Parking & Mobility — Special Edition 2022

A Year of Transition

THE BEST OF 2022

Michelle Porter, CAPP Director, Parking & Transportation Services Carnegie Mellon University

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'I wanted Carnegie Mellon to know that I was serious about my profession and making an impact on campus. '

Shawn D. Conrad, CAE CEO, International Parking &

It’s a Wonderful Parking & Mobility Industry!

WHEN JANUARY 2022 ROLLED IN, I was relieved to see 2021 end. A new year always brings with it a fresh start and expectations that the months ahead will be better. We can all be forgiven for wanting the past two years and the COVID pandemic to be in our rearview mirror. While many of you are still recovering from all the changes and curveballs you’ve been thrown, our industry as a whole is making progress. Predictions are positive for 2023.

In March 2020, when cities, universities, and events were shutting down, the IPMI Board of Directors and community thought leaders felt it was crucial for us to keep our members “connected” to each other. The membership wanted to hear from their peers on how they were adapting with a desire to stave off isolation from those that could offer assistance and guidance. IPMI members have a long history of active involvement, sharing information, and offering help when needed. During the past 30 months, they have been invaluable to keeping us all connected.

After viewing the Frank Capra-directed It’s a Wonderful Life starring Jimmy Stewart as George Bailey for at least the 12th time, I was reminded of the movie’s main message: a person can touch many lives and have a profound impact on others, but due to life getting in the way, forget how interconnected we all are.

Throughout 2022, our community thrived by maintaining that interconnection. IPMI saw an increase in submissions to present best-practices and lessons learned during industry focused webinars, Shoptalks, Learning Labs, and Frontline training. Once we were able to come together again, this interconnectivity continued with more sharing of knowledge at IPMI Conferences held in Tampa, Florida and New Orleans, Louisiana. 2022 brought us many discussions on utilizing new technologies, addressing labor shortages, electric vehicle charging, utilizing data, and dealing with external pressures.

Which brings us to this special supplement of Parking & Mobility. For the past 12 months, our membership and other transportation leaders from the private and public sector have been sharing information that has garnered significant attention and feedback from our readers. We, like George Bailey, learned that our lives are filled with wonder when we connect with each other. Once you’ve read through this issue, I hope you’ll feel like you’ve been enriched by its content and have a sense that there are others out there experiencing what you are going through. They are available to help you. At its core, keeping our industry connected is what IPMI is all about. It really is a wonderful industry (life).

Mobility Institute

IPMI members have a long history of active involvement, sharing information, and offering help when needed.

During the past 30 months, they have been invaluable to keeping us all connected.

LOOKING BACK AT THE CALENDAR YEAR 2022 , so many topics of discussion in our industry come to mind.

Revenues: Like most industries, parking and mobility took a huge hit in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 2021 got a little better, and 2022 continued the climb back in the right direction, although there were some “variant” setbacks. Our members managing public transportation were especially challenged with low ridership. In the parking world, event parking seemed to make a full come back, as either cabin fever set in or waning concerns with being with thousands of people in a stadium, concert venue, or arena took hold. However, it was our experience in Lexington, Kentucky (and from what I heard, around the industry) that daytime demand still wasn’t quite back to normal. Anecdotally, I was hearing many say they were still down around 20% from the pre-COVID days. So as an industry, we started looking further into what to do about these empty spaces that we weren’t used to having. We investigated options for new revenue streams. We entertained ideas around storage of vehicles, deliveries (UPS package lockers), mobile kitchens, and alternate forms of revenue from advertisements or VIP experiences. We sought out new efficiencies, found ways to cut costs and improve customer service with new technologies.

Remote Work: The mystery of how long and how many workers will remain in a remote setting is something we talked a lot about in 2022, and we looked at flex passes, day passes, and value passes to accommodate the uncertainty. This topic also had an incredible impact on parking revenues as we saw less demand when both the professional and the visitor didn’t make it downtown or to our campus and held their meetings on Zoom. We asked, “Can I over oversell? What if they all come back to work at once?”

Staffing Challenges: Like most industries, we found recruiting staff harder than ever. We increased starting salaries and added benefits (remote work in some cases) to attract the right candidates. We delt with large numbers of retirements that also drained some of the institutional knowledge in some of our organizations. Upskilling became a topic, no longer were we just looking for warm bodies to fill positions as technology, while replacing many positions, created the need for more sophisticated or tech savvy team members. Training gained momentum as we were putting our workforce back together, as in many cases we had put employee training on the back burner.

Curb Management: This topic certainly pre-dated 2022, but it seemed to evolve. We realized “curb management” were not just buzz words of prepandemic days, but an impactful topic that wasn’t

Gary A. Means, CAPP Chair, IPMI Board of Directors

going away. In the past, we had a surge of Uber and Lyft demand on the curb that dropped off during the pandemic but was replaced by Door Dash, Uber Eats, Amazon and other online deliveries that exploded onto the scene. The value of the curb and the need for new policy and regulation was more pronounced than ever. IPMI continues to develop new programming to educate and share best practices regarding curb management. EVs and EV Charging: Certainly, this topic had been in the forefront before 2022 and we used to spend more time talking about autonomous vehicles than we did in 2022. With the passing of the $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, EV infrastructure has become front and center in many of our conversations. IPMI is launching an EV Readiness Clearinghouse to serve members to find ways to partake in potential grant opportunities, etc.

These were just some of the hot topics in 2022 and will all continue to be important factors in the coming year.

Finally, I would be remis if I didn’t mention how incredibly honored I am to be chairing the IPMI Board of Directors. I cannot say thank you enough to those who trusted me with this position, and to Dave Onorato, CAPP, IPMI Past Chair, who “minded this store” during the difficult times of the recent pandemic. I cannot wait to see what 2023 holds for all of us! Stay tuned!

PUBLISHER

Shawn Conrad, CAE conrad@parking-mobility.org

EDITOR

Melissa Rysak, CPSM rysak@parking-mobility.org

TECHNICAL EDITOR

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

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Tina Altman taltman@parking-mobility.org

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Parking & Mobility (ISSN 0896-2324 & USPS 001436) is published monthly by the International Parking & Mobility Institute. P.O. Box 3787 Fredericksburg, VA 22402

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Copyright © International Parking & Mobility Institute, 2022. Statements of fact and opinion expressed in articles contained if Parking & Mobility are the sole responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent an official expression of policy or opinion on the part of officers or the members of IPMI. Manuscripts, correspondence, articles, product releases, and all contributed materials are welcomed by Parking & Mobility; however, publication is subject to editing, if deemed necessary to conform to standards of publication.

WHEN I THINK ABOUT 2022, one word comes immediately to mind for me: transition.

For me personally, 2022 was a big transition year. In January 2022 I had the privilege of joining the IPMI team, and was immediately welcomed into the parking and mobility community with open arms. What an amazing bunch of humans you all are! I mean, I knew you all were the cool kids, but I had no idea how your community would embrace me as one of your own and make me feel like I have been with you forever. No question goes unanswered, no request goes ignored, and no opportunity to serve the community gets left on the table. To put it in simple terms, parking people rock.

For our community, 2022 was a transition back to the business of parking. We came out of the pandemic somewhat worse for the wear but still fighting, and 2022 saw the parking and mobility industry coming alive again. You have been taking all the lessons learned while in survival mode—streamlined operations, automations, implementation of technology, and the continuous evolution of our parking professionals—and finding ways to apply them to propel your organizations forward.

We have assembled for your review a collection of some of the best content published in Parking & Mobility magazine in 2022. The selection was not easy, as there were 12 months of thought provoking, innovative, and actionable content written by some of the most talented and experienced thought leaders in our community. I hope each piece will make you think, spur ideas, and inspire you to continue to innovate. Our transition is not over—there is still a long road ahead of us to travel.

I am proud to be traveling it with all of you.

Thank you for looking back at 2022 with us, and best wishes for continued success in 2023.

Melissa Rysak, editor rysak@parking-mobility.org

Add the IPMI member logo to your business card, website, email signature, or letterhead to let people know that you’re a leader in the parking and mobility industry.

HELLO! I’M JENNIFER BOOTH, IPMI’s Manager of Member Engagement & Communications. I came to IPMI in September after 10 years as a marketer in the engineering industry. I’m excited to be here, and I’m looking forward to meeting—and learning from—all of you. As you may suspect, the focus of my role is to engage members in our community. Your membership comes with a multitude of exclusive benefits, and I am here to help you make them work for you and your organization.

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1 Update your roster.Your membership covers all your employees—but only if they are on your roster! Set up user profiles for everyone on your staff so they have access to all our resources and discounts.

Make yourself visible. Gain visibility by writing for the IPMI Blog or Parking & Mobility magazine. Send your company’s latest news release to us, and we’ll spread the word far and wide. We also have lots of media and marketing opportunities to help you get in front of your clients.

9 Celebrate your achievements. Submit an entry for one of IPMI’s awards programs: Awards of Excellence for design, marketing, and innovative programs, and Professional Recognition for outstanding professionals in the industry.

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Volunteer. Share your expertise and network with other members by volunteering. There are many ways to get involved, from helping to plan our conference to suggesting topics for the magazine.

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Earn a certification. Boost your career by earning a CAPP credential for yourself and Accredited Parking Organization recognition for your organization.

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Engage with others. Talk with your fellow members in Forum, IPMI’s membersonly online community. Join the discussion by asking your peers for help with a particular issue or offering advice on others’ posts.

3 Stay connected. Keep tabs on IPMI and our industry by reading Parking & Mobility, our monthly magazine, and the IPMI Leader, our bimonthly e-newsletter. Follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook, too!

4

Attend the IPMI Conference & Expo. Held each summer, our signature event features world-class speakers, informative educational sessions, and abundant networking opportunities. Join us this year in Fort Worth, Texas.

5

Grow your skills. Learn (and train your staff) through IPMI’s ever-expanding list of professional development options. Choose from online courses, on-site training workshops, and frequent webinars, Shoptalks, and Learning Labs.

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Tell us about your job openings and RFPs. IPMI will publicize your job openings and RFPs by adding them to our website, announcing them in the IPMI Leader, and sharing them on our social channels to help you reach a bigger audience.

To get more information on member benefits, visit https://www.parking-mobility.org/membership/

If you or any of your staff are new to IPMI, I hope you’ll join us at the next New Member Chat on March 2. I’m always available if you have questions about your benefits, so feel free to send me an email at membership@parking-mobility.org

Are you taking advantage of all IPMI has to offer? Here are a few suggestions to make the most out of your membership.

And that’s all there is to it! The key is to get involved.

Sustainable Human Capital: Consider the Stress

By Conor Burke

THE PARKING INDUSTRY HAS RECOGNIZED the value in implementing sustainable products and equipment in our facilities, however, one branch of sustainability that could be developed further is sustainable human capital. The sustainable human capital approach is paradoxical, because one side requires looking at your teams as the assets that need to be managed in an environmentally friendly and sustainable way, while the other side is prescribing solutions that embrace the holistic approach of seeing the workforce in their entirety as both workers and humans. This is accomplished by inputting the cost-benefit analysis for employees, employee retention, and the work-life balances employees face, and synthesizing the end goal, which is promoting a healthier work environment. The downstream effects of this type of management will help companies become more efficient, save money, and reduce their carbon footprint while also making sure that employers are able to retain more talent.

Professional Relationships

The parking industry requires operational management skills that encompass a wide array of abilities, that have populations dispersed through large areas with managers in solitude locations working closely with their team. The idea that these managers are easily replaced discounts the working environment they have established with their team and the rapport they have also built with the client on a day-to-day basis. This presents a problem because many of these professional relationships cannot be fully replicated by a new individual in that role.

Building a successful employee retention program and talent pipeline is imperative for reducing and/or mitigating these transitional periods and helping keep healthy and positive work environments for teams that might not feel the corporate culture as easily an in-house staff does. Current estimates of how much it costs to replace employees is anywhere from 50 percent of their salaries for entry level workers to 250 percent of senior level employees. Shifting to a new mindset requires a change in focus, as these sustainable human capital decisions are about the benefit cost analysis and translating out of a bottom-line cost element that

retention and recruiting currently fall under. Sustainable human capital does not look to reinvent the wheel when looking at a healthier work environment; the main goal is to establish work-life balance into the context of worker productivity and limit the negative effects of internal and external forces. There are two forms of stress that need to be under consideration while looking at sustainable human capital: job-related stress and financial stress.

Considering Stress

Job-related stress can produce burnout and higher absenteeism that will undermine employee retention in the long run. While job-related stress may lead to a lower retention rate and produce higher health care costs for employees, the more insidious of the two major stresses on a day-to-day basis is financial stress, which can impact the work product.

For half of all employees, nearly a month’s worth of productivity is wasted on worrying about financial stresses every year, and this does not even take into consideration any loss of focus that taking on a second job may have on their primary career. Stress is a universal force all employers must contend with and try to resolve, however it is only one element of an unhealthy equilibrium that can make employees feel disengaged—and those who are disengaged but still employed are only performing at a 66 percent productivity level.

To combat this disengagement and reduce stress, human resources professionals have begun to implement employee incentive programs and other ancillary policies to make these employees feel reengaged and appreciated. The parking industry has great resources through associations like IPMI, and making sure your company follows these standards can ensure that there is a cohesive message for continued learning, job training, and salary increases that could help prevent any disconnects in policies.

Sustainable human capital is an expanding theory in strategic human resource management and the effects that it can have when implemented correctly can be beneficial for the parking industry, our corporate cultures, and the lives of our respective staffs. While this is an introduction to the topic and barely scratches the surface into it, the hope is that this will start the conversation by advocating for employees to engage in these programs and seeing the benefits of including the work forces’ lives as something that can be treated in the realm of sustainability. ◆

CONOR BURKE is general manager for VPNE

Parking Solutions and a member of IPMI’s Sustainable Mobility Task Force. He can be reached at cburke@vpne.com

Electric Vehicle Charging Offers Gains Against Mobility Inequity

By David J. Karwaski

ELECTRIC VEHICLES ARE HOT COMMODITIES THESE DAYS, evidenced by, among other things, the huge number of new orders for the F-150 Lightning pickup truck and that the new Chevy Silverado electric pickup recently sold out in 12 minutes, according to the CEO of GM. In the past, most electric vehicle models have been priced at the higher end of the spectrum, more suited for higher-income groups than the average household’s income level.

However, that situation is changing and lower-cost electric vehicle models are becoming more common. Several major automobile manufacturers have entry level electric vehicle models in the works or already on the street (think Nissan Leaf and Chevy Bolt). Mid-priced models are popping up on the market, including Volkswagen’s ID.4 and Hyundai’s Ioniq Five. Even Tesla’s longawaited, under-$30,000 vehicle is in development, with a small hatchback to be offered in 2023.

Parking and Mobility

What does this mean for the parking and mobility industry?

In one sense, it’s a reminder that we can be sustainable in our mobility choices and still enjoy the convenience and comfort of a private motorized vehicle. Sure, riding a bicycle or walking to your destination, or riding a bus, are very sustainable mode choices, however not everyone has those options or will choose to eschew driving.

Even at UCLA, with our long-standing, successful transportation demand management program, our Sustainable Transportation Plan acknowledges that a large portion of our commuters—more than a third—will continue to drive to and from campus for the foreseeable future. Therefore, it makes sense to help enable as many of these commuters as possible to choose an electric vehicle.

Charging

Nonetheless, UCLA is not in the business of selling cars, so how can it boost electric vehicle ownership? By making EV charging available at costs far lower than the cost of gasoline for the same commute distance—and even include a bit of free EV charging with a Clean Fuel parking permit.

Of course, chargers and their installation are not free, so UCLA does not give away Level 2 or Level 3 charging sessions. But it has learned that by providing an inventory of 120v outlets—Level 1 charging—in its parking structures, and making those available

to any EV owner who has a Clean Fuel permit, UCLA can provide approximately 25 miles of “trickle charge” to hundreds of EV commuters each day. As lower-cost EVs become more common, UCLA aims to educate its campus community—particularly its lower-income employee cohort—about the lower total cost of ownership that these electric vehicles offer. By combining the federal tax credit and California tax credit for EV’s and calculating the cost of maintenance of a gasoline vehicle vs. the lower cost of maintenance for an EV, the appeal of an electric commute vehicle rises. Add in the policy choice of enabling free trickle charging at a Level 1 outlet, and that can swing the purchase decision towards an electric vehicle.

Each time that occurs, an employee will benefit by not digging into their pocket to pay to fill up at the gas station, and the Los Angeles Basin’s air quality will be that much better, not to mention the reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. This a win-win scenario, and UCLA hopes that as additional electric vehicles come into the marketplace, there are plenty of them offered at the lower end of the price spectrum. The trickle charge policy is particularly beneficial today, as many office employees can work a hybrid schedule, telecommuting several days per week from home. But many of UCLA’s lowerpaid positions require an on-site presence, e.g. custodial staff, dining hall attendants, etc. The decision to enable gratis trickle charging is one way that the University will be able recognize this group’s daily contribution to UCLA. And, in the larger picture, the opportunity to improve mobility equity while reducing air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions is exactly the path that UCLA will pursue.

DAVID J. KARWASKI is Director, Mobility, Planning & Traffic System, with UCLA Transportation. He can be reached at dkarwaski@ts.ucla.edu

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Reorienting campus mobility strategies to achieve a future-proof urban campus

By Michael D. Godfrey, CAPP

SINCE MARCH 2020, the pandemic shutdown has put everyone in a position to experience what a reduction in vehicle impact could look like for a campus. With the “stay at home” mandates leaving cars unused in driveways and the virtual offices relocated to dining rooms, the normal complications of traffic management and parking constraints disappeared only to gradually reappear over the course of several months. In the aftermath, we are left to ask and analyze what lessons we can pull from this experience and what actions we can take to create active campus mobility and redefining what the focus of campus circulation could be. Flow within a campus has traditionally been concentrated on vehicular pathways, and this has created issues both in safety and in access across sites. A specific challenge to mobility planning involves the approach for growth in an older urban campus setting; multiple stages of build-out over several decades on these sites often results in older circulation pathways that may no longer align with the campus’ future growth and development plans.

Technological advancements in transportation are surfacing impacts that have not yet been fully realized. Self-driving cars are becoming closer to reality, forcing a reassessment of how a commute is envisioned from beginning to end and how this affects current parking strategies. The proliferation of electric vehicles and their charging stations are altering what it means to “park” to encompass fueling. Adding to all of this, the global climate situation is pushing a thorough examination on how to better manage our carbon output, of which cars and buildings play a big role. How do you future-proof (or future-prepare) your campus for the everevolving technologies in transportation and mobility?

People-Centric Design

First step would be to realign the focus back to people—reversing the car-centric spaces that have long been the center of campus design for decades. With personal car usage becoming less desirable over car sharing or alternate methods for transportation, along with the necessity to reduce the heat island effect, designing around vehicles is becoming more of a burden than an improvement. Designing around people, on the other hand, is a constant: people will stay the same—they will go places, gather, learn, and be together, and will do so using cars, bikes, or any other type of future transportation. Future planning that revolves around people, or more specifically, the pedestrian, creates flows that will endure changes in transportation modes. By reinforcing that our core mode of movement—walking—is protected and celebrated, we build walkways that are expansive and welcoming. We consolidate parking structure entries and exits and move them over or under the ground level to ensure the pedestrian pathways are safe and continuous. The planning world has already agreed that arterial roads cutting through a campus can be shifted to the exterior, and a more granular focus can be given to the perspective of the pedestrian.

People-Centric design focuses on providing an experience of parking that is simple, intuitive, and sets the stage for the experience of the destination. Taking the route from street to stall to entrance through the eyes of the experiencer: what do they see, what do they take in? Can this experience be upgraded to include elements of fun and moments of engagement? Technologies involving accurate and real time car counts are becoming simple to install and can be integrated into app-based interfaces, allowing people to check an app and plan their parking destination, if desired. What if these transportation and parking apps included incentives based off a

user’s visiting frequency, or parking choices (points for carpooling, or choosing spaces that require more walking)? Wayfinding strategies are the visual language of how people need to move through the space. Like any visual language, consistent use of strong and clear symbols creates universal understanding. Overlapping this symbolic language with car counting systems and can be another opportunity to add interest and engagement to the parking experience by integrating they symbols into notifications and communications. The proliferation of LED screens can add vibrant and transformable visual cues to any space; wayfinding can become dynamic over static.

Future Proofing

Parking structure design can play a major role in future proofing our sites. Car storage is a necessary part of any active site, both urban and suburban. The need to build these structures escalates as we rely on our surface lots and continue to grow business. Urban sites specifically are beholden to the value of every square foot of available land, and we begrudgingly trade potential program space for parking structures, knowing that future needs and technology advancements will most likely render the structure irrelevant. With a conceivable increased use of shared vehicles, parking structures may be only temporary; we hesitate to invest in them knowing both the prescriptive use and the likely short-term needs. More and more we hear the question: what about designing a structure that can serve an immediate function as a parking garage, but later be converted to an office building? This paradigm is changing as the initial cost increase over a standard parking structure reduces, but the long-term return on investment may catch up with the future cost of the demolition and construction of a new building (not to mention the environmental impacts). Combining this with the overarching strategy of “people first”, an adaptable building could hold a longer lifespan, offering the option for a faster conversion than construction of a new building.

As a shorter-term action, current mechanical car parking advancements offer alternative approaches to managing vehicle storage. Car stackers or robotic valet systems increase the number of cars that can be parked per square foot and allows a maximum utilization of vertical space while minimizing an overall footprint. Investing upfront in these technological advancements can ensure that the overall available footprints for future buildings or green space will not have to be traded for lower value vehicle storage areas.

Connection-Focused

Transitioning from type-focused flow designs to connection-focused flow designs can reorient the concentration on a campus from roads to destinations and reduce the overall number of vehicles. Campuses can be complicated and challenging to traverse, especially medical campuses where many visitors are either unfamiliar or are mobility impaired. Instead of relying on vehicles moving from location to location, how can we instead reorganize our campus planning models so the buildings are connected for easier and more accessible pedestrian flow? Can we focus our efforts on emphasizing the pedestrian and shift our vehicular paths to the perimeter of our sites? Holding parking structures and their personal vehicles along the edges of campus, we can have open and protected pedestrian paths connecting directly into the interior campus building. How can we better plan shuttle or tram programs to replace interior campus vehicular roads, or employ a people mover concept to maintain accessibly and predictable travel? Can planned transportation secure consistent and accessible ways to traverse a large site while minimizing pedestrian conflict, and maximizing predictability of movement through schedules and consistency?

