Tag Archives: COVID-19

Study Reveals COVID’s Effect on How We Vacation

October 27, 2020 Kim Fernandez Leave a comment

By Brad Goldman

We noticed a trend this summer: Our coworkers were driving to nearby vacation destinations and working remotely from there. We were curious to see if this was more of a macrotrend, so we surveyed more than 1,000 ParkMobile users to find out how their vacations changed in 2020 due to COVID-19. Here is what we found.

Work has changed, and so has vacation. Nearly half of our users told us that their jobs had instituted a work-from-home policy in response to COVID-19. Ninety-five percent of respondents said their vacation plans changed. But 43 percent of them went on at least one vacation this summer.

Vacations are fewer, closer, shorter, and more productive. The number of people traveling decreased in 2020. However, 80 percent did travel. Seventy-four percent of vacationers reported they traveled a shorter distance than in the past. The average vacation length decreased by ~2.5 days (about a 28 percent decrease). We saw more remote work and the number of people who said they worked during vacation tripled.

It was the summer of the road trip. The vast majority of people made their summer trips in personal vehicles. The amount who reported “always” traveling by personal vehicle increased by 56 percent. Conversely, more people stopped using rental cars and ride-sharing. The number of people who will not travel by plane nearly doubled. The increase in personal vehicle use fits with closer vacation destinations.

Though every destination had fewer visits, outdoor destinations remained relatively popular. Our previous survey and internal analytics showed high beach activity. This study confirmed it–nearly 70 percent of vacationers surveyed visited a beach this summer. Not surprisingly, vacations to amusement parks, cities, summer camps, and international destinations all saw larger decreases.

What was the most popular travel destination this summer? Nearly 80 percent of vacationers made time to see their families–a heartwarming statistic for 2020. You can see the full ParkMobile vacation study here.

Brad Goldman is VP of analytics with ParkMobile.

IPMI Blog, Resources

When Your Community Speaks, Listen

October 20, 2020 Kim Fernandez Leave a comment

By Matthew Hulme, CAPP, MPA

When meeting with community partners such as business councils, neighborhood advocacy groups, and resident coalitions, I don’t often hear, “We’d love to see more parking tickets issued around here.” So I tend to take notice when I do. Last time, my hope was that my constant blustering about how important effective parking enforcement is to the community was finally taking hold. Ultimately, the primary complaint prompting the request for heavier handed enforcement was related to a much bigger problem: criminal activity associated with loud parties going on late into the night. I know this is not just a problem in my city, as many areas are experiencing the same types of unruly parties, particularly with the Coronavirus shuttering typical gathering places.

If you think this is merely a police issue, you are likely wrong. Non-local party participants require parking just like any other customer. With this in mind, parking managers need to work collaboratively with the police to address these customers in a way that may be counter-intuitive.

The specifics will vary by the particular situation, but we are working in several ways to assist our police department in curbing activities that are detrimental to neighborhood quality-of-life. Specifically, we are helping facilitate additional “No Parking” zones and signage, focusing enforcement efforts on safety related violations such as double parking and blocking alleys, and partnering with the police neighborhood liaison unit to safely work together on parties that are causing disturbances. Time will tell how effective our collective efforts will be in curbing troublesome activities, but we are showing the neighborhood that we have heard their collective voices.

Matthew Hulme, CAPP, MPA, is parking services supervisor with the City of Cincinnati.

IPMI Blog, Resources

Airports Managing Through COVID-19 Crisis

October 19, 2020 Kim Fernandez Leave a comment

Few parking sectors have been hit as hard by COVID-19 as airports–people simply aren’t flying. That said, when they do fly, driving to and parking at the airport is more attractive than using transit or transportation network companies (TNCs) such as Uber or Lyft, so as lockdowns ease, airport parking operations are seeing a bit of an uptick.

In the October issue of Parking & Mobility, we continue our Roadmap to Recovery series with a look at how airports have been affected and what their responses have been. From the initial hit to strategies to recover, including capital projects and keeping employees on the payroll, directors share what they’ve done, how it’s going, and what the future looks like.

Read the whole story here. Read or download and share the complete Roadmap to Recovery publication here–a compilation of IPMI’s COVID-19 resources, including sector-specific and general industry information.

IPMI Blog, Resources

Upskilling: You’re Worth It!

October 16, 2020 Kim Fernandez Leave a comment

By Kathleen Federici, MEd

Why has upskilling suddenly become so important? The short answer is the digital economy. There is a relentless commitment to achieve more with less, especially now during the COVID pandemic.

Upskilling is the process of acquiring new and relevant competencies needed today and in the near future. Common examples of upskilling efforts include digital skills, analytics skills, and organizational transformation skills. Upskilling is being able to work socially in a digital world.

