Like many other sectors of the economy, the parking and mobility industry has been affected significantly by the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite significant impacts on revenue, staffing, and other functions, municipal operations have deftly adjusted to local conditions and are planning in earnest for an uncertain future as cities and states begin to re-open and we move further into this period of “new normal.” While we have all read and heard a variety of prognostications of what the future of parking and mobility might look like, there is a great deal of uncertainty inherent in all of it.
Looking to the immediate and more long-term future, cities should focus on what they know to be true and what they can control. The new normal places significant importance on being nimble, open, and transparent, and leveraging technology and data to serve customers, understand the parking and mobility demand profile, evaluate performance, and make operational adjustments as the situation evolves.
Free Online Shoptalk: Frontline Staff – Challenges & Successes in the Time of COVID-19
Friday May 29, 2020, 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm ET
Pre-registration required to attend.
Free to all industry professionals
In response to the current pandemic, our frontline staff are tasked to carry out their work assignments in disruptive, creative and ever-changing ways. Interactions with customers, on-going process modifications, public expectations, as well as recognizing the need for self-care are all on the table for discussion.
Come prepared to network, ask questions, share your current experiences and learn from your peers during this interactive session.
Moderator: Cindy Campbell
Cindy Campbell, Senior Training & Development Specialist, International Parking & Mobility Institute.With over 35 years of experience in law enforcement, parking, and transportation services, she brings comprehensive industry knowledge and professional experience to the IPMI training program. Cindy is a Past Chairman of the Board for the IPMI and is credited as one of the founders of the Parking Matters® initiative. Prior to joining the staff at IPMI, Campbell served as Associate Director of University Police for California Polytechnic State University. She is now dedicated to providing staff training, motivation, and skill enhancement through IPMI onsite training programs.
This post is part of a special series on curb management and COVID-19. A joint effort of International Parking and Mobility Institute (IPMI), Transportation for America, and Institute of Transportation Engineer’s Complete Streets Council, this series strives to document the immediate curbside-related actions and responses to COVID-19, as well as create a knowledge base of strategies that communities can use to manage the curbside during future emergencies.
By Mae Hanzlik
Flexible curbside management is a small, but key, piece of many cities’ response to COVID-19. Often, these efforts have been supported or made possible with the support and technology of private-sector partners. Transportation for America reached out to its Smart Cities Collaborative sponsors to hear how they’re responding to COVID-19 and working with jurisdictions to adapt curbside management.
Adapting their platforms and launching new tools
To accommodate increased food takeout and deliveries, Coord, a curbside management software company, is offering their platform at no cost for 90 days to cities in its coverage area. Coord also worked with existing city customers who were identifying locations for temporary loading zones and fast-tracked specific feature requests.
Downtown Santa Monica Inc. (DTSM), a business improvement nonprofit in Santa Monica, Calif., used Coord’s data collection and analysis to help them quickly stand up a program where essential businesses could temporarily convert metered parking into short-term loading. “[We] were looking for any opportunity to support our district businesses during the COVID-19 crisis,” Benjamin DeWitte, DTSM’s research and data manager, shared with us. “Our prior research into curb usage, driven by COORD data collection and analysis, indicated that a shift from metered parking to short-term loading could positively impact access and efficiency for those who rely on delivery and take out business.”
Populus, whose data platform helps cities manage their curbs, streets, and sidewalks, is working with their existing city customers to provide digital solutions that support “Open Streets” and “Slow Streets”. They’re also inviting cities and agencies to apply to their Open Streets Initiative where they’ll partner with a handful of cities on implementing dynamic street policies and provide them with complimentary access to their Street Manager platform. The deadline to apply is May 15.
Lacuna, a transportation technology company, is launching a dynamic curb reservation system in May that allows cities to remotely allocate sections of curb in real-time to accommodate deliveries of food, freight, and other essential supplies.
Establishing internal teams to work directly with cities
Uber has put together an internal team that’s dedicated to working with cities and stakeholders to ensure safe access points for trips to essential places like hospitals, grocery stores, and pharmacies. They are also reaching out to cities to learn how they can best support city efforts to ensure adequate space for social distancing, offering the use of geofencing and in-app routing changes to support car-free streets.
Strong public and private partnerships are key to emergency response. We hope to continue to see the private sector work alongside municipalities to offer support and transformative tech solutions.
Mae Hanzlik is a program manager for Transportation for America in Washington, D.C.
Since its late March launch, Heart of the Park, a partnership between Harbor Park Garage and several local organizations and businesses, has distributed about 13,000 meals to Baltimoreans in need and to those on the front lines, serving the community during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The initiative includes daily meal distribution at the downtown Baltimore garage, where visitors can head to the third floor to pick up free boxed lunches and dinners, and packages of rolls or loaves of bread.