Connection-focused design benefits directly from communication and collaboration with the local and regional transportation services. Most campuses have integrated services through municipal bus and shuttles that bring people into the campus, but typically that is where it ends. The bus stops or drop-offs, typically along a primary road, and requires either additional connections to a specific building, or multiple pedestrian pathways that branch out to a campus’ different regions. The “L” Train in Chicago was built to replicate the connection that the subway brought to New York with the reality that building underground was impossible. Taking advantage of vertical space can include utilizing it for connecting people with buildings directly. The monorail at Disneyland is a great example of

a campus making the most out of their site without affecting their direct footprint on land. Although typically seen as an “attraction” over a simple and successful connection-focused mode of transportation, the core concept behind the elevated system overall makes this strategy something worth exploring.

Looking ahead, the diverse modes of transportation that can connect the outside community to the campus can encompass a variety of types: bus, train, shuttle, bike, scooters, and personal vehicle. Mass transportation can be defined and then managed through a centralized mobility hub and an integrated app for user information and access. Personal vehicles will be located along the site perimeters, no longer given a center stage and key locations, instead it will be situated where their drivers can quickly access their destinations through campus-wide connected systems. Parking structures function as garages on day-one, with the intent of conversion to programmable space as individual car usage declines. Intercampus mobility is then preserved for pedestrian and internal shuttle, and pathways are engaging and enticing. Site square footage is maximized for pedestrian experience and use as future program space and building, and to expand the campus green areas. Reorienting our campus mobility strategies to people-centric design with a connection-focused approach will get us closer to a future proof urban campus. ◆

MICHAEL D. GODFREY, CAPP , is Director of Parking, Transportation, and Fleet Services for the University of California Davis Health. He can be reached at mdgodfrey@ ucdavis.edu

Demystifying Curb Management Leveraging

Tools to Meet Your Operational and Policy Goals

By Erik Nelson and Kevin White, CAPP, AICP

CURB MANAGEMENT TECHNIQUES and technologies (cameras, sensors, mobile applications, cloud services) have been a hot topic in the parking and mobility industry for several years now. The emergence of transportation network companies and shared micromobility, coupled with the continued growth of commercial deliveries, has increased congestion in a location previously occupied solely by parked vehicles and an occasional bus stop. A consensus of professionals might agree that curb lane management is balancing many competing uses for limited curb space in a way that is equitable and at the very least, revenue neutral. Between parking, transit, micro-transit, passenger pick-up/drop-off, dining, parklets, and art installations among other things, that can be a tall order.

The coronavirus pandemic has further increased the demand for curb space via outdoor dining, parklets, and food delivery. Cities have been examining new ways to think about and manage curb space, and vendors have jumped into the space with both new and re-purposed technologies to help with curb use data collection, monitoring, enforcement, and monetization. Many cities have deployed technology, are conducting pilot projects, modifying policy, and being more deliberate about managing curb space for these various users, particularly in highly congested urban areas. A scan of the technology marketplace unearths an almost dizzying array of new technologies and vendors. Beyond IPMI, curb management is a hot topic among a myriad other related planning, transportation, and smart cities organizations and disciplines.

What does it mean for you and your streets and on-street parking and mobility operations? Following the curb management topic and discussion over the past several years and it’s easy to see that much of the discourse about strategies and technologies has centered on highly congested urban areas of cities like New York, Seattle, and San Francisco. Driven

by a strong need to manage scarce curb space, these cities have undoubtedly paved the way with new technologies, policies, and techniques. In many cases, however, these cities are unique and truly unlike the vast majority of mid to large cities across the United States.

Curb Management in Your Community

The truth is, if you have curb space in your community and allow parking, loading, or outdoor dining, you are managing your curb. You may have a program that allows for the installation of a loading zone or a valet zone. You may permit food trucks to park on your streets. You may or may not have time restrictions or paid parking. All the policies, technologies, and practices you employ to manage that space have likely evolved over the years, perhaps in an ad hoc manner as your community has evolved with new development, new uses, and new demands.

No matter how you manage your curb space, you may be following the curb management discourse and hearing about the new fancy technology and wondering, “how does this apply to me and my operation?” Intentionally or not,

the discourse and new technologies (i.e., focused on cameras, sensors, commercial loading, and monetization in highly congested urban areas) that have emerged in the curb management space over the past handful of years have really focused on solutions for the significant urban centers of this country, and not on the vast majority of small to medium-size municipal operations in the United States. These operations may not have a paid parking program or a highly congested curb, yet still have a need to manage this space effectively. They are still taking part in curb management.

Regardless of the sophistication level of your curb space management, and regardless of whether your curb space is highly congested and not significantly busy, there is value in understanding the curb management landscape and how to leverage tools and technologies to advance your system’s goals. Think about where you are on the spectrum of curb management, and where you want your curb management journey to take your community. Who are the users trying to access your curb, and what programs, policies, and technologies do you need to enable their access and the enhance the vibrancy, equity, and quality of life of your community?

A critical step is to be able to state the problem to be solved plainly and clearly. This statement should be simple, and easily understood, such as, “We need to enforce delivery restrictions.” From there, it will likely be necessary to refine that problem statement into a more detailed requirements or performance specification that can be taken to market through an RFI/RFQ/RFP process. This information should be clear enough so that both the municipality and the vendor know what the objective is, who the users will be, and what performance levels are required of the technology.

Navigating the Curb Management Technology Landscape

The curb management technology landscape has evolved significantly over the past several years, and there are now a range of vendors supplying numerous technologies in this space. Although they all have different and unique attributes, they tend to employ some type of data source, and some sort of application to manage the data being provided by that source. Be it a camera, a Bluetooth beacon, crowdsourced data, or something else, there are

many choices. How would one even begin to sort through them?

Before COVID-19, there was a significant focus in the curb management space on managing Uber and Lyft and passenger loading areas. Cities were employing the use of flexible curb spaces that could serve as parking areas during one part of the day, and Uber/Lyft pick-up and drop-off areas in other parts of the day. Recent years, especially the past two, have really accelerated the focus in curb management on managing (and eventually monetizing) commercial loading zones.

Cities are conducting pilots and examining camera and other technology to monitor and facilitate commercial loading activity in urban areas. One goal (and certainly not the only goal) that many cities have is to set up a program where commercial drivers can pull into loading spaces along the curb, the city can employ technology to monitor dwell time, and commercial delivery companies are invoiced for time spent on the curb using an enterprise account in the city’s backend permit and billing system. The ideal scenario is that once set up, the system manages itself, and the delivery drivers and the city do not have to take any extra

manual steps to facilitate loading, tracking, invoicing, and payment. The industry is eagerly waiting to see if these types of dynamic systems can be successfully completed at scale in all types of weather and geographies and sustained indefinitely.

Commercial loading is only one part of the curb management spectrum. Wherever you are in your curb management journey, it’s important to continuously refocus on your curb users and promoting access and quality of life. While following the latest curb management technology is important, make sure that technology is never viewed as more than a tool to help you achieve important community goals, not an end in of itself. ◆

ERIK NELSON is the Director of Operations and Technology Consulting for Walker Consultants, and is a member if IPMI’s Awards and Technology Committees. He can be reached at enelson@walkerconsultants.com

KEVIN WHITE, CAPP, AICP iis a Parking and Mobility Consultant for Walker Consultants and is Co-Chair of the IPMI Planning, Design, and Construction Committee. He can be reached at kwhite@ walkerconsultants.com

PHOTO COURTESY OF WALKER CONSULTANTS

Clear Ahead? Skies

Challenges, Opportunities, and the Future of Parking & Mobility in Aviation

Expert Participants

Some of the most elite organizations in the aviation space have come together to pass along their thoughts on the challenges faced by the sector, and the opportunities presented for the future.

2020

will be written in the history books as one of the worst years on record for many industries, and the aviation industry is no exception. According to the International Air Transport Association’s (IATA) Annual Review 2021, the passenger airline business continued to be adversely affected by the COVID-19 crisis into 2021. Although global economic activity rebounded on the back of booming manufacturing production, travel restrictions kept air passenger numbers low, especially for international travel. Second-quarter 2021 numbers improved compared with those for the first quarter because of the reopening of some domestic and regional markets.

In looking so far at 2022, IATA reports that total demand for air travel in January 2022 (measured in revenue passenger kilometers or RPKs) was up 82.3% compared to January 2021, however, it was down 4.9% compared to the previous month (December 2021) on a seasonally adjusted basis due to the Omicron variant. So, it seems we are still on the roller coaster, and unsure as to when we will disembark.

How are airports keeping up with the rapidly changing conditions, while at the same time looking to the future and what it holds for the industry? How has the uncertainty affecting parking and mobility at airports, and how is revenue being looked at differently under today’s lens?

Parking & Mobility asked organizations to give us their perspective on the challenges, and opportunities, that today’s airports are navigating. From the airports themselves to the companies that provide services to the industry, we have gathered a broad perspective on the current state of our airports parking and mobility services, as well as a glimpse into what the future may hold.

Herold Hensley, SVP of Parking and Transportation, Denver International Airport (DEN). DEN is the third-busiest airport in the world, and the primary economic engine for the state of Colorado, generating more than $33.5 billion for the region annually.

Allen Corry, CAPP, AVP, Dallas Fort Worth (DFW) International Airport Parking/Transportation Business Unit (TBU). The TBU is the largest source of non-aviation revenue that continues to maintain financial strength and remains cost competitive.

Jack Ricchiuto, President, Airport Division, SP+. SP+ manages their airport operations through a dedicated Airport Services division with over 65 years of airport-specific parking experience, including parking operations, valet services, technology solutions, shuttle transportation and more.

John Schmid, CEO and Chairman, Propark Mobility. As a national near-airport parking provider, Propark Mobility creates a seamless customer experience for air travelers, from their first mile to their last.

Robert McConnell, PE, SE, Vice President, Parking Solutions, WGI. With a deep understanding of the airport parking ecosystem, WGI’s parking experts provide parking planning and design, as well as comprehensive professional services, cutting-edge technology, and resources for planning and designing airport parking facilities.

Bob Miles, President, Bags. Bags serves airline, airport, and hospitality clients as a leading provider of baggage delivery, remote airline check-in, and other related services.

Operations

How have airport operations changed because of the pandemic, and how will operations evolve as travel demands change post-pandemic? How have airports accommodated changing patron behavior in their operations?

We downsized all our operations during the pandemic. We closed 17,112 public parking spaces and almost 7,000 employee parking spaces. Another 4,479 public parking spaces were converted to employee parking. We also closed our valet parking facilities. As passenger traffic has returned, we have been slowly reopening our public and employee parking facilities. We will return to 2019 operations this year except for our valet product. We are converting the valet product to a reserved parking product. As we look to the future, we will use our Vision 100 strategic plan to guide our decisions on ground transportation to ensure we can effectively serve 100 million passengers in the next eight to ten years.

“Denver International Airport has a robust parking and ground transportation program that provides our passengers with a variety of options to meet their needs. We understand that an efficient and reliable parking experience is what our travelers want, and we continue to make improvements and implement new programs to enhance the travelers’ experience.”

To meet the increasing passenger demand, TBU has experienced several major changes to focus on streamlining operations, combining function, and re-alignment of teams. Operational focus is on:

● TBU, Customer Experience and Innovation departments collaboration teams.

● Re-align Employee Engagement Teams (post-COVID).

● Reshaping teams to focus on current needs.

● Enhance the customer journey.

● Seamless communication.

● New technology.

● Filling essential vacancies.

● Internal promotions.

CLEAR SKIES AHEAD?

Parking at Denver International Airport

●

Employee engagement teams.

To align TBU’s Strategic Plan with DFW’s Strategic Plan and ensure projects are successfully implemented, we’ve employed our plan to employ analytical business approaches to drive change in thought and operations, leveraging technology and data by: implementing new business solutions through partnership with our IT; building and maintaining mobile dashboards and predictive models for traffic demands; utilizing comparative data acquired from various sources; analyzing current and forecast future market condition; evaluating changes and impact of customer behavior; and aligning systems for predictive analytics focusing on tomorrow to align resources and strategies.

When the pandemic first hit, we needed to swiftly adjust to the decrease in demand, while we implemented a plethora of COVID-19 mitigation measures around cleaning/ sanitation and contact/distancing all in accordance with government mandates, client policies, and our own company protocols put in place to keep our employees safe. Some of those implementations have expanded and evolved because they are good ideas. For example, the touchless technologies we use will continue to apply because they have proven to be desirable for travelers. The convenience of user-friendly reservation systems, touchless payment options, and remote airline check-in are just some of the evolving parking and transportation logistical services we continue to provide and develop.

The largest change in the travel industry, post-pandemic, has been the shift from business travel to leisure travel. Historically, one of the keys to Propark’s success was catering to the needs of the frequent business traveler by providing a high-amenity product with a focus on consistency and convenience. Because many businesses learned how to sell and serve their clients remotely during the pandemic, corporate travel decreased. Even as travel is becoming safe and accessible again, this trend is expected to continue, with many businesses choosing to keep their people at home. As travel and parking demand become driven more and more by the leisure traveler, we are seeing a shift toward more competitively priced products. The leisure travel customers, individually, travel much less frequently and make their purchasing decisions on a trip-by-trip basis.

We saw many airports put parking projects on hold at the beginning of the pandemic

when air travel dropped by 80%. A year later, personal and leisure air travel resurged due to relaxation of restrictions and pent-up demand, and air travel has rebounded since then to about 75% of the late 2019/early 2020 demand. That said, business travel, which traditionally makes up about 12% of the total number of trips and about double that share of revenues, is still far below 2019 levels. The pandemic showed us that a lot of collaboration can happen over web conferencing platforms, and it will likely take several years for business travel to recover. Transportation Network Companies (TNCs) were also off about 80% during the pandemic, and, while they have rebounded somewhat, driver shortages and residual reluctance to ride in a stranger’s vehicle have kept ridership below prepandemic highs. Perhaps the silver lining there is more people driving their own vehicles to airports and paying for parking.

“One of the most dramatic impacts of the pandemic was the stress placed on all employees regardless of if they worked on site or remotely. Many of these workers had to quickly adapt to a new working situation while sharing their workspaces at home. Some of our employees found themselves in difficulty maintaining engagement with the workplace. They found it challenging to feel engaged while working separated from the workplace. Some had issue separating the home life from their work life.”

We have found that when airlines directly communicate with passengers to provide transportation information regarding wait times and parking suggestions on the day-of or day-before travel, it helps direct travelers to the most efficient airport locations and improves the passenger experience.

Revenues/Pricing Models

How are facilities planning for annualized parking revenues given the changes in customer behavior? How have pricing models been altered in response to current conditions?

Our shuttle lots were closed, and we proactively provided information regarding our off-airport parking partners during the pandemic to provide low-cost options for our customers. As we reopen DEN owned shuttle lots, we are focusing

our communication on these lots to regain the market share. We maintained our pricing throughout the pandemic. We are now looking at new pricing models to possibly implement in second quarter 2022. The new pricing models will take into consideration the uptick in leisure travel and the decline in business travel.

Overall, our pricing model is shifting to promote growth and leverage of variable pricing for drive-up customers as well as pre-paid online.

Revenues at larger airports have returned to a level consistent with the prepandemic environment, and in many cases, we are seeing higher volume than before. The leisure traveler is more focused on price, and we are seeing a shift from premium and valet airport parking options to economy and selfpark options. We are finding success with demand-based pricing models and aggressive marketing through multiple channels.

Additional services include web pages, data analytics, digital marketing, payment and reservation systems, geo fencing, baggage services, remote check-in, valet, and frequent parker programs—that all tie back to the optimizing the customer experience.

Technology

How have airports changed their operations to accommodate changing patron behavior? What technologies and innovations are they and should they be implementing to streamline operations and maximize revenue?

We are working diligently to implement a reserved parking product, pre-booking, and the use of 6C (ISO/IEC 18000-63) tags for ingress/egress and payment of parking fees. These products offer frictionless parking and the peace of mind knowing your parking will be seamless at any of our facilities. These enhancements will provide our passengers with more options that allow them to take control of their parking experience. During the pandemic, we have installed a new parking revenue control system. A significant upgrade with the new system is frictionless parking using License Plate Recognition (LPR). Frictionless parking allows the patron to exit the facility with minimal interaction with the equipment or a cashier, creating a more efficient experience.

To bridge the revenue shortfall, airports will need to be more efficient with staffing, relying on automation for payment and enforcement. They will need to drive up occupancy using parking guidance and, perhaps, dynamic pricing. They will also need to up-sell the paying customers with services such as valet parking, concierge services like carwash/ detailing or lounge reservations, prepaid parking and reserved spaces, and VIP premium parking areas.

Because we are a full-service mobility provider, we can generate additional revenue streams beyond parking and shuttle transportation for the airports we serve. Offering supplemental services and technology products provide the opportunity to accumulate additional competitive management fees based on the success of our clients.

The TBU Special Busing operation section is made up of 80% Off-Gate (Hardstand) Cobus operations, that offload passengers from aircraft that are not gated. DFW is the first airport in the U.S. using Electric Cobus’. In addition, this section is responsible for coordinating parking and busing during irregular transportation and busing emergency operations.

Other future innovative projects include but are not limited to:

● Terminal C Construction (garage and traffic impact).

● Virtual taxi queue.

Curbside—vehicle recognition.

● Electric vehicle chargers are being expanded and programed in for the next five years.

● Continuing to update garage facilities including a Parking Guidance System, fresh paint, and adding elevators to legacy garages.

● Exploration of the customer journey is an on-going

“As consumer needs continue to change, it’s important to invest in technology that will adapt with you to meet market demand. We are partnering with equipment and service providers that offer flexible, easily upgradable systems that can adapt to new technology and changes in customer behavior.”

effort to expand information regarding available parking and transportation to customers through use of our website, mobile application, and signage.

Parking guidance, ideally with individual space sensing, and occupancy detection are going to become ubiquitous at airports. Capitalizing on that data is important. This includes pushing availability and rates out to mobile and the web, as well as to dynamic street signage - perhaps even to the resale market. Another technology that needs to be embraced by airports is integration with the highway tolling systems. Toll tags are everywhere, and they enable transactions that are operationally efficient and convenient to users.

We are collaborating with our airport clients in variety of different ways. For example, at Denver International Airport, we are providing remote airline check-in at two distinct and convenient locations near the airport campus. One remote airline check-in station is at the train station that stops at the terminal, allowing travelers to avoid ticket counter lines and the hassle of carrying bags up the escalator and through the terminal. A second drive-up location allows passengers to complete the entire check-in process—from paying for baggage fees to having luggage unloaded from

SP+: “People continue to expect instant access to information and options at their fingertips. Travelers are no exception. The entire travel experience needs to feel seamless and logistical information must be easily accessible.”

the trunk of their car—all from the comfort of their car seat. The drive-up remote airline check-in operation is designed to provide airports with a value-added amenity for their economy parking lots to compete with off-airport parking options. In this instance, the airport did see a market share shift to their economy lots. In addition, United Airlines also promoted the service to direct checkin activities away from the ticket counter areas to alleviate congestion. Additionally, we launched our Curbside Concierge™ service in 2021, as an option for passengers to utilize curbside check-in services at airlines/airports that had not resumed skycap services.

Trends

What is on the five-year horizon for airport parking, transportation, and mobility?

We anticipate innovative transportation options to request the ability to operate at airports. Like the TNC’s and car sharing, these options will require airports to creatively accommodate them. Car sharing will continue to grow and become a more and more viable option for airport customers. The trend toward electrification will continue with a growing need for infrastructure at airports for passenger vehicles and larger vehicles such as shuttles and buses. The

development of autonomous vehicles will also change the way parking is utilized at airports. Because of the many interrupters such as TNC’s and car sharing, we will see creative uses of parking facilities in the future to optimize the revenue that is being generated by these assets.

Over the next five years our business management will employ an analytical business approach to drive change in thought and operations by leveraging technology and data, implementing new business solutions through partnership with our IT. We plan on building and maintaining mobile dashboards and predictive models for traffic demands and utilizing comparative data to analyze current and forecast future conditions to evaluate changes and impact of customer behavior. We will also be supporting green initiatives by expanding EV charging stations and transitioning fleet to electric vehicles. These efforts involve collaboration with our environmental department, as well as conducting studies with national research labs.

As technologies continue to advance, the workforce will need to adapt. That means retraining the workforce to efficiently manage new systems as they assist travelers, especially in customer-facing support roles.

Demand for air travel is improving and will continue to grow. As more people can perform their work remotely, the lines between business and leisure travel will continue to blur. Travel will no longer be relegated to weekends and two weeks a year. People are free to travel more frequently and for longer periods when they can bring their office with them. We expect to see continued growth in this segment, and the keys to success lie in the ability to adapt to rapid

“We are intensely focused on improving the passenger journey— while we see airlines and airports doing the same. A significant part of that journey involves technologies for touchless transactions, convenient check-in options and other services that help create a frictionless travel experience.”

technology change and to keep pace with the way that people shop for and purchase everything in their lives. To succeed, our parking operations need to be cutting edge, and not a relic of the past.

Airport parking transactions will become more hands-free. There are a variety of technologies and operating methods available, running the gamut from highway toll tags to mobile Bluetooth to the technology built into vehicles that will enable drivers to zip in and out of airport parking facilities with all the transactions occurring in the background. Additionally, mobile apps will consolidate and link all travel modes into smart trips, covering everything from driving directions and traffic reports to availability and cost of parking, airline boarding passes, luggage claim checks, ridesharing, accommodation reservations, dining options, and anything else a traveler might conceivably need.

Looking back to 2016 projections for worldwide air passengers to double by 2035, the pandemic surely took some of the steam off that growth. However, we are seeing some phenomenal growth rates during the recovery that may lead us to that curve in the future. Since many airports are land locked, there may be challenges to accommodate that growth. The industry and those who support it continue to consider streamlining passenger journeys, integrating mass transit into airport campuses, and accommodating autonomous and electronic vehicles.

“Construction costs rose nearly 16% from 2020 to 2021, which obviously impacted all capital projects. Computer chips continue to be in short supply. We’re also seeing some vendors over-promise and then try to upcharge for expediting, substituting, or even deleting components. Hopefully, this is not a trend. Protection from supply chain crunches and overcharging starts with a well-defined program, a solid set of solicitation documents, and a contract that locks in performance and pricing. This needs to be followed up with thorough oversight throughout the purchasing, installation, and shake-down processes.”

TRAVEL IS BACK. It may not look the same, it may not follow the old rules, but make no mistake, the aviation industry is waking up. Looking forward, airports and the companies that serve them will need to re-examine everything, including how they look at parking, mobility, and transportation. Special thanks to these market leaders who have given their perspective on the challenges and opportunities that the sector is taking on. What do you think are the key factors for future success of parking and mobility in the airport space? Give us your feedback and thoughts at editor@parking-mobility.org. We would love to hear from you! ◆

Outlook and Trends for Micromobility

By Kurt Steiner, AICP

THE TRANSITION TO ELECTRIC VEHICLES (EVs) keeps building momentum and grabbing headlines, from the $5 billion investment in EV charging infrastructure announced by the new Joint Office of Energy and Transportation to the marketing pivot by many auto manufacturers toward their growing battery electric and plug-in hybrid lineups. This is great news for cleaner air, climate action, and economic growth.

