INTERNATIONAL PARKING & MOBILITY INSTITUTE JANUARY 2021
Curbing COVID-19 in Indianapolis Repurposing the curb— a case study.
INTERNATIONAL PARKING & MOBILITY INSTITUTE JANUARY 2021 VOL. 3 / N0. 1
FEATURES
22
Curbing COVID-19 in Indianapolis
Repurposing the curb proves a popular and effective strategy for helping cities deal with the pandemic’s effects; here’s how Indianapolis did it. By Adam Isen, CAPP, and Matt Darst
26
In the Clouds
The IT world has migrated to cloud—what about parking technology? By Peter Felice
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Casting a Long Shadow
What will be the lasting effects of COVID-19 on parking, transportation, and mobility?
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IPMI’s Year in Review
All the ways we pivoted, rethought, and stayed connected in a wild 2020.
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DEPARTMENTS 4 ENTRANCE Defining and Planning for the New Normal By L. Dennis Burns, CAPP
6 FIVE THINGS Ways to Make New Year’s Resolutions Stick 8 THE BUSINESS OF PARKING Embrace the Disruption By Bill Smith
9 ON THE FRONTLINE Dear Angry Customer: That’s Enough By Cindy Campbell
12 THE GREEN STANDARD How the Parking Industry Can Reduce Congestion and Help The Environment By Jeff Perkins
14 PARKING & MOBILITY SPOTLIGHT Secure Parking Becomes IPMI’s First International APO By Pamela E. Chikhani
16 MOBILITY & TECH Surveying the Current Curb Management Technology and Policy Landscape By Chrissy Mancini Nichols, Bernard Lee, and Kevin White, AICP
20 ASK THE EXPERTS 40 IPMI IN ACTION Reinventing Training By Kathleen Federici, MEd
42 STATE & REGIONAL SPOTLIGHT Great Things Happening in Texas By Mary Mabry, CAPP
/ EDITOR’S NOTE
A New Year. Thank Goodness. JANUARY 1 means it’s time to Sharpie “2020” on
the spine of last year’s planner and hardback notebook (I am a Moleskine fiend), file them on my office shelf next to 2019’s, and crack open the new ones. Something about those fresh pages, unbroken spines, and what feels like miles of lined pages offers the feeling of potential and a new start, and it’s refreshing. And having those paper volumes lined up year after year gives me great references when I need to remember something from the past. I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say we’ve never been as enthusiastic for a new year quite as much as this one and the potential feels like it’s everywhere. New ideas, new initiatives, new technologies, new ways of thinking about everything we do—and we’re more nimble, flexible, creative, and determined than we were a year ago to find the best practices and ways to get our communities up and moving again. We may be a few months away from what feels like normal, but it’s coming; that light in the tunnel is bright and seeing “2021” on the first page of this year’s planner was a huge breath of fresh air. Judging by what’s in this issue, I’m not the only one who feels that way. Lots of you are looking ahead in happy anticipation and plans for recovery and beyond are great to see. There are several articles relevant to that this month and I hope you enjoy them all—and share with your colleagues (it’s easy to do on our digital platform). As always, we’re super grateful to our volunteer contributors and thank them for sharing both their expertise and the time they put into these articles. If you’d like to count yourself among them, get in touch; I’m always looking for new features and concepts to share. Don’t miss our IPMI Year in Review, starting on p. 36. We’ve included links to all the new things we introduced in 2020, including our Stay Connected page, and hope you’ll check out the ones that might be new to you. Above all, we’re all in this together—and we at IPMI are grateful for that. As always, please get in touch any time. Wishing you a wonderful new year and a 2021 filled with success—we’re all looking forward to it.
45 IN SHORT 47 AROUND THE INDUSTRY 50 PARKING & MOBILITY CONSULTANTS 52 ADVERTISERS INDEX
Kim Fernandez, editor fernandez@parking-mobility.org
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/ ENTRANCE
Defining and Planning for the New Normal
PUBLISHER
Shawn Conrad, CAE
conrad@parking-mobility.org EDITOR
Kim Fernandez
fernandez@parking-mobility.org TECHNICAL EDITOR
Rachel Yoka, CAPP, LEED AP BD+C, WELL AP
By L. Dennis Burns, CAPP
yoka@parking-mobility.org
Bill Smith, APR
bsmith@smith-phillips.com ADVERTISING SALES AND SUBSCRIPTIONS
Tina Altman
taltman@parking-mobility.org PUBLICATION DESIGN
BonoTom Studio
info@bonotom.com For subscription changes, contact Tina Altman, taltman@parking-mobility.org or 888.IPMI.NOW. Parking & Mobility (ISSN 0896-2324 & USPS 001436) is published monthly by the International Parking & Mobility Institute. P.O. Box 3787 Fredericksburg, VA 22402 Phone: 888.IPMI.NOW Fax: 703.566.2267 Email: info@parking-mobility.org Website: parking-mobility.org Postmaster note: Send address label changes promptly to: Parking & Mobility P.O. Box 3787 Fredericksburg, VA 22402 Interactive electronic version of Parking & Mobility for members and subscribers only at parking-mobility. org/magazine. Periodical postage paid at Alexandria, Va., and additional mailing offices. Copyright © International Parking & Mobility Institute, 2020. Statements of fact and opinion expressed in articles contained if Parking & Mobility are the sole responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent an official expression of policy or opinion on the part of officers or the members of IPMI. Manuscripts, correspondence, articles, product releases, and all contributed materials are welcomed by Parking & Mobility; however, publication is subject to editing, if deemed necessary to conform to standards of publication. The subscription rate is included in IPMI annual dues. Subscription rate for non-members of IPMI is $120 per year (U.S. currency) in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. All other countries, $150. Back issues, $10. Parking & Mobility is printed on 10 percent recycled paper and on paper from trees grown specifically for that purpose.
T
HERE IS QUITE ENOUGH CHANGE happening on a regular basis
to keep us as an industry on our toes including technology advances, social issues, planning advances, increasing amounts of management data to ingest, understand, and respond to, etc. Layer onto this the economic/social effects and the fear and uncertainty of a global pandemic and even the basic systems we have relied upon to help us stay ahead of the curve have had to be adapted. Clearly, the COVID-19 pandemic is far from over and the effects and consequences of this evolving situation continue to keep us off-balance. However, while we are pivoting to new interim policies and adjusting our procedures to meet safety needs and mandates, many of our members are looking ahead to begin defining a plan that will prepare us for the new normal that will emerge once the pandemic is largely behind us. During the past 10 months, many parking planning projects have been put on hold or cancelled. Some projects are beginning to move forward again in areas nearing pre-COVID traffic levels. How we approach the most basic tasks, such as parking supply/demand data collection, is shifting. For example, in a small Idaho community, we opted for a drone-based data collection strategy to minimize person-to-person contact. Some communities may never return to same set of dynamics we were accustomed to in the pre-COVID timeframe. A good example of this is how the shift to working from home (WFH) will play out for large public and private businesses. The success of the WFH experiments many of us have experienced and the significant advances in online meeting
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software platforms are resulting in a recalculation the need for office building leases. These experiments have largely proven that we can be effective and productive while working from home; also that this level of non-workplace commuting can bring with it significant air quality improvements, traffic congestion relief, and other benefits. Many programs that had parking studies planned to ensure adequate infrastructure going forward are now reassessing the need based on reduced demand for monthly parking. This does not mean that the need for planning has gone away; in fact, it may be more important than ever! IPMI is doing a fantastic job of keeping its membership informed on the effects of COVID-19 and the innovative and flexible strategies members are using to adapt. Hopefully, we will soon be able to define the realities of the postCOVID world and plan for a more stable period—our new normal. ◆ L. DENNIS BURNS, CAPP, is regional vice president, senior practice builder, with KimleyHorn and a member of IPMI’s Board of Directors. He can be reached at dennis.burns@kimley-horn.com.
SHUTTERSTOCK / OATAWA
CONTRIBUTING EDITOR
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Ways to Make New Year’s Resolutions Stick Whether you’re resolving for yourself (those 10 pounds!) or your organization (that longwished-for ambassador program), January 1 is the big day for putting resolutions in place. And that’s a great thing, until they become overwhelming and are set aside for next year. Experts say there are easy ways to make resolutions stick; here our our five favorites.
1
Pick the right resolution. The New York Times says you should also make it SMART: specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound. And be sure it’s realistic for you or your organization because pie-in-the-sky rarely sticks.
3
Get chatty. Talking about your resolution, say the gurus at Gaiam, gives you built-in support—and makes it more likely that your resolution matches someone else in your organization. Instant support system!
2
Put time into planning. The folks at verywellmind point out that brainstorming the change you want to make, the steps you’ll need to go through, why you want to make the change, and ways to keep things on track along the way are all part of meeting the goal. Going at it without a solid plan makes you more likely to give up at the first roadblock.
4
Reward yourself along the way. Break your resolution up into smaller goals, say the good people at Harvard, and give yourself or your organization a reward every time you hit one. Asking others to cheer you on—including your coworkers—can also make a big difference in your resolve.
5
Switch things up. CNN’s experts say if a year-long resolution is too overwhelming—and you know your own track record—set 12 micro-resolutions instead and focus on one goal per month. You’re more likely to keep smaller promises to yourself and each one strengthens your resolve.
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SHUTTERSTOCK / 4URBRAND / VECTOR STALL / INNA KHARLAMOVA / DJENT / DENYS DROZD
/ THE BUSINESS OF PARKING /MARKETING
Embrace the Disruption By Bill Smith
U
NTIL RECENTLY, “disruption” was one of the most popular business buzzwords. How many articles
did you read in which company CEOs (particularly technology CEOs) proudly proclaimed, “We are disrupting the marketplace!”? And what about advertising? The predominant theme for many companies was disruption. In fact, one marketing industry magazine reviewed 2019 by declaring it the “Year of Disruption.”
Bring Back Energy When it comes to marketing in these times, I don’t want comfort. I want energy. I want creativity. I want to show the world that rather than complacency, we need something else. We need disruption. And at the cusp of the smart-city age, what’s more disruptive than parking and mobility? We are in the midst of a movement that will transform our communities, campuses, and public services. The recent cover story in Parking & Mobility on Detroit Comeback City demonstrated how cities are about to rewrite the rules governing how we get into cities, and how we access the public resources in those cities when we arrive. And Detroit is just the first of what will surely become the norm across the U.S., of cities marshaling parking and mobility resources to become smart cities. In fact’s it’s already happening, particularly in California. And, of course, this disruption isn’t just happening in cities. It’s happening on college campuses,
at airports, at hospitals and healthcare centers, and in business developments as well. So, you might be wondering what this has to do with marketing.
Disruption and Your Marketing At a time when our industry is being so disruptive, does it make sense to offer comfort in our marketing? I like puppies, BBQ, and apple pie as much as the next guy (when it comes to BBQ and apple pie, probably more than most). But will offering comfort move the ball for parking organizations in 2021? If we are disruptors, shouldn’t our marketing reflect that?
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Let’s resolve to be energetic and creative in our marketing in 2021. To be disruptive. Let’s demonstrate to the world that the world of parking and mobility is transformative. That parking planning is making communities better places to live; that it’s improving local economies. Let’s talk about how the designs of new parking facilities are safer, greener, and more convenient than ever. And that they are more versatile, promoting mobility, fostering mixed-use development, and even helping with the development of exciting new vehicle technologies such as self-parking cars. And let’s shout out about how the technologies we are offering and introducing are transforming the parking experience, making it more convenient, safer, and manageable. And in this age of COVID-19, healthier. In 2021, as we develop our marketing strategies and messages, let’s turn our backs on easy and comfortable things. Let’s show the world how the parking and mobility industry is changing the world. Let’s make 2021 the year of disruption. ◆ BILL SMITH, APR, is principal of Smith-Phillips Strategic Communications and contributing editor of Parking & Mobility. He can be reached at bsmith@smith-phillips.com or 603.491.4280.
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Then COVID-19 hit. In a way it’s ironic that when a world event that was truly disruptive hit, companies and other organizations abandoned disruption in their marketing. For many, 2020 became the year of longing for “normalcy.” It’s understandable that at a time of crisis, people would look for comfort— and that marketers would try to give it to them. But, gosh, was it boring!
/ ON THE FRONTLINE
Dear Angry Customer: That’s Enough By Cindy Campbell
I
T NEEDS TO BE SAID: Mr. Rogers did not adequately prepare us for the people in our
neighborhoods. If he had, perhaps we wouldn’t be as surprised by the outrageous behaviors some customers display when interacting with us.
