! And I’m willing to bet there are people waiting to hear your experience, expertise, and ideas. One of the best ways share your story is through IPI’s publications.

IPI publications have a wide reach, with an audience of parking professionals around the world. Thanks to advances in digital publishing, association magazines and its blog cast a wider net than ever before, allowing you to share your story with more people in more countries than you probably ever thought about. Because IPI has several different regular publications with unique audiences, there’s almost always a great fit for your idea.

The Parking Professional

If you’re reading this, you already know about The Parking Professional, IPI’s award-winning magazine. Published every month, The Parking Professional covers news, trends, and case studies from all aspects of parking.

Articles in the magazine fall into three categories: ●● Departments, including Consultants Corner and The Green Standard, are generally written by members of IPI committees. State & Regional Spotlight offers a look into what’s happening at a regional parking association, and Parking Spotlight ranges from profiles of interesting parking professionals and organizations to news, events, and interesting stories—that’s a great place to pitch your article idea. ●● Features tend to run longer and make up the middle section of the magazine. These usually include case studies, in-depth explanations and analysis of industry trends, or longer profiles and interviews. This is another place to tell your story. ●● Community Digest includes news releases and shorter stories. Send your releases and write-ups directly to me (my email is below my photo on this page) and please send JPG photos if you have them.

Complete writers guidelines for The Parking Professional are available at parking.org—they’re the easiest way to see how to submit your story idea.

The Parking Matters® Blog

KIM FERNANDEZ is editor of The Parking Professional. She can be reached at fernandez@parking.org.

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Several times a week, The Parking Matters Blog shares thoughts, ideas, news, analysis, and the expertise of industry specialists. While most of our bloggers are invited to post regularly, guest posts are encouraged from anyone in the industry. Blog posts tend to be shorter than magazine articles (about 300 words) and are written in a more casual and conversational way than traditional print features.

INTERNATIONAL PARKING INSTITUTE | FEBRUARY 2016

Blog posts appear on the IPI website and are emailed to subscribers as they’re published. They’re easily shared via email or on social media and are a great way to break into writing for IPI. I’d encourage you to subscribe if you haven’t yet (subscriptions are free to anyone) and submit a brief outline of your idea before you write a post. Email me when you’re ready!

Industria del Estacionamiento Profesional

Haven’t heard of this one? It’s new! IPI proudly launched its Spanish-language magazine in January. It’s a resource to read how others in the industry are managing parking needs and requirements around the world, with a focus on Mexico and Latin America. Offered at no cost to anyone in the industry (email me for your subscription), Industria del Estacionamiento Profesional offers the same kind of news, analysis, and trends reporting as The Parking Professional, in Spanish. This magazine will be published twice a year and available anytime at parking. org. And we’re looking for great stories to tell; Latin America-specific stories in English or Spanish are a great fit for this magazine, along with general parking stories.

There are many ways to tell your story through IPI, the industry’s largest and leading association. Please reach out to me with questions, ideas, or thoughts—my email is below my photo to the left. I look forward to hearing from you and to telling your story in our publications.

PLAN YOUR PROFESSIONAL SUCCESS 2016 Professional Development Courses Save the date, mark your calendar, and get registered. Courses are designed for all parking professionals, including those interested in CAPP; every course earns CAPP points for certification and recertification.

Registration details at parking.org.

MAY 16–19

UVA Business Management Course Offered in conjunction with the 2016 IPI Conference & Expo and the University of Virginia Nashville, Tenn.

MAY 17–19

Behind the Fine Print: A Blueprint to Parking Management, Operations, and Regulations Offered in conjunction with the 2016 IPI Conference & Expo Nashville, Tenn.

AUGUST 15

Media Training Seminar Washington, D.C.

parking.org

SEPTEMBER 26–27

Parking Design, Maintenance, & Rehabilitation: Two-Day Seminar Anaheim, Calif.

STATE & REGIONAL SPOTLIGHT PENNSYLVANIA PARKING ASSOCIATION

PENNSYLVANIA PARKING ASSOCIATION: MOVING FORWARD IN HIGH GEAR

By Bobra Wilbanks

F

ounded in 1985, the Pennsylvania Parking Association (PPA) provides a forum for parking professionals to network and share goals and methods for improving the parking experience for Pennsylvania citizens. Since its first conference in Harrisburg in 1989, PPA has grown to more than 130 active members. We are especially proud to have had the Pittsburgh Parking Authority named IPI’s 2015 Parking Organization of the Year.