But EVs aren’t the only transportation trend worth watching, a fact underscored by a recent global survey conducted by McKinsey about micromobility preferences for commuting. A somewhat surprising 60% of respondents in the U.S. stated their preference to commute using some form of micromobility. Is it plausible that recent innovations in e-bikes and e-scooters, making them more useful, convenient, and affordable, have caught the public’s imagination? If so, then what will that mean for regulators, parking operators, and future investments in transportation infrastructure? We might find some clues in two innovative approaches featuring micromobility: Pittsburgh’s Move PGH pilot, the most significant demonstration of “mobility as a service” (MaaS) in the U.S., and zero emission areas (ZEAs), a comprehensive policy initiative to address urban congestion and pollution, transportation electrification, and human-centered transportation options (walking, cycling, public transport, and micromobility).

The first dockless electric kick scooters debuted in North America less than five years ago. The common characteristics for micromobility are low speed (under 30 mph), light weight (under 100 lbs.), and partially or fully motorized. A practical classification can be found in Underwriter Laboratories (UL) two certifications related to electrical systems for micromobility: UL 2849 for e-bikes (pedal-assisted or throttle-actuated) and UL 2272 for “e-scooters and other micromobility devices, such as e-skateboards and hoverboards.” While shared-micromobility providers have been a major driver in growing popularity, it’s important to note that micromobility may be personally owned or part of a shared fleet (docked or dockless.)

The smartphone-enabled shared e-scooter concept launched in 2017 quickly migrated beyond the sunny sidewalks of Santa Monica and, before long, venture capital-funded shared-mobility providers emerged in cities and campuses across the U.S. and around the globe. Rapid expansion has often outpaced clear standards for safe operation and respectful use of public space, leading to inevitable controversary. As more communities learn what works, though, they are sharing best practices. The National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO) Guidelines for Regulating Shared Micromobility and New Urban Mobility

Alliance (NUMO)’s Starting Off Right: A Community-First New Mobility Playbook are both excellent resources for communities. Planning for micromobility overlaps with some principles for pedestrian and bicycle planning, and these guides also highlight the considerations specific to e-bikes and e-scooters that lead to more successful outcomes.

The proliferation of shared micromobility services helped showcase how useful e-bikes and e-scooters can be for short urban trips. Public demand for e-bikes is surging. U.S. sales increased 145% from 2019 to 2020 and a proposed 30% tax credit toward e-bike purchases was floated in Congress last year, an acknowledgement that e-bikes are a serious policy option for reducing household transportation costs and vehicle miles traveled (VMT.) Researchers in the UK found high potential for e-bikes to replace some car trips and reduce CO2 emissions, especially in rural areas and places with high economic vulnerability to car dependence. The convergence of public enthusiasm for e-bikes, the emergence of technology-enabled micromobility, and policy priorities sets the stage for local innovation which leads to the first of two notable examples.

Move PGH was launched in July 2021 by the City of Pittsburgh’s Department of Mobility and Infrastructure (DOMI) in collaboration with the local transit agency and private-sector partners to deliver a mobility-as-as-service (MaaS) platform for Pennsylvania’s second largest city. MaaS was conceived and first tested in Finland in the early 2010s. The Pittsburgh pilot program is built on the popular Transit smartphone app and, consistent with the MaaS concept, aims to provide a seamless user experience for multimodal trip planning across public and private mobility services. A participant can compare travel options, including public transit and bikeshare, sharedmicromobility, carsharing, and carpooling, and purchase trips on any of those services within the app. Micromobility plays a vital role in Move PGH’s value proposition by delivering a “first/last mile” link for public transit and other services, extending access to jobs and other destinations through an integrated regional transportation network. E-scooters were illegal in Pennsylvania until the state passed a special provision allowing Pittsburgh to run the pilot, which opened the door for the shared-micromobility

provider Spin to help lead coordination between the many service providers on behalf of the city. “There was an ever-increasing [number of services] but they were siloed and competing for the same customers,” said Lolly Walsh, former director of Move PGH. Working together under the city’s Move PGH initiative, the companies were able to integrate their offerings and remove some of the friction usually associated with accessing multiple transportation options.

Zooming out from Pittsburgh’s pilot, a Zero Emission Area (ZEA) is a policy tool designed and implemented by local governments with the primary purpose of reducing air pollution and carbon emissions from driving. Closely related to congestion zones, which enforce fees upon entry to reduce vehicle travel and congestion, ZEAs instead require vehicles inside their boundaries to meet certain pollution standards. In fact, London’s well-known congestion charge is just one part of a comprehensive zoning scheme that now includes low-emissions zones (LEZs) intended to reduce health impacts caused by pollution from traffic. ZEAs and LEZs are highly flexible and can be designed to meet the specific needs and goals of a community (focusing on delivery vehicles, for example). That flexibility, along with their capacity to evolve over time, make ZEAs an attractive option for cities working toward ambitious goals for climate, electric vehicles, traffic congestion, and public health. C40 Cities, a global network for leading cities taking climate action, cites ZEAs as part of “a coordinated series of strategic actions over the next decade to shift urban mobility choices.”

More widespread implementation of ZEAs could help

accelerate the transition to EVs while also promoting micromobility as an attractive option for urban travel. In a report published last December, the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP) examined scenarios for reducing transportation carbon emissions that align with the goal of keeping below 1.5°C global warming and concluded that the only realistic path follows a dual strategy of rapid electrification alongside policies that focus on shifting travel away from cars. In the context of a projected doubling in passenger vehicles by 2050, the Paris Agreement-aligned scenario includes some sobering targets: phase-out of ICE vehicles globally by 2040 and reduced overall travel demand for driving by 11% compared to business as usual. Meeting these targets will require a transformation in land use and transportation planning. ITDP’s analysis projects that e-bikes are projected to accommodate much of the growth in future vehicle demand and notes that ZEAs are one key approach that can “simultaneously incentivize modal shift and vehicle electrification.” Synergies like this will help ease the transition to future transportation systems that are more shared, electric, and multimodal. Micromobility is positioned at the intersection of those trends, suggesting an even higher profile could lie ahead. ◆

KURT STEINER, AICP , is Associate Director, LEED for the U.S. Green Building Council. He can be reached at ksteiner@usgbc.org.

Leveling the

By Kara Womack and Brooke Feldman

AS SERVICE PROVIDERS IN THE DIGITAL MOBILITY INDUSTRY,

our mission is to collaborate with partners to make our cities and public spaces more livable, more convenient, and safer for everyone. Core to this mission is ensuring that all people have equitable parking and curbside access by incorporating the principles of accessibility and inclusion into our solutions. More than simply providing minimal levels of functionality to meet specific needs, an accessible and inclusive approach focuses on empowering consumers with solutions that help everyone enjoy the full benefits of a modern parking program, regardless of their physical, technical, or financial circumstances.

Often the impact of accessibility on our industry is undervalued, overlooked, or misunderstood. When the topic of accessible parking arises, the conversation is nearly always centered on issues of physical accessibility. Ensuring drivers with physical disabilities have access to parking is still a priority, but it is only the beginning. To make the parking experience truly inclusive for everyone, we must adopt a wider, more nuanced view of our customers’ challenges and unique needs.

As digital parking solutions become more integral to parking and curbside management, it will be increasingly

important to make changes that proactively meet customers where they are. By incorporating inclusion and accessibility into every aspect of digital parking operation and design, we can improve both the parking experience and quality of life for our customers and clients.

Widening the Scope and Ambition of Accessibility

For years, most parking industry discussions surrounding accessibility were limited to the design and management of physical parking spaces. That began to change in

How Digital Parking Solutions Are Rethinking Equity and Inclusion

Playing Field

December 2000, with the introduction of Section 508 into the ADA, which set out guidelines for providing access to digital spaces for Americans living with disabilities. When Section 508 was introduced, only 52% of Americans were active online. Today, that number is over 90% (Pew Research Center, 2021). Across all demographics—age, gender, income, education—Americans are spending more time online than ever before and using websites and apps to conduct business and simplify their everyday life.

Not only are Americans increasingly online, but they are increasingly mobile. Pew Research estimates that 97% of Americans own some form of cellphone, and of those people 85% specifically have a smartphone. The smartphone also plays a major role in online activity in general, and nearly 20% of households access the internet exclusively via a smartphone.

Unsurprisingly, Americans with disabilities are also spending much more time online. According to the 2020 Census, more than 40 million Americans have some type of disability. And while those with disabilities are slightly less likely to be active online, 72% of Americans who identify as having a disability also own a smartphone (Pew Research Center, 2021).

As we consider the future of digital parking solutions, we must keep physical and digital access top of mind for those living with

disabilities. But it’s equally critical that we consider and solve for other barriers to digital access—financial barriers, language barriers, technical barriers—if we wish to provide truly inclusive and equitable access for all.

New Challenges in Equitable Parking

The potential impact of accessibility and inclusion on our industry is undeniable. Businesses and organizations in every industry around the globe have had to drastically rethink what accessibility means and how to approach it in a modern, digital context. Improving accessibility ultimately improves the digital parking experience for everyone, both people with unique usability needs and without.

In other words, improving the experience for one set of needs will improve the experience for all—and that principle can be applied to other barriers to access as well.

Financial Barriers

Parking rates and curbside policies are an important consideration in making parking more inclusive. For many years, parking operators have strived to make fair parking policies that still address the unique needs of individuals or businesses,

whether helping students park on campus, or ensuring residents in a destination town can make fair use of their streets. There are also further opportunities to embrace the benefits of digital payment without excluding the unbanked and underbanked population. According to a 2019 report from the Federal Reserve, roughly 22% of U.S. adults are unbanked or underbanked, accounting for about 55 million adults. While there are relatively few households (6%) that have no bank account (unbanked), about 16% of Americans have a bank account but also make frequent use of other financial services like check cashing services and payday loans (underbanked). While more parking operators consider reducing on-street hardware and cash transactions to streamline operations, digital services can help close the gap and provide the underbanked community with alternative ways to pay.

Technical Barriers

As parking operators shift more of their operations to digital solutions, we should also consider technical limitations, particularly for those without access to smartphones. While smartphone ownership has increased dramatically in recent years—up 15% since 2016—12% of Americans still rely on a traditional cellphone, while 3% have no mobile phone at all. And among those with smartphones, the need to download and install an app can be a significant barrier to secure parking. Digital parking solutions must evolve to deliver equitable experiences that support all levels of technical access, whether by phone, mobile web, or native apps.

Language Barriers

According to a 2018 study by the Center for Immigration Studies, roughly 22% of the US population, or 67.2 million adults, speak a language other than English in the home. Additionally, the 2020 Census reports that over 8% of Americans are “less than fluent” in English. In some communities that number is over 35%. For those Americans, having both physical and digital parking solutions available in their native language is critical to ensuring inclusive and equitable access.

Rethinking Accessibility from the Ground Up

While inclusivity and accessibility are often discussed together, they are not interchangeable terms. “Accessibility” typically refers to the specific ADA guidelines ensuring equitable physical and digital access for Americans with disabilities. “Inclusion” goes beyond that, asking us to empathetically consider a broad set of needs for anyone whose circumstances or experiences may introduce unique barriers or challenges.

The flexibility of digital parking solutions gives the parking industry the unique opportunity to grapple with inclusion and equity concerns proactively and efficiently. By combining accessibility and inclusive design, we can deliver digital solutions that go beyond simply complying with standards to meaningfully

improve the quality of life for all our customers and clients. If we take a holistic approach to accessibility and inclusivity, we can find innovative ways to incorporate them into all aspects of digital parking—from policy, to creating flexible systems, to the design and experience of the apps themselves.

Digital parking solutions have another major advantage when it comes to driving equity and inclusion initiatives: the ease and speed with which changes can be made. While some changes to digital experiences may have real world impacts on signage, meters, or other physical infrastructure, many potential improvements require only software changes. This gives digital solution providers a unique chance to quickly have a significant impact on equitable and inclusive access, particularly in the following areas:

Flexible Payment Options

Having a wide variety of payment methods is a significant first step in helping overcome many of the technical and financial barriers facing our communities. Increasing the number of options both in the forms of payment that can be accepted and how payment can be submitted allows digital solution providers to reach a significantly broader segment of people than before. Alternative payment methods can better support the underbanked community,

Digital parking solutions must evolve to deliver equitable experiences that support all levels of technical access, whether by phone, mobile web, or native apps.

while offering payment by phone or SMS can help address technical limitations for those without smartphones. Additionally, people who don’t explicitly need these solutions may find them more comfortable or convenient to use than the app experience.

Accessible Product Design

With 85% of Americans now possessing smartphones, people are becoming increasingly comfortable using them for more of their day-to-day business—booking travel, scheduling grocery delivery, and finding parking. Therefore, it’s vital that we consider how those digital experiences look, feel, and function for Americans with disabilities or visual differences.

One key way to ensure equitable access is to give people control of their digital experiences by capitalizing on the capabilities of mobile devices, like adjusting text size or using voice controls. Ensuring that colors and contrast allow for easy legibility not only supports colorblind users but improves visibility for all users. Similar and ongoing improvements to client backend systems and reporting tools are equally important to improve usability across the board.

Equitable Policy and Curbside Access

Curbside management and digital permits are increasingly an area of interest for cities that employ smart parking and mobility solutions. A digital curb with automated and flexible pricing options has unique applications in the context of inclusion and equity. For instance, universities may utilize smart parking solutions to automatically extend discounts to students based on email. A major city may want a digital permit system to offer varying options for ADA parking residents versus non-residents, or any combination of other factors that may affect curbside access. Because enforcement is usually integrated into these systems, these kinds of dynamic policies and digital permitting can be an invaluable tool to ensure more people get equitable access to specific areas.

Localization for Multiple Languages

Nearly one quarter of the US population speaks a language other than English at home and some communities serve a significant population of non-fluent English speakers. Digital solutions are well-positioned to support these communities with localized experiences that allow them to interact with an experience in their native language. Not only does localization extend the benefits of smart mobility to more people, but it also helps increase compliance by ensuring non-English or non-native speakers fully understand the rates and policies for their parking location.

Data-Driven Decisions

As more and more cities enable digital parking solutions, and more communities adopt them, we as an industry are just

beginning to tap into a growing pool of data about how, and by whom, parking is being utilized. This data has a multitude of potential uses, including helping our clients better understand the unique needs, challenges, and barriers for the local communities they serve. With accurate, real-time visibility into areas like parking inventory, usage, occupancy, and more, clients are empowered to leverage data to shape and inform policy and infrastructure decisions.

The Journey to Equitable Parking is Only Beginning

We are advocates for equity, inclusivity, and accessibility, not experts. We believe we have an enormous opportunity to have a meaningful impact on the communities we serve, but no change can happen without listening to and engaging with a wide variety of voices and experiences. More importantly, incorporating principles of equity, inclusivity, and accessibility into our software and experiences is a marathon, not a sprint, representing a longterm commitment to widening access for the communities we serve. Fundamentally, embracing accessibility and inclusion represents a massive chance for the parking industry to engage with new and underserved populations, ensure equitable access to parking for all, and to lay the groundwork for more inclusive, datadriven policy and infrastructure decisions that will benefit both customers and clients. ◆

KARA WOMACK is Vice President, Product for Parkmobile. She can be reached at kara.womack@ parkmobile.io

BROOKE FELDMAN is Vice President, Account Management for ParkMobile. She can be reached at brooke. feldman@parkmobile.io

Not only does localization extend the benefits of smart mobility to more people, but it also helps increase compliance by ensuring non-English or non-native speakers fully understand the rates and policies for their parking location.

RE-IMAGINING SINGLE USE ASSETS

RE-IMAGINING ASSETS

BY LARRY ISROW

PARKING has served as a primary component of historically auto-centric mobility patterns in the U.S. for more than a century. Well-cited research from the University of California at Berkeley’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering suggests that there are about 3.4 parking spaces in America for each car. Noted transportation scholar Donald Shoup observes in his 2018 title, Parking in the City, that “the area of parking per car in the United States is thus larger than the area of housing per human.”

With this data in mind, it’s hard to forget the visual of large empty parking lots and structures that dominated much of the national landscape during the COVID-19 quarantine. Fast forward to the present day, many parking and mobility professionals have managed to successfully pivot in the face of turbulence and uncertainty in order to maximize profits and increase the long-term viability of these historically single-use assets. Fully aware of the fact that they could not allow these properties to remain underutilized throughout the pandemic, professionals began implementing innovative adaptive reuse solutions while at the same time accounting for future parking, transportation, and mobility needs as they develop.

Remember, although the U.S. is notorious for being entrenched in “car culture,” current disruptors and innovation in the industry are causing transportation and mobility patterns in the nation to change rapidly. These changes will require future approaches to parking to inevitably follow suit. Even before the pandemic began, significant changes in transportation and mobility trends—otherwise known as disruptors—were beginning to occur. The most significant disruptor is considered to be the concentrated efforts aimed at reducing vehicular traffic by increasing walkability and access to public transportation within neighborhoods.

In fact, as a whole, Millennials and members of Generation Z drive less than previous generations thanks to popular ridesharing services such as Uber and Lyft. Now, micro-mobility solutions such as e-scooters and local bike-sharing initiatives are becoming the norm.

Those who do drive are increasingly purchasing electric vehicles as government and environmental incentives to adopt this method of transportation become more attractive. Growing numbers of people are working from home and shopping online, completely reshaping how people travel and conduct business.

These factors have caused owners and managers of commercial parking structures to rethink the livework-play evolution. For those who own and operate parking venues, the evolution is apparent. Many other alternative uses for parking lots and structures have come into play. No doubt, these solutions require parking and mobility professionals to remain vigilant in monitoring consumer patterns as closely as they have monitored COVID-19. This is the only way to continue optimizing the potential added value of their historically single-use assets in ways that are adaptable, accessible and pandemic-safe.

Supporting Expanding Mobility Patterns Through Alternative Lot Usage

Traditionally, the anticipated parking experience has motivated motorists to travel and park during less congested periods or take other forms of transportation. Innovations in the transportation industry have alleviated a significant amount of stress and congestion that can be associated with the parking experience, but they have not eliminated the need for parking entirely.

As a result, parking and mobility professionals often debate about which trends will have longevity and the most societal impact, but they mostly agree that the transportation and mobility disruptors will require

Millennials and members of Generation Z drive less than previous generations thanks to popular ride-sharing services such as Uber and Lyft. Now, micro-mobility solutions such as e-scooters and local bike-sharing initiatives are becoming the norm.

adaptable physical space—an increasingly scarce resource in most growing cities—to operate successfully. Because of these observations, parking and mobility professionals should be assessing their assets to see how they can incorporate support for these new forms of mobility in order to remain competitive and relevant.

As more companies integrate drone delivery services into their operations, a prime adaptive reuse opportunity presents itself to owners and managers of parking structures. Flying drones and robo-taxis have evolved from being imaginative science fiction tropes into viable mobility disruptors in 2022, as they dramatically increase the speed at which goods are transported from place to place. In line with changing consumer trends, noted research firm Gartner has predicted that in 2026, more than one million drones will be carrying out retail deliveries, up from 20,000 in 2020.

One concept to accommodate these changes will allow rooftops to be utilized for drones dropping off packages for delivery. As parcels are dispatched to parking structures, building rooftops or drone ports, they will make their way to a delivery vehicle within the parking structure that will bring the packages to recipients’ doorsteps, significantly expediting the delivery process.

This type of solution highlights to other professionals that opportunities to generate revenue with these assets via other avenues still remain. The best strategies have featured what is known as a “triple bottom line” impact, which benefits not only the asset owner, but the consumer and community at large.

Necessity Breeds Innovation: The Rise and Success of Ghost Kitchens

One of the most notable adaptive reuse solutions that asset owners quickly saw satisfy that “triple bottom line” was the ghost kitchen concept, which allowed restaurant owners to save their businesses; consumers to continue patronizing these businesses via delivery services; and building owners to protect their investments by pivoting to a strategy that would allow them to continue maximizing profits while also serving their communities during times of economic peril.

A successful example of a ghost kitchen: the Brookhollow Central property, a Class A office complex located in Houston, Texas, has a trash compacting area near the parking facility that now has an on-site ghost kitchen that is generating significant revenue.

Solutions such as the ghost kitchen concept underscore the importance of creativity in this industry, as well as the ability to assess their assets from a different

perspective based on current events. Given the availability of open space within these parking structures—which typically have easy access for pickups and delivery drivers—allowing these scaled-down food operations to continue on these properties was a very sensible and financially viable way to maximize their utilization.

The rise of ghost kitchens during the COVID-19 era was bolstered by the increased popularity of online ordering, curbside service and mobile food delivery. Consumers increasingly favored off-premises dining even prior to the pandemic, citing convenience factors such as the ability to pay for their food ahead of time as well as the ability to schedule pickup and delivery times. Since the pandemic began, the demand for online ordering services has only increased—UberEats’ revenue spiked more than 100 percent in 2020 compared to 2019, and GrubHub’s revenues also jumped 40 percent during that time.

The pandemic also saw curbside service rise to prominence, as it allowed for less interaction between staff and customers while still allowing restaurants to operate. This also coincided with an increase in touchfree transactions, as more restaurants accepted contactfree cards and mobile wallet payments.

By remaining on top of industry and consumer trends, parking and mobility professionals can proactively futureproof their portfolio with adaptive reuse tactics and continue satisfying their “triple bottom line” by repurposing underutilized assets, increasing efficiency for customers and enhancing mobility in the communities they serve.

LARRY ISROW is Vice President, Parking Asset Manager for Hertz Investment Group. He can be reached at lisrow@hertzgroup.com

Solutions such as the ghost kitchen concept underscore the importance of creativity in this industry, as well as the ability to assess their assets from a different perspective based on current events.

As more companies integrate drone delivery services into their operations, a prime adaptive reuse opportunity presents itself to owners and managers of parking structures.

2022 AWARDS OF EXCELLENCE

Five stellar projects exemplify the best of the best in the 2022 IPMI Awards of Excellence program.

By Dorothy J. Verdon, CPSM

SETTING THE ACHIEVEMENT BAR ever higher in parking and mobility, these projects reflect the zeitgeist in their originality, creativity, and responsiveness to owner goals, user needs, and social and environmental context. A jury of seasoned industry professionals who recognize innovation in design and programming when they see it bestowed IPMI’s highest honor on outstanding examples of inspired solutions to a variety of challenges. We think you’ll agree. Here are the five projects that have been honored with a 2022 IPMI Award of Excellence.

 Architectural Design

City of Hope Parking Structure A

Duarte, California

AWARDED TO: McCarthy Building Companies, Inc.

OWNING AGENCY: City of Hope National Medical Center, Duarte, California

DESIGN-BUILDER: McCarthy Building Companies, Inc.