Most introductory customer service training programs include a number of essential concepts about dealing with unhappy people. I’ll bet you can recite some of the basic go-to lessons with me: Using active listening skills, learning to not take things personally, monitoring our tone of voice and remembering to never let one bad interaction bleed over into our next customer contact. All great stuff and in fact, these are the skillsets we must develop if we are to effectively deal with customer complaints. It is an achievement when we can competently handle a difficult situation with tact and poise. It also feels pretty great when we can skillfully turn that customer’s frown upside down.
members of the public who believe our organizations’ policies and practices are unreasonable—and they don’t mind telling us so. Even with our best efforts to assist or even advocate for a customer, there are those who cannot be dissuaded from assuming our intent is bad and personally directed to inconvenience them. Our task becomes a challenging one—to provide information, explain available options, and help the customer to understand, even if they do not agree. It’s usually not that difficult to empathize with an upset customer. We can relate, as we’ve likely been in their shoes at some point. At one time or another,
Upset Customers In most situations, we are able to bring the conversation to a successful close, but there are times where the customer has a completely different end goal in mind. In our industry, it is commonplace to deal with
It’s time to stop tolerating abusive behavior from our customers. That’s right. I said it.
PARKING-MOBILITY.ORG / JANUARY 2021 / PARKING & MOBILITY 9 ISTOCK / CHAMPJA / DUNDANIM
I am not suggesting that we become intolerant of every frustrated customer or irritation encountered. That approach would be neither reasonable nor helpful.
most everyone has let their emotions get the better of them. As humans, we react instinctually when a situation or decision feels unreasonable or unfair, and the feeling of anger or frustration is a natural response. How we choose to interact with others about our frustration becomes a decision. When interacting with an upset customer, we learn to suppress our instinctual response in order to effectively address their concerns with empathy. In a nutshell, this is why our organizations focus on teaching customer service fundamentals to their frontline personnel. So, how should we react when an angry customer’s words or actions go too far—when they respond with personal attacks and aggressively refuse our help? And how exactly do we determine what “going too far” is?
Too Far? We each have a fair amount of gray area when we’re deciding if a customer’s behavior has jumped the proverbial shark. Simply put, your best bet will typically be your gut reaction to their words and behaviors. Do they sound frustrated and stressed because they may not fully understand a decision, regulation, or situation? Are they willing to listen to explanations or options as you attempt to provide them with information (even if they disagree?) Are they regaining composure as the conversation progresses? If the answer is yes, you are likely dealing with someone who can still be helped, even if they’re not completely happy about their options. The “too far” behavior I am referring to is the over-the-top angry person who displays no interest in the socially accepted norms of communication. This is the customer who has completely breached the wall of civility. Their rants are riddled with berating, vulgar, insulting, even dehumanizing statements. They do not seek answers. When asked, they will not change their demeanor or adjust their outrageous behavior. They view this interaction as an opportunity to deliver their own brand of jus10 PARKING & MOBILITY / JANUARY 2021 / PARKING-MOBILITY.ORG
tice using the verbal flame-thrower approach. Sounding all too familiar? If so, I’d like to make a suggestion as you begin this new year: It’s time to stop tolerating abusive behavior from our customers. That’s right. I said it.
Just Stop This advice may initially surprise some of you but hear me out. I am not suggesting that we become intolerant of every frustrated customer or irritation encountered. That approach would be neither reasonable nor helpful. I am suggesting that it is not in our professional best interest to allow someone to verbally abuse us as we make sincere efforts to assist them. We can be most effective when we remain open to actively listening to the customer, making a genuine attempt to work with them through their anger. The key is recognizing when someone’s anger is so pervasive that meaningful dialogue is not possible, and it is clear that the customer has no real interest in our role as helper. It is the point of defining the limits of our professional tolerance to outrageous behavior. This is about projecting professional respect for ourselves and for our organization. I want to suggest four things that can assist you in developing a personal plan to identify and address an angry, aggressive customer: 1. Empower yourself by defining your limits. Consider drafting a document that outlines your professional communication limitations. Think of this as your professional tolerance statement—a mantra of sorts. How can you be helpful when someone displays inappropriate anger? What phrases or statements will you use to let them know the conversation cannot continue unless they agree to communicate respectfully? How will you end the conversation if they continue their bad behavior? Here are a few sample sentences for a professional tolerance statement:
A whole I am trained and prepared to actively listen through a customer’s reasonable frustrations. I realize that their frustration, word choice, and current behavior are likely not about me. Regardless of their communication choices, I will monitor my attitude and communicate professionally as I provide information and options to the customer. I will be mindful of the fact that I am representing myself, my co-workers, and my organization. I will not tolerate unchecked, insulting words and behaviors from anyone. If a customer’s frustration escalates to sustained anger, I will inform them that the conversation cannot continue unless we can agree to communicate respectfully. If the behavior continues, I will bring the conversation to an immediate end, with or without their agreement. 2. Use silence selectively. Contrary to popular belief, silence isn’t always golden. Silence is sometimes used as a communication weapon of sorts—think about giving someone “the silent treatment.” Too often, silence is viewed as a method of self-protection. The theory is if we remain silent long enough, perhaps the other person will eventually calm down. Extended silence can have the opposite effect and may convey passive- aggressive disinterest. Finally, our silence may be interpreted as approval by an angry customer. If their wild assertions go unanswered, they may assume their attitude is justified. While silence is an important part of active listening, we can make the mistake of taking it too far. 3. Practice specific tactical phrases. There is a good chance that you and members of your team already have some de-escalation phrases that have worked well with difficult customers. Make a list of the phrases you can employ when dealing with an angry customer. Share them with others on the team. Here are a few to get you started: • (Redirecting the customer’s focus back to the real issue): “I believe I
can be of help, but I do need to ask you a couple of questions about the situation.” • (Attempting to help the customer reset their angry approach): “I can hear your frustration, so I’d like to suggest that we start this conversation over.” • (A warning to the customer that the call may be ending): “If we aren’t able to have a respectful conversation today, I’ll have to ask you to call back when that can be possible.” As you discover new phrases, add them to the list. If you can review the list on a regular basis, you’ll have a better chance of remembering and using one of the phrases when you’re confronted with anger. 4. Document what just happened. I’m not a betting woman (who am I kidding, yes I am), but it’s a safe bet that your organization has not heard the last from the angry customer, especially if you reached the point of disconnecting the call or walking away from them. While the details are fresh in your mind, write down the specifics of what transpired: What was said (by you and the customer), who else may have overheard the conversation, where you were and what time this all happened. Details are important, especially when the complaint is elevated. Provide your organization’s management team with enough detail to respond accordingly. We need to keep in mind that good communication is a two-way street. We already know it is not okay to treat our customers with disrespect. Let’s not sell ourselves short by allowing others to assume we are not equally deserving of respectful communication. Decide to empower yourself. It is not okay to be treated badly. ◆
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CINDY CAMPBELL is IPMI’s senior training and development specialist. She is available for onsite and online training and professional development and can be reached at campbell@parking-mobility.org.
PARKING-MOBILITY.ORG / JANUARY 2021 / PARKING & MOBILITY 11
/ THE GREEN STANDARD
How the Parking Industry Can Reduce Congestion and Help the Environment By Jeff Perkins
I
N PRE-COVID TIMES, cities faced significant congestion and over-
crowding challenges that had a negative effect on the environment. Even as the global pandemic has temporarily altered this dynamic, once we are on the other side of it, cities should expect these struggles to come roaring back.
The Cost of Congestion We know congestion has a very high cost for cities. For example, in the top four most congested U.S. cities (Boston; Chicago; Washington D.C.; and New York), the total economic cost from congestion is more than $24 billion every year.1 The big question is, can the parking industry be part of the solution? Well, the
answer is yes. This may seem counterintuitive. Parking is all about the personal vehicle. The more people are driving, the more demand there will be for the limited number of parking spots in cities. But it’s not just about getting people parked. It’s about getting them parked efficiently and in a way that will help minimize congestion. Studies show that the average person spends 17 hours per year searching for parking, costing an estimated $345 in wasted time, fuel, and emissions, which means that the mere exercise of looking for a parking spot contributes to congestion and pollution.
Possible Solutions To solve the problem, innovative city leaders are looking for ways to show people where the open parking spots are around them. The City of El Paso uses sensor data in its Park 915 app to show users which spaces are available and which spaces are taken. The City of Columbus has a similar feature, which uses aggregated historical data from their meters and the Park Columbus app to show the likelihood that a spot is open at a specific day and time. While these parking availability solutions are relatively new to the market, they have the potential to reduce the
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time spent circling the block looking for parking, which can significantly affect congestion and vehicle emissions.
Events Another way cities and operators are working to reduce congestion is related to stadium and event venues. In the past, if you were going to a game or concert at the local stadium, you’d just drive down to the venue and then look for parking nearby. Inevitably, when tens of thousands of people are going to the same place at the same time, there’s significant congestion. This is a big problem for cities dealing with the traffic jams that always occur on game day. This usually includes the use of additional police officers to direct traffic before and after the event. It’s also a problem for the stadium venues with angry fans who don’t make it to the game or concert on time due to traffic and parking issues. Plus, the venue misses out on opportunities to sell concessions and merchandise before the event. Many venues are starting to offer pre-paid parking reservations at lots and garages around the venue to solve this
SHUTTERSTOCK / LANAELCOVA
Urban congestion may intensify from the change in consumer mobility behavior from COVID. Let’s think back to the pre-COVID world for a moment. In cities, you had large groups of people who would rely on public transportation to get where they were going. This took a lot of cars off the road, but traffic was still horrible. In our recent research studies, we’ve seen a significant shift in consumer preference away from public transit and toward the personal vehicle. As a result of COVID, consumers told us they expect to use public transportation 46 percent less often and drive a personal vehicle 29 percent more often in the next year. So as commuters start heading back into urban centers, the data suggests they are more likely to drive their own cars rather than take the train or bus, potentially creating even more significant congestion and environmental problems than ever before.
BUSINESS VISION We seek to streamline and optimize control of your parking structure, its management, productivity and security. Our differentiation and competitive advantages enable you to improve the level of service, while exploring new business opportunities.
The big question is, can the parking industry be part of the solution? problem, enabling a fan to book a spot in a specific location. That person drives directly to the lot where they have a reservation rather than driving into the crush of traffic near the stadium, saving time and frustration. A great example of reducing traffic around a venue is Mercedes-Benz Stadium, located right in the busy downtown area of Atlanta, a city well known for its congestion challenges. When the stadium was built several years ago, the team knew traffic would be a major issue for game day. So, they aggressively promoted parking reservations to their fans as a smarter way to attend the game. Once fans discovered the convenience of making a parking reservation, they never looked back. Today, 70 percent of people who go to an event at the stadium book parking in advance, making the gameday experience much better for the fans. These kinds of programs are not just creating a better parking experience, but having a real impact on environmental effects related to congestion. Fewer cars circling the block or idling in traffic means less automotive emissions pumped into the air. As smart cities start planning for a post-COVID world, they need to look to some of these innovative new parking solutions that will reduce congestion, help the environment, and make cities more livable. ◆ JEFF PERKINS is CMO and head of product with ParkMobile. He can be reached at jeff.perkins@ parkmobile.io.
MEYPAR USA Corp. 21755 I45, Building 11, Suite D 77388 Spring, Texas Tel.: +1 346-220-4619 (Sales) www. meypar-usa.com · info@meypar-usa.com
Business Insider, May 2019 - https://www.businessinsider.com/us-cities-with-most-traffic-20192019-2#5-los-angeles-ca-11 1
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/ PARKING & MOBILITY SPOTLIGHT/ACCREDITED PARKING ORGANIZATION
Secure Parking Becomes IPMI’s First International APO By Pamela E. Chikhani
E
STABLISHED IN AUSTRALIA IN 1979, Secure Parking (SP) has been an international
leader in the parking industry for nearly 40 years. Today, SP operates more than 1.2 million parking spaces in 11 countries around the world, including Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, China, India, New Zealand, U.S., U.K., Lebanon, and the UAE. SP’s holdings include more than 1,700 car parks in various types of properties, such as airports, shopping malls, hotels, hospitals, and commercial and financial centers, and they employ in excess of 15,000 staff members. In the UAE, the company started operations in 2005 and we are proud to be associated with many prestigious locations in the country, such as Abu Dhabi International Airport, Dubai International Financial Centre, City Walk 2, Souk Madinat Jumeirah, Abu Dhabi, The Beach by Meraas, Global Market Square, and Rosewood Hotel to name a few.