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New Website

Spring Training

The PPA website, paparking.org, has a new look and greater functionality. The site features links to Cvent for membership and event registration, interaction with PPA social media sites, useful resource materials, and better access to administrators for posting updates and news items. The website has a more modern look, and we welcome feedback and content from our members to keep it current and useful.

PPA Annual Spring Training was held at the Hershey Country Club, starting with the golf outing on May 7 and training on May 8, 2015. Presentations included: ●● “Garage Security,” presented by Todd Helmer, Timothy Haahs & Associates, Inc.; and Larry Cohen, CAPP, Lancaster Parking Authority. ●● “The Reading Parking Authority Makeover: Case Study on the Changing Structure of Reading Parking

INTERNATIONAL PARKING INSTITUTE | FEBRUARY 2016

Authority; Changes to Multi-Space, Payments, and Pay-by-Phone Systems,” presented by Patrick Mulligan, Reading Parking Authority. ●● “EMV: What Does It Mean for the Security of your Card-Based Transactions and What Will It Take to Work?” presented by Dave Witts, CreditCall.

Breakfast, a networking break, and a luncheon were provided for the 40 parking professionals in attendance.

The next PPA Annual Spring Training will be held May 5–6, 2016, at the Lancaster Marriott, which is built around the beautiful, historic Penn Square Meeting Hall.

A golf tournament for participants will kick off the event on May 5. The PPA Spring Training Committee plans a full slate of informative topics, including a case study on recent enforcement/ordinance changes in Lancaster.

Go to paparking.org for more information as it becomes available and to register.

Annual Conference PPA’s 27th Annual Conference was held at the Sheraton Station Square in Pittsburgh, Sept. 30–Oct. 2, 2015. The Annual Fender Bender golf tournament started the event on Wednesday at the Cranberry Highlands Golf Course, with 33 golfers in attendance. For this conference, we joined with the Ohio Parking Association, inviting its members and guests to participate as the venue and timing were convenient for both groups. This conference had a record attendance of 140 with 26 exhibiting companies in the trade show. We also offered a PPA mobile app for attendees to navigate the conference. Topics and presenters were: ●● Frontline Training Track (morning session): “Customer Service.” ●● Frontline Training Track (afternoon session): “Conflict Resolution,” presented by Cindy Campbell, IPI. ●● “Integrating Technology for the Parking Industry,” presented by Mike Bigbee, Tiba Parking Systems. ●● “Pay-by-Phone Panel,” featuring Charley DeBow, Parkmobile, Inc.; Alexandra Wells, Passport Parking; and John Oglesby, Mobile Now!, with moderator Sharon Field, Lehigh University. ●● Keynote Address: Rich Fitzgerald, chief executive, Alleghany County. ●● “EMV Update and Parking Roundtable,” moderated

by Doug Lape, Signature Controls. parking.org/tpp

“The Good, Bad, and Ugly of Extending On-Street Hours of Operation,” presented by Tiffany Smith, Parking Authority of River City. ●● “Pay-by-Plate Technology: Enabling Efficient Enforcement and Parking Management,” presented by Bob Downey and Joan Young, United Public Safety; and Allan Witten, Autovu Genetec. ●● “Recent Developments in Labor and Employment Law for Pennsylvania Employers,” presented by Joe Quinn, Buchanan, Ingersoll, & Rooney, PC. This year’s Award of Excellence nominees were reviewed and voted on by our colleagues at the Texas Parking & Transportation Association (TPTA) conference. Category winners announced at the conference awards luncheon were: ●● Parking Structure—New; TimHaahs, Miami Design District City View Garage, Miami, Fla. ●● Parking Structure—Restoration; Walker Parking, Lancaster Parking Authority Garage. ●● Parking Technology; PSX, Main Street Garage, Norristown, Pa. ●● Parking Operations; Lancaster Parking Authority, Suicide Prevention Education Program. ●● Honorable Mention; Parking Operations, Easton Police Department—De-criminalization of Parking Tickets.

