Tag Archives: COVID-19

IPMI Blog, Resources

Good Luck

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Four-leaf clover with a sunset behind it.By Kathleen Federici, MEd

With the pandemic still among us, it may be difficult for us to think about good luck. In my family, we try to make the most out of the holidays of the month. I use “holidays” loosely during some months, basically as a potentially fun escape from the ordinary. March is typically known for St. Patrick’s Day, four-leaf clovers, leprechauns, and good luck. The leprechaun story says capturing these small creatures will secure a wee bit of luck in addition to three wishes.

During pre-COVID times, my daughter was in Irish dance classes; this will be her second canceled St. Patrick’s Day parade. It is difficult for her to think of good luck when she has been looking forward to dancing in the Wilmington, Del., parade that has now been canceled for the second year in a row. It is a life lesson to turn these setbacks around and try to create your own good luck. For example, I explain to her that she can dance for the neighbors or family members outside if she wants to dance in full costume.

We show our resiliency by trying to work through disappointment and make our own fun and good luck. Our friend from Scotland bought us a gratitude jar and every night we place a small piece of paper in that jar on which we’ve written what we were grateful for that day. On the weekends, I ask the kids what they want to do or accomplish over the weekend and we try to make those goals happen. The goal could be as simple as play a board game, watch WandaVision, go skiing, or go on a hike. Unfortunately, their goal never is to clean their rooms, which results in bad luck for me.

Tennessee Williams put it nicely when he said, “Luck is believing you’re lucky.” Having faith that you are a lucky person actually makes you more likely to notice opportunities and be in a position to take advantage of them. Thomas Jefferson said, “I am a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work, the more I have of it.”

So, during this March month, I hope we all can take a moment to create our own good luck. You deserve it! And if you happen to catch a leprechaun, well, that’s an extra boost of luck–have fun with your wishes!

Kathleen Federici, MEd, is IPMI’s director of professional development.

IPMI Blog, Resources

A Phased Re-entry

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man in suit wearing medical mask, looking out office windowBy Robert Ferrin

Believe it or not, we are coming up on one year since the COVID-19 pandemic started. This year has presented numerous challenges and opportunities in our professional and personal lives. We’ve had to constantly pivot to new realities and environmental factors. Through it all, we’ve created new habits to survive and thrive in our “new normal.” Like all things, once you start new habits, they become more comfortable and little by little, things become normal.

Up until a few weeks ago, I may have seen my office a half-dozen times during the past year. I settled into a new schedule and new expectations for meetings, work time, and employee coordination. In summary, I’ve gotten used to this new normal and found ways to see the positive aspects of a work-from-home structure.

Fast forward to the last few weeks. I’ve slowly started to pick one day a week to get back in the office and remind myself how things used to be. I’ve quickly realized habits are tough to break–I’ve been late for meetings, forgot to factor in travel time, and emotionally struggled with dipping my toe in the pre-pandemic world while we are very much still living with COVID and its related health issues. I’ve had to remind myself I deserve some grace, just like everyone else, and preach patience as we think about a post-pandemic world.

The world won’t change in an instant on the back end of the pandemic as it did on the front end. In a lot of ways, re-entry will be much more difficult and friction points will occur as we come out of this unprecedented time together. As we each start to figure out what our post-pandemic work cadence looks like, I’d encourage you to keep an open mind and give yourself some grace. We each have the potential to create a new model for work in a post-COVID world and blend the positive aspects of work-from-home and work-from-office. Let’s keep sharing ideas and thoughts to make our re-entry a success!

Robert Ferrin is assistant director for parking services at the City of Columbus, Ohio, and a member of IPMI’s Board of Directors.

September 1, 2021: Free Online Shoptalk: Hospital/Medical Center Parking and Mobility: Unique Challenges and Solutions

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Hospital/Medical Center Parking and Mobility: Unique Challenges and Solutions, Moderated by George Richardson, CAPP, UF Health Shands Hospital

Register for free here.

