STATE & REGIONAL SPOTLIGHT TEXAS PARKING AND TRANSPORTATION ASSOCIATION
NO PROFESSIONAL LEFT BEHIND By Mary B. Mabry, CAPP
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s many of us rush around trying to meet the immediate needs of our customers, some professionals have been busy figuring out how we are to be successful in a future that seems to be changing overnight. Most parking and transportation professionals have come to grips with the fact that autonomous vehicles are no longer a futuristic fantasy. Many have already pondered how this will change our future plans, how we will need to rethink our strategies, and how all of that will affect the behavior of the customer. Uber and Lyft have become the new way of hailing a ride and have definitely taken a huge bite out of taxi services’ financials. In some cities, Uber and Lyft are restricted from airport pickups, but they’re in full force in many others. Lower costs and greater convenience have won. We have a new behavior from society that is becoming a concern for both the economy and parking agencies. Millennials are defying the traditions of vehicle ownership by choosing not to drive at all—they don’t have to. Instead, they have made it hip to not own a vehicle, in some cases not get a driver’s license, and use transit options that are becoming more and more abundant. Downtown residents have embraced rentals, whether vehicles or bicycles, that are readily available around town. All these changes affect how we plan our budgets and how we change or update our technology, use our equipment, or make plans for our future purchases,
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INTERNATIONAL PARKING INSTITUTE | JANUARY 2017
polices, and projects. That is why it is important to be a part of your local regional and state association. As with any association, the Texas Parking and Transportation Association (TPTA) is working aggressively to provide benefits and value to our members that will assist them through education, sharing industry knowledge, and developing their skills.
Strategic Plan In 2016, TPTA developed a strategic plan based on the framework laid out the previous year. The goal was to take our membership a step further by including parking professionals who did not have a local association available to them. Through the insight and coordination of our past president, Liliana Rambo, CAPP, and our current president, Dean Ahmad, our Texas association now reaches out to Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Louisiana. During the past two years, we held several roundtable and networking sessions in Louisiana so professionals