Attendees to the 2015 conference were encouraged to bring non-perishable food items for the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank. Donations were collected at a special exhibit table manned by Michael Johnson, community engagement and volunteer program coordinator.

Our closing event was a dinner cruise aboard the Gateway Clipper riverboat. The cruise passed Heinz Field during the Steelers/Ravens game, which was also shown inside on overhead screens. Other attractions during the cruise were the Golden Triangle, the Point, PNC Park, and the city’s famous Inclines.

Future conference venues are set for Philadelphia in late 2016 and Erie in late 2017. Check paparking.org for more information as it becomes available. We encourage our members to submit suggestions for educational topics and networking venues, volunteer for committees, and recruit parking professionals from other cities and colleges in Pennsylvania to join PPA. ●●

BOBRA WILBANKS is technical sales manager for POM Incorporated and board president for the Pennsylvania Parking Association.

She can be reached at bwilbanks@pom. com or 800.331.PARK.

FEBRUARY 2016 | INTERNATIONAL PARKING INSTITUTE

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COMMUNITY DIGEST

PETER THORSON JOINS PROPARK AMERICA Seasoned parking executive Peter Thorson joined Propark America as a senior vice president.

“We are thrilled to welcome Peter to the Propark family,” says Propark CEO John Schmid. “Peter has a robust background in the parking industry and brings with him a unique blend of hands-on leadership and technological expertise, coupled with the mindset of an entrepreneurial strategist.

Adding an individual of this caliber to our company as we continue to expand our national portfolio is an exciting development for Propark.”

Before joining Propark, Thorson served as the vice president for the Southern California region for SP+

Corporation (formerly Standard Parking Corporation) for 18 years.

“As one of the nation’s largest privately held parking companies, Propark continues its mission to construct the dream team of parking,” says Schmid.

“We are looking forward to Peter delivering results for our clients and enhancing the parking experience for our guests, with both goals being accomplished through creative application of technology initiatives, service delivery programs, and sustainable parking practices.”

In his new role, Thorson will be responsible for overseeing, developing, and growing Propark’s Southwestern U.S. region, as well as the company’s near-airport parking operations nationwide.

GBCI To Administer Green Garage Certification Program GBCI, the certification body for USGBC’s global LEED green building rating system, announced in January it will now administer the Green Garage Certification Program through its acquisition of the Green Parking Council.

“Parking and sustainability are not mutually exclusive concepts. Every story about a green building is a story about people—and every story about parking is a story about connections between people and their community,” says Mahesh Ramanujam, COO of the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) and president of GBCI. “Through collaborative, integrated, and innovative green parking practices, we can advance sustainable mobility. This will enable our parking structures to achieve increased energy efficiency, reduced environmental impact, improved parking space management, integrated mobility solutions and technologies, enhanced performance, and stronger community relationships.”

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Pioneered by the Green Parking Council, the Green Garage Certification Program is the world’s only rating system defining and recognizing sustainable practices in parking structure management, programming, design, and technology. It assesses 48 elements of parking facility sustainability, including management practices that maximize performance while minimizing waste; programs encouraging alternate modes of transportation and community engagement; and efficient and sustainable technology and structure design.

“Sustainability in parking is integral to the greening of the built environment,” added Ramanujam. “By acquiring GPC and taking over the administration of this program, we are furthering GBCI’s portfolio and mission to recognize excellence in green performance, business, and practice.”

“This is a transformational moment for urban parking garages and this exciting collaboration with

INTERNATIONAL PARKING INSTITUTE | FEBRUARY 2016

GBCI solidifies the parking industry’s commitment to sustainable urban transformation,” say Green Parking Council Board Chair John Schmid. “GBCI offers the infrastructure necessary to meet the growing demand for Green Garage Certification and the ability to connect the parking industry to efforts advancing sustainable solutions in communities worldwide.”

Green Garage Certification was developed with support of the International Parking Institute (IPI) and partners representing all segments of the industry to create an industry-specific approach for recognizing green garages. It draws extensively from knowledge developed through experience with LEED certification and alignment with USGBC’s mission and goals. GBCI will continue to work closely with IPI and other parking industry stakeholders to ensure the Green Garage Certification Program succeeds in driving greater innovation, performance and leadership.