Join IPMI for our next online Shoptalk addressing the parking, transportation, and mobility industry’s response and recovery planning. Open to all, join us for discussions centered on best practices, next steps, and the challenges ahead.

IPMI Blog, Resources

Pandemic Squeezes Already-tight Parking for Truckers

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Aerial view of a multiple lane highway and a large truck stop with long rows of parked semi trucks.The COVID-19 pandemic emptied out airports, train stations, and malls, but it put more delivery trucks on the road than ever as people fully embraced home deliveries of goods ranging from groceries to mattresses to cars bought online. Truckers say that’s squeezed an already big problem: They have nowhere to park for mandated off-road rest.

“‘The hardest thing of the day is to find a parking spot,’ said Doug Smith, a trucker based in Bountiful, Utah. He said the pandemic has made it harder to find bathrooms and places to eat, but parking, a problem even before the pandemic, has been made worse as distribution centers where trucks drop off or pick up loads have barred truckers from parking because of COVID-19 concerns, putting even more demand on truck- and rest-stop parking,” reports Roll Call. Even if they find parking, they’re frequently locked out of restrooms and other amenities due to COVID-19 concerns. Hopes for money to expand parking in a COVID relief bill seem dashed, so truckers are putting their sights on in infrastructure relief bill expected later this year.

Ninety-eight percent of truckers recently surveyed said they had problems finding safe parking for mandated rest periods and overnight. And they’re worried funding for more truck parking–with available restrooms–might be combined with a highway bill many fear will be otherwise anti-trucking, forcing their unions to oppose it even though it would bring parking relief.

Read the whole story here. Is your community doing something to welcome truckers with parking? Let us know.

IPMI Blog, Resources

People May Surprise You. Be Sure to Let Them.

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woman in medical mask with strong arms drawn on the wall behind herBy Rachel Yoka, CAPP, LEED AP BD+C, WELL AP

As we hit the one-year mark of COVID-19 and the pandemic continues to disrupt our industry, it’s challenging to stay motivated, both personally and professionally. At this moment where I live, we are at eight inches of snow and counting today, on top of the foot that was already there. I think it’s safe to say we all look forward to spring sunshine and warmer temps. As we think of our friends in Texas who are struggling with huge challenges, to our friends in the Northeast who continue to shovel and salt their way out, we are thinking of you and wish you the best to stay safe, warm, and even a little motivated.

For your morning motivation, I wanted to take a brief look back at a few of the many moments and experiences that drive home just how amazing our community is in both their camaraderie and commitment to the industry and IPMI:

  • Our industry leaders have facilitated something like 15 virtual Shoptalks, drawing thousands of professionals to keep our community engaged and connected. We have a whole year of them on the horizon to keep that energy and collaboration going.
  • Experts in the field have generously shared their experience and insight on every aspect of the profession (for free) for our members in Frontline training sessions to help organizations keep their teams informed and growing professionally.  (These will continue all year long as well.)
  • Our committees and task forces are more engaged than ever, at a time when demands on our personal time often overlap with our day jobs.  (We don’t mind the barking dogs and seeing your kids come into view either, by the way.) These volunteers are developing more free educational resources and webinars to support our community. Be on the lookout for a new one on planning, design, and construction next month, too.

There have been so many more experiences I could share–if you have one, we would love to hear it.

Let’s make sure we each give a shout out to the members of the tribes that help us every day:

  • To the new neighbor who helped me shovel out multiple times this month, thank you for surprising me.
  • To our friends who continue to surprise us, contribute their time and expertise. and just be awesome humans and professionals, we are ever grateful.

Be sure to welcome the surprises that are sure to come, and stay well.

Rachel Yoka, CAPP, LEED AP BD+C, WELL AP, is IPMI’s vice president of program development.

IPMI Blog, Resources

Valuing the Curbside in a New Normal

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COVID-19 parking transportation curbCurb management planning and strategy was already well underway in Washington, D.C., when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, but the virus still managed to change almost everything. On-demand delivery services–DoorDash, Grubhub, etc.–took over crowded curbsides in what felt like overnight and demand for temporary parking space outside businesses skyrocketed from city residents taking the opportunity to pick up their own groceries, meals, or other necessities without violating stay-home orders.