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Secure Parking pride itself with its high international standards and quality services. Because of this, applying for Accredited Parking Organization (APO) status came naturally as an endorsement and recognition to all the hard work the team exhibits. Our team’s commitment to excellence is very much aligned with the stringent criteria of this accreditation: ■ Governance & organization. ■ Planning & monitoring. ■ Financial budgeting & financial management. ■ Customer service. ■ Personnel education & development.
■ Access
and revenue control. management. ■ Regulations, enforcement, adjudication, and collections. ■ Safety security and risk management. ■ Sustainability. ■ Access management. ■ Marketing & communication. ■ Data management and security. ■ Third party contractors and service level agreements. Our Quality and Business Excellence Department led the accreditation process. ■ Asset
Why APO? IPMI’s APO accreditation is a great public recognition, especially because we were the first organization outside of the U.S. to earn it, and it was awarded with distinction. This is yet another proof of the quality and professionalism being demonstrated by Secure Parking team as a leading parking organization in the UAE. Our clients are further delighted by the APO certification because it helps establish their developments as premier parking facilities; visitors to these developments and parking end users witness the quality services confirmed and committed through the awarded accreditation. We have also earned other honors, including ISO 9001:2015, and Dubai Service Excellence Scheme At Secure Parking, we are passionate about unlocking the true potential of your car park facility. It is our involvement with technology that ensures we select the best innovations and apply them in a way
that serves the ever-changing needs of consumers. Our avant-garde approach is what makes us the gamechangers of the parking industry. Our constant commitment is to set new benchmarks in product innovation, service quality, and timely delivery, and that is what helped us get recognized with this unique international accreditation.” ◆ PAMELA CHIKHANI is general manager of SP Corporation Car Parking Management LLC. She can be reached at pamela@ secureparkinguae.ae.
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/ MOBILITY & TECH
Surveying the Current Curb Management Technology and Policy Landscape By Chrissy Mancini Nichols, Bernard Lee, and Kevin White, AICP
T
HE COVID-19 PANDEMIC has reduced traditional in-person economic activity, which has resulted in
sharp declines in on-street parking by personal vehicles. However, other uses of on-street parking spaces and the curb have surged, including short-term food/goods pick-up, waiting areas for on- demand delivery drivers, courier services, and outdoor dining.
Approaches to Curb Management
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We offer two potential approaches for consideration to better manage the curb. The first follows a traditional parking study approach while the second relies on technology.
Planning Approach: ■ Perform
an inventory of current curb allocation and regulations (spatial and temporal). ■ Collect occupancy and length of stay data of different users throughout the day on weekdays and weekends. ■ Identify current land uses in the study area. ■ Obtain data regarding future land use changes. ■ Estimate future curb demand by user type, spatially and temporally. ■ Adjust curb demand estimates based on changes to land use.
Iterative Approach: ■ Collect
occupancy and length-of-stay data of different users throughout the day on weekdays and weekends. ■ Identify hotspots; block faces with high occupancy and high
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There will be a convergence of activity at the curb, likely phased, as the COVID-19 pandemic ends and economic activity begins to approach pre-COVID-19 levels. On-street parking demand is likely to return, and some behaviors established during the pandemic will continue: ■ On-demand delivery services food and goods pick-up/ drop-off. ■ Courier services. ■ Parklets and outdoor dining. ■ Personal vehicle parking, passenger pick-up/drop-off, and goods pick-up. ■ Transportation network companies (TNCs), such as Uber or Lyft, and taxi pick-up/drop-off. ■ Urban freight. ■ Service vehicles. ■ Micro-mobility. ■ Car-sharing. ■ Public transit. ■ Shuttles.
incidence of unsafe parking/stopping behavior (in travel lane, blocking driveways/crosswalks, in prohibited areas, etc.). ■ Adjust curb space allocations (what types of curb uses are permitted where) to minimize or eliminate hotspots all together. ■ Continue to monitor curb activities and adjust curb allocations as needed. While the planning approach offers a structured methodology, it requires more data and relies on an accumulated knowledge base of curb activity. The iterative approach is much more demand-responsive but requires an investment in ongoing data collection that is most readily achieved by deploying technology. Both approaches require flexibility in adjusting curb allocations and regulations.
Technology Landscape The curb management technology landscape is broad and evolving, with emerging platforms and solutions working to fill specific operational needs based on the changing dynamics of curb use that have even further accelerated from COVID-19. The changing nature of curb demand necessitates a dynamic management approach that goes beyond traditional pricing, payment collection, and enforcement technology and processes. The key element will be how technology solutions best fit together with a policy framework to create a comprehensive curb management approach. The emerging solutions that occupy the curb management technology landscape can be envisioned on a spectrum, as depicted in the figure below. Dynamic curb management is often thought of as a journey, and we recognize that different cities are at different stages in that journey based on specific conditions and needs. Curb management technology solutions
aim to provide specific capabilities for cities at different points in their curb management journey and may support either curb management approach that we have identified. It is likely that future conditions will alter operational needs for curb management, and as a result, curb management solutions providers will pivot and/or new technology platforms will emerge.
Inventory and Regulations Curb space allocation and regulations in many cities are often a result of years of ad-hoc changes and adjustments. For many cities, the first step in the curb management journey is to understand, inventory, and visualize their current mix of curb uses and regulations. This step is essential under the planning approach we outlined. Mapping and smartphone appbased technologies exist to help with data capture, processing, and visualization, using an open-source or private-vendor approach. Once data is captured, it can be visualized using geospatial mapping platforms and harnessed for operational purposes such as communicating information to curb users, determining where to allocate curb management resources, or providing for curb uses like commercial loading zones. Because the curb is an ever-evolving landscape, continual updating of this information is critical.
Monitoring and Enforcement Tools Commercial and passenger pick-up and drop-off activity involves vehicles using the curb for only minutes at a time. This makes tracking and enforcing the use of valuable curb space very challenging for cities using traditional enforcement practices. A host of sensor-based, camera-based (aided by computer vision and machine learning), and other solutions allow cities to build off the foundation of a robust curb inventory
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MOBILITY & TECH
to monitor and track the use of the curb with real-time occupancy, turnover, and other data analytics. Real-time availability data can also be harnessed to direct drivers to open spaces.
operationalize a comprehensive curb management and monetization solution.
Monetization
Cities should consider evaluating the long-term impacts and tradeoffs of agreements to implement technology solutions and create partnerships. They could create flexible policies for curb management so they can adapt as on-demand and new technologies arrive. Cities can use the policy tools at their disposal— zoning, regulations, financing mechanisms—to align private-sector revenue goals with public-sector priorities for curb use. Curbs can then promote access and safety, provide a higher level of service for people and business, and generate revenues that reflect their value. Implementation is the challenging part. However, we’ve seen cities be nimble and take fast action to reprioritize their curbs during the COVID-19 pandemic. As cities define these policies, they should account for: ■ Curb management framework. Cities should first create a curb management framework that determines goals for curb access based on citywide priorities. This framework guides a prioritization process for how the curb functions based on access, commerce, surrounding land uses, and activities. The framework also provides support for creating policies and treatments and evaluating technology solutions and partnerships. ■ Flexibility. Curb management planning requires flexibility to regularly test treatments to gauge public reaction. City councils can approve regulations that set the curb management framework as a policy guide to permit a range of curb uses and fees based on policy priorities. Then, planners can test and adapt ideas and treatments as demand changes and technology around mobility evolves. They’ll have the ability to quickly change uses from parking to pick-up and drop-off, commercial loading, bike parking, that is based on performance. ■ Pricing curb access. Travel options that trend away from driving jeopardize parking revenues over the long term. Cities should consider curb pricing policies beyond parking private vehicles, such as TNC pickup and drop-off, delivery, and parklets. This revenue can help manage demand, make up for declines in parking revenue, and invest in access and mobility improvements. There can be regulatory hurdles to implementing fees. Further, collecting fees requires
Cities are realizing the need and potential for monetizing the use of the curb for non-parking loading activities. Commercial curb loading management and monetization is discussed here as an illustration of current trends. Legacy commercial loading zone permit programs in many cities are not effectively managing these spaces and they are underpriced relative to their true market value. Many cities offer short-term parking or commercial loading areas free of charge. Others charge businesses that request loading zones nearby a nominal fee to place these areas on adjacent curb spaces. Fleet operators are typically not paying to use these curb areas. The desire among many cities is to charge for commercial loading activity on a pay-as-you-go basis. This creates consistent revenue streams for the city while helping manage demand for these spaces. In exchange, fleet operators will benefit from reduced congestion and improved predictability about where loading is permitted and available. Many large fleet operators simply park illegally when conducting loading/unloading for efficiency’s sake and accept parking citations as a cost of doing business. The technology to support dynamic monetization for commercial curb loading zones is not yet fully developed and has not yet been proven at a broad, citywide scale. Some current payment collection technologies rely on commercial drivers to manually start and end commercial loading zone sessions and submit payment through an app or other physical means. As an alternative, video analytics solutions that can read license plates offer potential automation of this process. One can imagine a solution that continuously tracks and logs the time spent using the curb for each permitted and registered commercial fleet operator and delivery driver and collects payments through a dynamic invoicing or billing system on a monthly or recurring basis. Any monetization solution requires participation from fleet and commercial operators and must be scaled up to the city level. Recent months have seen requests for information and proposals from cities like Seattle; Washington, D.C.; Philadelphia; and Columbus, Ohio, to 18 PARKING & MOBILITY / JANUARY 2021 / PARKING-MOBILITY.ORG
Five Policy Considerations for Implementation
technology, so pricing may be an incremental process. As with parking assets, there is the possibility that city curbs could trend toward privatization. Dozens of new companies have developed or are working on solutions to collect and share curb data, enforce regulations, and monetize access. These companies can enter into agreements with companies that need access—TNCs, commercial and on-demand delivery, and dockless vehicle operators—to provide data on space availability. These partnerships can bring innovation, access to capital, and spread out risk that can be leveraged to provide a higher level of service at the curb and generate revenue. However, it is critical that cities are aware of partnerships between private entities and any effects on city planning efforts and broader policy goals. Cities should also evaluate the long-term considerations of agreements with private entities. ■ Track legislation that limits flexibility. Legislative efforts to limit local control around data sharing and fees have been successful. These regulations can prevent cities from implementing their curb management plans. For example, California AB1112, which passed the Assembly but died in the Senate, ■ Public-private partnerships.
would have limited data sharing and equity requirements. The operational landscape of curb management is changing rapidly. No matter where cities are in their curb management journey, navigating the policy and technology landscape thoughtfully is critical to customizing a curb management approach that fits with a city’s unique conditions and needs. ◆ CHRISSY MANCINI NICHOLS is lead, curb management and mobility, with Walker Consultants. She can be reached at cmancini@walkerconsultants.com.
BERNARD LEE is senior consultant with Walker Consultants. He can be reached at blee@ walkerconsultants.com.
KEVIN WHITE, AICP, is parking and mobility consultant with Walker Consultants. He can be reached at kwhite@walkerconsultants.com.
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ASK
THE
EXPERTS What do you think was the greatest lesson learned in parking, mobility, and transportation this year?
Kim E. Jackson, CAPP
Pamela E. Chikhani
Andrew Sachs, CAPP
Vanessa Solesbee, CAPP
Director, Transportation & Parking Services Princeton University
General Manager SP Corporation Car Parking Management LLC
President Gateway Parking Services
Parking & Transit Manager, Estes Valley Resiliency Collaborative (EVRC) Administrator Town of Estes Park, Colo.
With all students invited back to campus for the spring term and limited capacity on our TigerTransit shuttle system, we will be promoting walking and biking more than in past years. The university installed two pedestrian and bike advisory lanes in the fall to improve safety and get motorists to slow down on those roadways. Additionally, all TigerTransit bus signage will be updated and provide information on the walking and biking times from that particular bus stop to key locations on campus.
The year 2021 is going to be all about digitalization and integration. We have put in place a team focused on analyzing the company’s processes and technologies and have dedicated a massive investment to drive this forward aggressively.
2021 gives us a second opportunity to make a great first impression. Throughout the coming year, we expect monthly parkers to return to the office. As we struggle through a dark winter and in anticipation of a spring revival, we are doubling down on our customer service efforts and increasing our product offerings well beyond the parking space in anticipation of increasing our market share, viability, and long-term revenue.
While we are planning to be fiscally conservative we are also cautiously optimistic on the programmatic side. We are resuming our implementation of seasonal paid parking for the first time in the town’s history (an initiative that was paused in 2020 due to COVID). While this may seem like an usual time to start something new, it is the right management decision and brings the benefit of leveraging an existing asset to generate new, ongoing revenues.