TIBA Parking Integrates with SIX Payment Services TIBA Parking recently introduced the integration of its payment devices with SIX Payment Services to support Europay MasterCard Visa (EMV) card processing. The terminal-based solution also includes end-to-end encryption and takes the TIBA system out of the card transaction processing flow. Terminals will be available at all payment devices, including pay-on-foot, exit stations, and cashier terminals.

TIBA Parking provides PARCs solutions; SIX Payment is a worldwide credit card processing solution provider with a focus on the parking industry. TIBA is working to ensure an EMV-­ compliant payment standard in parking garages equipped with TIBA systems, and SIX Payment Services ensures customers will have a seam-

less payment experience at the garage at the time of payment. TIBA supports back-office operations with its extended back-­ office suite of tools for the parking operators.

“TIBA has previously integrated with SIX Payment services for many of our payments needs, and we are glad to continue the relationship for EMV solutions within our payment devices,64 ” says Michael H. Bigbee, TIBA CEO, Americas. ”SIX Payment Services is pleased to further expand its successful partnership with TIBA, one of the fastest growing parking systems vendors in North America, so that TIBA and SIX Payment Services can provide the terminal-based solution required by many of our common clients,” says Michele Ferraris, president of SIX Payment Ser-

Amano McGann, Inc. Partners with Parking Panda Amano McGann, Inc. partnered with Parking Panda to announce the integration of Parking Panda’s PandaScan technology with Amano’s OPUSuite Cloud® application and FlexScan® on-premise technology. This integration will provide drivers and parking operators with a highly streamlined parking solution. Users will have the ability to find and book pre-paid parking through Parking Panda’s mobile app or website and seamlessly scan into any Amano parking facility with the FlexScan and OPUSuite capability. Reservations will be consolidated and available for both count and revenue reconciliation with OPUSuite.

Amano’s OPUSuite Cloud® application consolidates operational and financial data, allowing for the remote management of any number of facilities for consolidated management, reporting analytics, and PandaScan.

Seamless integration of the FlexScan reads both 2D and linear barcodes from a variety of media, ranging from paper to I.D. badges and smartphones.

“We are very excited to partner with Parking Panda, a company that shares our passion for innovation in parking technology,” says Joe Survance, senior vice president, marketing and development, for Amano McGann. “Our collaboration provides parking patrons with ease-of-use at facilities with Amano’s OPUSuite and FlexScan technologies. This forward-thinking approach will enhance the experience for both operator and the customer.”

“Our partnership with Amano McGann is proof of our unwavering dedication to improve the parking experience for our users and operators,” says Parking Panda CEO Nick Miller.

“This integration will provide our users with an increased level of convenience and mobile access, while our partner operators enjoy more control and easier management through this automated technology. We’re proud to be working with Amano McGann to make parking a lot easier and more efficient for drivers and operators alike.”

parking.org/tpp

FEBRUARY 2016 | INTERNATIONAL PARKING INSTITUTE

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COMMUNITY DIGEST

Ritron Introduces Q-Series Wireless Callbox Ritron, Inc., recently introduced the Q-series analog callbox—a high-visibility, high-performance, cost-effective, compact callbox for varied commercial, educational, and industrial environments. This fixed-location wireless two-way callbox allows direct wireless communication to be positioned exactly where it is needed to maximize safety, security, and manpower efficiency.

The Q-series deploys easily, with no trenching or extensive construction required. This compact, cost-effective, wireless callbox allows staff and visitors to communicate with existing portable radios and base station radios, thus more fully utilizing existing communication assets.

The callbox features an internal vandal-proof antenna and tough, gasket-sealed weather-proof enclosure. It can operate stand-alone on D-cell alkaline batteries or by using an external power supply. The Q Series is offered in a basic and 7 Series model. The 7 Series includes a built-in relay and stored voice messages, making it ideal for remote access-control applications.

SWARCO ANNOUNCES SENIOR APPOINTMENTS Austrian traffic technology group SWARCO AG announced a series of new appointments following the acquisition of the APT Group of Companies in 2014.

As part of a restructuring of the business, SWARCO has created a new parking and e-­ mobility division comprising APT Skidata, Veri-park, Evolt, and APT Security Systems. The new division will be led by Sean Dustan, former managing director of APT Skidata. He now assumes a much wider group role.