For the District Department of Transportation (DDOT), once the initial situation had been managed, focus shifted to our eventual recovery from the pandemic. And now that the recovery is beginning, focus is squarely on how lessons from COVID-19 will shape the short- and long-term future of the curb in the city.

David Carson Lipscomb, curbside management planner with DDOT, shares the city’s experiences and lessons in this month’s Parking & Mobility magazine–and they’re largely transferable to other operations. Click here to read his story and see how Washington, D.C.’s COVID-19 lessons may shape the way we all think about the curb going forward.

 

IPMI Blog, Resources

Defining Our Industry’s Future

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By Brett Wood, CAPP, PE

“Research: the distance between an idea and its realization.” -David Sarnoff, founder, Radio Corporation of America (RCA)

I’ve had the good fortune to be involved with IPMI’s Research & Innovation Task Force (formerly the Research Committee) for quite some time now. As a co-chair of that group, I’ve had the opportunity to work with some of the brightest minds in our industry and help progress some interesting initiatives that attempted to quantify the size of our industry and position our members with critical information around prevailing topics driving the transportation world. These topics have covered everything from sustainability, efficiency, electrification, mobility, and the ever-evolving curb management realm. All of these topics began as questions or ideas that were no more than a seed to cultivate.

More than a decade ago, the industry defined curb management as one of the primary topics we needed to explore further. During that time, we’ve gone from focusing on the parked car to defining how space at the curb needs to intersect with community needs and support more than storing vehicles. And this is apparent as cities have adapted practices to include active space, business supportive measures, and community-centric practices to enrich the lives of everyone who interacts in that realm.

The seed for that research was defined in an IPMI trends survey by our members and has been cultivated by not only the research arm of our industry, but also several other committees whose members aim to help define new information for our members. That’s why we need your help now as IPMI embarks on another trends survey. We are at an interesting crossroads that will be shaped by how resilient and responsive we are the next few years. And defining what we as an industry find valuable for further investigation starts with your input now. We can’t truly recognize our potential unless we plant the seeds now.

Take IPMI’s 2021 Market Trends & Recovery Survey here.

Brett Wood, CAPP, PE, is president of Wood Solutions Group and co-chair of IPMI’s Research & Innovation Task Force.

IPMI Blog, Resources

Breaking Down Parking and Mobility Silos

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Farm silo falling down into a fieldBy Laurens Eckelboom

While the parking industry has always been consumer-driven, there’s little doubt that the consumers in question want more. Consider the parker: The same person who can receive online goods and groceries in a matter of days, even hours. They can instantly stream movies, TV shows, podcasts, and music into their homes, cars, and mobile phones. They can shortlist potential romantic partners in real time with a simple swipe right. Should it be any surprise that they want to safely park at a convenient location for the best price available to them? Of course, they do. But as service providers, are we there yet?

Before the pandemic disrupted operations, the parking industry was already undergoing an era of drastic change. Technology providers, parking reservation platforms, location services, and more were starting to—lot by lot, space by space—rethink the parking experience as part of the overall customer journey. Multiple parties separately solved a part of the process, making it savvier and more convenient. As we soon move towards operations in a post-pandemic environment, a sum of independent solutions will likely not meet our customers’ demands for today, and much less their desires for tomorrow.

The renowned Czech-Canadian scientist and policy analyst, Vaclav Smil, said, “Collaboration and augmentation are the foundational principles of innovation.” Imagine what we could achieve if we, as an industry, collectively ideated and innovated with a broad bevy of perspectives, resources, and data at our disposal. Our diversity in experience paired with an alignment in vision would not only lead to measurable progress, but it would also assert our ability to thrive.

Laurens Eckelboom is ParkHub’s chief revenue officer. He and Michael Back, Honk’s founder and CEO, will present “How Collaborative Technologies Will Help Drive Safety-First Parking Solutions” at IPMI’s Innovation and Mobility Summit online, Feb. 24 and 25. Click here for details and to register.