In addition to the meals given out at the garage, Heart of the Park delivers weekend meals to the COVID units at three local hospitals: Johns Hopkins, University of Maryland’s downtown hospital, and St. Joseph Medical Center. In early May, Heart of the Park also launched “New Medical Center Wednesday,” when it donates 50 meals to healthcare workers at a different medical center each week (starting with Mercy Hospital).
The Heart of the Park initiative is headquartered at Harbor Park Garage but its success is driven by the generosity and creativity of several businesses and organizations located throughout Baltimore City. The garage’s partners include:
Pierpoint Restaurant
Fells Point mainstay Pierpoint Restaurant, and its chef/owner Nancy Longo, have been the backbone of the Heart of the Park initiative from day one. Chef Longo’s celebrated restaurant has been an integral – and delicious – part of the Fells Point neighborhood for years. She is locally (and nationally) famous for her creative takes on Chesapeake cuisine.
Since Heart of the Park launched in March, Chef Longo and her team have created interesting and healthy meals to share with the community every day. They’ve been working, safely and tirelessly, to make sure the community has healthy and tasty lunches and dinners every day.
H&S Bakery
Starting in May, H&S Bakery is donating loaves of bread and packages of rolls for distribution at the garage – helping locals in need fill their pantries during this tough time.
H&S Bakery opened in Fells Point in 1943; visitors often notice the yeasty scent of baking bread when they’re strolling around the neighborhood’s historic cobblestone streets. In the years since, the bakery, which creates products sold under several brand names, has established itself as a generous community member, donating time, resources and bread products to many local organizations – including directly to Baltimoreans, through Heart of the Park.
Downtown Partnership of Baltimore
Downtown Partnership of Baltimore is working with Heart of the Park to solicit, organize and distribute the funds necessary to keep meal distribution going.
The organization is a champion of downtown businesses and events – part of the dream team that coordinates major city happenings like Baltimore Restaurant Week. During the COVID-19 emergency, Downtown Partnership has put its organizational skills to work, acting as a hub for community resources and a helpful collector and disseminator of information and funds.
Italian Cultural Center of Maryland
Food is an integral part of so many cultures but perhaps no cultural group is as closely tied to culinary glory as Italians. The Italian Cultural Center of Maryland, a group that educates and promotes Italian culture and heritage among Baltimoreans, is tapping into the culture’s great culinary tradition, assisting Heart of the Park with food donations.
What’s Next
As need persists in Baltimore, Heart of the Park will continue to provide meals for hungry locals and healthcare workers on the front lines. Harbor Park Garage management aims to keep the program growing as long as the need remains – and to do that, they plan to expand partnerships with local organizations of all types.
The collaboration between the garage, restaurants, associations and other local businesses has been a bright spot in the midst of a tough battle against COVID-19. By banding together, Charm City’s businesses help keep local residents in need and those on the front lines fed – and fed well.
Harbor Park Garage is located at 55 Market Place in downtown Baltimore. For more information and current news about Heart of the Park, including information about how to contribute to help feed Baltimoreans in need, visit: INFO
Pierpoint Restaurant is located at 1822 Aliceanna Street in Fells Point. For more information, call 410-675-2080 or visit https://www.pierpointrestaurant.com/
ParkMobile app will allow users to pay for parking on their mobile device.
ParkMobile, the leading provider of smart parking and mobility solutions in the United States, has partnered with the Borough of Belmar, New Jersey, to allow residents and visitors to pay for parking through their mobile devices. The ParkMobile app will be available at approximately 400 spaces along the town’s beachfront area starting May 8th, 2020. With the recent COVID-19 crisis, many city leaders are encouraging residents to use the app to prevent the spread of the virus.
ParkMobile is a free app available for both iPhone and Android devices. To pay for parking with the app, a user enters the zone number posted on nearby signs, selects the amount of time needed and touches the “Start Parking” button to begin the session. The user can also extend the time of the parking session on their mobile device. In addition, the user can dial 877-727-5304 to initiate a payment. Beyond Belmar, the app can be used to pay for parking in over 400 cities across the United States.
ParkMobile has a large and growing audience in the state of New Jersey and in the Tri-State Area. There are almost 1.3 million users of the app across the state including Jersey City, Hoboken, New Brunswick, Asbury Park, Ocean City, Wildwood and more. ParkMobile can also be used to make parking reservations for concerts and sporting events at Prudential Center in Newark. Beyond New Jersey, the app can be used in cities along the Northeast corridor from Washington, DC to Philadelphia to New York City.