CONSTRUCTION MANAGER: Jacobs

ARCHITECT: TRC Parkitects

ARCHITECT (BRIDGING DOCUMENTS): CO Architects

 Innovation in a Mobility, Transportation, or Parking Program

The Bay Runner Trolley and Micromobility Program

Sarasota, Florida

 Innovation in a Mobility, Transportation, or Parking Program

Free Flow Parking at loanDepot

Miami, Florida

AWARDED TO: Miami Parking Authority

Stand-Alone Structured Parking Facility Design

South Gondola Lot Parking Structure

Breckenridge, Colorado

AWARDED TO: Walker Consultants

OWNING AGENCY: Town of Breckenridge, Colorado

ENGINEER: Walker Consultants

ARCHITECT: Koch Covotsos Architects

GENERAL CONTRACTOR: Hyder Construction

 Mixed-Use Parking & Mobility Facility Design

University of Kentucky Cornerstone Mixed-Use Facility

Lexington, Kentucky

AWARDED TO: THA Consulting, Inc.

OWNER: University of Kentucky

PARKING CONSULTANT: THA Consulting, Inc.

ARCHITECT: Sherman Carter Barnhart Architects

DEVELOPER: Signet Real Estate Group

SOFT SKILLS

EMPLOYERS LOOK FOR

The parking and mobility industry is experiencing a revolution of technology. As more and more processes in our sector become automated, soft skills will be what differentiates the human element of our work from what can be automated. In a study completed by The Wall Street Journal of more than 900 executives, 92% said that soft skills were equally important to technical skills, and 89% of the executives said they have challenges finding candidates that posses these skills.

As this issue of Parking & Mobility focuses on professional development, we need to consider developing expertise in soft skills as important if not more so than technical skills for our parking and mobility frontline and professional teams. But which soft skills are the most valuable in today’s tech and automation-heavy environments? Here are the Top 5 soft skills employers are looking for in today’s candidates, according to Forbes magazine:

1

Communication. Whether written or verbal, virtual or person, the ability to clearly communicate and to interpret the communication of others is key to success.

2 Engagement. Being fully present and joining wholeheartedly in the goals of your organization and caring about organizational outcomes. Anyone can “punch the clock” but engaged employees bring a passion to their work and buy-in to the larger company mission.

3 Teamwork. The ability to actively participate and collaborate with others, and to partner seamlessly with anyone in the organization necessary to accomplish the goal.

4 Problem Solving. Critical thinking and the ability to see things from different angles and find creative solutions is a big differentiator for an employee. Never taking for granted that things need to be how they have always been and having the vision to strategize to mitigate problems is an asset to any workplace.

5 Leadership. This is the sum total of a person’s soft skills, and how they bring those skills to bear on situations encountered in the workplace.

Find excellent resources for developing your team’s soft skills in the IPMI On-Demand Library under Frontline Fundamentals. Members can view these training resources for free on your team’s schedule!

S M ART ER SO LUTIONS FOR A DIGITAL PLA NE T.

At DESIGNA, we are future-focused and committed to providing high quality products and smart solutions for our networked world. We have a passion to deliver value as a true partner to our clients, with future-proof, scalable, customized parking management systems. We’ve built a strong foundation as DESIGNA AXESS Industries, a global corporation with 71 years of experience in parking and mobility, and 6000 employees in sixteen countries. We are proud of our strong history as a global market leader, but even prouder of our focus on building a better future for our customers.

us.designa.com

Do you do a great job managing your people?

Bet you do! It has been my experience that managers having outstanding technical knowledge and skill often mistakenly believe they are also gifted at guiding and motivating their employees. These managers forgo the possibility of new ideas. At the same time, they wonder why their shop is plagued with a high turnover of both employees and customers.

So, instead, as a superior manager, identify how many of these four qualities you possess. The best managers …

1 Make their employees feel important

The number one desire of most people is the need to feel that their lives matter and that the world is a different and better place because they are in it. How often do you remind your employees that each of them is valuable to you and to your organization?

As an example, our family had just moved to town and our oldest daughter, Allison, was just starting high school. The school was both new to us and new to the town. To become involved in the community, and because I have a face for radio, I had volunteered to be the public address announcer for the high school football games.

This particular evening, I was wandering down the school’s hallway during the meet-the-teachers night when suddenly I heard a voice ring out from behind me, “Ted Janusz!”

I thought to myself, who would know me in our new town, let alone at the new high school?

I turned around to see someone who was smiling from ear-to-ear. He extended his hand to me and said, “Ted Janusz, Voice of the Hilliard Darby Panthers, how in the heck are you?”

He then introduced himself as Jeff, the principal of the new school. Stunned, I shook his hand.

It Takes More Than Technical Knowledge to LEAD

Four Qualities of an Excellent Manager

BY TED JANUSZ

That encounter lasted 20 seconds and occurred more than 20 years ago. But each time I recall it, I can easily remember my emotion. In that moment, as a parent in a new town and in a new school, Jeff made me feel as tall as the Empire State Building!

I later learned that Jeff took the time to personally get to know as many people in the school community as he could. When he transferred from his old school to our new school, most of his staff came along with him. Why? Because he uniquely made people feel important.

More recently, I was out for my daily run. My iPhone rang. I wondered who would be calling me from a different time zone so early in the morning. I didn’t recognize the phone number and so I let the call roll over to voicemail.

I had recently published a book and had quoted a famous speaker in the book, so I sent him a copy of my book.

It was this speaker who was calling and who left a message. He told me that, in a moment of reflection, he was wondering if anyone were listening to the words he was saying and if his words were making any kind of an impact. He went on to say that, today, by reading his words in my book, he had received that assurance.

You would think that a speaker who flies only first class would know that his words were important. But that exchange convinced me that we all sometimes need to be reminded.

2 Make their employees feel appreciated

In taking worker satisfaction surveys over the last 75 years, employees’ number one complaint is neither wages nor benefits, but a lack of appreciation.

In my last corporate position, I had a co-worker, Amy, who always did a good job. But one time Amy went above and beyond what she needed to do. I wanted to recognize Amy’s efforts, but times were tough, and I wasn’t in a position to give her a raise or promotion. Instead, I went to the Hallmark store and designed a postcard that said at the top, “The Top 10 Reasons Why You Are Marvelous” and I then filled it in.

When I gave the postcard to her, Amy looked at the card, then looked up at me. There were tears in Amy’s eyes. Apparently, no one had ever shown appreciation like that for Amy.

Average managers say, “My employees are getting paid. That should be enough!” Excellent managers regularly demonstrate how glad they are to have their employees on the team.

3 Get to know their employees as people

Vince Lombardi, the legendary coach of the Green Bay Packers said, “Nothing is more unequal than the equal treatment of unequals.”

Translating the coach-speak: Even though your employees may be equal, to motivate them properly, you can’t treat them all the same way.

For instance:

● One of your employees is interested in taking on additional responsibilities so they can be promoted into management.

● Another employee desires to buy a house, so they want an opportunity to make more money.

● Yet another employee treasures time off, so they can spend that time with children or grandchildren.

The key to successful motivation is to reward your people the way that they want to be rewarded, not necessarily the way that you or I would like to be rewarded.

Unlike my daughter Allison, who is a loud, aggressive go-getter, my youngest daughter, Heidi, is quiet, shy, and sensitive. As middle schooler, Heidi was about to get her first experience on a competitive sports team. With the wrong kind of coach (one that would primarily bark or yell at her), Heidi might last only days or even hours on the softball team.

I watched from the stands as Heidi’s coach, instead, worked his magic like a skilled craftsman. He learned exactly what to do to individually motivate each girl on the team.

The coach understood when a girl misplayed a ball, for example, whether she would need a verbal kick in the pants or a literal pat on the back to get her back in the game. He also knew exactly how to motivate Heidi, who as a result went on to become an outstanding catcher on the high school team.

Realize that Bob or Alice, who works for you, is more than “just” a bookkeeper. He or she has a family and has plans and dreams just as you do. How much do you know about Bob or Alice? Their favorite sports team? Where they like to go out to eat? What they like to do on their free time?

Get to know your employees as people, and not just as “cogs in your machine.” Realize that people don’t work for companies; they work for (or leave) their bosses.

4

Are role models for the organization

My daughter Allison once said to me, “What you and Mom do speaks so loudly, I can’t hear what you say.”

I recently took the car through the local car wash. The operator, as he took my money said, “You are driving your wife’s car today. And you are not riding your bike like you always do today, either.”

I had no idea who this person was. People are watching you!

As a speaker, I watch others in my industry. It makes me feel good when my role models act appropriately, and it disappoints me when they don’t.

Similarly, whether you realize it or not, your employees are constantly watching you. They want to be sure that:

● You don’t play favorites among your employees.

● You enforce the rules fairly.

● You have technical knowledge - they know they can always come to you to help solve a complex issue.

● You have emotional intelligence and people skills –they know that you will help them through a challenge

they may have with a customer or even with a fellow employee.

● No matter what happens, you will always have their back.

● You maintain an even keel, no matter how the economy or other external forces impact the business.

● Most importantly, you are in charge, and that knowledge frees them to do their jobs.

Your employees want to belong to something that is bigger than themselves. They want to look forward to coming to their job every day, to enjoy working with you and their fellow employees. Your employees want to feel proud when they tell people in the community that they work at your shop. As an excellent manager, you realize that you make all that possible.

The RESILIENCE and INNOVATION

FROM THE RISE OF MOBILITY to the ever-growing electric vehicle (EV) movement, the parking industry has welcomed change and continuously used creativity to fuel new ideas and provide better services for customers and clients. The industry’s collective sense of innovation was never more important than during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Delivering challenges in rapid succession, 2020 ushered in a new era of technological enhancements and revamped parking solutions across the country. Though the challenges were wide-ranging, four main areas took precedence: staffing, touchless technology, data optimization, and demand generation.

With these four components in particular, the parking industry demonstrated its practice of embracing change and developing creative solutions. By adapting to the constantly shifting expectations and pivoting operations to accommodate those changes, the parking industry, yet again, proved its ability to evolve quickly to meet consumer demands and aid in the health of the economy at large.

INNOVATION of the PARKING Industry

BY JOHN SCHMID

Optimizing Staffing

Operational Adjustments

The first area that demanded attention at the start of the pandemic was staffing. As the onset of COVID-19 rapidly affected society, the average consumer’s daily life quickly shifted. Beginning with the start of quarantine, normal operations across industries nationwide abruptly halted.

This directly impacted the parking industry, creating disruption throughout the verticals it serviced. Office employees began working from home, stores and restaurants temporarily shut down, venues postponed events, airlines restricted travel, and hotel reservations dwindled—all drastically reducing the number of parkers.

With the resulting revenue loss, minimizing operational costs became imperative. One key part in this effort was reducing payroll expenses. While critical to maintaining operations, this, ultimately, resulted in fewer employees and less support for the remaining customers. In the face of this challenge, the parking industry adjusted its operations and relied more heavily on the use of command centers.

Supplemental Support

Since their inception, command centers have offered clients of parking operators significant supplemental support, ranging from round-the-clock customer service to 24/7 site monitoring and equipment maintenance.

However, when dealing with the new reality of COVID-19, command centers became even more valuable, ensuring that clients could reduce the number of onsite employees without sacrificing customer support quality.

Remote management held an additional benefit, as well: less in-person contact. As everyone sought to minimize human interaction, offering support without requiring faceto-face communication provided important peace of mind for parkers. By helping remaining customers feel safer while traversing the ever-changing pandemic landscape, command centers improved the customer experience and, as a result, increased the likelihood that customers would return during their limited outings.

Remote customer support remained an integral solution as the pandemic wore on, as well. Once quarantine restrictions lessened and companies were able to hire employees again, a new challenge emerged: finding the necessary staffing. With the extension of enhanced unemployment benefits came a reduction in the number of individuals in the job market. This meant industries, across the board, struggled to fill increasingly important positions as the world reopened. Continuing to supplement fewer onsite employees—though now for different reasons— command centers remained crucial to the maintenance of effective operations.

As a result, the pandemic established command centers as a critical investment for the parking industry, supplementing onsite staff and offering versatile support that could help future-proof businesses and protect their operations in the face of any unexpected challenges.

Implementing Touchless Technology

A New Era

While touchless technology and contactless payment were on the rise prior to the pandemic, they quickly surged to new heights with the onset of COVID-19. Especially in the early days, when less was known about the virus’ transmission, any way to limit face-to-face interactions became increasingly important. This resulted in the boom of smartphone-based payment.

From food delivery to retail shopping, consumers adapted to a new way of life—one that used their personal devices as their key payment tool. Consumers grew increasingly comfortable with contactless payment and began expecting that option across their wide-ranging transactions.

At parking locations, they viewed tried-and-true ticket and payment stations as antiquated and unsafe. They

considered any commonly used touchpoints unsanitary, even if locations implemented stricter cleaning requirements. As a result, the optics of touchless technology proved integral to generating demand and maintaining a loyal customer base.

Contactless Payment

In addition to installing motion-activated entry stations, parking locations met this demand by implementing QR codes, touchless pay-in-lane services, and online website reservations. The transition to these systems enhanced the customer experience, eliminating the need for parkers to return to their cars to maintain their parking payment. Instead, they could scan a QR code upon arrival, input their credit card information, and estimate their departure time. Then, if they decided to extend their outing, they could simply adjust their timing from their phone.

It also allowed customers to pay only for what they used, rather than losing money if they checked out earlier than anticipated. Ultimately, this left them feeling more positive about their experience with a given parking operation and increased the likelihood that they would return or recommend the establishment to friends or family.

For parking locations, smartphone-based payment options offered the additional benefit of optimizing revenue streams. Using the latest yield management pricing strategy, cloud-based software could determine the final payment amount based on the most effective pricing for that time of day. It also protected against slippage and parking theft, further safeguarding profits.

By updating payment technology to meet changing customer needs, the parking industry, once again, demonstrated its commitment to versatility, its willingness to adapt to customer demand, and its ability to evolve with an ever-changing economic landscape.

Real-Time, Data-Driven Decisions Expect the Unexpected

Over the last two years, the unexpected has become, well, expected. New challenges have emerged constantly and, especially at the start of the pandemic, this meant that yearover-year data became obsolete.

With quarantine and the work-from-home lifestyle, inconsistent user demand yielded unreliable revenue streams and weakened businesses’ ability to make datainformed decisions. This caused further uncertainty during a time when a lack of foresight could make or break a business.

As a result, the industry needed to create and implement

new solutions that could better support integral decision making during these unprecedented times.

One key answer was the implementation of real-time dashboards. Operating with day-to-day data offered a better, more accurate solution than year-over-year, providing a firm understanding of performance and much-needed flexibility when facing the uncertainties of business during the pandemic.

A New Solution

With these data systems in place, it became possible to better monitor parking trends, which varied daily. In addition, they offered real-time visibility into occupancy, operations, and transactions, allowing parking operators to identify high-traffic times. This meant they could adapt their operations to meet demand, determining everything from cleaning schedules to employee shifts.

Insight into high-traffic times also allowed businesses to adjust rates to optimize revenue generation. As the pandemic progressed and revenue opportunities returned, the chance to capitalize on them was more important than ever to recover from the impact of COVID-19.

The parking industry’s ability to adapt not only its operations for customers but also its back-office operations for clients became an integral component to its success during the pandemic. It wasn’t enough to provide customer support and new, customer-facing technology; parking operators needed to create a solution for revenue forecasting issues so clients could be prepared for any changes to the economic landscape.

Generating Demand

Diving Into Digital

As people spent more time at home and the societal landscape changed, so did the parking industry’s business practices. While, previously, parking operators could rely on flagging drivers into garages to increase business, the pandemic left fewer people on the roads, making that method ineffective.

Instead, parking providers needed to find new ways to reach customers where they were—online. As a result, technology played yet another important role in this side of business and digital marketing practices became critical.

They helped businesses identify their target audience, determining everything from their hobbies to

local events that might interest them. By establishing their potential parking needs, these digital practices enabled parking operators to promote specific offers that appealed to each individual audience.

Targeted Advertising

In addition to building an enhanced understanding of customers, businesses also implemented effective advertising tools that ensured their messaging reached their target audience. From email marketing to digital advertising across social media platforms, diversifying messages and methods of communication was integral to customer growth and revenue enhancement. New knowledge of customers and their interests also helped businesses build effective customer profiles. These not only informed ongoing practices, but also established a baseline for operations going forward. As a result, this audience information will continue to provide valuable insight that can enhance key decision making and best practices as the pandemic progresses and societal changes evolve.

To say the pandemic drastically impacted industries worldwide is an understatement. Within the U.S. parking industry, the resulting shifts were immediate and widespread. From staffing and touchless technology to data-driven decisions and demand generation, new challenges developed swiftly and yielded gamechanging solutions. Like so often throughout history, the parking industry met every change with creativity and determination, developing innovations that will continue to move the industry—and the economy at large—forward for years to come.

JOHN SCHMID is the CEO and Chairman of Propark Mobility. He can be reached at john. schmid@propark.com

In an Age of Technology and Automation STILL MAKE IT WORK THE PEOPLE

Showcasing the individuals and organizations that led by example in this year’s Professional Recognition Awards.

TECHNOLOGY IN THE PARKING AND MOBILITY

sector is advancing at a staggering rate. What we are learning as more and more of our processes become automated and as new technologies become integrated into our operations every day is that one steadfast truth will never change: the people of parking and mobility make it work. There will always be people behind the automation, and people creating the innovation that keeps our industry moving forward.

The parking and mobility community has some of the most talented and innovative people working at all levels. From frontline employees to the executive offices, parking and mobility professionals are working every day to keep their current operations running while envisioning the future for their organizations and customers. The 2022 IPMI Professional Recognition Program award winners faced significant challenges and overcame them with creativity, fortitude, and a spirit of leadership that inspires us all.

Organization of the Year

James M. Hunnicutt | CAPP Industry Professional of the Year

Carmen Donnell, CAPP

Managing Director, North America

PayByPhone

Michael Drow, CAPP Chief Executive Officer Parking Revenue Recovery Services, Inc.

Emerging Leader of the Year

Jeshua Pringle, CAPP, AICP

Parking Planner, Kimley-Horn & Associates, Inc.

Professional Excellence Award—Operations

Michael Edwards

Field Operations Manager II, UCLA Transportation

Professional Excellence Award—Innovation

Regina Clewlow

CEO & Co-Founder Populus

Professional Excellence Award— Customer Service

Anne Bogan

Executive Assistant to the Director and Building Manager University of Wisconsin-Madison Transportation Services

Carmen Donnell, CAPP

Michael Edwards

Michael Drow, CAPP

Anne Bogan

Regina Clewlow

Jeshua Pringle, CAPP, AICP

Clean Cars, Dirty Power?

By Yasser Jabbari, CAPP

ISTILL REMEMBER WHEN I SAW MY FIRST TESLA. Growing up in the Silicon Valley, I knew eventually I would see one. But that moment when I first saw one go by me, I remember thinking just what a cool car that was. Not just in looks and style, but that it was all electric and could go so fast.

As we all know, there would be others after. But this— this was the car that would change the conversation on sustainable transportation in our country, and maybe the world. The idea of electric vehicles has become a mainstream reality, but that reality is more complicated than first imagined. Many first-generation electric vehicles (EVs) and plug-in hybrids had short ranges, and parking operators were suddenly expected to become fueling stations to support these vehicles. Although there have been many government programs to support an expansive EV charging network for all, it continues to be a rough road.

When consumers think about EV charging and a growing EV charging network, they tend to limit their thoughts to additional chargers being installed in the parking facility. They often have no concept of what it takes to support these devices. After 20 years of industry exposure, when I hear about EV charging, I go back to the infrastructure. Do the high-voltage feeders coming to my facility have capacity? Does my transformer and current electrical system have capacity? Is there room in my panel to accommodate two 40-amp breakers for a single dual charger? What are the accessibility requirements in my area for EV charging and can I meet those? Who is going to pay for these improvements and the electricity? Who is paying for the ongoing maintenance and connection fees? To further complicate the conversation, parking operators may be tasked with providing charging services for university, airport, or government fleet vehicles.

I raise these points not to dissuade operators from installing chargers or consumers from purchasing electric vehicles, but to have a greater understanding of the complicated electric system behind that charging port. Here are some key points to consider in the conversation around installing chargers in your parking facilities:

● How are you going to fund the equipment, ongoing

maintenance, electrical, and connection costs?

● Learn what your state and local electric vehicle charging requirements and associated accessibility codes are.

● Do you have the existing electrical capacity to support charging at your facility? If so, what can you support?

● Think about what you are trying to do. Are you trying to get people charged and out in a hurry or are cars sitting for a long time? These answers change what type of charger you are installing and how many you are installing.

● How can your local utility help you? Will they provide funding, chargers, maybe a separate meter at a discounted rate?

At a larger level, all of this is supported by the electrical infrastructure that powers the U.S. through a system of power generation stations—be it coal, wind, water, or solar, and the transmission lines that move it from its source to the charging station. It takes a significant investment to bring electrical chargers and maintain them over time, and everyone seems to be in a massive rush to electrify everything around us. What is not keeping pace, however, is the investment in the infrastructure that is needed to power these chargers and our world.

For example, look at Northern California. The local energy company there recently announced that during the threat of wildfires, they would be shutting down electrical service to minimize the threat of fire spread. Sounds good, unless you have an EV that needs to be charged and have no other way to charge it.

As a side note, there has been a recent push to remove gas stoves from new construction as they are seen as harmful to the environment. So, in California during a wildfire, now you can’t cook or charge your car. What will your excuse be when you call off for work the next day?

“Sorry, I can’t come in because my car didn’t charge and I’m hungry.” Of course, since the power is out you can’t charge your phone either, so there’s that problem as well. There has been no investment to have stable, plentiful renewable power available for customers to keep pace with not only the transportation sector, but everything else around us.

Decisions will have to be made soon about how power is produced and how it gets placed. As parking operators, we are not making those decisions, but we should know how the power is getting to our facilities and push on the people who supply it. Are they getting power from coal? Are they getting it from sustainable resources? Can they even get it from sustainable resources? Recently, California attempted to receive funds to keep the nuclear power plant at Diablo Canyon open for power production. That single plant produces 9% of California’s power. If it shuts down, where do we get the power? I am not advocating for or against it, but what’s the point of an EV if you start building more coal power plants to power it? By now we have all seen the pictures or videos of electric buses or cars being charged by diesel generators. What is the point of a clean car if it’s being powered by dirty power? Again, I stress that I am not trying to push people away from installing EV chargers, but there is a lot more to it than most people know. These conversations need to start happening soon. ◆

YASSER JABBARI, CAPP is Operations Coordinator for the University of California, Riverside and a member of the IPMI APO Working Group. He can be reached at yasser.jabbari@ucr. edu

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January 11

Understanding Curb Management: Tackling Demand at the Curb

March 8

If You Build It, Will They Charge? Planning for Successful EV Charging in Your Operation

May 17

Delivering the Goods: Making Sense of Commercial Accessibility

July 12

What Factors Affect the Cost of Building a Parking Space?