Brian Shaw, CAPP Executive Director, Transportation Stanford University We plan to continue our investments in technology to improve our data collection, processes and influence our decision making. We will also make more progress on our DEI efforts and initiative.
/ HAVE A QUESTION? Send it to editor@parking-mobility.org and watch this space for answers from the experts.
The opinions and thoughts expressed by the contributors do not necessarily reflect the opinions and viewpoints of the International Parking & Mobility Institute or official policies of IPMI.
20 PARKING & MOBILITY / JANUARY 2021 / PARKING-MOBILITY.ORG
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Curbing COVID-19 in Indianapolis Repurposing the curb proves a popular and effective strategy for helping cities deal with the pandemic’s effects; here’s how Indianapolis did it.
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By Adam Isen, CAPP, and Matt Darst
HE FINANCIAL AND HUMAN COSTS of the 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19) have been dire, and cities must use all of the tools at their disposal to both encourage social distancing and combat the economic crisis that threatens to marginalize and exclude the most vulnerable. One of the tools that cities are using more and more is repurposing the curb. Faced with COVID-19, Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett’s administration decisively pivoted, establishing an iterative strategy in cooperation with the city’s vendors to mitigate viral spread and provide much needed economic relief during financially precarious times. The first case of COVID-19 was confirmed in Indianapolis on March 6, 2020. By the middle of that month, the mayor had issued an executive order barring non-essential travel, encouraging teleworking, and urging high-risk populations to avoid public gatherings and minimize public travel. Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb also adopted a multi-stage, “back on track” process to control viral spread while promoting business. On March 23, however, with cases increasing, the governor issued a statewide stay-at-home order. Workers were barred from downtown offices. Most special events were canceled or postponed, and the Indianapolis 500 was delayed and was sparsely attended even when it happened. As a result, restaurants struggled and a number of taverns permanently closed their doors. In light of these hardships, Indianapolis led a shift to promote businesses while encouraging social distancing. A key component of this plan: repurposing the public way, including metered parking spaces.
Phase 1: Carry-out
On March 20, the city implemented its carry-out program to promote takeout orders at restaurants. Metered parking spaces at or adjacent to food establishments were converted to allow patrons to park for free for up to 10 minutes to pick up food or receive curbside delivery. The city ensured the process for obtaining a carryout permit was easy: Restaurant owners needing a permit could simply request signs by emailing their business name, owner name, contact information, parking zone, and restaurant location to a specially designated email address.
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CURBING COVID-19 IN INDIANAPOLIS
We anticipate this program will continue for the foreseeable future, helping restaurants cope with city and state mitigation strategies and keep their employees and customers safe. There are approximately 125 affected metered parking spaces, and the Department of Public Works and ParkIndy covered the costs for these occupied spaces. The city designated up to two parking meters in front of any local restaurant as “Carry-out Parking Only.” Initially, 30 parking spaces were converted for this purpose and marked with temporary signs until more permanent signage could be erected and placed on the nearest meter pole. The program was incredibly successful and the number of spaces utilized for this purpose grew to more than 75 within a month. The program made patronizing restaurants much easier in light of the Marion County Public Health Department’s order prohibiting restaurants from serving food to dine-in customers. The order allowed food establishments to continue to prepare and offer food via carryout, delivery, or drive-through. “We don’t have many outside seating options so the street closure and walk up traffic tremendously helped our business,” said Michael Cranfill, owner of Cholita Tacos. “Our customers really enjoyed the shaded outdoor seating, which more than doubled the numbers of diners we could serve at the time.”
Phase 2: Dine Out Indy
After extensive engagement with local restaurants and businesses, city officials announced the Dine Out Indy program on May 22. The program was designed to help more than 100 restaurants, bars, and businesses safely reopen by expanding or adding outdoor options and put them in a position to recover and grow. Further, the program created pedestrian corridors on popular Broad Ripple Avenue and Massachusetts Avenue. Barriers were placed to ensure safety of pedestrians and diners on these streets and further promote social distancing. “We are committed to helping ensure that as restaurants and businesses begin to reopen, the safety of employees, business owners, and patrons continues to be a top priority,” said Mayor Hogsett in a May 19 press release. “We recognize how critical small businesses are to the livelihood of our residents, of our economy, and of our character. We will clear as many obstacles as we can to make sure they can continue to be an integral part of the Indianapolis economy.” As part of this effort, the city continued to fast-track the permitting process. Further, ParkIndy, LLC, closed more than 450 metered parking spaces for the city, defraying much of the city’s costs, and continued to support the carry-out program in other areas.
Phase 3: Supplemental Outdoor Dining
As the Marion County Public Health Department eased restrictions on restaurant capacity, the city remained committed to the 24 PARKING & MOBILITY / JANUARY 2021 / PARKING-MOBILITY.ORG
safety of Indianapolis’ patrons, employees, and businesses. Toward this end, the city continued to promote the creative use of outdoor curb space to support the needs of food establishments. While road closures ended in early September 2020, outdoor curbside dining continued at dozens of facilities. Cement barricades were placed around permitted spaces to provide protected pockets for expanded outdoor dining. The program has been popular among local restaurant owners and employees. “As we all know, COVID-19 has presented many challenges to local businesses,” said Mark Weghorst, owner of seafood restaurant Slapfish-Downtown Indy. “The outdoor seating option was really neat and a positive experience for our customers and staff. We hope to see it continue forever.” We anticipate this program will continue for the foreseeable future, helping restaurants cope with city and state mitigation strategies and keep their employees and customers safe. There are approximately 125 affected metered parking spaces, and the Department of Public Works and ParkIndy covered the costs for these occupied spaces.
transactions by lengthening stays at a meter has a number of benefits, including: ■ Reducing wear and tear on a device, thereby mitigating the need for meter repairs. Fewer repairs means less touch points for staff, and that may help reduce the risk of contracting COVID-19. ■ Shifting motorists toward making payments via an app. Our data reflects that longer stays are more likely to be paid using the motorist’s phone, which reduces the risk of contagion. ■ Increased app payments means there are fewer coin payments required. Again, this reduces interaction with a meter and helps protect vendor employees. ■ Reducing meter feeding, or feeding a meter after the expiration of an initial stay. By reducing the number of times customers have to engage with a meter, we can help prevent the spread of the Coronavirus, as well as other viruses like the common cold and flu. Further, less meter feeding means there’s a reduced likelihood of queuing at a multi-space meter, thereby improving social distancing.
Next Steps
The Public Private Partnership
In addition to helping finance the various meter closure costs, ParkIndy has worked hand-in-hand with the city to support its critical curbside initiatives. As the pandemic worsened, ParkIndy implemented a number of strategies to help contain the spread of the virus. In addition to limiting parking enforcement to enable motorists to take care of short-term errands and food pick-ups without worry, ParkIndy: ■ Strictly enforced social distancing standards among its team of meter mechanics and collectors, including performing as much work as possible from a vehicle, requiring staff to wear gloves, and observing six feet distancing guidelines. ■ Expanded contactless payment options by providing multiple pay by cell options and waving some convenience fees, resulting in more users and nearing 50 percent of payments. ■ Sanitizes parking meters when a technician comes in contact with the device. All meters are again disinfected when service has been completed. All meter contact points are wiped with anti-bacterial disinfectant frequently in high usage areas and at least weekly in areas with less use. ■ Temporarily suspended towing vehicles for outstanding parking citations. The pandemic created economic hardship for many motorists, and the ParkIndy team knows vehicles are often critical for accessing work and educational opportunities. ParkIndy also worked with the city to extend the duration of parking meters downtown and in Broad Ripple from three to four hours, with a goal of reducing transactions at meter devices and encouraging longer stays to assist local businesses. Reducing
As social distancing rules evolve, curbside technologies and policies will continue to provide the flexibility needed to change with Indianapolis’ unique needs. While meter utilization declined substantially in February and March, there has been a gradual uptick in Indianapolis. Despite the closures and changes in behavior, Indianapolis is nearing the point of matching past occupancy. But demand will not return in a proportional manner. As we enter the “new normal,” demand will exceed historical occupancy on some blocks while falling short on others. How occupancy returns is largely dependent on the businesses situated on a block. On blocks primarily served by amusements or facilities for special events, utilization may not return for some time. But spaces near grocery stores, outdoor seating, and establishments like delicatessens are more popular and drive demand. This means that Indianapolis may have an opportunity to reset and rethink the value of the curb, reexamining the location and types of loading zones as well as other curbside uses. The pandemic has stressed the importance of reprioritizing curb use, and the businesses, vendors, and city are committed to a vision that helps provide relief to local businesses and promote social distancing. ◆ ADAM ISEN, CAPP, oversees ParkIndy, LLC., the municipal parking privatization in Indianapolis for Conduent Transportation. He can be reached at adam. isen@conduent.com. MATT DARST oversees an industry-leading analytics team for Conduent Transportation. He can be reached at matthew.darst@conduent.com.
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ted a r g mi out s ha t ab y? d l r ha log o w T wud— chno I e Th o clong te Filice t rki r ete a P p by
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URING THE LAST 10 YEARS, cloud-based solutions have become the dominant trend in the IT world for applications, services, and platforms. End-point and edge devices have become smarter, high-speed networking is more available, affordable and easier to implement, and on-site data centers and software have moved to off-site cloud data centers from Amazon, Microsoft, Google and others. This trend, however, is just beginning to be seen in parking technology. It’s important for parking managers and operators to understand how cloud applications and services will affect them so they can make smart, informed choices and navigate potential challenges.
Cloud Computing and Software-as-aService Fundamentals Let’s begin by briefly defining cloud computing and its close relative Software-as-a-Service (SaaS). Wikipedia offers the following overview definition: “Cloud computing is the on-demand availability of computer system resources, especially data storage (cloud storage) and computing power, without direct active management by the user. The term is generally used to describe data centers available to many users over the Internet. Large clouds, predominant today, often have functions distributed over multiple locations from central servers. If the connection to the user is relatively close, it may be designated an edge server. “Clouds may be limited to a single organization (enterprise clouds) or be available to many organizations (public cloud). Cloud computing relies on sharing of resources to achieve coherence and economies of scale. Advocates of public and hybrid clouds note that cloud computing allows companies to avoid or minimize up-front IT infrastructure costs. Proponents also claim that cloud com-
puting allows enterprises to get their applications up and running faster, with improved manageability and less maintenance, and that it enables IT teams to more rapidly adjust resources to meet fluctuating and unpredictable demand, providing the burst computing capability: high computing power at certain periods of peak demand. “The availability of high-capacity networks, low-cost computers, and storage devices as well as the widespread adoption of hardware virtualization, service-oriented architecture and autonomic and utility computing has led to the growth in cloud computing.” Software-as-a-Service, or SaaS, is the typical offering and pricing model technology vendors use to offer their cloud computing services or solutions to customers and partners. Sometimes, SaaS is referred to by the more generic acronym XaaS, where X can mean several things—software, hardware, platform, database, middleware, compute, etc. In all cases, these acronyms refer to a pricing and delivery model in which the end customer does not own the software licenses and/or hardware platforms, but purchases specific services as needed on a recurring expense basis, usually monthly or annually. Product solution vendors have increasingly moved their architecture and delivery model to some form of cloud architecture in the last 10 years. In the general IT industry, cloud has become the predominant
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IN THE CLOUDS
delivery model. In the parking technology area, migration to cloud has been slower, but it has been picking up steam during the last two to three years. There are now some parking technology vendors that offer only cloud-based solutions, others who offer a choice of cloud or on-premises based, and a few that still offer only on-premises systems or variants of on-premises systems that move the server off-site but are not really cloud-based as defined above. Let’s take a closer look at parking technology cloud migration trends.