“The Borough of Belmar wants to ensure the safety of visitors and residents,” says Mayor Mark Walsifer. “By partnering with ParkMobile to offer contactless parking payments, we are working to provide our community with a smart mobility option for anyone looking to spend time at the beach.”
“We’re excited to bring contactless parking payments to Belmar,” says Jon Ziglar, CEO of ParkMobile. “We have thousands of ParkMobile users in the local area who will now be able to pay for parking on their mobile devices without the concern of spreading COVID-19.”
Networking is such a personal activity—it is not a one-size-fits-all practice. It’s easy to get bogged down in the details and miss out on the foundation of how to build and retain a retain an effective network. At the end of the day, no one cares what you do as much as whether you know and like them and whether you can be trusted.
In an industry built on the power of connecting face-to-face, establishing and growing meaningful relationships is undeniably critical to long-term success. During the current pandemic, networking has shifted from onsite to fully online.
Are you prepared to nurture your network this way? Are you prepared to take advantage of online opportunities to learn, collaborate, and grow through platforms like the 2020 IPMI Parking & Mobility Virtual Conference & Expo and IPMI’s ongoing free industry Shoptalks?
Get registered for this interactive webinar (it’s free!) and get ready to grow your personal and professional network, with lots of takeaway value and strategies you can use right away.
In this presentation, networking concierge Ashley Owens shares ways to nurture your current business relationships to create your own tactical, individualized approach. Save time by recognizing the best strategic partners and effectively engaging contacts through email, messaging, social media, and other digital tools. Dive in and engage with your peers in this highly interactive keynote, and learn how to balance your strengths, network strategically and with confidence, and craft an authentic, powerful, professional networking process to achieve a wildly successful career.
Presenter: Ashley Owens
Ashley Owens is the first and only networking concierge who puts you in the right situation or gets you out of the wrong one. Ashley works as a strategic partner, attending events with professionals as an extension and champion of them. Starting her career as a personal and executive assistant to two celebrities in New York City, her experience in networking grew as she obtained positions in customer service, business analytics, and account management. Since 2017, she has grown her business into something she could have never dreamed of. Ashley is a host of two digital TV talk shows on RVNTV and This is It TV, speaking and interviewing on the topic of tactical networking. She has taken more than 700 introduction phone calls with business professionals looking to grow their network, and has made close to 1,000 introductions. She has spoken to over 50 networking groups, organizations, companies, and conferences, including the coveted Pennsylvania Conference for Women. She has been interviewed on the Mel Robbins Show on CBS, produces and hosts a podcast talking to entrepreneurs about their screw-ups, raises thousands of dollars for local nonprofits at her Cocktails and Conversation networking event, has over 185 referral partners,and has keynoted around the U.S.
I have spent the last couple of years working to strengthen a business district organization in Dinkytown, the district adjacent to the main campus of the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. This historic district is the place where Bob Zimmerman from Hibbing, Minn., got his start as a folk singer and changed his name to Bob Dylan.
As with any major university (and this is one of the largest in the U.S.) parking is always an issue. Student parking, staff and faculty parking, visitor and customer parking all must be managed and managed well, or chaos ensues.
Now, however, the university and surrounding areas must deal with a new and unexpected problem: no cars. A decision has not yet been made, but the fall semester may be conducted mostly online; there may be no football season; and most businesses are either closed or in limited operating mode.
So obviously, this presents the university, the city, and private businesses with a whole host of problems. One is obviously the loss of revenue. Football games are a tremendous source of revenue for the university, and parking revenue on game days is substantial. Football season for the business district is like Christmas for shopping centers. Local restaurants and bars can do half of their annual sales during the football season. But loss of customers does not mean expenses go away. Lots and garages still have to maintained, utilities stall have to be paid, and employees are still on the payroll unless furloughed.
Parking for students is another issue. Many students may elect to live at home with parents if classes are online. This represents additional revenue loss for the university. It also means lost revenue for the city, as on-street parking serves commuting students as well as restaurant and shop customers.
How long will the crisis last and what will be the lasting impact on parking? Will, for example, students who drive to campus opt for public transportation or purchase bikes? Will carpooling become more popular? Will more student housing be built so students can walk to campus? There are so many things we don’t know right now. But the “new normal” is upon us, and if you manage university parking or parking near a university, now is the time to get your plan in place.
David M. Feehan is president of Civitas Consultants, LLC.
IPMI invites all industry professionals in parking, transportation, and mobility to discuss how the COVID-19 crisis has impacted your various mobility programs and options, including how we plan for municipal on street operations post COVID-19.