September 13

EV Readiness: Develop & Execute an Effective Plan in Your Operation

November 8

Evolving Parking & Transportation Programs in Nashville

Register today and train your team all year long!

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ASK THE EXPERTS

Circling for parking creates congestion and frustrates both drivers and parking and mobility professionals. What step or steps do you think can be taken to reduce the phenomenon and help people find parking without the circles?

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

Unnecessary circling can be minimized if cities can successfully leverage emerging technologies to manage and optimize the supply and demand of parking in real time. Employing on-demand solutions to eliminate the critical information gap of knowing where and when a parking space is available is essential. In addition, removing the economic incentive to circle by pricing the on-street stalls noticeably higher than the off-street offerings can create a meaningful impact on congestion and overall parking availability.

Larry J. Cohen, CAPP Executive Director

Lancaster Parking Authority

Operations and technology will continue to play a critical role in reducing vehicles circling the block looking for space. For operations, follow best practices and try to maintain 20 percent availability per block at all times. This can be done through effective on- and off-street pricing strategies. Mobile apps, sensors, navigation platforms, and in-car guidance systems are moving toward not only providing available garage space but on-street space based in real time.

What do you see as the greatest opportunity to increase the success of college and university parking operations?

Marlene Cramer, CAPP Director, Transportation and Parking Services

Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, CA

The greatest opportunity to increase the success of university parking operations is to have a strong, meaningful relationships and connections to the campus. Like any personal relationship, having a healthy, meaningful relationship requires attention and intention to cultivate and grow the relationship. Take initiative to reach out and connect with your campus partners, offer information, new ideas, solutions, and always be willing to listen.

Josh Cantor, CAPP Director, Parking & Transportation

George Mason University

The greatest opportunity to increase the success of the operations is to better use data and analytics to guide decision making. With major changes in teleworking and online classes, better understanding the needs of our customers and right-sizing operations and programs while maximizing revenue and creating efficiencies is our end goal, while still supporting the larger mission of providing access for the university community.

What do you see as the biggest driver of change for the aviation industry in terms of parking and mobility?

Walt Gray Director of Parking and Ground Transportation Houston Airports

With the growth of app-based mobility services, there is a larger demand for curb space at airports. With the linear feet of curbs fixed at most airports, the increased pressure on curbs by app-based services is changing traditional curb management practices at airports. We are seeing a need to relocate certain mobility services away from the curb and put them in a parking garage or different airport facility, and the need to incorporate technology to better manage the flow of traffic to the curb. I see airports needing to put greater thought into how their curbs are priced and how to monetize non-revenue activities on the curbs. Proper curb pricing can reduce pressure there, moving activities off the curb and into paid parking.”

Matthew Sherwood Commercial Parking Revenue Strategy Program Manager Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority

With the emergence of TNCs, airports have had to reimagine their parking offerings. Many airports have launched online reservation systems enabling pricing flexibility and resulting in a more predictable and convenient customer experience. It is critical that we continue to be innovative and take a customer-centric approach to meet the expectations of today’s passengers.”

What current mobility trend will have the longestterm and widest raging impacts on the parking and mobility industry for the next ten years?

Chris Lechner, CAPP Assistant Director for Analytics UCLA Events and Transportation

The move from long term permits to more flexible options. At UCLA, we’ve enabled students, faculty, and staff to buy parking by the day without a financial penalty vs long term permit. This program long predates the pandemic but has seen more adoption with the move to hybrid work and learning. Increased flexibility to drive less and save more has improved the customer experience and reduced drive alone commuting—a major win-win.”

Kathryn Hebert President and CEO TPMConnect

There is no one mobility trend per se, but a collection of connected trends. Integrated and connected technologies; shared mobility and ride share; electrification of all transportation sources; membership/ subscription services (a.k.a MaaS or SaaS); enhanced level of customer service and response-all to provide seamless navigation, customer convenience, affordability, safe and equitable mobility choices for all. The parking industry is a critical player and at the center of these trends managing key real estate assets and leveraging parking dollars.

“In considering the complete parking and mobility ecosystem, which elements will see the most impact from electric vehicles in the next five years?”

Irma Henderson, CAPP Director of Transportation Services University of California – Riverside

I think that we are missing something in our conversations – ADA parking. It’s things like cord management, path of travel, equal access to Level III stations, vanaccessible EV, etc. The need may be small but planning for it now could save an operator from infrastructure modifications later.

Brian Shaw, CAPP Executive Director Stanford Transportation

Transit is positioned to take advantage of electric buses. State and federal air quality laws, as well as funding for electrifying fleets makes moving to electric buses for transit possible and viable. The extended range for EVs that we are now seeing may reduce the need for workplace charging. Residential charging for EVs is likely to grow in need and demand.

Arishna Lastinger Associate Director, Parking Services Auburn University

Flexibility, in my opinion, is one of the most vital skills for today’s parking and mobility professionals to possess. Industry trends, as well as the culture, are constantly changing and new technology is always being developed. It’s important that you can pivot quickly and adapt accordingly to be successful in a parking career.”

Alejandra “Alex” Argudin, CAPP CEO Miami Parking Authority

I believe the essential skill for today and tomorrow’s parking and mobility professional is to become a generalist rather than just parking and mobility professional. The rapid transformation of this industry will require us to have a multi-disciplinary knowledge of a wide range of subject matters, such as technology, marketing and communication, economic development, and land-use policies, among others. Furthermore, considering the fluidity of the business, flexibility and adaptability will be of utmost importance

In essence, being attentive to emerging trend lines and having a broader vision of the world around our industry will allow us to continue to grow and thrive professionally and, equally important, bring added value to our organizations.”

Transportation Equity is about seeing, understanding, and meeting the needs of every person potentially served or impacted by every transportation, parking, and mobility decision. What are today’s parking and mobility organizations seeing differently though the lens of Transportation Equity, and what actions are they taking because of that view?

Benito O. Pérez, CAPP, AICP, CTP, CPM Policy Director Transportation for America

Equity for people at the curb consists of equitable access of all modes at the curb. For parking and mobility organizations to be advancing equity in such a niche space, it is

crucial to create choices, so the consumer, regardless of the mode of travel, who they are, their physical or socioeconomic ability, has a fair shot to access the curb. That may also involve removing parking for bike lanes or expanded/new transit stops.

Katherine Beaty, CFE VP of Implementation TEZ Technology

Being on the technology side, I was really impacted by the bias that is appearing in algorithms that are used in many Artificial Intelligence (A.I.) programs from facial recognition to Human Resource software. It is a reminder that we need to ensure that the data we use is also all encompassing of those that will be served or impacted. We should seek first to understand and then inform and finally inspire change.”

Keith Hutchings Director, Municipal Parking Department City of Detroit, Michigan

The challenge when considering transportation equity is to consider the economic implications of mobility, parking, and curbside usage on commerce and quality of life. Contemplation of the question drives the need for detailed, accurate and real-time data to allow for the most efficient decisions.

How do you see the implementation of the smart city concepts in parking and mobility positively impacting the communities in which they serve?

David Stein Director, Parking Planning and Policy New York City Department of

Transportation

In the past, smart city programs and applications tended, at times, to be hyper-focused or singular in their approach or reach. In recent years these programs and the technologies that support them have grown by leaps and bounds, allowing cross-pollination of certain platforms and approaches, and realized benefits outside of the traditional benchmarks or outcomes, especially in the parking realm. Within communities, this is leading to increased mobility, information, and societal benefits, while agencies see the ability to streamline approaches and integrate what were formally disparate programs into common platforms, approaches, and outcomes. In the parking and mobility world, and more so the community that these programs are being applied, this is a win-win, as quality of life tends to go up and sustainability thrives.

“To achieve long-term success and career growth, what is the most vital skill for today’s parking and mobility professional to possess?”

The adoption of smart cities concepts in our communities can have an immediate impact. The reduction of traffic and congestion by providing visibility and management of the public right of way (curb) will benefit the environment and our quality of life.

The parking and mobility industry continues to play a fundamental role in driving sustainability for infrastructure, particularly in urban environments. While electric vehicle (EV) initiatives will continue to dominate conversations on sustainability and green initiative programs in the years to come, what other “green” practices can we expect to see more of in the next five years in the parking and mobility space?

Lissette

O. Hernandez, CAPP, MPA

Director of Sustainability and Physical Plant Florida International University

A growing number of cities are removing parking requirements from their zoning codes in downtown districts. This will be an interesting trend to monitor as parking supply will be determined by developers instead of prescriptive zoning. This policy is geared toward residential development and parking but may have impacts on daily visitor and employee permit parking availability and cost.

A sustainable alternative is to offer a fully electric end-to-end transportation solution for your constituents. This on-demand mobility reduces the carbon footprint generated by vehicles on the road, while facilitating the movement of people. It is also a viable option as you can use advertisement funds to offset the cost.

While it’s difficult to identify one specific trend that will have the most impact to our industry over the next five years, we anticipate a focus on sustainability/green building technology such as vehicles powered by renewable energy sources, vast increases in code required EV charging stations, parking guidance systems and smart phone apps that inform users about pricing and parking availability, reducing travel time spent searching for parking spaces. This will also reduce carbon emissions and increase user convenience. Energy efficient lighting systems and an increase in electronic payment systems such as PayPal and license plate recognition technology that will increase user convenience and become a standard in parking expectations.

Promoting and incentivizing alternative transportation modes will continue to significantly impact organizations’ sustainability goals. Whether that’s telecommuting, carpooling, or reducing drive-alone trips, we’ve learned over the last couple of years that when employees change their daily commuting choices, they make a significant impact on their communities.

CAPP

Director of Transportation Operations University of Wisconsin

Bicycle amenities and infrastructure will continue to be another key green practice to support growth and meet sustainability goals. Providing bicycle resource centers, shower facilities, and protected shelters encourage year-round bicycling. Investing in infrastructure, such as protected bicycle lanes, will make the commute for bicyclist safer as well.

Roamy Valera, CAPP President Automotus

Which parking or mobility planning, design, or construction practice, innovation, or trend will have the most impact on our industry over the next five years?

Jon Forster, CAPP Parking and Mobility Planner Fishbeck

Al Carroll Executive Vice President McCarthy Building Companies

Wady Burgos, CAPP Parking & Transportation Demand Management Coordinator City of Westminster

Gabe Mendez,

The Game-Changing Impact of Electric Clean Air W

ITH GAS PRICES SOARING , 2022 is very quickly being dubbed the year of the electric car. However, while electric vehicles (EVs) can help save us money, reduce our carbon footprint, and protect our domestic energy independence, the transition to electrification is also a direct path to environmental justice, especially in our pollution-filled cities across the United States.

What is environmental justice?

Environmental justice embraces the idea that we all have a right to equal protection and equal enforcement of environmental laws and regulations. Studies have shown lower income neighborhoods, and specifically communities of color, are more likely to be situated near highways, high traffic areas, manufacturing plants, garbage dumps, and so on and as such, disproportionately bear the

brunt of environmental deterioration or pollution. While housing may be cheaper in these areas, it comes at a high cost for residents including exposure to contaminated soil and polluted air.

Layering on, these communities also frequently experience the worst of climate-change provoked disasters like hurricanes, wildfires, and flooding—impacting their livelihoods, homes, health, and financial security.

Air for All

Electric Cars on Environmental Equity

By reducing emissions, electric cars are helping to save lives, reducing asthma-related health issues, and generally bettering public health. The American Lung Association’s report Zeroing in on Healthy Air: A National Assessment of the Health and Climate Benefits of Zero-Emission Transportation and Electricity supports this, stating “sus tained actions to spur the transition away from combustion and toward nonpolluting technologies can yield major benefits to lung health, air quality and the climate.” This is a huge win for all of us, but especially those neighborhoods bordering highways and in high congestion areas.

The City and County of Denver is therefore investing in public charging stations in locations like community rec centers, public schools, and city buildings—all to increase access with a heavy focus on areas with low incomes and a high-density multifamily living.

“Equity is a critical focal point of our city’s environmental efforts,” Denver Councilwoman Amanda Sawyer explained. “In our efforts to increase accessibility, we’ve installed curbside charging stations in lower income neighborhoods and included stations in subsidized housing, along with making electric transportation like e-bikes and scooters a priority.”

At the state level, the Charge Ahead Colorado grant program administered by the Colorado Energy Office has provided financial support for electric vehicle charging stations (EVSE) and has increased the number of stations statewide by nearly 3,000% since launching the program. With equity at the forefront, priority for these funds is given to organizations and businesses excluded from existing state tax credits and incentives, including multifamily housing—increasing accessibility for those who cannot charge at a single-family home.

Accessible charging is great, but what about the cost of cars?

Charging accessibility for all.

Cities throughout the U.S. recognize the increasing number of EVs on our highways is not enough, nor a clear path to full environmental equity, and are taking dramatic steps to facilitate the adoption of EVs for lower income residents while also reducing their city’s overarching carbon footprint. They are accomplishing this through fleet, school bus, and mass transit electrification and by implementing EV rideshare programs and providing access to electric scooters and bikes as alternatives to driving, in addition to placing charging stations in neighborhoods where residents might not have their own driveways.

Case in point, the City and County of Denver considers EV equity to be paramount to meeting their EV and clean air goals. As part of this effort, equal accessibility to charging is taking center stage.

Currently, 80% of all EV charging happens at home; however, for low income and minority families renting, the lack of accessibility to fueling is a real barrier to purchase.

Even with EV cars flying off showroom floors and battery prices dropping, electric cars continue to be viewed as an out-of-reach luxury. This perception is rooted in the early days of Tesla. When Elon Musk released the first Model S years in 2012, it was assumed Tesla, much like Ferrari and Lamborghini, would never make it to the mainstream. Flash-forward to today, and worldwide, there is an EV sold every six seconds and, in the U.S., alone, Tesla dominates the EV market, selling over two million electric vehicles with over 300,000 those in Q1’22.

While the price stigma still exists, affordability and price parity are well within sight. Today, you can buy an EV for under $30K. The 2022 Nissan LEAF, for example, stickers at $27,400 and that’s before the $7,500 federal tax credit and any state incentives. And with automakers worldwide ceasing R&D on internal combustion engine (ICE) powered vehicles and focusing entirely on EVs, prices are expected to continue to fall. Many are also shifting away from repurposing existing ICE platforms and tooling, creating designs exclusively for EVs to further bring prices down and overall, increase their fuel efficiency.

More importantly, there’s the used market. While most believe EVs are relatively new, they’ve actually been on the market for more than ten years, and used models are some of the best buys on the market. For example, the 2012 version of LEAF can often be bought for $10,000 or less. And all EVs are cheaper to fuel and maintain—as much as 3x-6x cheaper depending on gas prices.

At the forefront of change.

As the largest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions, public and private transportation needs to evolve

to save our planet, but also to dramatically improve public health for all of us. As U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg shared on Earth Day, “The transportation sector is … the biggest part of the problem. But it also means we can be the biggest part of the solution.”

On its own, electrified transportation will not resolve the decades of environmental inequities and injustice; however, as the largest contributor to the problem, adoption is a critical step forward and one that is already having an immediate and direct impact on the communities most affected. And with cities both big and small jumping in to ensure equitable fueling access and automakers dedicating resources and building out a wide portfolio of options, not only are there more opportunities for all Americans to contribute to the positive outcome, but an ability to further expedite this positive change.

MARGARET-ANN LEAVITT is Chief Marketing Officer for National Car Charging & Aloha Charge. She can be reached at mleavitt@ nationalcarcharging.com

Unbeknownst to most drivers, SUVs are the second largest global cause of CO2 emissions over the last decade, greater than shipping, aviation, heavy industry and even semi-trucks.

Let’s NOT Talk about EVs

By Victor Hill, CAPP

THIS COLUMN IS NOT ABOUT ELECTRIC VEHICLES. GO AHEAD AND EXHALE. EVs necessarily need lots of air time as we wrestle with infrastructure and all the associated needs they bring about, but we can’t ignore the practical ways to promote other forms of sustainability across facilities and operations. Consider this a refresher—or a selective list based on my preferences—of ideas to keep in mind for facilities and operations. If you’re an aspiring CAPP, consider this a quick reference that points to the references I reference at the end.

Design and Demand

One of the more fascinating challenges during the inception of a garage or lot is designing the facility to the actual demand versus the perceived demand. Knowing the actual demand requires research and, more importantly, selling the value of the research to the decision makers who are often elected officials. Making that sale with easily understood data is critical to maximize the facility’s potential and ensure the best bang for the investment.

Ideas to consider:

● Allow for expansion if demands change. Build what’s needed and allow for more or less, if appropriate. I worked a university that originally built a garage at three levels and expanded it to five levels as other lots were torn down because parking demand remained high. If the facility is underutilized, consider ways to add landscaping or additional greenspace. More greenspace translates to less heat produced by the facility and less heat potentially means less energy to cool nearby buildings. For a garages, consider rooftop landscaping or solar panels.

● Support shared use of the facility by more than one group. For municipalities, this can be as easy as offering spaces for multiple businesses, visitors, or residents. For universities, this can include supporting overnight and transient parking in the same facility. The result is less perceived demand for additional facilities and less overall impact on the environment.

● Consider the size of parking spaces. The standard is nine feet wide, but spaces can be as small as eight feet wide. Research suggests that you can increase the number of spaces five to eight percent relative to the actual size of the spaces and facilities. In other

words, smaller spaces may mean more available spaces depending on how a facility is designed. The caveat is that you potentially create problems for larger vehicles, such as trucks. I managed the redesign of a commuter lot where the most common complaint was small spaces and dinged doors. The spaces were decidedly smaller than the nine foot standard so the lot was redesigned, resulting in wider spaces and easier access to a nearby building for disabled persons. We received just as many complaints after the redesign, though, this time because the facility lost 20 percent of its capacity and long-time users didn’t buy permits fast enough when sales were held.

Virtual Permits and Sustainability

I am a huge advocate of virtual permits, which surprises no one who knows me. License plate recognition has only gotten better and promotes the value of reducing or eliminating printed permits. Again, LPR doesn’t mean printed permits necessarily go away, but it can certainly reduce the need for them. As the industry becomes increasingly cloud-based and less reliant on printed validations or credentials, LPR is an ideal way to manage an operation in a greener, more sustainable way.

Benefits of going virtual/using LPR:

● Reduced carbon footprint. A big value for virtual permits and LPR is the efficiency gains with enforcement. Ideally, fixed LPR cameras scan plates at entry/exit, allowing for later follow-up by fewer enforcement personnel. That results in less vehicles in operation. It doesn’t matter if the vehicles are gas, electric, or powered by vegetable oil because they’re

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not being driven as often, which translates into a more sustainable operation.

● Promotion of cloud-based validations and payments. The elimination of printed permits means parkers pay via web or app-based services and use their plate as a credential that can be tied to a QR/barcode on a phone, if required. Tap-to-pay solutions at kiosks add similar value.

● Optimization through the use of analytics. Good data may be one of the most powerful tools in the race to maximize efficiency and, as an extra benefit, enhance sustainability. The analytics derived from LPR cannot be talked about enough because it provides so much information. A solid combination of fixed and mobile solutions provides occupancy data that can be used to ensure the best optimization of facilities. It can similarly be used to build the case for the actual demand versus the perceived demand, as discussed earlier. This same data can be harnessed to measure the performance of enforcement staff and ensure their patrols target the right areas at the right times, all of which translates to less wasted energy and resources and a more sustainable operation.

Final Thoughts

These ideas are a small, somewhat opinionated sample of much larger ideas worthy of consideration for any operation. The resources I cite for this column are a mix of old and new. A Guide to Parking is, without question, one of the best resources of available, but I highly recommend the sustainability guide IPMI produced because it gets into such great detail about best practices for success.

Consider this a jump-off point for a deeper dive into how you can make your operation more sustainable and take advantage of the resources IPMI has available. ◆

VICTOR HILL, CAPP, is the Account Manager

Team Lead for T2 Systems and is a Co-Chair of IPMI’s Sustainability Mobility Task Force. He can be reached at victor.hill@t2systems.com

WORKS CITED

International Parking and Mobility Institute. (2018). A Guide to Parking. Routledge.

International Parking Institute and National Parking Association. (2014). Sustainabile Parking Design & Management: A Practitioner’s Handbook. International Parking Institute and National Parking Association.

International Parking Institute. (n.d.). Parking Management - Planning, Design, and Operations. Fredericksburg: International Parking Institute.

February 14

Frontline Shoptalk

April 11

Addressing the Perception & Image of Parking & Transportation Professionals

June 6

Honing Your Personal Brand

August 15

The Benefits of Understanding the Parking Lifecycle

October 10

Implementing License Plate Recognition on Campus

December 12

Procurement - Best Practices & Lessons Learned

Generously supported by our exclusive 2023 sponsor, Flowbird parking-mobility.org/

By Jorge Cáñez, Jake Belman, Jacob Malleau

WITH THE EXPANSION OF MOBILITY OPTIONS IN THE LAST DECADE be it bikeshare networks, transportation network companies, increased delivery services, or shared use micromobility options just to name a few—additional stress has been placed on the curb to accommodate them. Detailed data of curb regulations is necessary to help public agencies manage this space effectively, yet this data is often limited. The major obstacles to creating this data are the time and cost to survey curbs at scale. A methodology to efficiently create and maintain curb inventories is necessary to modernize curbside management practices.

To test one such methodology, Los Angeles-based nonprofit Urban Movement Labs partnered with CurbIQ. Over the course of six months, CurbIQ tested their augmented mobile mapping (AMM) process and demonstrated its potential as a scalable curb surveying approach for Los Angeles. The curb data collected using this method can help to create vibrant, safe, equitable, and sustainable neighborhoods through informed policy making and curb pricing.

How did this pilot project deploy in Los Angeles and what were some of the key findings?

The Pilot

To understand the capabilities of CurbIQ’s augmented mobile mapping technology in different urban contexts with varying degrees of curb activity, the technology was tested in three neighborhoods of Los Angeles (Hollywood, South Park, and Warner Center) and a suburban neighborhood in nearby Maywood. In each of these urban contexts, curb regulations and assets were captured and digitized into a format that could be displayed as a map.

Surveyors used the cameras of mobile phones to automatically capture street-level imagery as they drove along streets in the identified neighborhoods. CurbIQ’s AMM technology then extracted curb regulations and assets along with their positions from the street-level images. A control set of data was also obtained with the help of pedestrian surveyors collecting data manually using CurbWheel, an open-source app and measurement wheel that leverages mapping technology to digitize curb information.