Parking Technology Cloud Migration Trends Until two to three years ago, most parking technology vendors provided solutions solely in an on-premises model, meaning that all software and hardware resides on-site at the parking facility location or nearby in an IT room. As overall cloud adoption has increased across all technology sectors, parking technology has started to follow suit. On the one hand, on-premises systems present some advantages: ■ They are easy to touch and see to verify if they are working. ■ They are completely within the control of the customer or operator and can be kept secure with proper measures. ■ They do not rely heavily on remote communications networks and are not generally subject to internet outages. 28 PARKING & MOBILITY / JANUARY 2021 / PARKING-MOBILITY.ORG
■ Once purchased, they generally need only limited
ongoing maintenance so recurring expenses are generally low to moderate. On the other hand, parking managers and operators are well aware of the challenges that accompany onsite hardware and software: ■ Room must be found to host the hardware in a suitably secure and climate-controlled space with appropriately reliable electricity. ■ Hardware must be maintained, repaired, and occasionally upgraded. ■ Underlying components of the system software, such as the Microsoft Windows operating system, must be kept current and in some cases replaced when no longer supported by the original software vendor. ■ At some point, the system must be replaced leading to a new capital expenditure, which is sometimes more expensive than predicted or available in the budget In response to these challenges, some parking technology vendors initially began to offer certain optional system software packages (such as reporting or business analytics) in the cloud with SaaS pricing, while the core software and hardware remained on-site. This is a hybrid cloud solution. In time, some vendors have gone farther and migrated fully to cloud by moving all central server and software components of parking access and revenue control systems(PARCS) and automated parking guidance systems (APGS) into the cloud, again with SaaS-based pricing on a monthly
or annual basis. Some of these vendors still offer either on-premises or cloud-based solutions while others are offering only a cloud-based model. Of course, in all cases, some components of PARCS and APGS systems must still physically reside on site, such as entry/exit stations, pay stations, parking occupancy sensors, digital signage, etc. Nonetheless, some vendors have recently taken the XaaS model further by offering Hardware-as-a-Service, in which the vendor provides the on-site hardware and all associated maintenance under a monthly or annual service fee (essentially a version of an equipment lease). All of these approaches offer new creative alternatives as well as posing new questions and challenges for parking customers and operators.
Examples of Cloud-Based PARCS and APGS Solutions For illustrative purposes, here are several examples of vendor solution architectures that are either inherently cloud-based or offer a cloud-based option. As noted above, it isn’t actually possible for every component of a PARCS or APGS system to be in the cloud because some parts of the system are physical devices that must reside on the customer’s site.
The portion of a PARCS system that resides in the cloud is usually the main software and reporting and analytics functions. In a cloud-based PARCS, the on-premises components such as entry/exit stations, pay-on-foot machines, and so forth are connected directly to the cloud
As overall cloud adoption has increased across all technology sectors, parking technology has started to follow suit.
across secure internet sessions. All PARCS processing (e.g. payments, credential validations, etc.) is done in the cloud. Similarly, in an APGS, the system still needs to have some on-premises components such as space or lot counting sensors, digital signage, etc. However, some APGS vendors have moved to architectures in which those “edge devices” are directly cloud-connected, often via a cellular data network. In this case, the aggregation of count data and control of digital signage all occurs from the cloud.
Questions to Ask When Considering Cloud-based Parking Solutions Here are some useful, high-value questions to ask when considering cloud-based parking technology solutions. ■ What is the underlying architecture
of your cloud solution? Does your solution use a shared (also known as “multi-tenant”) instance approach or do you start up a separate cloud instance for each customer? Is your solution truly cloud-based or just hosted? Ask for a detailed architecture diagram and verify you are getting an actual cloudbased solution, as discussed in the previous section. ■ Do you also offer a Hardware-asa-Service option for PARCS/APGS components that must still physically reside on my site? ■ Does the architecture diagram indicate the use of on-premises
data processing? Such devices may be labeled “lane controllers,” “data appliances,” or other similar terms. Evaluate whether these devices may need maintenance such as UPS service, OS updates, system redundancy, or data backup and if so, how that affects the value of the proposed cloud solution. ■ Is your solution built on top of a major cloud platform such as AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, or Oracle Cloud? If so, which one and what exact cloud services are you using from that platform for compute, database, security, etc.? ■ How is my data stored and how is it partitioned from other customers’
data? Do I retain full and exclusive ownership of all my data? ■ How do you implement and ensure security of my data? For PARCS vendors, is your cloud solution compliant with the latest PCI security standards including P2PE? ■ How do you ensure that your cloud solution does not add excessive latency that will impact my parking customers’ experience? ■ What sort of networking is needed between my site and your cloud center(s)? Who provides this network? ■ What is your cloud-based SaaS pricing model? Do you offer discounts for multi-year SaaS agreements? ■ What happens if and when I terminate my SaaS contract? How do I obtain my data, and will it be in a portable format?
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IN THE CLOUDS
Cloud is Not a Panacea and Not All Cloud Solutions are Created Equal So, should parking customers and operators migrate immediately to cloud-based solutions? Are on-premises solutions a thing of the past? And are all cloud-based solutions created equal? As you would expect, there are no absolute right or wrong answers to these questions. Among other things, some cloud solutions are relatively new and not widely proven, and additionally some solutions claiming to be “cloud” actually are not. There are also financial considerations that need to be carefully understood: ■ Some solutions claiming to be “cloud” actually are not. For example, a solution that simply moves a customer-owned server offsite to a co-location data center is not cloud—it’s simply off-site hosting. While the customer does not have to provide an IT facility to host the server, they still own the server. Another example is a vendor who claims to have created their own cloud when in fact they are just operating a hosted server farm with a series of servers, each of which is dedicated to one customer. While these approaches may be marketed as cloud and may appear as cloud in some ways to the customer, they do not take advantage of true cloud-based architectures and do not have the same scalability, support, and cost benefits. ■ Some solutions that are an actual cloud architecture may not use industry-leading cloud services providers such as Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, etc. as the foundation of their cloud, choosing to implement their own proprietary cloud services platforms. This approach has risks associated with any proprietary solution, not to mention cannot offer the kind of broad support and wide technology choices of an industry-leading cloud platform. Even when an industry-leading cloud platform is used, that is not a guarantee that best practices are being followed. For example, there was a parking software vendor using AWS solely as a raw computing platform, while the customer data was all co-mingled in a single open source database. Such an approach is insecure and unstable. Also, some cloudbased approaches may not take full advantage of socalled “multi-tenant” architectures, instead starting a separate cloud instance for each customer. Such an approach may be acceptable, but it doesn’t take full advantage of cloud scalability. Unless you ask your vendor probing questions, you may not discover poor or sub-optimal practices and you will not understand 30 PARKING & MOBILITY / JANUARY 2021 / PARKING-MOBILITY.ORG
if their experience with cloud-based solutions is strong or minimal. ■ Some cloud solutions may introduce latency (delays) into PARCS transactions or APGS count displays, because these data exchanges have to make a round-trip network connection to the cloud, which may be located hundreds of miles away. Properly implemented cloud solutions that use high-bandwidth, low-latency network connections can avoid these issues. ■ Parking managers and operators need to understand the financial tradeoffs between a cloud approach with monthly or annual recurring SaaS charges (normally treated as recurring operating expense) vs. an up-front, on-premises purchase (usually treated as a capital purchase). Depending on the sources of funding and the financial metrics for each customer or project, one approach may be more advantageous than the other. Note that some cloud vendors offer multi-year SaaS pricing models that can approximate a capital purchase model by allowing a significant discount up-front in exchange for a prepaid multi-year SaaS agreement. ■ Carefully consider issues of data ownership and security when moving to a cloud-based approach. As the parking customer, you should ensure that all ownership of your parking system data resides with you whether it is stored on-premises or in an off-premises cloud. It’s your data and moving it to the cloud doesn’t change that! In that same vein, it is important to ensure that your data is secure when it is passing from your site over the internet and into cloud-based applications and data stores. Cloudbased PARCS and APGS providers need to provide assurance that they are following industry best practices when it comes to security, data partitioning, data integrity and backup, and data ownership. Lastly, you should be allowed to remove or copy your data off the cloud platform without penalty should you switch vendors in the future. By applying the knowledge and best practices as outlined in this article, customers can make informed choices when considering cloud-based parking solutions such as PARCS and APGS. ◆ PETER FILICE is senior consultant with Walker Consultants. He can be reached at pfilice@walkerconsultants.com.
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IPMI’s Planning, Design, and Construction Committee weighs in on the short- and longer-term effects of the COVID-19 crisis and what our industry will face in the coming year.
32 PARKING & MOBILITY / JANUARY 2021 / PARKING-MOBILITY.ORG
SHUTTERSTOCK/ PETOVARGA
What will be the lasting effects of COVID-19 on parking, transportation, and mobility? What will post-COVID parking and mobility look like? How will they change as a result of the pandemic?
James C. Anderson
John K. Bushman, PE
Market Development Manager | Building Solutions Team Master Builders Solutions US, LLC
Chairman & CEO Walker Consultants
Parking, transportation, and mobility will certainly be affected by how society resides, works, and recreates in a post-pandemic environment. Pre-pandemic workspaces consisting of conventional offices are being reimagined with a focus on health, wellness, necessity of physical presence, and office density. There is an emerging realization that actual work and collegiate-level learning can be accomplished virtually, reducing some level of demand for on-site presence. This, of course, affects demand for parking and transportation networks. The effects on urban planners and transportation networks are yet to be fully understood. Society continues to have an affinity for the independence of the personal vehicle and the societal need for mass-transit in urban centers is essential for efficient movement among people and service provision. What we do know is that human interaction is healthy and important to the human experience whether virtual or in-person and that travel and mobility whether in a personal vehicle, mass-transit, airplane, oceanbound vessel, or spaceship will remain a vital part of that experience in the years to come.
The recovery timeline from the current recession in parking demand won’t be clear until probably March, when the vaccine is more widely available and if it is widely accepted. Parking demand may dip further until then. There will be at least some permanent reduction in parking demand, especially retail and hospitality. Only population growth will replace it. Dining and entertainment will likely come back more quickly and more fully, although it will take significant time for new restaurants to get up and running to replace extensive closures. Office parking demand will be permanently reduced due to telecommuting, on a per-employee basis. However where hoteling of office workstations occurs, parking demand may even go up per square foot due to less transit use by people who go to the office infrequently. Otherwise parking demand for offices will likely decline. Driving instead of transit is likely to be up short term and/or if there is population migration to less dense urban areas. There could be long-term change in trends on auto ownership. When population moves, there are development opportunities. If there is sustained migration to midsize more livable cities, such as Austin, Raleigh, Boise, etc., and a desire to be in walkable live/work/ play neighborhoods, there will be plenty of planning, studies, and design of new parking facilities for development in those cities. Sustainability will be the No. 1 mantra of the parking industry for the next decade. The overall reduction in parking demand is a development opportunity to intensify land uses, especially where the parking is surface lots. Shared parking is and will remain the key to smart growth.
PARKING-MOBILITY.ORG / JANUARY 2021 / PARKING & MOBILITY 33
CASTING A LONG SHADOW
Matthew Kennedy, CAPP Special Assistant to the Vice President Division of Finance and Administration Northeastern Illinois University
Mass transit, car-sharing, carpooling, and other modes of transportation that are perceived to pack people together will continue to suffer in the U.S., at least for the medium term. As more and more areas are released from lockdown and the economy recovers, driving solo and motorcycling, along with micro-mobility options, will increase in popularity, and this will be an enduring trend. Profits will return to parking.
Patrick Wells Regional Director, Business Development DESMAN
COVID appears to have accelerated the adoption of telecommuting and remote work at a rate several times of what might have otherwise happened naturally, and significantly cut down the momentum TNCs were building. Now we are hearing that most of the major transit agencies in the U.S. are contemplating major service reductions to make their books balance, mostly in terms of commuter rail connections from outlying communities into downtown cores. Scooters and bike-sharing services have both retracted as a result of the down economy. It remains to be seen how permanent these changes are. We now have people selling homes and fleeing major municipal cores for gateway cities; there’s a lot of noise in the local business journals that when the next lease cycle comes up, a lot of employers who don’t love telecommuting are likely to defect to suburban office parks, which are more accessible by personal vehicle and offer all the amenities of downtown now that half 34 PARKING & MOBILITY / JANUARY 2021 / PARKING-MOBILITY.ORG
the restaurants and shops are shuttered. Classical economics and history suggest that as residents and businesses leave the urban cores, rental and lease rates will drop to a point where they will eventually start enticing people back. For example, we are working with a small local developer who wants help sizing a new garage that will serve a mixed-use project. A year ago, we were trying to accommodate reductions in parking demand due to Uber, Lyft etc.,and thinking about adaptive reuse. Now we see millennials and others buying autos and staying away from transit and shared rides. This has made estimating demand more difficult—we don’t know if trends will continue or revert. In the near term, it would be useful to focus on demand drivers and to pose questions about what impact is temporary and what might be considered long-term and by how much. In another example. we can start to examine the office market and ask questions about what people believe will be the long-term impact of COVID on office occupancy. We could take it a step further and also ask about net migration and how these relate. Are people moving to second-tier cities in hopes of escaping densely populated cities? If they are, what will the impact be on the office market on both the “winning” and “losing” geographies? In 2021 we will be exploring all of these market trends to determine just what our disrupted industry looks like, and how it will function, in the years to come.