Dustan’s place as managing director of APT Skidata is taken

by Peter Brown, who joined recently from Securitas, where he was head of regional technical directors. Brown, who graduated from the University of Nottingham with a bachelor’s degree in business studies, started his ca-

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Sean Dustan

Pete Brown

reer in the retail industry in 1993 and moved into the security sector with Stanley Security Solutions in 2005. He held a number of senior positions within Stanley before joining Securitas in 2014.

SWARCO TRAFFIC LTD, the SWARCO subsidiary in the U.K., is being expanded to include the SignPost Solutions business to create a new traffic management and control division based in Richmond, Yorkshire. This

new division is led by Managing Director Jeremy Cowling. The restructure and new appointments are part of a previously announced strategy for SWARCO to strengthen its parking and electro-mobility businesses. They also follow the retirement of Dermot Murphy, chief executive of the APT Group of Companies, after almost 28 years with the business. Murphy will retain a role within the group.

INTERNATIONAL PARKING INSTITUTE | FEBRUARY 2016

parkbytext™ Runner-Up at Inaugural eir Elevation Fast Company Awards parkbytext™, an Ireland-based mobile parking operator, was a proud runner-up within the services category at the inaugural eir Elevation Fast Company Awards in Dublin, Ireland.

More than 300 companies competed for the 30 shortlist places.

The awards recognize the fastest-growing and most innovative companies across Ireland and the unique drivers behind them, with a focus on innovation, international scalability, differentiation, and strategic investment to the Irish economy.

Jim Moore, parkbytext CEO, says, “We were delighted to be shortlisted amongst such reputable businesses in Ireland, in the eir Elevation Fast Company Awards 2015. A huge congrats to all nominees, winners, and especially [grand prize winner] VoxPro on not only their Services and overall Grand Prix awards but also their announcement of 400 new jobs for the company. It’s a fantastic achievement.”

parking.org/tpp

FEBRUARY 2016 | INTERNATIONAL PARKING INSTITUTE

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PARKING CONSULTANTS

DESMAN

Design Management National Parking Specialists Architects Structural Engineers Parking Consultants Planners Transportation Restoration Engineers

▪ Parking Structure Planning & Design ▪ Studies & Operations Consulting ▪ Restoration Engineering ▪ Structural Engineering

800-FYI-PARK carlwalker.com

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INTERNATIONAL PARKING INSTITUTE | FEBRUARY 2016

Boston Chicago Cleveland Denver Ft Lauderdale Hartford New York Pittsburgh Washington, D.C.

Green Parking Consulting

Providing Parking Solutions for Over 40 Years

w w w. D ES M A N . co m

CELEBRATING 50 YEARS OF SERVICE • Parking Facility Design • Restoration Engineering • Parking Study Services

Leverage Data | Metrics Guidance | Optimize Resources Safeguard Assets | Analysis Consensus | Reduce Risk Plan Effectively | Decisions Policies | Improve Service Innovate Smartly | Alternatives Providers of objective advice for more than 30 Years

800.860.1570 www.walkerparking.com

Philadelphia, PA n 215-564-6464 n www.chancemanagement.com Parking

n

Transportation

n

Access Management

Parking engineered to your needs

Jacob Gonzalez, P.E. 800.364.7300 WA LT E R P M O O R E . c o m

parking.org/tpp

Project Management Design Parking Consulting Structural Engineering Diagnostics

Traffic Engineering Civil Engineering Intelligent Transportation Systems

FEBRUARY 2016 | INTERNATIONAL PARKING INSTITUTE

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ADVERTISERS INDEX Aims (EDC Corporation). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 aimsparking.com | 800.886.6316

POM. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 pom.com | 479.968.2880

Carl Walker, Inc.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 carlwalker.com | 800.FYI.PARK

Rich & Associates, Inc.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 richassoc.com | 248.353.5080

CHANCE Management Advisors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 chancemanagement.com | 215.564.6464

Rydin Decal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 rydin.com | 800.448.1991

DESMAN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 desman.com | 877.337.6260

Southland Printing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 southlandprinting.com | 800.241.8662

Digital Printing Systems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 626.334.1244 | dpstickets.com

T2 Systems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20–21 t2systems.com | 800.434.1502

FAAC International, Inc. (Formerly Magnetic Automation Corp.). . . . . . . . . . . . 15 faacusa.com | 321.252.4840

TIBA. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 www.tibaparking.com | 720.477.6073

Global Parking Solutions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 globalparkingsolutions.com | 215.399.1475 IntegraPark. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .C3 Integrapark.com | 888.852.9993 IPS Group Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .C2 ipsgroupinc.com | 858.404.0607 Kimley-Horn and Associates, Inc.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9, 61 kimley-horn.com/parking | 919.677.2090

PARKING BREAK

JIM BASS is landside operations manager at the Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport, Little Rock, Ark. He can be reached at jbass@fly-lit.com or 501.537.7354.