For AUGMENTED MOBILE MAPPING, phones were affixed to car dashboards to capture images while surveyors drove to collect data

For PEDESTRIAN SURVEYING, surveyors used Sharedstreets’ open source curbwheel

What We Learned

Overall, this pilot demonstrated that a blended surveying approach, consisting of augmented mobile mapping in low- to medium-density areas and pedestrian surveying in dense areas, is a scalable and economical solution to digitize curbs in cities across North America. Below, we summarize our five key findings:

1. Augmented mobile mapping works: Car-mounted cameras that capture GPS location can be used to detect, locate, and read most parking signs under the right circumstances.

2. Low- to medium-scale land use contexts are ideal candidates for augmented mobile mapping: In low to medium density, where buildings are generally a few stories high or shorter, and sign obstructions are rare, augmented mobile mapping is very successful. For example, AMM surveying in the medium/low-density suburb of Maywood returned a sign detection rate of 98% and a sign comprehension rate of 98%. In contrast, AMM only returned an effective sign detection rate of 93% in the high-density downtown neighborhood of South Park.

3. Dense urban areas require pedestrian surveyors: Downtowns and other dense environments are not ideal settings for augmented mobile mapping. The reasons for this are twofold: (1) tall buildings obstruct and distort GPS signals, creating what’s known as an “urban canyon” effect; (2) signs and regulations are placed close together, requiring a very high geolocational precision to resolve their relative positions. Together, these effects result in significant geolocation errors: 43% of signs in South Park had a geolocation error greater than 5 yards, compared to only 18% of signs in Maywood.

4. Optimal routing is a challenge: The lessons from this pilot are informing IBI’s parametric design team to develop a tool that can automatically optimize data collection routes.

5. Driving is faster than walking: The results show that you can reduce surveying time to nearly a quarter in low- to medium-density areas by driving.

What Could Digital Curbs Mean for Your Community?

Cities worldwide have established safety, sustainability, and equity goals to improve mobility in their communities. Accurate, up-to-date curb data is necessary for supporting these local goals, and with AMM, a comprehensive digital curb inventory is well within reach even for small communities.

A digital curb inventory has benefits beyond documenting existing curb policies and roadway allocation decisions. Digital curb inventories are critical for real-time curb management. Paired with other tools, curb inventories can facilitate real-time data collection, enforcement, and dynamic zone operation.

The strategies for improving curb management are well documented and understanding how the curb is used is a prerequisite for utilizing new tools effectively. Augmented mobile mapping has the potential to lower barriers to obtaining a digital curb inventory, and in turn makes dynamic curb management more accessible. By improving curb data, cities can make more informed decisions about curb regulations and how the streetscape is designed to better serve the needs of communities. With thoughtful implementation, these digital tools have the potential to support transformational changes to mobility, providing community members with more accessible and sustainable mobility options at the curb.

To download the complete report, please visit: bit.ly/ DigitizingCurbLA

JORGE CÁÑEZ is a Communications Associate at Urban Movement Labs. He can be reached at jorge@urbanmovementlabs.com.

JACOB MALLEAU is a Product Manager at CurbIQ. He can be reached at jacob.malleau@ ibigroup.com

JAKE BELMAN is a Data Analyst at CurbIQ. He can be reached at jake.belman@ibigroup. com

Urban Movement Labs is a dynamic collaboration between communities, local government, and mobility innovators, all committed to the same vision: a Los Angeles where new transportation technologies are tested, proven, and brought to life.

CurbIQ’s curb mapping technology collects the posted curb regulations and translates them into a digital inventory that can be used to inform regulations in a dynamic fsshion that better meets the needs of the communities.

Parking Digital Daily-Decision

Driving Sustainable Parking Culture on Campus

By Kristen Locke, CAPP

UNIVERSITIES ARE LEADING THE WAY in driving sustainability on campus through numerous transportation initiatives and programs. These can include encouraging shuttle or public transit use, bike-friendly campuses, electric vehicle incentives, and ride sharing discounts among other programs. The specific roadmap for transportation sustainability on campuses is as varied as the institutions themselves, with university leaders eager to back innovative new approaches instead of relying on old methodologies.

It goes without saying that parking plays a significant role in transportation sustainability programs. Read over the sustainability objectives of almost any college in America and you’ll consistently find that reducing the number of singleoccupancy vehicles and drive-alone commuters is one of the top priorities. That makes it all the more surprising that until recently parking management systems and technology have rarely been used to shape forward-thinking parking policies or contribute to milestones in the wider transportation ecosystem. In fact, many of the legacy systems and traditional business models used for campus parking do exactly the opposite, finding themselves at odds with the pressing need to accelerate sustainability initiatives.

Partially sped up by the pandemic, universities have increasingly embraced using digital parking platforms and other smart mobility solutions on campus. Beyond modernizing the overall parking experience, the flexibility of these technologies is also creating new avenues to shake up traditional parking models like never before. Now, universities are expanding digital parking capabilities to more areas on campus by implementing daily-decision parking models. Empowered with agile technology and data-driven decisions, the daily-decision approach is giving university parking departments a valuable and effective tool to encourage sustainable transportation culture in the long term.

How Inflexible Tech is Limiting Change

In a way, university campuses are self-contained cities with their own unique parking zones and rules. Added to that, college parking programs must accommodate a wide range of people with specific needs, including students, faculty, visitors, support staff, guests, and more. These requirements, along with a reliance on older parking technology and systems, make changing the traditional parking paradigm at universities a particularly difficult challenge to tackle. Usually, the only parking option for students, faculty, and staff who need to drive to campus (or just prefer it) is to buy and display a long-term permit. Lacking other options for parking, many of the alternative transportation efforts and incentives at the heart of campus sustainability programs are forced to still exist in tandem with these traditional parking models in some capacity.

In the past, universities have been hesitant to invest in new parking technology, especially when the end goal is to reduce the total number of parkers. At the same time, outdated parking technologies and models continue to be a major roadblock when coming up with new ways to shift parking behaviors and attitudes. This challenge came to the forefront during the pandemic, which had an outsized effect on university parking programs compared to those in other locations. The immediate impact on parking revenue was striking. On top of that, many institutions, particularly those using older technologies, struggled to quickly adjust to the “new normal.” Across the country, the pandemic acutely highlighted how inflexible parking technologies can hold back innovation and prevent universities from embracing new models, whether it’s something like hybrid work or a bigger transportation initiative.

Often, it’s technological limitations, not a lack of ideas, that prevent campus parking programs from trying new things. The continued reliance on set-it-andforget-it permit models in-turn holds back the capacity to change parking behaviors. As it stands, once a person buys into the current parking system, they rarely, if ever, are confronted with that decision. Even with access to discounted or free sustainable options, a person who has sunk money into a semester-long permit has every reason to want to use it as much as possible. Some campuses have tried restricting or limiting who can buy permits to reduce the total number of single-occupancy vehicles. And while this strategy works in theory, it still sustains a culture where driving to campus is the norm and can also potentially limit equitable parking access for low-income students and other drivers. In other words, for the people who primarily commute to campus

by car, the current way of doing things offers little or no incentive to change their behavior in the long run.

Suffice it to say, a lack of viable alternatives to the “all-you-can-eat” parking permit model can have an outsized effect on discouraging the use of sustainable alternatives. But on the other hand, simply suggesting we eliminate all permits or drastically reduce available parking on campus is impractical, unrealistic, and unfair. Luckily, campuses across the country are leveraging new innovations to try something new.

Leveraging Daily-Decision Parking to Shift Parking Culture

Many universities have discovered that the culture of using single-occupancy vehicles is intrinsically linked with the business models and parking options available on campus. Increasingly, the flexibility and customization of modern parking solutions are giving campus parking programs new tools to tackle sustainability in the long term.

It’s worth noting that the use of modern digital parking and smart mobility solutions on campus isn’t uncommon. In fact, during the pandemic the sudden need for contactless payment options accelerated their adoption considerably. Until recently, however, these newer parking technologies have primarily been used as an additional payment option for short-term lots and visitor parking. Now, digital parking is playing a crucial role in implementing new “daily decision” parking models that seamlessly integrate with transportation demand efforts and sustainability goals.

In a nutshell, daily-decision parking moves away from static, long-term permit models by offering customized, short-term parking options for students and staff. On the surface, daily-decision might not seem very transformative and is often misunderstood to simply be a daily rate based on the pricing of the existing permits. But in addition to reducing the operational complexity that comes with managing physical permits, dailydecision is helping effectively shift parking culture to be more sustainable in several crucial ways:

First, eliminating the set-it-and-forget-it permit model forces drive-alone commuters to confront the decision to park in the first place. Bringing people face to face with the costs of parking is an effective strategy to make people change their commuting habits. More than simply raising prices, it makes the cost of commuting tangible to the everyday user. Second, the backend flexibility of modern parking platforms enables universities to completely reevaluate the value of parking as a commodity altogether while maintaining equity. Using a daily-decision model,

universities can fine-tune pricing for in-demand times and areas or extend equitable rates and permissions to different stakeholder groups.

Driving Change by Adding Value

Implementing new technologies and changing longestablished behaviors and attitudes requires significant buy in from faculty, students, and other key stakeholders. Therefore, efforts to reduce single-occupancy vehicles on campus go hand-in-hand with making university parking programs as equitable, convenient, and user-friendly as possible. In backend flexibility and popularity, digital parking solutions have a distinct advantage for universities looking for practical paths forward. However, it’s not enough to leverage any digital solution, but one that people want to use.

Expanding digital parking and daily-decision parking to more parts of campus is helping universities effectively shift parking culture to be more sustainable by adding value to existing programs. Daily decision streamlines the parking experience, offering customized rates automatically to different groups, occupancy maps, and other user-friendly features. Additionally, flexible payment options outside of a smartphone app, like payby-text or by QR code, make the benefits of these new programs accessible to less tech-savvy users. Ultimately, modernizing and improving the parking experience significantly eases the transition to new models.

Laying a Flexible Foundation for the Future

When encouraging big changes in commuter behavior, especially something as established as campus parking, there is no one-size fits all approach. Configurable, flexible parking technology is precisely what universities need to experiment with new approaches and embrace innovation. It also allows universities to make meaningful changes with minimal investments in new hardware and with less risk. Another distinct advantage of digital parking models is that they can be rapidly adjusted and tweaked to address the unique needs of staff, labor unions, student groups, and other stakeholders.

It’s also worth remembering that changing parking models on campus isn’t a problem for tomorrow - it’s one for today. Practically speaking, at least for the foreseeable future, people will continue to need parking on campus. Novel digital approaches like daily decision are helping campus parking programs be the best they can be as they navigate their own pay to a more sustainable future.

KRISTEN LOCKE, CAPP, is a Technical Sales and Partner Manager with Parkmobile. She can be reached at kristen.Locke@parkmobile.io.

THE NEW MOBILITIES

Implications for Transportation and Parking

By Todd Litman

MOBILITIES

MANY NEW TRANSPORTATION TECHNOLOGIES AND SERVICES

are under development and becoming commercially available. This article discusses how they are likely to affect future transportation and parking, and how industry can minimize their risks and maximize their benefits. Much of the information in this article is extracted from his book, New Mobilities: Smart Planning for Emerging Transportation Technologies.

Introduction

Many new transportation technologies and services, such as those listed below, are currently under development and becoming commercially available. They have tantalizing potential. They may allow people to scoot, ride, and fly like never before. However, their impacts and opportunities are difficult to predict. How should parking and mobility industries prepare?

The new mobilities are widely promoted. Proponents offer images of happy passengers traveling in sleek vehicles, and predict, based on experience with previous innovations, such as personal computers and mobile telephones, that within a few years electric autonomous taxis, flying cars and pneumatic tube transport will replace most personal automobile and air travel, virtually eliminating vehicle congestion, parking, crash, and pollution problems. However, there are good reasons to be skeptical. New modes and services are often less reliable and less affordable than proponents claim, and can create sometimes unexpected problems.

These new transportation technologies and services vary widely in their costs, benefits, and equity impacts. Slower but affordable, inclusive, healthy, and resource-efficient modes, such as active, micromodes and public transit improvements tend to provide the greatest variety of benefits. Vehicle sharing, MaaS, and telework are somewhat more costly and resource intensive, but can still play important roles in an efficient and equitable transportation system. The most glamorous new mobilities, the modes that tend to generate the most popular excitement, such as autonomous cars, air taxis and pneumatic tube transport, tend to be costly and provide limited benefits. They may be appropriate for some trips, but they require new management strategies and regulations to prevent increases in external costs and inequities. For example, air taxis and drones may be useful for occasional urgent trips to isolated areas, but they impose large external costs, so their use should be regulated and priced for efficiency and fairness. Most residents probably don’t want their neighborhood sky filled with flying cars carrying commuters each morning, or drones delivering pizza and beer to their neighbor’s late-night parties.

Development and Deployment Predictions

New technologies generally follow a predictable development pattern, called an Innovation S-Curve.

An initial concept experiences development, testing, approval, commercial release, product improvement, market expansion, maturation, and eventually saturation and decline, as illustrated below. New mobilities are likely to follow this pattern.

Innovation S-Curve

Some technologies, such as digital cameras, smart phones, and tablet computers, only required a few years between concept and broad market deployment. However, new transportation modes and service tend to take much longer. Motor vehicles last many times longer and cost far more than most other consumer goods. Most new vehicle technologies are initially unreliable and expensive – think of the first generation of automatic transmissions, air bags and electronic navigation systems. In addition, new modes and services can impose large costs on communities, including additional public infrastructure requirements, crash risk and sometimes noise and air pollution. For example, ridehailing tends to increase traffic congestion, and requires passenger pick-up and drop-off facilities (Schaller 2017). To reduce traffic congestion, energy consumption and pollution emissions autonomous vehicles will require dedicated lanes for platooning –numerous vehicles drive close together at relatively high speeds – which will require large public investments or reduce road capacity for non-autonomous vehicles. Air taxis will require special terminals, and will impose noise, risk and loss of privacy.

Consider, for example, the likely timeline for autonomous vehicle implementation. Optimists predict that within a few years, shared autonomous taxis will displace most private automobile travel, but there are good reasons to be skeptical (Kok, et al. 2017).

With current technology autonomous vehicle can only operate reliably in good weather on paved roads with have special maps, categorized as Level 4 operation. Significant progress is required to achieve Level 5 operation, which means that they can self-drive under all normal conditions. Even if that becomes feasible in the early 2020s, it will take a few more years of largescale testing for them to be approved for unrestricted use on public roads. The first generation of autonomous vehicles is likely to be expensive and imperfect, limiting their sales to wealthy enthusiasts. Since motor vehicles last 15–20 years, on average, it takes decades for a new

vehicle technology to dominate the fleet unless a major portion of otherwise functional vehicles are prematurely scrapped, and some motorists may resist the new technology, retaining their older automobiles. The figure below illustrates my predictions of autonomous vehicle sales, travel and fleet penetration.

Implications for Parking and Mobility Industries

The New Mobilities introduce both opportunities and risks to parking and mobility industries. Some, such as shifts from owning to sharing vehicles, and from automobile to active and micromodes (walking, bicycling, e-bikes and their variants), can reduce total parking demands. Others will require new types of parking and integrated services. For example, carsharing, electric and autonomous cars, and Mobility as a Service (MaaS) will require new types of parking with recharging stations, high-speed Internet connections, and cleaning services. Ridehailing, autonomous taxis and logistics management will require more parking spaces dedicated to passenger and goods loading. Mobility prioritization will involve new pricing and regulations to use roads and parking facilities more efficiently. Smart communities will respond by reducing parking requirements and implementing comprehensive, integrated parking and roadway management plans that maximize the benefits and minimize the risks of new transportation technologies and services. Parking and transportation management professionals can help guide these efforts. The follow section describes some examples.

How Communities are Planning for New Mobilities

Many experts and organizations offer guidance for implementing new mobilities (Henaghan 2018). These vary in perspective and scope. For example, The National Association of City Transportation Official’s Blueprint for Autonomous Urbanism (NACTO 2019) provides guidance for transformative policies and planning practices to create a people-focused autonomous future that reduces total vehicle travel, and offers mobility and opportunity to everyone, not just those in cars. The Shared Mobility Principles for Livable Cities (www.sharedmobilityprinciples.org ) provides guidance toward the best outcomes for new mobility

options. It recommends that governments use regulations and pricing to favor shared modes, limit vehicle traffic and more efficiently manage curb space, particular in cities.

Some jurisdictions are starting to develop strategic planning programs to prepare for emerging transportation technologies and services. Below are three examples.

● The City of Seattle’s New Mobility Playbook (Seattle 2017) offers guidelines for implementing a broad variety of emerging technologies, including vehicle sharing, ridehailing, MaaS, and electric and autonomous vehicles. It identifies strategic goals that should be considered with evaluating specific policies, including safety, connectivity, vibrancy, affordability, and

EXAMPLES OF NEW MOBILITIES

(Litman 2021)

1 Active Travel and Micromobilities. Walking, bicycling, and variations, including small, lower-speed motorized vehicles such as e-scooters, e-bikes, and cargo bikes.

2 Vehicle Sharing. Convenient and affordable bicycle, scooter, and automobile rental services.

3 Ridehailing and Microtransit. Mobility services that transport individuals and small groups.

4 Electric Vehicles. Battery-powered scooters, bikes, cars, trucks, and buses.

5 Autonomous Vehicles. Vehicles that can operate without a human driver.

6 Public Transport Innovations. Improved transit convenience, comfort, safety, and speed.

7 Mobility as a Service (MaaS). Navigation and transport payment apps that integrate multiple modes.

8 Telework. Telecommunications that substitute for physical travel.

9 Tunnel Roads and Pneumatic Tube Transport. New high-speed transport networks.

10 Aviation Innovation. Air taxis, drones, and supersonic jets.

11 Mobility Prioritization. Pricing systems and incentives that favor higher-value trips and more efficient modes.

12 Logistics Management. Integrated freight delivery services.

innovation. It critically examines how new mobilities can support or contradict those goals, defines new mobility principles, and identifies specific near-term policies that the city should implement to ensure that new mobilities support the city’s goals.

● The Los Angeles Department of Transportation’s Transportation Technology Action Plan (LADOT 220), recognizes that “code is the new concrete,” and asks, “How do we focus on Transportation Happiness and Universal Basic Mobility with the same intensity as we have traditionally focused on moving cars and people faster?” It discusses the types of digital infrastructure that will be needed to support transportation innovations, and discusses issues such as data sharing, privacy, community outreach, and culture change.

● The Denver region’s 2030 Mobility Choice Blueprint (2019) discusses potential benefits that can be achieved by taking a proactive approach to planning new transportation technologies. It defines various planning objectives (regional collaboration, system optimization, shared mobility, data security and sharing, mobility electrification, driverless vehicle preparation, and new transportation funding), describes how various regional organizations can

collaborate to support these objectives, and identifies specific tactical actions to support this process.

Conclusions

Numerous new transportation technologies and services are currently under development. Policy makers and practitioners face countless decisions concerning how new mobilities will be incorporated into their communities. New mobilities have diverse benefits and costs, and so require comprehensive analysis of their impacts, including often overlooked effects on affordability, social equity, public health and environmental quality. To maximize the benefits and minimize the costs, communities must decide which new mobilities should be mandated, encouraged, regulated, restricted, or forbidden in a particular situation.

Predictions that autonomous electric taxis and flying cars will soon be cheap and ubiquitous, and displace most private vehicle travel, are made primarily by people with financial interests in these industries. Vehicle innovations tend to be implemented more slowly than other technological innovations due to high costs, strict safety requirements, and slow fleet turnover. Automobiles typically cost fifty times as much

Most innovations follow a predictable deployment pattern, often called in Innovation S-curve.

If autonomous vehicles follow previous vehicle technologies, it will take one to three decades for them to dominate new vehicle sales, and one or two more decades to dominate vehicle travel, and even at saturation a portion of vehicle travel may continue to be human operated, indicated by dashed lines.

and last ten times as long as personal computers and mobile phones. Consumers seldom purchase new vehicles simply to obtain a new technology. Most vehicle innovations are initially costly and imperfect. It usually takes decades before they are common in the fleet.

The benefits of new mobility are contingent; they depend on how parking and roads are managed. With current policies, electric and autonomous cars, telework, air taxis, pneumatic tube transport are likely to increase total vehicle traffic and associated costs. Their overall benefits increase if they are implemented with mobility prioritization incentives that encourage travelers to choose the most efficient option for each trip.

New mobilities may affect commercial parking demands in several ways. Some new modes and services tend to reduce total vehicle ownership and travel, which should reduce overall parking demand, but they will require more sophisticated facilities and services that include vehicle recharging, software updating, cleaning and inspection stations, often located in multimodal mobility hubs. Property owners and local governments will need help designing and implementing integrated parking and mobility management systems. Who will they call? Parking experts! ◆

TODD LITMAN is Founder and Executive Director of the Victoria Transport Policy Institute. He can be reached at litman@vtpi.org

REFERENCES

Denver (2019), 2030 Mobility Choice Blueprint, Denver Regional Council of Governments (www.mobilitychoiceblueprintstudy.com).

Jennifer Henaghan (2018), Preparing Communities for Autonomous Vehicles, American Planning Association ( https://www.planning.org ); at https://bit.ly/2piKBhX

Irem Kok, et al. (2017), Rethinking Transportation 2020-2030: Disruption of Transportation and the Collapse of the Internal-Combustion Vehicle & Oil Industries, RethinkX (www.rethinkx.com); at http://bit.ly/2pL0cZV

LADOT (2020), “Transportation Technology Action Plan” Los Angeles Department of Transportation, https://ladot.lacity.org/projects/transportation-technology

Todd Litman (2021) New Mobilities: Smart Planning for Emerging Transportation Technologies, Planner Press; at https://islandpress.org/books/new-mobilities

Todd Litman (2022), Autonomous Vehicle Implementation Predictions: Implications for Transport Planning, Victoria Transport Policy Institute (www.vtpi.org ); at https://vtpi. org/avip.pdf

NACTO (2019), Blueprint for Autonomous Urbanism, National Association of City Transportation Officials (www.nacto.org ); at https://nacto.org/publication/bau2

Bruce Schaller (2017), Empty Seats, Full Streets: Fixing Manhattan’s Traffic Problem, Schaller Consulting ( http://schallerconsult.com); at http://schallerconsult.com/ rideservices/emptyseats.pdf

Seattle (2017), New Mobility Playbook, Seattle Department of Transportation (www. seattle.gov); at https://bit.ly/3Dr4Ahm

Shared Mobility Principles for Livable Cities (www.sharedmobilityprinciples.org ).

Is aFear

of

Change Your Smart City Ambition?

A REFLECTION ON THE NOT-SO-DISTANT PAST.

SMART CITY INNOVATION in mobility, energy, water, and social equity is gaining momentum— yet we often hear the “this is not going to happen in my lifetime” attitude—especially towards emerging technology innovations.