Now more than ever, empathy, self-awareness, and sensitivity are key aspects to leading teams and maintaining healthy relationships (just ask any celebrity busted on social media for complaining about cabin fever from their palatial home). Meeting employees where their heads are to communicate change, celebrate success, and break bad news are the leadership qualities that win the day in today’s environment.
If you’re leading others and, would like to go from good to better or haven’t really had to lean on these aspects of leadership until now, this online Shoptalk will be well worth your time. Join Colleen Niese and Vicki Pero from The Marlyn Group for a highly interactive session to discuss key strategies and take away easy-to-implement tactics to ensure your leadership from a distance will:
Objectives:
· Make decisions that consider team members needs in a COVID-19 world.
· Help manage stress for your team and you(!).
· Support all in accomplishing the work at hand with as much focus as can be expected.
Speakers:
Colleen M. Niese, SPHR understanding of what makes a business tick comes from her nearly 25 years of parking industry experience, and her insatiable curiosity about high-performing business.
With a background in leading an international shared services center to then consulting in strategic HR and customer service to now overseeing new business development, sales and client relations for Zephire, the people-first complete monthly parking solution, Colleen is well versed when it comes to a parking operator’s priorities in managing seamless monthly parking. She possesses a unique skillset to listen to a client’s needs and connecting Zephire’s holistic solution to each individual’s expectation. In her spare time, Colleen is a hopeless Cleveland Browns fan (there’s always next year!).
A Sausalito, Calif., parking enforcement officer is finding purpose and some positive attention putting a passion to work during COVID-19.
Beth DiLego, who holds an art degree from Endicott College, has taken her camera along while patrolling as a city parking officer, documenting both empty streets and storefronts and returning crowds as people have begun relaxing and wandering out the last few weeks. Her photographs are on display by the city in an online gallery, and she’s receiving accolades for documenting the COVID-19 pandemic in town.
She owned a clothing store until a recession forced its shutdown, and says she understands what business owners are going through. She also says she loves working as a parking enforcement officer and has greatly appreciated her unique perspective on patrol since things shut down in March.
The Marin Independent Journal ran a profile of DiLego that includes her work in parking and as an artist–read it here.
Company focuses on reducing germ spread while supporting city financial health
Moorestown, NJ – Flowbird Group has announced recent developments that limit the amount of physical interaction with its parking kiosks and an alternative to avoid the kiosks altogether. The leader in curbside management, having been involved in downtown commerce for over 50 years, plays a critical role in urban mobility. The company’s solutions have helped cities worldwide collect vital revenue that is reinvested to provide invaluable services to the community. During this global pandemic, the physical and financial health of cities are being threatened, leading Flowbird to respond to the call.
One such feature is Flowbird’s latest release of pay station software called, “recall”, which is now available on the CWT smart parking kiosk. How does it work? The recall feature makes a ‘token’ from the credit card used the first time a driver makes a transaction at a kiosk. The next time they return and swipe their card, the kiosk will suggest the same license plate number and phone number for text receipts. This limits the amount of physical interaction when entering their license plate number for pay-by-plate transactions, or entering their phone number for time expiration reminders and receipts. The recall function is an optional feature that the City operator can choose to enable on their kiosks.
While credit card use at Flowbird kiosks remain high and contactless payments rise in popularity, Flowbird reminds and encourages drivers to use ‘tap-to-pay’ methods whenever possible. Several Flowbird clients are in the final phases of launching contactless/NFC payments, including the ability to accept Apple Pay, Google Pay, Samsung Pay, and credit cards with the NFC symbol. This method of payment eliminates another touchpoint at the kiosk.
For users who are not quite ready to interact with pay stations or meters, Flowbird continues to provide and make advances to its Flowbird mobile payment application. The latest release of the app was recently launched at the end of April, giving drivers the option to search, filter, book and pay for a parking reservation before they even leave their home. This gives motorists a completely contactless parking experience.
“Our number one concern will always be our customers and their safety,” said Benoit Reliquet, President of Flowbird, North America, “Over the last several months, we have also seen city revenues dropping tremendously, so it is important that we offer as many ways as possible for cities to continue to collect parking fees while ensuring the health and wellbeing of its citizens.”
Currently, Flowbird supports over 40,000 parking pay stations for over 600 customers throughout the U.S. Their mobile apps have been deployed in over 600 municipalities and universities around the world including 100 locations in the United States, with over 1.5 million mobile users globally.
By Kevin White, AICP
A Sausalito, Calif., parking enforcement officer is finding purpose and some positive attention putting a passion to work during COVID-19.