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INTERNATIONAL PARKING INSTITUTE | FEBRUARY 2016

Timothy Haahs & Associates, Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 timhaahs.com | 484.342.0200 Toledo Ticket . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .C4 toledoticket.com | 800.533.6620 United Public Safety. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 upsafety.net | 215.394.1906 Walker Parking Consultants. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 walkerparking.com | 800.860.1579 WALTER P MOORE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 walterpmoore.com | 800.364.7300

NEW AND RENEWING IPI MEMBERS

ACADEMIC

Princeton University Kim Jackson Ohio State University Beth Snoke Georgia Institute of Technology Lance Lunsway Case Western Reserve University Richard Jamieson California State University, Northridge, Parking & Transportation Services Div. Larry Isrow Florida International University Lissette Hernandez University of Maryland, Baltimore Robert Milner California State University, San Bernardino Michael Delo University of North Carolina at Charlotte Doug Lape University of Oregon Gwendolyn Bolden York University Safety, Security & Parking Darren Craig Lehigh University Sharon Field University of Mississippi George Harris Stanford University Department of Parking and Transportation Brian Shaw University of Regina Gwendolyn Evans Auburn University Don Andrae Colorado School Of Mines Anna Welscott Duke University Sierra Foxx University of San Diego Emma Rojas-Liseski Old Dominion University Transportation and Parking Services Scott Silsdorf California State University at Los Angeles Carmen Gachupin Tennessee State University Yvonne Sanders University of Wisconsin, La Crosse Victor Hill University of North Carolina At Greensboro Robert Walker

parking.org/tpp

AIRPORT

Dane County Regional Airport Mike Maromaty Salt Lake City Department of Airports Bruce Barclay Austin Straubel International Airport Sue Bertrand Oakland International Airport Alma Pena Edmonton International Airport Brett Bain Bob Hope Airport Mary Tromp Winnipeg Airports Authority Lisa Patterson

COMMERCIAL OPERATIONS

ProPark, Inc. Richard Leong American Parking, Inc. George Shaffer City Parking S.A.S Eduardo Bayon Pardo Automated Valet Parking Manager, LLC Ken Gulec Republic Parking System Isaiah Mouw KIEN VIET CORP Du Tuyet

CONSULTANT

Clayton Hill Associates David Hill CDM Smith W. Hollis Loveday Kimley-Horn and Associates, Inc. Charles Reedstrom E-Squared Engineering Richard Easley Linebarger Goggan Blair & Sampson, LLP Judith Dodge LimeTree Capital Partners James Goulding Marlyn Group, LLC Victoria Pero Simpson, Gumpertz & Heger Inc. Kathlyn Ibarreta

CORPORATE

CampusParc Sarah Blouch Premier Parking of Tennessee, LLC Ryan Chapman Elite Parking Nina Nakaahiki

HOSPITAL-MEDICAL CENTER

University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center Diane Confer UF Health Shands Hospital George Richardson

PUBLIC

Albany Parking Authority Hal King Yonkers Parking Violations Bureau Anita Morck Parking Authority of Baltimore City Peter Little City of Raleigh Gordon Dash City of College Park James Miller Little Rock Convention & Visitors Bureau Norman Hale City of Kansas City Bruce Campbell Surfside Police Department Elinor Joseph City of Duluth Matthew Kennedy Revenue Authority of Prince George’s County Chuck Boddy North Carolina Department of Administration Derrick Moore Village of Oak Park Jill Velan City of San Rafael Crystal Marker Anchorage Community Development Authority Brian Borguno City of Santa Monica Jason Kligier Diablo Controls Mike Deckard