I encountered this when I was CEO of an Australian government agency running public transport ticketing. I was tasked with creating a statewide electronic ticketing system for the state of New South Wales (NSW) across trains, ferries, and public and private bus networks. The backlash against the idea that people couldn’t use cash to catch a bus or a train was enormous. The concept that you didn’t need to buy a separate train ticket or bus pass was equally unnerving. But the outcome—a multimodal electronic system called the Opal card—has been a game changer for convenient and cost-effective travel across the city of Sydney and NSW.

Not so long ago, city curbsides, infrastructure, and driver habits looked a lot different. A smart city not only evolves with technological advances, but also with societal changes and values.

As recently as the late 1990s, an international motorist’s typical journey went something like this: everyone used The Street Directory, which was the book of maps with every grid, of every street, in every city used to navigate when you were driving. In America, you were likely to have a copy of the Rand

By Elizabeth Zealand

McNally Road Atlas on hand, or a more local version of a regional road map book provided by your local AAA. These heavy lumpsof-a-book could be seen sprawled open on the passenger’s seat, with dog-eared pages of the relevant maps for your journey. If you were lucky, you had a passenger who had the arduous task of navigation—a role I unfortunately played too often.

Then, the amazing technological advancement that disrupted the street directory was of course the portable electronic navigation device—remember the NavMan and the TOMTOM? Again, not much use unless you continued to download updates regularly. And do you recall the extravagant in-car navigation systems— only for the high-end vehicles? You needed an engineering degree and the patience of a saint to find your destination.

Often, if you were lost or your destination was “off the page” you would have to look for a phone booth along the curbside to phone a friend for help. Do you remember back when those phone booths took prime real estate on city sidewalks? In the pre-cell phone era, these phone booths were sites that had to be connected to telecommunications infrastructure, powered, lit, had to be safe (though in many cases were not), and were ubiquitous on the curb. Yet, with the rise of mobile telecommunications we saw this curbside infrastructure rapidly recede over the past couple of decades.

Did any city ever actually plan not to have phone booths, and the telecommunication and electricity infrastructure to support them on the curb?

The last hardcopy publication of the Yellow Pages was printed in January 2019 in the UK, after it was announced the Yellow Pages would become fully digitized—finally!

Often chained inside one of these phone booths, was a huge Yellow Pages paper phone directory. The name “Yellow Pages” was coined in 1883, when a printer in Cheyenne, Wyoming, ran out of white paper and used yellow paper instead. After more than a century of publications across the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the Philippines, the last hardcopy publication of the Yellow Pages was printed in January 2019 in the UK, after it was announced the Yellow Pages would become fully digitized—finally!

Just like the enormous cost of printing the Yellow Pages phone book and the Street Directories and road atlases that became redundant, so too will the need to erect physical signage infrastructure on the curb to communicate the rules and take payment for parking. As technology evolves, mobile payments have skyrocketed across the world, especially since 2020 with the need for contactless transactions. The new “parking sign” and “meter” is on your cell phone or in your car navigation and can be dynamic as uses of the curb need to change. Cities have been exploring digital signage for flexible curb use, or even monetization of loading zones. However, I believe we can leapfrog the physical digital infrastructure and have a completely digital curb infrastructure, with perhaps holographic signage augmenting the cell phone and car navigation in smart cities.

Speaking of smart cities, I recently flew from Australia and embarked on a three-month trip traveling across the U.S. visiting many smart cities. I traveled more than 5,000 miles across the states via plane,

car, bus, tram, e-scooter (even golf buggy!) looking at different smart city initiatives, particularly around parking and transportation—I’m inspired by what is possible.

While it is important to reflect on some of the bedrocks and traditions of city infrastructure and transport which have been disrupted over the past 20 years, it’s vital to understand what changes are coming next and how your city can take innovative steps towards a more sustainable future. Now is the time to invest in your city’s mobility and transportation technology— such technologies help city leaders and planners to make better informed (and data-backed) planning decisions. How can you truly know, understand, and predict the use of parking assets and mobility flow of your city without the inevitable investment of such technologies?

Are we seeing electric charging stations as the new kid on the curbside block? Or community battery electricity storage competing for curbside real estate?

Citizens are changing where they work from and what infrastructure they need from cities and urban hubs. Yet confusing and expensive physical parking signs and rules are still evident in most cities. Parking meters are the typewriters of transport. Autonomous vehicles won’t carry coins.

What is the next “phone booth” or “street directory” to be disrupted in your smart city journey? ◆

ELIZABETH ZEALAND is CEO and Founder at Spot Parking, and is a member of IPMI’s Technology Committee. She can be reached at elizabeth@spotparking.us

Are Affordability and Equity the New Sustainability?

By Brian Shaw, CAPP

RECENTLY, there has been a ground swell to make parking cheaper or free for commuters returning to campus at our university. Their argument is that these folks do not want to come back to working on campus if they must pay for parking. Our policy is to allow folks who have been working remotely during the previous 18 months to use a “hybrid” work schedule: work remotely and on-site on different days each week. Our division is required to work on-site at any of our facilities or the university’s East Bay remote work center at least two days per week. No one has an assigned desk or office anymore.

These newly hybrid folks, for the most part, had been saving money on commuting for the previous 18 months while the university moved to online classes and full-time remote working for most employees.

However, there is a cadre of essential employees both at the university and our hospitals who have been commuting to work all along, paying for parking, gas, tolls, depreciation, insurance, and other costs associated with commuting. Those who do not drive to work were negatively impacted by reduced transit service, elimination of express train runs, suspension of cash incentives for not driving to work, suspension of carpool parking incentives, and an ever-changing set of rules imposed by the state on our vanpools.

While traffic during the height of pandemic response was lighter and travel times faster, these essential employees still had to commute to work. Most employees, including myself and most of my team, were able to avoid commute costs and the loss of personal time associated with commuting. To this day, nonessential employees can continue to work remotely much of the week, perhaps commuting to work two days a week.

When we heard rumblings by the employees returning to working on-site not wanting to pay for parking or wanting more spaces made available for our cheaper commuter permit, our thoughts turned to our essential staff. These critical employees have been ensuring our students are fed, research animals are properly cared for, buildings are kept functioning, grounds are maintained, and our utilities are providing their vital services. Plus, our hospitals have been operating at full capacity serving those suffering from COVID in addition to their regular health care services. These vital employees have been largely driving to work, paying for their parking permit once permit fees returned in July 2020.

Our leadership wisely asked for all concerns regarding equity and/or affordability as the campus reopens to be packaged together and presented as an overall approach. Two years before the pandemic, the university had commissioned an

Affordability Task Force (ATF) to look at areas of life that impact our communities’ ability to afford living, working, and studying at Stanford. Unfortunately, only a few initiatives were able to be implemented before the pandemic set in and resources redeployed to addressing its impacts.

With an eye toward equity, we have proposed a transportation stipend for essential employees that could be used for parking permits, transit fares, vanpool costs, or kept as cash. This is also known as parking cash out and is required by state law in California when parking is made free to commuters. This would make up for the commuting costs incurred by essential employees that the rest of the campus avoided during the pandemic.

I was pleased that our leadership is asking for an update and refreshing of the ATF work. Only this time, it is with an eye toward our essential staff who have been selflessly committed to the university. Instead of simply making parking free, which would be costly financially as well as put at risk the university and hospital entitlement obligations, we will be “getting the band back together” by reforming the ATF.

Much like the substantial effort the university did in the early to mid-2010s to reduce the university’s carbon footprint and model more sustainable practices, I am hopeful Stanford can demonstrate how to improve equity and affordability for its essential employees.

Parking and transportation have an important role in sustainability. However, what the pandemic has brought to light is how much parking and transportation impact affordability and equity. I am proud to work for an institution that recognizes this challenge and is engaging its subject matter experts to come up with ways to address affordability and equity. ◆

BRIAN SHAW, CAPP , is Executive Director of Stanford Transportation for Stanford University, and is a member of IPMI’s Awards and Education Development Committees. He can be reached at bshaw2@stanford.edu

By David Moore

THE PLANNING

OF

Effective and Parking

AND DESIGN

PARKING STRUCTURES

has evolved well beyond the days of a simple concrete structure with attendants staffing cashier booths.

Specifically, the planning and design of parking structures in urban spaces involves an integrated design approach that involves the building team and owner throughout the lifetime of the project. The planning and design of parking structures in urban areas can present detailed challenges related to engineering the proper solution as it relates to the site location, traffic planning for vehicular ingress and egress, proper aesthetics, economic impact of the parking structure, and sustainability.

Walter P Moore’s Parking Services Group have been involved in the design and engineering of parking structures around the country that have required collaboration of the entire design team, as well as the owner, to provide an effective and efficient design that addresses the proper criteria to ensure the successful movement and storage of vehicles.

The three projects examined below were recently constructed in urban areas. Each project is diverse as it relates to the planning and design required by the design team and owner. By comparing and contrasting each of the projects, the functional planning and design standards are examined to provide viable takeaways that can be used for the next iteration of parking garage design.

Efficient Structure Design

Bank of America Tower

When it comes to assessing the parking demand for a development, the first component to look at is location. For example, a suburban office space typically requires a parking-demand ratio between 2.5 and 3.0 parking spaces for every 1,000 gross square feet (gsf). For a 500,000-gsf building, the parking demand can range from 1,250 to 1,500 parking spaces.

On the flip side, the same size development in an urban location requires a much smaller parking demand ratio—closer to 1.5 to 1.75 parking spaces per 1,000 gsf of office space. This equates to an approximate demand of 750-875 parking spaces.

For the Bank of America Tower in Houston, Texas, a 2021 IPMI Award of Excellence honoree for best design of a mixed-use parking and transportation facility, the developer wanted a garage designed with a parking ratio

Planning and design of parking structures advances beyond typical level of service criteria

of between 1.5 and 2.0 parking spaces per 1,000 square feet. While the number of parking spaces provided an oversell ratio of 1.15, the developer was able to design a structure with a parking ratio close to 2.0.

This strategy was crucial in attracting the desired tenant for the building, which features mixed-use components including offices, retail, and outdoor space within the building’s footprint. Bank of America Tower is also located in the central business district, near entertainment, public park space, and various transit options.

Because there was flexibility with the construction schedule, the first phase of the Bank of America Tower project constructed was the parking garage. This allowed the developer the opportunity to generate parking revenue for a full year while the design and construction of the 35-story tower was completed.

The 11-story, 1,360-space parking structure was designed with a state-of-the-art outdoor sky park that sits atop the structure as the 12th floor. The sky park—the only tenant amenity of its type in Houston—provides tenants of the Bank of America Tower a unique outdoor space with views of downtown while nestled between trees and wooden canopies, but it also serves as a model for sustainable urban structures.

The Bank of America Tower is the first project in the United States to achieve LEED v4 Platinum Core and Shell Certification. It was the only LEED v4 project to attempt the Whole Building Life Cycle Assessment (WBLCA) credit, which Walter P Moore led. The WBLCA allowed the building team to identify combinations of materials that made the most significant contributions to environmental impacts and develop reduction strategies accordingly. Based on these studies, the team developed a strategy of aggressive cement minimization, which led to a projected 19 percent reduction in global warming potential and a 12 percent reduction in acidification.

Patrons of the garage utilize a state-of-the-art Parking Access and Revenue Control System (PARCS) that efficiently manages both contract/monthly and transient/visitor parking needs. An Automatic Vehicle Identification (AVI) Reader system was specifically specified to facilitate the rapid ingress and egress of contract parkers and provides hands-free access. Visitors utilize a convenient Pay-on-Foot (POF) and Pay-in-Lane system.

To accommodate the 1,365 parking spaces and provide a high level of service, the Bank of America Tower garage was designed with an innovative express ramp system (no parking on ramp) at the ground floor that provides access to two major streets, and allows up to 40 percent more area for retail and back of

house opportunities over a traditional ramping system.

At level 2 of the garage, the express ramp system transitions to a traditional double helix ramping system. The oneway double helix ramping system was chosen to accommodate the large peak loading conditions from the office patrons while providing an intuitive traffic flow. Crossovers are provided at each level which enhances the level of service over a traditional double helix system.

Bay widths are two feet wider than what is normally accepted for angled parking to provide a higher Level of Service (LOS) for all patrons. End bays are also larger to provide comfortable turning maneuvers and easily accommodate full size trucks and SUV’s.

Both the tower and parking garage are wrapped in a beautiful glass curtain wall system with varying levels of contrast and metal accents to provide a sophisticated appearance. As the garage takes up a significant portion of the site, the architects wanted to ensure that the tower and garage appeared as a seamless project. From the street level, one cannot tell where the building footprint ends, and the garage footprint begins.

Midtown Park

Midtown Park in Houston, Texas, is a landmark project for the city that offers a number of amenities designed with sustainability in mind. The 771-acre district includes mixed-use residential/retail, multifamily residential, and office parking generators. The epicenter of the district is a three-acre park with a 400-space parking garage directly underneath the park and other amenities such as an entertainment pavilion, water features, and restaurants.

“In addition to increasing community gathering opportunities and enhancing the quality of life for current Midtown residents, the park is an economic development catalyst that has attracted new development to Midtown,” says Marlon Marshall, director of engineering and construction for the Midtown Redevelopment Authority (MRA). “Parks help to maximize the long-term value of real estate because businesses and residents are willing to pay a premium to be near parks.”

With nearly 10,000 residents, Midtown is one of the most walkable neighborhoods in Houston, but there was a significant lack of parking space. To address the parking issue, the MRA developed their “super” project—the Midtown Park and Garage.

The vision for the full six-acre mixed-use project that includes the underground garage was developed by the MRA board, staff, and design team consultants along with community and stakeholder input. According to Marshall, the goal was to create a premier urban park space in the heart of Midtown to become the focal point

for the community and function as a catalyst to attract new development to the Main Street Corridor.

“With the addition of parking to the project, there was a need to add a parking design firm to our team,” Marshall says. “We had recently engaged with Walter P Moore as our consultant engineering firm on successful mobility and roadway infrastructure projects, and we were fortunate to have access to the Walter P Moore Parking Services Group to guide us through the development of the parking garage.”

Though there were numerous iterations to the project design, all parties involved in the Midtown project partnered together to meld the structures in an effort to preserve the integrity of the park’s purpose and view corridors.

“Because of the complexity of the structure and simultaneous construction of multi-family housing in the grounds, immense collaboration was required from all parties,” says Brian Lozano, director of parking services at Walter P Moore.

One challenge of the project was how to host a living, sustainable park above a below-grade parking garage. Walter P Moore structural and diagnostic engineers worked closely with parking engineers to design an operationally efficient garage while allows the park’s trees to also grow and thrive. According to Lozano, after consulting with the landscape architecture firm Design Workshop, large trees were planted throughout the park that needed over five feet of clearance from the soil to the top of the structure to allow them to grow. To ensure this was possible, the lid of the garage was sloped to allow for proper clearance for the grass blanketing the lawn space, and a greater distance to sustain the trees.

Because the 400-space parking garage lives under the park, an intricate system of under slab draining capabilities, robust waterproofing, pumps, and a rainwater vault serve to self-water the landscape. The system also prevented the garage from flooding during Hurricane Harvey in 2017. Rainwater is collected through a piping system in the garage before it is pumped into a 70,000-gallon irrigation vault underground.

“The grounds are sustainable because the rainwater is used to water the lawn and planting areas,” Lozano says.

The team planned for the impressive rainfall that often hits the Houston area—as was the case with Hurricane Harvey—and integrated a backup plan. According to Lozano, when the vault is full, the water bypasses to the water features, which circulate and produce waterfalls under the bridges and other areas throughout the park.”

The design of the entrance to the underground garage is raised and angled to allow for height space. As a result, the top side of the sloped entrance to the garage operates as a portion of the off-leash dog park.

“Since the start of construction at Midtown Park, there have been six new private development projects announced within three blocks of the park,” Marshall says. “These ongoing, planned, or recently announced redevelopment projects include mixed-use residential/ retail, multifamily residential, and office projects which will generate an estimated $338 million in new taxable value in Midtown.”

Virginia Commonwealth University

Virginia Commonwealth University, located in the heart of Richmond, Virginia, recently modernized its urban medical campus. Part of the project included a new multi-level parking structure that serves the VCU Health Adult Outpatient Services Pavilion and Massey Cancer Center.

Designed to provide safe and convenient access as well as accommodate patients, their families and VCU medical staff, the garage has a total of 1,109 spaces within 12 levels—two below-grade and 10 abovegrade. One unique aspect to this garage are the 150 valet spaces that are located belowgrade via a single entrance and exit in order to ease the transition from a vehicle into the hospital for Massey Cancer Center patients that require specific needs.

The garage is a critical hub for the hospital; therefore, the garage was

designed with two entrances/exits for the self-park levels.

The above-grade garage is a park-onramp single-threaded helix to maximize the number of parking spaces within the narrow structural footprint. This section

of the garage connects to the VCU Hospital at Level 1.

One design aspect critical to the VCU garage involved the reduction of traffic congestion at the entrance and exits to the garage. To accomplish this, improvements were made to the adjacent roadways and access to the garage was controlled through turning movement restrictions. Furthermore, the belowgrade valet level can only be accessed by an express ramp. The valet drop-off/ pick-up zone provides ample space for vehicles to queue inside the garage itself. This also reduced on street traffic congestion that previously occurred at five separate valet locations located on the hospital campus. ◆

DAVID MOORE is a Senior Parking Consultant at Walter P Moore. He can be reached at dmoore@walterpmoore.com

PRESENTS THE 2022-2023 Board of Directors

CHAIR

PAST CHAIR

CHAIR-ELECT

TREASURER

Gary A. Means, CAPP Executive Director, Lexington & Fayette County Parking Authority, Lexington, KY

David Onorato, CAPP Executive Director, Pittsburgh Parking Authority, Pittsburgh, PA

Alejandra “Alex” Argudin, CAPP Chief Executive Officer, Miami Parking Authority, Miami, FL

Robert Ferrin, CAPP Senior Project Manager, Kimley-Horn, Columbus, OH

Josh Cantor, CAPP Director of Parking & Transportation, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA

Pamela E. Chikhani, MSc General Manager, Secure Parking, UAE & Qatar

Allen Corry, CAPP Assistant VP, Parking Business Unit, Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, Dallas, TX

Marlene Cramer, CAPP Director of Transportation and Parking Services, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, CA

Richard B. Easley, CAPP President, E-Squared Engineering, Ashburn, VA

Kathryn Hebert, PhD President & CEO, TPMConnect, Westport, CT

Maria Irshad, CAPP Deputy Director, ParkHouston, Houston, TX

Casey Jones, CAPP Senior Director of Customer Success, FLASH, Boise, ID

Mark Lyons, CAPP General Manager, Parking & Mobility Division, City of Sarasota, FL

Tiffany R. Peebles Executive Director, Parking Authority of River City, Louisville, KY

Jennifer Tougas, Ph.D., CAPP Assistant Vice President for Business Services, Western Kentucky University, Bowling Green, KY

Shawn Conrad, CAE, CEO International Parking & Mobility Institute, Fredericksburg, VA

PRESENTS THE 2022-2023 CAPP Certification Board

CHAIR

PAST CHAIR

Hal King, CAPP Associate, Klein & Associates, Fort Lauderdale, FL

Isaiah R. Mouw, CAPP Executive Vice President, Reef Parking, Chattanooga, TN

Gwendolyn Bolden, CAPP Director of On-Street & Metered Services, Pittsburgh Parking Authority, Pittsburgh, PA

Irma Henderson, CAPP Director Of Transportation Services, University of California—Riverside, CA

Vanessa Solesbee, CAPP Mobility Services Manager, Town of Estes Park, CO

Sam Veraldi, CAPP Director, Business Development EV Charging, FLASH, Austin, TX

PRESENTS THE 2022-2023 Accredited Parking Organization (APO) Board

Christopher Austin, CAPP Director, Parking & Transportation Services, University at Buffalo

Brett Munkel, CAPP Vice President, Healthcare and University Services, SP+

Steven Fernstrom Executive Director, Bethlehem Parking Authority

George Richardson, CAPP Manager, Transportation and Parking, UF Health Shands Hospital

Thuy Cobb, CAPP Parking Business System Administrator, DFW International Airport

Amy Ross Manager for Parking Systems and Communication, Cornell University

Debbie Lollar, CAPP Executive Director, Texas A & M University—College Station

Creating & Executing a Sustainability Plan

Bethlehem Parking Authority Proves that Sustainability

Creates Good by Doing Good

By Steven Fernstrom

IN EARLY 2020, the Bethlehem Parking Authority (BPA) began to conceptualize incorporating a sustainability program as a built-in addition to our organization. Our goal was to build a robust program that would set an example for continuous sustainability improvement. After two short years, we could never have imagined what we would achieve. Success started with a clear understanding of what it takes to build a successful program. The building blocks of our program have been setting attainable and realistic goals; having the buy in and support of our Board of Directors and Mayor; and having a hardworking, dedicated team that is passionate about sustainability.

Any organization, large or small, has the potential to negatively impact the environment. A parking organization is no different:

● We literally invite emission emitting vehicles to our facilities daily.

● We own and operate facilities that consume large amounts of energy 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

● We have large vehicle fleets that will circle city blocks for hours at a time.

● We design and build large structures.

● We use potentially harmful cleaning products.

● We often have a large staff that consumes water and electricity daily. In addition, most parking organizations are within dense, urban environments. Bethlehem is located in a PA DEP Environmental Justice Area, where historically minority and low-income residents have been forced to bear a disproportionate share of adverse environmental impacts. The opportunities to control our impacts were endless. We knew we had plenty of work to do, and that that work would keep us engaged for years.

As the former Sustainability Manager at Sands Bethlehem, a one million square foot integrated casino resort, I am familiar with how rewarding it is to start and maintain a successful sustainability program. At Sands, I was fortunate to learn from industry leaders while being part of the most recognized and successful sustainability programs for integrated casino resorts. The obvious reward of a successful sustainability program is reducing an organization’s environmental impact; but seeing likeminded sustainability-driven members of the team focused on your organization’s sustainability initiatives, and having pride in their impact, is equally rewarding.

The sustainability program at BPA is arguably one of the most robust of its kind. It includes sustainability in all aspects of parking authority operations, and encourages active engagement from BPA’s leadership, team members, the community at large, and customers.

But what did it take to plan and launch this program? And what were the key factors that led, and continue to lead, to long-term success? Let’s discuss the path that we took, and the lessons learned.

Don’t Go at it Alone

Having allies to join forces with will make your journey easier. Any time a municipal parking organization can align their program with their city’s goals, it adds to the power of the effort. Don’t be alone on an island if you don’t need to be! Fortunately, in Bethlehem our current

Mayor has deep sustainability commitments and goals. In 2021, Bethlehem Mayor J. William Reynolds launched the city’s Climate Action Plan , marking the beginning of a sustainability-focused journey for the city. The Climate Action Plan established a new vision for Bethlehem as an equitable, prosperous, resilient, healthy, and inclusive city that takes actions to mitigate climate change while increasing our preparedness for climate change impacts. Mayor Reynolds said, “City government and our environmental coalition of community voices must design, create, and implement a vision in which every resident is able to be part of the journey to a more sustainable and equitable Bethlehem.”