John W. Nolan, CAPP, MSM Managing Director of Transportation and The Campus Service Center Harvard University
In the short term: We are seeing a significant shift to a work-from-home model, with many businesses leveraging technologies such as Zoom, Teams, and Slack. Health experts are stating that the country will not achieve the needed representative vaccination levels until June 2021, so
programs put in place reacting to this crisis will probably need to continue until then. A shift to more driving and away from transit has already taken place in a significant manner with reductions in parking demand over 80 percent in many areas of the county. Parking revenue losses achieved in the past nine months and to be achieved in future months will not be recovered anytime soon. Adjusting multi-year financial plans and sharpening future commuter travel mode assumptions is the first step in projecting what a financial recovery might look like. Acknowledging the safety concerns of employees is very important in designing and managing a transportation access program in this time of COVID. There is no data that concludes taking transit is inherently unsafe, however, staff continue to express safety concerns in taking public transit. With low ridership, short travel time intervals, the wearing of facial coverings (masks), social distancing, and effective cleaning procedures for public and private transit, the risk of getting COVID on transit is low. However, the perceptions of unsafe transit have led to staff concerns surrounding cost equity between transit subsidies and the cost of parking. Adjustments have been made by a number of sectors to better equalize costs, especially where transit serves a much larger percentage of frontline essential workers and those working in the heath and research areas who are required to be physically present at work. Creating equity in cost by reducing parking costs has helped ease anxiety in this area for workers who feel unsafe riding transit and feel they would otherwise be forced into higher commuting costs while many others in their organization stay home with no travel costs required.
In the long term: Covid-19 has had a profound impact on the parking, transportation, and mobility industry. Instituting basic sanitary protocols in most organizations has reduced the spread of this disease. In the long term, there will be greater recognition, especially during flu season, that implementing some or all of these protocols will reduce the rate of flu and improve businesses’ productivity and reduce lost time. Business continuity planning never envisioned the impact of a pandemic. So, accountability around operational reserves and underwater budgets are understood by senior management. Now, long-range
strategic planning is needed to get back our financial balance. Although programs took some hits to sustainability goals and financial outcomes, if we are managing through this crisis correctly, we have continued to plan a multi-year financial recovery while planning to implement new programs that promote and support multi-modal access and infrastructure across our organizations. As Winston Churchill is said to have stated: “Never let a good crisis go to waste.” Taking this time to plan and advance in these areas will set us up for more flexible mobility programs in the long term. Taking a silo approach to parking, transportation, and mobility will no longer stand. The effect of this crisis upon our own individual areas of responsibility and the need to serve a much broader universe within our entities is essential. Long term, we will continue to make sacrifices (reduced revenues) for the greater good. We will continue to expand livable streets which sacrifices parking revenue to create space for other modalities. We will continue to invest in additional bike lanes and dedicated bus travel lanes, which will reduce our bottom line. However, we realize this lost revenue comes back to our businesses through better placemaking and mobility while maintaining the vitality of these spaces that attract people to live, work, and play. We will continue to leverage technology, allowing customers to move seamlessly between multi-model options while capturing revenues in all modes that achieve budget objectives. By 2022 we will be close to where we were preCOVID except for our financials, which will take more time to recover. As mentioned above, some changes will remain, such as work from home, and many individuals will use more than one mode to commute on a regular basis. Although collaboration using technologies like Zoom, Teams, and Slack will continue to enable remote interactions, there is no substitute for in-person learning and collaboration; just look at regressive remote school learning during this crisis. Well-established personal contact encounters is where real learning and collaboration take place. This is a formula for impromptu encounters and interdisciplinary teams that deliver exciting breakthroughs in many areas such as science, business, law, and government that would otherwise not have happened. These close encounters are where real breakthroughs happen so the need to collaborate in person will continue to drive us to access norms similar to before the pandemic. We need to make sure our programs and infrastructure are up to the task.◆ PARKING-MOBILITY.ORG / JANUARY 2021 / PARKING & MOBILITY 35
2020 YEAR IN REVIEW
Dear IPMI Members, What a year we’ve had. Through all the challenges, turmoil, and unknowns, I’ve been proud to be part of parking and mobility—an industry that rose up, kept moving forward, and helped its communities in countless ways. I hope you enjoy this look back at all we accomplished at IPMI and continue taking advantage of so many ways to stay connected. Many thanks to my fellow Board members, our dedicated committee volunteers, all of our members who stepped up this year, and to our office staff. I’m proud of all we accomplished and looking forward to a year filled with recovery and success. Sincerely, David Onorato, CAPP Executive Director, Pittsburgh Parking Authority Chair, IPMI Board of Directors
36 PARKING & MOBILITY / JANUARY 2021 / PARKING-MOBILITY.ORG
Staying Connected Innovation was the name of the game in 2020 and just as our members around the world changed course to a new normal, so did IPMI. Between a frequently updated COVID Information Clearinghouse to ways to stay connected that included CAPP scholarships, free transitional memberships, a series of free online Shoptalks, and collaboration and a new resume exchange on Forum, we came together like never before. These joined our free Career Center, and our Roadmap to Recovery publication series as vital resources. And IPMI joined other industry organizations in formally requesting federal aid for our industry.
STAY CONNECTED WITH US!
2020 IPMI Virtual Conference & Expo
PARKING-MOBILITY.COM
2020 Leadership Summit With nearly 500 attendees, this year’s Leadership Summit blew the lid off our traditional event—in a good way! Keynotes from Julius Rhodes, Ashley Owens, and favorite Drew Dudley set the stage for afternoons of learning, connecting, and leading.
The COVID-19 pandemic struck the U.S. in earnest in March, meaning a quick pivot to a virtual Conference for industry professionals, and you changed course right along with us for the industry’s first major online event. A record number of attendees joined us online for 40 sessions (live, on-demand, Learning Labs and sneak peek sessions). Who knew chat boxes would be such an amazing highlight of the year? A special shout-out to our supplier members who learned to put up virtual booths in a hurry and served as invaluable resources for professionals Number of hours #IPMI2020 attendees looking for new engaged in sessions, solutions in a awards programs, our new business new Smart Cities environment. Pavilion, and other IPMI
4,000 +
Conference features.
PARKING-MOBILITY.ORG / JANUARY 2021 / PARKING & MOBILITY 37
Professional Development
Advancing Our Industry
Industry members kept learning even when they couldn’t gather physically together. A new Frontline Fundamentals online series brought targeted professional development to frontline parking employees, a host of new online courses kept brains stretching, and bulk pricing and an annual subscription model for webinars brought more education to professionals than ever before. Top that with Shoptalks, a new online testing option for CAPP, and customized, live, online courses for organizations, and it was a great year to learn. Many thanks to our team of trainers, presenters, our CAPP Board, and all of our professional development volunteers for making it all happen! A special thank you to our Shoptalk moderators who dedicated their time and expertise—check them all out here and subscribe to our YouTube channel! Be sure to plan ahead for the entire year – download the new IPMI Insider’s Guide to Professional Development for all the details on free and discounted courses of every shape and size—designed to meet all your training needs.
Even when life looked nothing like normal, parking and mobility professionals and organizations kept marching forward to keep their communities moving. A new class of Accredited Parking Organizations (APOs) was recognized during the 2020 IPMI Virtual Conference & Expo and even more have achieved the honor since then. If you are thinking about pursuing APO, now is the time! All application fees are waived and accreditation fees are discounted through 2021.
Congratulations to Our New APOs!
2,000+ Online Shoptalk participants in 2020
More than
1,800 professionals trained in Frontline Fundamentals courses this year.
Nearly
50%
Increase in IPMI members who used our learning management system (LMS) to boost their professional knowledge through sessions, events, and other educational offerings.
38 PARKING & MOBILITY / JANUARY 2021 / PARKING-MOBILITY.ORG
A new partnership with Veterans in Parking (ViP) was inked in late 2020 to help get esteemed military veterans to work in the parking industry—look for more on this in 2021.
Embracing Our Differences IPMI embarked on a new journey to explore diversity, equity, and inclusion in the industry and beyond. With a fireside chat and several other online events plus a new, bi-monthly column in Parking & Mobility magazine, the conversations have been meaningful and impactful so far—and there’s more to come in 2021.
Looking Ahead We’re all looking forward to industry recovery in 2021 and there’s lots to get you started. ■ IPMI’s Mobility & Innovation Summit, coming to a
computer near you in February. ■ The 2021 IPMI Conference & Expo, the industry’s largest
event, with lots of great new features and surprises in store.
IPMI MOBILITY & INNO SUMMIT: The Changing Land
■ A new marketing and media kit tailor-made for the International Parking & Mobility Institute
2021
Marketing & Media Kit EFFECTIVE JANUARY 1, 2021
Thank you! Many, many thanks to everyone who made 2020 a successful year despite the challenges we all faced. Our Board of Directors; APO Board; CAPP Board; committee and task force volunteers; everyone who moderated our Shoptalks, webinars, panel discussions, and sessions; and all of our members who contributed their expertise in so many ways, thank you! It’s our honor to work with all of you. Here’s to 2021!
industry and designed to support all of our members and programs. ■ More resources for recovery, updated almost daily. ■ Monthly Shoptalks, webinars, courses, special events, and more! ■ We’ll keep you posted through the IPMI Insider newsletter, social media, and our website.
Join us online for two half exploring trends and tech, d practical solutions, and ex perspectives.
KEYNOTE SPEAKER: Steve Lerch, President, Story Arc Consulting “Innovation Through Culture – Stories from a Decade at Google.” Sponsored by:
Early-bird member rate
Register up to FIVE team member PARKING-MOBILITY.ORG / JANUARY 2021 / PARKING & MOBILITY 39
February 24 - 25,
/ IPMI IN ACTION/IPMI TRAINING
Reinventing Training By Kathleen Federici, MEd
S
TEVE FIEHL WROTE IN Training Magazine that “reinventing learning is the only solution to irrelevance
and that the future of learning is self-driven.” IPMI has embraced this type of thinking. For example, in 2013 IPMI reinvented the CAPP exam to be self-driven to meet international credentialing standards, and to make the certification more accessible to industry professionals. It is also important to note that disruption also necessitates reinvention. For example, not too long ago, when I went on a car trip, I would physically go to my local AAA office and get a TripTik that highlighted my driving route. I would flip the pages as I went along the route and was so excited when I got on the last page of that pamphlet, which meant I was nearing my destination. Disruption happened and now I use a road trip app and have no need for paper maps or TripTiks. Disruption and reinvention are no strangers to our industry nor our training modes. COVID-19 disrupted the way the CAPP exam was administered; now we offer new opportunities to take the CAPP exam through a remote proctoring arrangement instead of going to a physical proctored site. The Deloitte Global Human Capital Trends Report reports that in March 2020, one third of humanity was in lockdown due to COVID-19. With this lockdown, technology and how it can connect relationships and organizations was the primary discussion to keep businesses human in a technology driven world.
fered for three industry-specific tracks: Industry Operations; Managing the Curb; and University Planning. The participant watches three recorded learning experiences to earn the certificate.
2021 Webinar Series New this year, we can provide the entire annual webinar series (both 11 live and on-demand plus three additional on-demand) for a discounted price so organizations can plan on relevant learning opportunities. For example, if the webinar cannot be viewed live, as long as you are registered for it, access to the recording will be granted for later viewing. Register now for the series and get three additional on-demand webinars at no extra cost! It is our goal to meet your member needs and support your career and organizational development, today and well into the future. By offering self-driven learning opportunities and various kinds of training opportunity, we can continue to advance the industry together. Reach out and let us know how our professional development can support you and your organization at professionaldevelopment@parking-mobility.org. ◆
Our New Certificate Programs To meet these new conditions, IPMI evaluated our trainings to make sure we provide ways to keep our members connected to vital industry information during this time and into the future. Enter our new certificate programs: these on-demand programs are of-
KATHLEEN FEDERICI, MEd, is IPMI’s director of professional development. She can be reached at federici@parking-mobility.org.
IPMI’s New Certificate Programs Purchase one certificate program for $49, or all three for $125. Industry Operations: Planning, Tech, and Finance ■ Are Parking Minimums A Thing of The
Past? Planning, Policy, and Technology Solutions to Right-size Parking Requirements ■ Trends to Track: Exploring Tectonic Forces Affecting Parking and Transportation ■ You’ve Got to Crunch the Numbers: How Finance and Operations Work Together for Success ■ Buy this certificate package for $49.