SUPPLIER

ZipPark, Inc. Barry Lazowski Talk-A-Phone Co. Robert Shanes MITI Manufacturing Company, Inc. Robert Fulcher Shockey Precast Group Marshall Sorenson Ideas that Stick LLC Kevin Dougherty

Parkway Loops Alan Nudi SKIDATA, Inc. Keith Lynch LymTal International, Inc. Magdy Talaat IParq, Inc. Todd Fisher Stentofon/Zenitel USA Tina Cox MM Systems Corporation David Bratek Delk Products Pat Smartt Transponder & Reader Engineered Systems Inc (TRES) Steven Hale Eximsoft International Amalendu Chatterjee Passio Technologies Mitch Skyer Evens Time Incorporated Cheryl Evens First Transit, Inc. Ashley McNamara Parking Logix Devorah Werner Secom International, Inc. Shirley Marmelstein Parkmobile, LLC Laurens Eckelboom TwistHDM, LLC Robert Niemiec fybr LLC Rick Goodwin Westward Industries Ltd. Chris Franz Alliance One Sharon Guinn Safer Place Hila Freiman-Kareev Ballparc LLC Taylor Chapman High Concrete Group Alicia Allamena Fleischhauer Datentraeger GmbH Helen Pfennig Park Assist Lizzie Burger

TRANSITTRANSPORTATION Minnesota Department of Transportation Lisa Austin

FEBRUARY 2016 | INTERNATIONAL PARKING INSTITUTE

63

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

Highlighted are IPI and IPI Allied State and Regional Association Events

2016 February 17

April 29

July 13

IPI Webinar Parking 2.0: It’s a Connected World parking.org/webinars

Parking Association of the Virginias Spring Training Workshop Fredericksburg, Va. pavonline.org

IPI Webinar Media Masters parking.org/webinars

Next Gen Parking and Traffic Management Summit Dubai scl.fleminggulf.com/nextgen-parkingsummit

May 4

IPI Course Media Training Seminar Washington, D.C. parking.org

March 13–16

May 16

Mid-South Parking and Transportation Association Spring Conference Louisville, Ky. mspta.org

APO Site Reviewer Training Nashville, Tenn. parking.org

March 2–3

March 16 IPI Webinar Uber Is at the Front Door (Data Analytics) parking.org/webinars

March 30–31 New England Parking Council Spring Conference Boston, Mass. newenglandparkingcouncil.org

April 5–8 Intertraffic Amsterdam Amsterdam, the Netherlands intertraffic.com/amsterdam

April 11–14 Texas Parking & Transportation Association Conference and Tradeshow Texas A&M University texasparking.org

April 13 IPI Webinar Parking as a Profession: Preparing for the Future parking.org/webinars

April 27–29 Parking Association of Georgia Conference Jekyll Island, Ga. parkingassociationofgeorgia.com

64

IPI Webinar Unlocking the Power of Data (Using GIS) parking.org/webinars

May 16

August 15

August 17 IPI Webinar Suicide in Parking Facilities parking.org/webinars

September 14

Green Garage Assessor Training Nashville, Tenn. parking.org

IPI Webinar From Asphalt to Green Infrastructure (Surface Parking) parking.org/webinars

May 16–19

September 26–27

CAPP Course: UVA Business Management Nashville, Tenn. parking.org

IPI Course: Parking Design, Maintenance, and Rehabilitation Anaheim, Calif. parking.org

May 17–19

October 19

CAPP Course: Behind the Fine Print: A Blueprint to Parking Management, Operations, and Regulations Nashville, Tenn. parking.org

IPI Webinar Cracking the Code to Sustaining a Customer Service Culture parking.org/webinars

May 17–20 2016 IPI Conference & Expo Nashville, Tenn. ipiconference.parking.org

Parking Australia Convention & Exhibition Perth, Australia pace2016.com.au

June 15

November 16

IPI Webinar User-Based Parking Structure Design parking.org/webinars

IPI Webinar The Path to APO parking.org/webinars

June 26–29

December 14

World Parking Symposium Vancouver, Canada worldparkingsymposium.ca

IPI Webinar Parking Enforcement for Frontline parking.org/webinars

July 12–14 National Center for Spectator Sports Safety and Security Conference Phoenix, Ariz. ncs4.com

INTERNATIONAL PARKING INSTITUTE | FEBRUARY 2016

November 8–10

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