Build Your Team and Set Goals

Understanding the framework on how to successfully build a sustainability program, our team set off on the journey to create and build our own. First, we set up a small committee of sustainability-minded team members to champion starting the program. We knew we couldn’t mandate team members to be a part of effort, so we opened it up as an invitation to join. Our hopes were to attract team members that had a passion for sustainability. Once our team was set, we started to work establishing program goals.

Sustainability is a far-reaching subject, so setting and committing to attainable and realistic sustainability goals can help an organization stay focused what factors can have the furthest-reaching impacts to the environment. While it can be easy to come up with a long list of projects, it is important not to get mired down with smaller, less impactful initiatives.

As all the departments at the BPA can impact sustainability in some way, all departments were represented in creating our list of goals. With an open forum to start, the committee examined what within each of their departments could potentially negatively impact the environment. We then identified and created three program pillars that we bucket these examples into, and keep our progress organized: Transportation, Efficient Operations, and Green Garages.

The Transportation pillar involves emissions reduction through public transit partnerships, promoting alternative transportation and alternative fueled vehicles. The Efficient Operation pillar focuses on our day-to-day operations and how we can create and implement operational processes to reduce our resource consumption. This pillar focuses on how our everyday actions and standard operating procedures can affect the environment, such as energy and water consumption and

the waste we generate. Finally, the Green Garages pillar is all about designing, building, and maintaining our parking structures sustainably.

Build an Identity

We felt it was important for the sustainability program to have its own identity, with these pillars at the center. Building an identity around the sustainability program was important to demonstrate that it was more than just a tag line or a page on our website - it’s was a commitment. The program identity, represented by its own brand logo, made it easier to tell the sustainability story and delineate it from the rest of the organization. Sustainability initiatives were included as a consistent line item on our five-year strategic goals, and we began budgeting yearly for sustainability initiatives. It is also a substantial topic of our end of year highlight presentation to our Board of Directors. “We actually have the sustainability logo on one of our EVs, it’s a conversation piece to the public,” said Dick Lynn, BPA Facilities Manager.

Our Progress

Once the BPA laid the foundation for the sustainability program, it was time for us to get to work on how these pillars would translate into tangible success. We started by prioritizing our goals based on the weight of the impact and how realistic it was from a time and financial commitment to make real progress. We then matched those with our program pillars and developed our yearly action plan. Each year, we prioritize the lowest hanging fruit and any potential grant funding that was applicable for our projects. In the past two years, we’ve received over $100,000 from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania for sustainability projects. Your local government websites are a great resource to find potential grant funding.

Transportation Pillar

The biggest success to date in our Transportation Pillar is the conversion of our vehicle fleet to electric vehicles. To date our fleet is made up of 40% electric vehicles, with the majority belonging to the Enforcement Fleet. We started the conversion to EV with the Enforcement Fleet because their vehicles are in operation most of the day. In late 2020, the BPA began to replace their aging Enforcement Jeep Wranglers in favor of Chevy Bolts and Nissan Leafs, all with License Plate Recognition systems. The conversion to electric vehicles, along with a prioritization on biking and walking, eliminates the consumption of approximately 2,500 gallons of gasoline yearly.

The BPA was the recipient of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection 2021 Alternative Fuel Incentive Grant, one out of only three awards given to organizations in the Lehigh Valley in Pennsylvania. This funding was vital to the success of this initiative, and BPA received overwhelming support on this and future grants from State Senator Lisa Boscola’s office. To keep our commitment to promoting alternative fuel strong, we installed more than 20 EV charging stations in our parking garages and two

surface lots, a large portion funded by the PA Drive Forward grant program from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Since 2020, our EV charging stations have realized a reduction of about 40,000kg in GHG emissions.

BPA also partnered with the Lehigh and Northampton Transportation Association (LANTA) to heavily promote the use of public transportation. This initiative started with our new Polk Street Garage, which is conveniently located next to the new Southside bus stop. We will install static and dynamic signage throughout the structure providing information like promotions, bus routes, and general LANTA information. The partnership with LANTA provides options and information to encourage our parkers to use public transportation to get to their further destinations.

Efficient Operations Pillar

We’ve also had a lot of great success in our Efficient Operations Pillar. We are proud to announce that all our garages and parking lots are 100% LED, which greatly reduces our energy consumption. In 2022, the BPA partnered with Lehigh University’s Community Fellowship Program to, among other projects, develop a comprehensive lighting database for all fixtures and lamps throughout all BPA properties. The worksheet captures information including the location, model, kWh consumption, useful life hours, date of install, and the projected end of life date for the lights. The BPA can then use this information to analyze other lighting options in planning for future upgrades and leverage the buying power for a mass lighting purchase. Our parking garages and lots have incredible potential for savings thanks to the large quantities and necessity to keep the lights on. Partner that with the ever-changing landscape of lighting becoming more efficient, light harvesting potentials, and smart lighting opportunities, lighting will always be a high priority to the BPA.

BPA has also retrofitted our office water fixtures to low flow and added integrated occupancy sensors in all our office spaces to keep the lights on only when needed.

Another achievement under the Efficient Operations Pillar is the creation of standard operating procedures prioritizing Enforcement Officers using walking and bicycling beats. Our Enforcement Department has created “Green Walking Beats” that were previously performed by vehicles, focused on accessibility. These standard operating procedures not only reduce the impacts to our environment, but also promote wellness and health for our team members by instituting a robust set of standards for walking and bicycling. When it’s not conducive to walk or bike, the standard operating procedures mandate our PEOs to use one of our EVs first before using a combustion vehicle. Some days, the BPA is vehicle emissions free!

We also worked with our cleaning products supplier to baseline our inventory, using that to identify and procure like products that are green certified. We also employ scrubber machines that use 70% less water and have a robust recycling program in our team member spaces.

Green Garages Pillar

Arguably, the BPA’s most important and proudest sustainability moment came from our Green Garages Pillar. In March 2021, the BPA Board of Directors unanimously passed a Sustainable Design Standards Resolution. This resolution solidified the commitment to the future design and construction of all parking garages using the Parksmart certification standards. Our first project using these standards will be the 731-space Polk Street Parking Garage designed by Desman Associates, which will be opening in late 2023.

Team Member Buy-In

The success of our program really relies on the commitment of our team members. Our team members are the ones that are out on the front lines of our operation, performing the work and putting our goals into play. Inclusion of our team members in the sustainability program was a focus in its creation. Team members shouldn’t be kept in the dark during sustainability planning; actually, the opposite - they should be provided the tools and knowledge to help drive what their organizations do, why they do it, and how they do it. They need to be educated on why they’re being asked to perform some of the tasks around sustainability: why they are using the machines and vehicles they’re being asked to

use, and why they are utilizing some of the green products the BPA procures among many other explanations. When a team member fully understands the process between A and B, they’re become a part of that process and they tend to become more committed to their duties.

BPA team members are also our ambassadors to the public. When a customer sees them using a green product or a scrubber that uses less water, that team member can speak eloquently to the process and promote the brand, giving the public further piece of mind the organization is running responsibly. We also found that many of the best of the operational ideas come from the minds of the team members that are out in the field each day. We’ll incentivize a team member that provides us with a Green Idea, and we end up making it one of our goals!

What’s up for 2023 and beyond?

BPA will continue to focus on our Efficient Operations Pillar by working with our vendors and partners on technology and efficiencies that can reduce our impacts. We will look for additional ways to for people to do the right thing without having to even think about it. In 2022, we started to offer scan and text-to-pay in our parking garages to reduce idle times at our gates. We’re also promoting the use of virtual tickets, app use, and reservation-based parking to reduce the use of paper tickets as well. These frictionless and efficient options are good for the business and can help reduce our impacts - it’s two-fold. “The elimination of mag stripe tickets was huge for us, not only did it increase efficiencies, but it also greatly reduced the amount of paper and waste going to landfills,” added Paul Wagner, BPA Maintenance Supervisor. 2023 will also bring an exciting new partnership with a local elementary school, where BPA team members will travel to the school to educate the students on green initiatives and hold several “green events” during the year. We’re extremely fortunate to be in a position where we can intersect the parking industry with our local schools in a positive way. This will by far be our most rewarding and impactful project as we work with the youth of Bethlehem to educate them on living sustainably!

STEVEN FERNSTROM is Executive Director of the Bethlehem Parking Authority, and a member of IPMI’s Accredited Parking Organization (APO) Board. He can be reached at steve@bethpark.org

Our Industry’s Frontline is Talking— Are we Listening?

By Cindy Campbell

GOSH, IT’S GREAT TO BE PROVIDING TRAINING FACE-TO-FACE AGAIN. Don’t get me wrong—the virtual thing was cool, but there’s nothing quite like getting to see and respond to the individual expressions and reactions of our frontline team members. I knew I’d missed it, but until recently, I hadn’t realized just how much.

I’m fortunate that my work travels take me to a variety of settings: national and regional conferences, large cities, small towns, airports, medical centers, hospitals, and campuses of every size. We gather for training in conference rooms, classrooms, break rooms, empty commercial buildings—you name it, we learn together in it. I think the most unique location I’ve ever provided training was adjacent to a transit bus service bay. Look, just tell me where to be and when to start talking, and we will get started.

While the training topics and settings may vary, one aspect of these education sessions remains consistent: good people sharing stories of challenging customers, increased hostility, and aggressive rudeness. From coast to coast, the rising number of unpleasant encounters with the public is noteworthy. Our workforce is dealing with bad attitudes, incivility, and disrespect. It’s happening in-person, on the phone, over email and across all social media channels. You don’t have to be a member of our industry’s frontline staff to have noticed this disturbing trend in today’s society. You’ve likely encountered some amount of rudeness and hostility in your own daily work life. It’s everywhere and somewhat inescapable. People are acting out for a variety of reasons and feeling quite justified in their public outbursts. The outcome is a general decrease in job satisfaction with a real potential for career burnout. The stress it can generate for the person on the receiving end of this hostility is real.

We could talk all day about the potential causes driving this unpleasant trend, but instead, I’d like to focus on some of the ways we can support and develop our teams.

Training is Essential

How are we preparing our teams to address these harsh words and volatile attitudes? Training is essential and should be ongoing. I’m not necessarily talking about hiring an industry professional to provide onsite training sessions directly to your team (but hey, it’s a good place to start). Every organization has a number of low-cost, even no-cost training and development tools available to them. To get you started, here are a few ideas to consider as you prepare your team to professionally represent themselves and our organizations.

■ Group discussions. Share tactics and potential responses that best represent your team members and align with your organization’s objectives. Help them to collaborate and create a list of professional responses. This exercise can help your team in two ways—it creates a deeper well of professional responses to apply to challenging exchanges, while developing their sense of confidence in the professional messages they communicate.

■ Assign team members to view online training videos, TED Talks, etc. There are an infinite number of online/virtual options that can assist your team in gaining a broader understanding of conflict resolution and how we can learn to approach these situations from a different perspective. These resources can be viewed individually or as part of a group, followed by a group discussion. How do the points made in the resource apply to what we do?

■ Books and professional articles. Much like virtual training options, there’s a wealth of applicable knowledge and skillsets that can be gained by reading industry articles and books focused on effective communication.

■ Peer training meetings. If someone attends a training or conference session (in-person or virtual), or reads an applicable article or book, ask them to prepare a few talking points on the main idea or topic and share it with the rest of the team. It drives home the lesson for the person presenting the concept and can also be a positive and impactful experience for their peers.

The bad attitudes and encounters are still going to happen, but we can make the effort to better prepare the team to weather the storm of hostility when it happens and find positive ways to help them to build their resiliency. Putting effort in to helping your team develop their professional skillsets will always be worth the investment. The outcomes include less stress, happier employees, more job satisfaction, less turnover, and a broader view behind the services we provide on behalf of our organization.

CINDY CAMPBELL is IPMI’s Senior Training and Development Specialist. She is available for onsite and online training and professional development. She can be reached at campbell@parking-mobility.org

Challenges Faced by State and Local Governments

1

Talent. Human capital is a huge challenge for the government sector. The Baby Boomer population is larger than the generation behind it and finding the right people to replace an aging workforce leaves them competing with private industry for a small pool of applicants. To win the right staff, agencies will be forced to look at non-traditional perks and hybrid working, neither of which have been adopted widely or quickly in the public service arena. (See the Business of Parking column on Page 8)

2

Technology. Many agencies are mired in antiquated processes that are inefficient for both staff and citizens. While some have embraced the digital marketplace and made the jump to implement a digital strategy, most are still very much behind the curve in applying new technologies to their operations. (See the Mobility & Tech column on Page 14)

3 Cybersecurity. Along with the increase in technology use comes an increased threat of a cyber-attack for governments. While applying new technology can pay significant dividends in efficiency and revenue, it opens agencies up to a whole new category of risk they may be ill-prepared for, making them vulnerable to hackers. Securing and protecting the data and infrastructure, as well as having a disaster recovery plan in place, are vital as agencies make the transition to digital.

4 Alternative Revenue Sources. As traditional sources of income—for parking, we are looking at parking fees and ticketing specifically—evolve, governments need to re-examine their revenue and look for new opportunities. (See the feature articles on Non-Criminal Adjudication, Page 34, and Economics of the Curb, Page 38)

5 Sustainability. One sustainability topic seems to be everywhere: electric vehicles (EVs). State and local governments are looking at their roles when it comes to EV rollouts, from providing charging stations to converting fleets and public transportation to electric. (See the Green Standard column on Page 12)

Non-Criminal Adjudication of Parking Tickets

By Matt Lohenitz

Why You Should be Adjudicating Your Own

RECENT PARADIGM SHIFTS IN THE UNITED STATES are indicating an appetite for decriminalization of certain types of offenses. One of those is parking tickets. What happens to a parking ticket from issuance to disposition? In many states, a parking ticket is processed at some level in the court system. The volume of parking tickets written in the United States annually creates a considerable number of cases weighing down already overburdened court systems that could be better focused on criminal matters. When the question is posed to a municipality as to why they choose to process their tickets in this way, they will generally respond with two answers: “That’s the way we’ve always done it,” or “I don’t know.” Neither is a good answer.

Before proceeding, let’s examine the scofflaws. Every municipality has them—some that are in arrears to the tune of thousands of dollars. When you entrust the court system to manage these debts owed to you, the standard practice by the magistrate is to put the scofflaw on a payment plan. Typically, the monthly payment is so low that even if they continue to pay the scheduled amount, the municipality will never be made whole on that debt. Of course, the scofflaw will most certainly continue to rack up more fines.

The question arises, “What other option do we have as a municipality?” The simple answer is to decriminalize parking tickets. Non-criminal adjudication allows the municipality to capture the outstanding debt owed without the need to have a criminal warrant issued for the offender. It also puts the entire process back into the hands of the issuing authority where it can get the most individual attention.

Decriminalizing parking tickets requires several steps. A municipality needs to first determine that their current process is not as effective and efficient as it should be. If you are currently using the courts, you are absolutely sacrificing revenue. For example, in Pennsylvania, a parking ticket is issued for a violation. After a period (no more than 30 days), the ticket can then be turned into a traffic citation which is when it is subsequently turned over to the magisterial court

system. The court then must contact the violator to obtain a plea, collect payment, or schedule a hearing on the matter. If the violator does not respond, a warrant for their arrest can be issued. Most magisterial courts in Pennsylvania use a constable to serve their warrants. When a warrant is served, the constable gets paid a fee for that service, and the violator can be taken forthwith before the issuing judge. Most often, if the violator pays some amount of money owed, they will be put on a payment plan and be free to go. Under this system, the municipality that has already done the work only gets a small portion of their revenue.

But is non-criminal adjudication of parking tickets all about the revenue? Of course not. The most important benefit of removing the courts from the process is that it will put command and control of the parking ticket and the revenue created by it back in the hands of the issuing authority.

So, Where Do We Begin?

● To move forward, a municipality must make certain that the infrastructure to achieve non-criminal adjudication is in place. They must have all the necessary components to be successful in the transition to achieve a decriminalized program. A good first step is to speak with your local district attorney and/or the solicitor for

your municipality to ensure you can legally proceed. The rules of criminal procedure in your state are a good place to determine what your guidelines may be. You must be sure that the process is feasible in your area.

● Next, you must have a parking professional on your team that can lead you through the transition. There are many moving parts to making this change, and there must be a point person to lead the effort. Be sure they have the knowledge, experience, industry contacts, and desire to lead you to a successful completion.

● In addition, you will almost certainly have local ordinances on the books that address parking. A comprehensive review of those ordinances must be done, and likely new ordinances will need to be added and or amended.

● You will also need to review your current process of adjudicating tickets and determine what needs to be done to create adequate due process for your customer. When you eliminate the court system from the process, you must replace it with an adequate level of due process. Otherwise, you may open your agency up to potential legal issues. Your parking point-person leading the non-criminal adjudication effort should provide you with the guidance and recommendations needed to navigate this step. If done correctly, the due process you put in place will create a softer experience for your customers and your staff. Of course, no one likes to get a parking ticket, and when they deal with your staff, they are already upset, so friendlier is better for all involved.

Putting control of the ticket entirely into your decision-making realm allows you to decide how you will handle the customer rather than relegating that responsibility to a third party. When the magistrate and their staff preside over your violation, you have no say what happens to the violation or how the customer is treated. For example, the magistrate would not have access to the data you possess. This information may identify violator history and allow for leniency or not.

You should be aware that it is not uncommon for administrators or directors of public parking operations to want to make this transition only to find out later that the powers that be (council, mayor, city administrator, etc.) are not quite ready to move. Don’t be discouraged. It is perfectly fine to have your team develop your plan in advance, so you are ready to move forward at a moment’s notice. Much of the time spent on the process is in development

of protocols, legislative actions, or amendments, etc., and having a complete plan in hand is crucial.

Benefits to Transitioning to Non-Criminal Adjudication

Benefits to the Customer:

● One stop shopping. They now deal with one entity –the municipality.

● Convenience. Paying the fine or filing an appeal is now centrally located.

● More compassionate. Court proceedings are usually set during the workday, requiring the customer to potentially miss work, schedule childcare, etc. to attend the hearing.

● Less expensive. The customer is no longer responsible for paying court costs or potential warrant service fees.

● Less confusing. The customer no longer has to navigate a complicated court system/process.

● Less intimidating. Appearing before a judge can be stressful. Non-criminal adjudication provides a friendlier process for the customer.

Benefits to the Municipality:

● Complete control of your ticket. The municipality will know what is happening with the ticket, in house, every step of the way.

● Create a softer approach to the process. The adversarial environment of a courtroom is no longer in place. (You will notice that this is a benefit for both the customer and the municipality. A less stressful environment is good for all).

● Apply technology. Many parts of the infrastructure of this process rely on technology and data. The ability for staff to track data and use it effectively will improve efficiency.

● Increase visibility. Parking enforcement officers will no longer need to leave their assigned responsibilities to attend court. This keeps them on the street. Their visibility to the parking public is crucial to driving parking compliance. This benefit also saves the municipality money by reducing overtime pay for officers to attend court.

● Increase realization of revenue. No longer relying upon a court system to collect fines on your behalf will increase the amount of revenue you collect.

● Re-investment in the community. The increased revenue recovery can be used to professionalize your parking operation, beautify parks and other areas of the municipality, update your vehicle fleet, etc.

Building the Infrastructure to Make This New System Possible

By now, most municipalities have incorporated some or all the technologies that are needed to reach successful non-criminal adjudication. If you have not, your parking professional point-person should be seeking out qualified vendors on your behalf to provide you with the best services at the best prices. If the municipality does need to engage technology vendors, remember, this is an investment. The return on investment for this transition is both financial and operational. Financially, the municipality stands to recover debt that has long been owed to them and will continue to collect more

effectively moving forward. Operationally, your staff will be much more efficient when you eliminate clunky software, paper tickets, and spreadsheets.

Using the court system to manage the adjudication of your tickets can be confusing, costly, and inconvenient for the customer. It can cause untold loss of revenue, a decrease in efficiency and effectiveness, and a misuse of resources for the municipality. Clearly, the time of using the courts to handle parking violations has come to an end. Moving forward, non-criminal adjudication of parking tickets and putting the control of the entire system back into the hands of the issuing authority is the way to go.

MATT LOHENITZ is the Owner of LOHI Consulting, and a member of the Pennsylvania Parking Association Board of Directors. He can be reached at mlohenitz@outlook.com

Bringing Understanding to the Cruising Phenomenon

New FHWA tool to enable cities to measure and ultimately reduce parking cruising

By Dr. Rachel Weinberger, Dr. Adam Millard-Ball, Dr. Robert Hampshire, Allen Greenberg, Dr. Tayo Fabusuyi, and Ellis Calvin

New FHWA tool to enable cities to measure and ultimately reduce parking cruising

It has been stubbornly difficult for city officials to gain a good understanding of where, when, and why cruising for parking occurs. Often, based on anecdotal evidence, cities have conducted surveys of drivers and/or set up monitoring systems based, for example, on license plate recognition, to study cruising in places where they already believe parking to be a problem. Where a problem is identified, some cities have implemented performance pricing at the curb—raising the meter prices until an available space is almost ensured. Under this policy scenario. the thinking is that no one would have to look for parking but rather would only have to be willing to pay for it. The truth, however, turns out to be more complex.

To read the full article, please scan the QR code with your camera and follow the link.

Experts say 30% of urban traffic comes from cars circling in the hunt for parking—but recent research says that’s not necessarily true. Experts from the U.S. Federal Highway Administration presented an IPMI Webinar to discuss why that number is usually much lower and how they’ve developed a new tool to reduce circling even more, potentially transforming the way people find parking and how professionals manage it. Scan the QR code with your camera and follow the link to watch!

RACHEL WEINBERGER, PHD , is the Senior Transportation Fellow at Regional Plan Association and the Founding Principal at Weinberger & Associates. She can be reached at rachel@rpa.org

ADAM MILLARD-BALL, PhD, is an associate professor of Urban Planning at the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs. He can be reached at adammb@ucla.edu

DR. ROBERT HAMPSHIRE is the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology & Chief Science Officer at the U.S. Department of Transportation.  He can be reached at Robert.Hampshire@dot.gov

ALLEN GREENBERG is a Senior Policy Analyst at the Federal Highway Administration. He can be reached at Allen.Greenberg@dot.gov

TAYO FABUSUYI is a member of the faculty at the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute (UMTRI). He can be reached at Fabusuyi@umich.edu

ELLIS CALVIN is the Data Research Manager and Senior Planner at the Regional Plan Association. He can be reached at ellis@rpa.org