Managing the Curb: On-Street Operations, Enhancing Mobility Options, and Urban Innovation
University Planning, Operations, and TDM
■ Competing for the Curb: Can On-street
peting Priorities Within University and Healthcare Parking and Transportation Operations ■ From the University Perspective: Today’s Parking Challenges and How To Meet Them ■ TDM For the Win: Creating a More Sustainable Campus ■ Buy this certificate package for $49.
Parking Management Survive? ■ Managing the Corridor: A New Way to Enhance Mobility and Reduce Congestion with Parking ■ Urban Innovation Panel: Smart Cities, Disruption, and Technology ■ Buy this certificate package for $49.
40 PARKING & MOBILITY / JANUARY 2021 / PARKING-MOBILITY.ORG
■ Managing Demand: Harnessing Com-
2021 WEBINAR SCHEDULE GET THIS DEAL NOW!
Members-only: Purchase 2021 webinars shown below for $299 before January 31, 2021. That’s 30% off to train your team all year long!
JANUARY 13, 2021
Curbing COVID-19 at the Curb
Presenter: Matthew Darst, JD, Director of Curbside Management, Conduent Transportation
FEBRUARY 10, 2021
Frictionless Parking: Smoothing Out the Edges for a Seamless Mobility Experience Presenter: The IPMI Technology Committee
MARCH 17, 2021
Using Social Listening to Improve Your Customer Service Presenter: Melonie Curry, Communications Manager, ParkHouston
APRIL 21, 2021
Teleworking: An Alternate Mobility Mode Presenters: Perry H. Eggleston, CAPP, DPA, Executive Director for Transportation Services; and Ramon Zavala, Transportation Demand Manager, UC Davis Transportation Services, University of California at Davis
MAY 19, 2021
Operational Measures that Produce a Positive Customer Experience and Drive Organizational Success Presenters: Tammy Baker, Vice President of Client Experience; and Brian Wolff, President & CEO, Parker Technology Inc.
JULY 14, 2021
The Parking Study is Done. Now What? Presenter: Jennifer McCoy, PE, PTOE, Senior Traffic Engineer, Bolton & Menk, Inc.
AUGUST 11, 2021
Ask Better Questions, Get Better Answers: Improve Your RFP Procurement Process to Receive Quality Proposals Presenter: Mandy Bowers, Senior Marketing Specialist, Kimley-Horn
SEPTEMBER 15, 2021
Collecting Lost Revenue: The Payment Behind the Parking Payment
Presenters: Andrew LaMothe, Regional Director of Sales, Passport; and Brian Shaw, CAPP, Executive Director of Transportation; Stanford University
OCTOBER 20, 2021
How U.S. Cities can Learn from Smart City Innovations in Europe
Presenter: David Parker, Chief Operating Officer, Cleverciti
NOVEMBER 10, 2021
The Truth Behind Common Parking Myths Presenters: Michael Pendergrass, AIA, Associate Principal; and Matt Davis, Associate Principal; Watry Design, Inc.
DECEMBER 15, 2021
Getting Smart: Strategies to Get Started Creating Smart Communities Presenter: Thomas Szubka, CAPP, Senior Consultant, Walker Consultants
parking-mobility.org
/ STATE & REGIONAL SPOTLIGHT/TEXAS PARKING & TRANSPORTATION ASSOCIATION
Great Things Happening in Texas By Mary Mabry, CAPP
S
INCE 1987, the Texas Parking & Transportation Association has been a vehicle for individuals engaged
with parking and transportation businesses in municipalities, hospitals, airports, universities, and parking authorities. We promote the mutual interests of the membership in the provision and operation of adequate, safe, efficient, convenient, and economical public parking and transportation as a proper and necessary function for the economic and social well-being of our members. TPTA works hard to educate members and their customers about the importance and impact of parking and transportation in general and promote industry best practices. TPTA’s new vision: parking. mobility. connected. We are a dedicated organization that engages in relationship building, information sharing, and business growth. The following sums up our key priorities and ongoing objectives: ■ Expand membership. Expand regular membership by 30 percent in the next
two years within Texas and surrounding states through personal engagement and professional marketing. ■ Enhance the Annual Conference. Review the pricing structure, expand conference offerings, and create a marketing strategy to target all parking and transportation professionals in Texas and surrounding states. ■ Enhance outreach and communications. Improve member outreach and communications by connecting mem-
42 PARKING & MOBILITY / JANUARY 2021 / PARKING-MOBILITY.ORG
bers and vendors, establishing member volunteer committees, launching annual formal engagement survey, and formalizing membership communications vehicles. ■ Enhance roundtable program. Enhance the roundtable program by instituting social/networking events in conjunction with the roundtables, identifying topics that appeal to different facets of parking and transportation and creating a volunteer committee.
2020 TPTA BOARD OF DIRECTORS PRESIDENT
SECRETARY
Maria Irshad, CAPP, MPA Assistant Director for ParkHouston, City of Houston.
Dennis Delaney, CAPP Assistant Director of Operations for Parking & Transportation Services at the University of Texas at Austin.
VICE PRESIDENT
2020 Conference and Tradeshow The TPTA 2020 Conference and Tradeshow was canceled three weeks prior to the date due to COVID-19. Although it was a difficult decision at the time, all our vendors, sponsors, and venue administrators were gracious by allowing us to rebook for a later date in 2023. We thank them all and in view of all our industry has endured since then, it reunites us for a hopeful new normal return for the future. We wanted to note that for all our members and vendors who registered for the 2020 Conference, those fees will be used for the 2021 Conference at the Kalahari Resort.
Mary B. Mabry, CAPP Product Manager/Client Advocate-Parking Solutions for Cardinal Tracking, Inc.
Awards These awards will be recognized during our 2021 event so please make sure you submit your nominations: ■ Distinguished Service Award. ■ Employee of the Year.
Peter Lange Associate Vice President of Transportation Services at Texas A&M University.
TREASURER
Nicole Chinea, CAPP Senior Project Manager for WGI. BOARD MEMBERS
Dean Ahmad Assistant Vice President at DFW International Airport.
Michelle Morris Southwest Regional Sales Manager for Toledo Ticket Company.
Clay Haverland Assistant Vice President of Campus Services at The University of Texas at San Antonio.
Jaime Snyder, CAPP Senior Parking Consultant with Walter P Moore.
Bill Herrel Senior Account Executive for Associated Time and Parking Controls.
Roundtables and Networking The three networking and educational sessions have always been a big draw. Unfortunately, these sessions had to be put on hold for 2020 due to the restrictions caused by the virus disruption but what emerged in its place was our biweekly Let’s Do Lunch series that Jaime Snyder, CAPP, oversees and facilitates. These webinars offer a way for our members and industry to stay connected and supported while providing an avenue to connect with others and discuss challenges, solutions, and insights centered around COVID-19. TPTA thanks all our members who have shared and participated in our Let’s Do Lunch series and all the sponsors who donated gift cards during those webinars.
IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENT
■ Parking
Structure-New. Structure-Restoration Project . ■ Parking Program. ■ Parking Equipment and Technology. ■ Parking
Marc Denson Award Scholarship TPTA presented the first Marc Denson Award Scholarship to Dakota Lopez with the University of North Texas at the 2019 TPTA Roundtable and Networking session held at UT Austin. The recipient of our 2020 Marc Denson Award Scholarship was presented to Bradley Ervin with Sam Houston State University during our Let’s Do Lunch Zoom sessions in 2020. It was noted that Bradley has been on the dean’s list the last three semesters. He embodies the spirit of the scholarship as a servant leader, as he volunteers at his church and has shown excellent customer service in his past jobs at the University Hotel and serving as an intern for U.S. Congressman Bill Flores.
Paul Stresow Director of the International Bridges Department for the City of El Paso.
2021 TPTA Conference and Tradeshow August 9–12, at Kalahari Resort and Conventions, Round Rock, Texas. This year, we will include a hybrid type conference so that those wanting to attend in person may do so while others can still join and gather educational value through our outstanding presentation agenda. For more information and to register, please see our website. Please note that all guidelines and precautions for social distancing will be enforced and followed. More events will be planned throughout the year so be sure to check out our website or email TPTA@ texasparking.org. ◆ MARY B. MABRY, CAPP, is product manager/client advocate-parking solutions for Cardinal Tracking, Inc. She can be reached at mmabry@ cardinaltracking.com.
PARKING-MOBILITY.ORG / JANUARY 2021 / PARKING & MOBILITY 43
IPMI MOBILITY & INNOVATION SUMMIT: The Changing Landscape Join us online for two half-days of exploring trends and tech, discovering practical solutions, and expanding perspectives. KEYNOTE SPEAKER: Steve Lerch, President, Story Arc Consulting “Innovation Through Culture – Stories from a Decade at Google.” Sponsored by:
Early-bird member rate is $79. Register up to FIVE team members for $199!
February 24 - 25, 2021 EARLY-BIRD RATES END JAN 15
IN
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Highlights from the IPMI Blog
Glam Grandmother and Rapper: The Power of Radical Collaboration I met news that Martha Stewart and Snoop Dogg were getting together to do a cooking show with a raised eyebrow. I’ll bet some tuned in with car-crash curiosity to witness the interaction between a retail businesswoman, writer, television personality, and former model, and a Long Beach-bred rapper and media personality. Launched in 2016 and lasting three seasons, Martha & Snoop’s Potluck Dinner Party blew away expectations and proved to be highly entertaining and extremely popular. Those drawn to the show expecting it to fall flat quickly realized that the two superstars, though seemingly unlike in every perceivable way, actually have great chemistry and get along fabulously (and successfully). Martha and Snoop understood all along the power of “radical collaboration.” We see similar marriages in our industry. Take Jeff Petry with the City of Eugene, Ore., and Glimmer Technology for example. Jeff wanted to bring art to his garages and joined forces with augmented reality tech start-up Glimmer to create something unlike any we’ve seen in parking before. What might have been viewed favorably as a “static” display of art turned into a dynamic experience through the use and integration of augmented reality. Read more about this cool collaboration here. REEF’s Neighborhood Kitchen concept is another example of radical collaboration in our industry. REEF
VH1PRESS.COM
By Casey Jones, CAPP
aims to partner with local and national restaurateurs to provide a “turnkey delivery solution for the preparation, distribution of food concepts” by making available parking facilities in a novel and impactful way. REEF’s genius goes beyond just offering up the physical space but collaborating on a whole new level, even to the degree of hiring culinary experts to lead the effort from within their company to make the project successful. Click here for more information about this collaboration. It’s been said that uncommon partnerships allow us to see something new in ourselves, opening up pathways that couldn’t have been imagined before. Perhaps now more than ever we need to leverage radical collaborations to meet today’s challenges and those coming in the years ahead.
CASEY JONES, CAPP, is senior parking & mobility planner with DESMAN.
Ready for more? Read IPMI’s blog every business day in your daily Forum digest email (10 a.m. Eastern) or at parking-mobility.org/blog. Have something to say? Send post submissions to editor Kim Fernandez at fernandez@parking-mobility.org.
PARKING-MOBILITY.ORG / JANUARY 2021 / PARKING & MOBILITY 45
Calm Your Employees by Knowing What to Do if They Have COVID By Matthew Hulme, CAPP, MPA To say that the entire world is sick and tired of hearing the word “COVID” would be an understatement. And yet, here I am writing about it. It is certainly not going anywhere soon and its effects on the parking industry will be felt for years to come. The guidance and regulations from federal, state, and local government seems to change with the wind, and your employees expect you to have all the answers–after all, you are their supervisor so you must be the expert, right? Of course not, unless there are epidemiologists moonlighting as parking operators. However, there is one area where you must grasp facts for your employees, and that is fully understanding policies regarding COVID-related leave. The Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) enables employees to take paid leave to be on quarantine, to care for someone quarantined, or if their child’s school
or care provider has closed due to the Coronavirus. While this sounds easy enough, the necessary paperwork and qualifications can be difficult to understand and remember. Additionally, health departments, medical providers, and contact tracers may provide varying levels of paperwork for confirmation. Finally, guidelines for returning to work after quarantine have changed multiple times since the beginning of the pandemic. Employees will likely be frantic if faced with the potential for sudden income loss due to a COVID diagnosis or quarantine order. Strive to be the calm they need by being able to fully (and correctly) explain the process and necessary documents without needing to refer them to HR first. For more information on the FFCRA, click here. Make sure to check with your employer’s HR department for specific guidelines.
MATTHEW HULME, CAPP, MPA, is parking services supervisor with the City of Cincinnati.
Cookies and Radishes By Matt Penney, CAPP There was an interesting social experiment several years ago. Participants were placed in a room with a bowl of radishes and a bowl of freshly baked cookies. One group was told to enjoy all the cookies they wanted. The second group was told to eat the radishes (only) and ignore the cookies. The cookie eaters were in heaven. The radish eaters were in agony. They were miserable forcing themselves to ignore the warm cookies. One picked up the cookies and smelled them longingly. Another picked up a cookie, then put it down and licked the chocolate off his fingers. After five minutes, the participants were given a puzzle game. While they were led to believe this would be simple, the task was actually impossible to complete. The cookie eaters were relaxed and calmly started into the task. With each failed attempt, they simply started another strategy. On average the cookie eaters worked for 19 minutes on the puzzle. The radish eaters grumbled and muttered as they pouted through their efforts. Some snapped at the researchers. Another simply put his head down on the desk, “I’m sick of this dumb experiment.” On average, the radish eaters worked on
the puzzle for only eight minutes (60 percent less time than the cookie group). The purpose of the experiment was to demonstrate that willpower (self-discipline) is a finite resource. Ignoring cookies was hard and required/drained reserves of willpower. The use of that mental energy meant that there was less available for the puzzle task. 2020 has been a year of radishes—for us, for our customers, for the parking industry. With all that has been going on, it is only natural that frustration seems to build up faster. The good news is that while willpower is finite, like other muscles in the body, it can be strengthened. This holiday season, may your plate be filled with all the cookies of life that recharge the soul.
MATT PENNEY, CAPP, is director of parking and transportation services at Baylor University and an IPMI trainer.
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/ WellSpark Health and LAZ Parking Partner to Create Next Generation Employee Benefits WELLSPARK HEALTH AND LAZ PARKING have partnered to create a next generation employee benefit program in support of the modern workforce. The innovative program is built to understand and respond to the realities people face when managing their life and health. LAZ Parking is committed to taking care of its employees and considers offering benefit choices that support individual differences a critical part of that work. With a diverse workforce spread across the country, LAZ was looking for a partner that could help their employees, also known as “LAZ family members,” create sustainable lifestyle changes to cultivate improved physical, mental and emotional well-being. “As an employer, we believe it is our responsibility to give employees access to tools, information and support that help them cultivate holistic well-being or, what we call, ‘being whole.’ This partnership with WellSpark, along with implementing value-based insurance design, will support our LAZ family members by making access to care, as well as individualized programs and resources, easily available,” says Andi Campbell, senior vice president, human resources at LAZ Parking. WellSpark’s program, powered by Silver Fern Healthcare’s proven, proprietary behavior diagnostic toolset, is built to ad-
dress the unique bio-psycho-social aspects of each individual and responds to the realities of their world, ensuring engagement. Using data to create customized programs, WellSpark achieves enduring results that positively impact both employers and employees. As an example, WellSpark’s Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP) has been recognized as exceeding national averages of traditional CDC Programs, yielding increased average weight loss and reduced A1c levels. “WellSpark and LAZ share a vision that it’s time for a new model of employee benefits. One that is focused on supporting the multiple dimensions of a person’s life as opposed to the current fragmented single point solutions. Once established this model can solve for multiple business issues associated with the health of a workforce such as the cost of absenteeism related to illness, disability, and workers compensation. Adding the dimension of emotional support to the employee benefit suite also increases employee satisfaction,” says Roberta Wachtelhausen, WellSpark’s President. LAZ began partnering with WellSpark in July 2020. LAZ and WellSpark executed an extensive employee education campaign to accompany implementation this fall. Several studies are planned for 2021 to measure the impact of this new, disruptive model.
Propark Mobility Adds Jennifer Atkins as Regional Vice President PROPARK MOBILITY has appointed Jennifer Atkins as its new regional vice president, mountain region. “Jennifer brings with her both a wealth of expertise in the hospitality vertical and a great deal of high-level management experience to Propark Mobility,” says John Reimers, Propark’s COO. “We are excited about the growth that Jennifer is going to help propel for Propark in the Mountain Region, which is a region that we are enthusiastically looking to further develop.” Before joining Propark, Atkins spent nearly five years as general manager of Hilton Denver Inverness, where she was accountable for a $37 million operation, drove guest service scores into the top 15 percent of all Hilton Hotels and Resorts in 2019, and led a team of eight executives, 40 managers and 375 hourly employees. Prior to that, she served as area director, Select Service & Extended Stay brands for Marriott International.
“Jennifer intuitively understands what it takes to deliver exceptional guest experiences, which will translate perfectly to Propark Mobility’s service delivery model,” says John Schmid, Propark’s CEO. “Her innate ability to lead high-performing teams, optimize revenue and grow brands in meaningful ways will all be leveraged in a way that will help drive asset appreciation for our clients and value for our stakeholders.” As regional vice president, Atkins will be responsible for overseeing Propark Mobility’s entire portfolio of operations in the Mountain Region, while creating new and exciting opportunities for both the company and its employees throughout the region. Additionally, she will help to enhance Propark’s brand by providing world-class service to clients and exceptional experiences for guests.
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/ JIESHUN Smart Parking in DG Mall, Dongguan
DG MALL, is the landmark building and the largest commercial centre in Dongguan Guangdong, China, JIESHUN Smart Parking with license plate recognition, parking guidance, and mobile payment has made DG Mall easier to visit. Peak daily traffic has exceeded 16,000 cars since the opening of DG Mall. The huge traffic requested a more efficient parking lot with more spaces and faster in-andout speed. DG Mall added 4,300 parking spaces. Meanwhile JIESHUN’s Smart Parking System has been initiated:, with license plate recognition rate up to 99.8 percent. Unlicensed cars can be let in/out with paper tickets, barriers rise in seconds, and in-and-out are efficient, calming traffic problems. DG Mall has also been equipped with JIESHUN’s HD Video Parking Guidance System that helps mall visitors more easily find their cars. At entrances, there are 136 indoor wayfinding parking signs to guide vehicle owners to available spaces and 2,000 HD video parking guidance detection terminals that show parking space status by red/greenlights. For vehicle owners, the last and most important problem is how to pay and leave quickly without lining up. JIESHUN has supplied DG Mall with various payment options. At the same time, JIESHUN Smart Parking has been linked to the DG Mall membership system, so vehicle owners can use membership points to get parking vouchers equal to parking fees.
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ParkMobile to Provide More Contactless Parking Payment Options Through Google Pay ParkMobile is seamlessly integrating the ParkMobile experience within the new Google Pay app. With this integration, Google Pay users can pay for parking in over 240 ParkMobile cities across the U.S. without needing to download a separate parking app or create an account. These cities include Los Angeles; New York City; Washington, D.C.; Minneapolis; Dallas; and Miami Beach. This new partnership puts ParkMobile right inside the new Google Pay app enabling a user to quickly and easily make a parking payment. To make a parking payment, a user will open the Google Pay app on their mobile device and tap to park from the home screen. The user will start a new session, enter the parking zone and space number, add time, and finish the payment. If it is the user’s first-time using Google Pay to park, the user also has to enter the car’s license plate number. Once the session has started, the user can easily extend parking time from the Google Pay app without going back to the meter. “Combining ParkMobile and Google Pay provides an innovative new way to create a better parking experience in our city,” says Anthony Mack, executive director of the Newark Parking Authority. “This gives our residents and visitors more choices for contactless parking payments.” This new Google Pay experience leverages the ParkMobile 360 Platform, which offers a set of tools and connections enabling technology partners to plug into ParkMobile’s vast parking inventory, creating new ways for cities and operators to add additional contactless payment options. Built for mass-scalability, the ParkMobile 360 Platform enables partners to roll out across hundreds of cities simultaneously. For ParkMobile clients, there is no additional work required, as all the rates, payments, enforcement, and reporting will still be handled through ParkMobile’s centralized systems. “We are thrilled to provide Google Pay users with a new way to pay for parking in over 240 cities across the U.S. today, and look forward to expanding the solution to our complete network in the coming months,” says Jon Ziglar, CEO of ParkMobile. “We have built our technology platform to enable our partner ecosystem to seamlessly connect to our APIs, delivering access to the ParkMobile network within their experience. By doing this, we empower every driver, everywhere, with more choice when it comes to contactless parking and mobility solutions.”
FlashParking Announces Partnerships with Bird, EVBox
FlashParking expanded its ecosystem with key mobility services that maximize parking asset utilization and enhance the consumer experience. By partnering with Bird, the global leader in electric scooters, and EVBox, a global manufacturer of electric vehicle charging stations, FlashParking is enabling asset owners and operators to better respond to the rapidly evolving mobility ecosystem, tap into additional revenue streams, and access new customers via differentiated services. An explosion of electric vehicles, rideshares, scooters, delivery vans, and more have created chaos on city roads and at the curbside. In response, earlier this year, FlashParking launched FlashOS, the industry’s only mobility hub operating system, that powers the transformation of parking assets into connected mobility hubs where parking, mobility, logistics, and transportation intersect. A key component of FlashOS is a unique ecosystem of third-party parking integrations, which now include mobility services with Bird and EVBox. Powered by open-API architecture, Flash’s unrivaled and continually evolving ecosystem enables asset owners and operators to future-proof parking operations, increase the productivity of existing infrastructure, and create new business models and revenue streams.
COVID-19 has changed the mobility landscape, accelerating the need for mobility hubs. Consumers have abandoned mass transit in favor of personal vehicles and last-mile open-air transit options, like Bird, who has seen its ridership and length of ride double. Coupled with mandates in municipalities like California that can require up to 10 percent of parking spaces have EV charging installed, asset owners and operators now more than ever need a partner to help get real estate ready to meet current consumer demands. This is how asset owners and operators can utilize Flash’s latest mobility services with Bird and EVBox to stay competitive and relevant with consumers: Bird: To help asset owners and operators meet the rising demand for scooters, FlashParking is partnering with micromobility juggernaut Bird to create a private scooter fleet solution that will drive incremental revenue. Flash’s integrated micromobility solution organizes, charges, and provides scooters for round trip usage, perfect for consumers looking to add scooters to their mobility routine. EVBox: To ensure asset owners and operators can provide the charging needs of EVs and that EV consumers can access chargers as easily as a parking spot, FlashParking is partnering with a leading
global energy service provider, EVBox. Working together, the two companies created a comprehensive energy management solution integrated into FlashParking’s mobility hub platform. Building off a decade of experience in Europe and over four years of applying that expertise to the North American market, EVBox was the perfect partner to develop an EV charging solution that offers easy-to-use, flexible charging options with a sleek, attractive design. “With our industry-leading technology and ecosystem of unique partnerships FlashParking is turning parking garages into connected mobility hubs for all types of passengers and vehicles,” says Dan Sharplin, CEO of FlashParking. “Parking garages and lots will no longer only be used for parking cars. They will have charging stations for electric cars and scooters, car cleaning services, valet parking, delivery docks, and launching and landing pads for drones. FlashParking is demolishing the status quo and delivering technology that empowers asset owners and operators to create and manage mobility hubs that stay in lock-step with evolving consumer habits and mobility technology; the partnerships with Bird and EVBox are just the beginning.”
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In Case You Missed It... IPMI’S MOBILITY & INNOVATION SUMMIT
➚Full schedule of sessions and speakers announced. ➚Open networking rooms to expand your professional circle. ➚CAPP Scholarship funds available to attend. ➚Early-bird and special group rates expire Jan. 15—register before then. ➚Feb. 24-25, noon to 6 p.m. Eastern, wherever you are. ➚Get all the details and save your spot at parking-mobility.org/mis ON THE BLOG
➚Giving Extra Grace While Keeping Your Staff Safe, by Vanessa Solesbee, CAPP. ➚Academic Parking & Mobility’s Response to COVID-19, by Brett Wood, CAPP, PE. ➚Breaking Down the Parksmart Standard, by Megan Leinart, CAPP, LEED AP BD+C. ➚The Abundance We Share, by Kim Jackson, CAPP. every day’s post in your daily Forum email; catch up and submit your own at parking ➚Read mobility.org. ON THE FORUM
➚Pedestrian warning systems. ➚Mobile LPR: ITB or RFP? ➚Online monthly payment solution. ➚Maximum time limits—required distance. ➚University visitor permit costs. conversations every day. Ask a question, share your expertise, upload your resume or browse ➚New posted ones at our Resume Exchange, and build your network. forum.parking-mobility.org.
All from your desk, on your time, at parking-mobility.org. 54 PARKING & MOBILITY / JANUARY 2021 / PARKING-MOBILITY.ORG