This sea of change means that many traditional jobs are morphing into something different or disappearing altogether. Upskilling is the process of preparing the workforce to fill these new positions. I have been asked by those furloughed or laid off what they should do now. My answer is to upskill. In the words of Ohio Lieutenant Governor Jon Husted, “When we come out of this, the digital economy will be even more powerful than it is now. This is a time to upskill yourself.”

According to the World Economic Forum, 65 percent of children entering primary school today will work in jobs that don’t exist yet. To survive and thrive in this economy, we need to be agile, and that means seizing new skills by upskilling your skills.

When you think about upskilling yourself, set your own goals. What do you want to do and why? Identify the new skills you will need to accomplish that goal you just set. Google and Udemy are two websites that offer free upskilling courses. Of, course, IPMI has your back when it comes to upskilling by way of the CAPP credential.

Build your upskilling plan in the comfort and safety of your living room. You’re worth it.

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

IPMI Blog, Resources

Acting with Purpose and Kindness

October 9, 2020 Kim Fernandez Leave a comment

By Rachel Yoka, CAPP, LEED AP BD+C, WELL AP

In a normal year, it takes discipline to set goals and stay focused on the steps you need to take to achieve them. This year has thrown us all for one heck of a curve. It’s easy to mindlessly scroll through 2020 memes (and there really are some great ones, so I recommend checking out a few).

Disruption caused by the pandemic has forced every parking, transportation, and mobility organization to revisit their entire operation. Our organization is no different. The level of disruption we have all experienced is challenging and painful. Yet, it can spur and advance innovation and positive change.

We decided as a team to respond to the ongoing crisis with intention, clarity, and kindness.

The intention behind our stay connected effort is to provide numerous resources, including Parking & Mobility magazine, frontline trainings through December, industry Shoptalks, and on-demand courses and webinars to train industry professionals. Every one of these resources is available to IPMI members for free.

Our Roadmap to Recovery initiative exemplifies our approach to clarity. We had to get crystal clear on what our members and the industry need, right now. We asked and you answered. We’ve heard from every segment of the industry on how they have had to adapt and stretch their organization to meet new demands. Our newest edition of the special publication Roadmap to Recovery is available now–download it today and dive into survey results and articles by industry experts.

Kindness comes easy to our community (or at least it appears to!). Your willingness to share your experience and insight with your colleagues and lend a hand is absolutely extraordinary. It’s apparent in our volunteers every single day. It’s evident from the generosity of our Frontline Training instructors, who freely give of their time to keep your team members up to date on essential skills. It’s every one of our speakers showing up at the Leadership Summit this week to offer their perspectives. I could go on, but this would become a full feature article in the magazine. For your kindness, thank you. We are all that much better for it.

If you have ever had an inclination to volunteer, write, or get involved–this is your year. Get off the sidelines and give of your gifts to our community. Reach out to me and we will find you the right opportunity to do so.

Here’s a five-minute ask: We still need to hear from you, it’s critical to our success as a community. Here’s how you can do that:

We look forward to hearing from you–stay well and stay connected.

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

IPMI Blog, Resources

Growing Grace

October 2, 2020 Kim Fernandez Leave a comment

By Kim Fernandez

After a socially distanced, back porch, complaining-about-all-things-Coronavirus, decidedly unhappy hour a couple of months back, two friends and I decided we needed more happy—a lot more happy. So we came up with the COVID blessing, which is something we’re grateful for that wouldn’t have happened without the pandemic. Sounds like the world’s biggest oxymoron but since we started consciously looking, we’ve discovered a lot of them.

So far, my favorite COVID blessing is a much-heightened sense of grace (at least in real life–social media is its own universe). We understand when a dog barks or a kid melts down or someone’s sporting untamed bedhead during a Zoom call. We get it when a colleague goes incommunicado for an hour or two during a child’s distance learning time. We wait patiently when a presenter’s connection blips or they need a moment to collect their thoughts; it’s hard to think sometimes. We offer support when our friend has a little meltdown on Facebook, and we pretend to not notice when they delete it the next morning. And we’re a bit more compassionate when the Door Dash driver is late and our order is wrong—and we tip anyway—because everybody’s stretching in all sorts of ways to hold everything together six months in.

We have a greater appreciation for TP and paper towels, a rekindled love for flour and yeast, and a never-leave-me sort of affection for the mail carrier and UPS driver. A whole shelf of canned pumpkin at the grocery store left me awash in gratitude last week and my neighbor sent me a heartfelt thank-you when I left a $3 canister of Clorox wipes on her porch. There’s still a lot of “please” in our prayers, but more and more, there’s “thank you.” And there is more patience and compassion and grace.

My friends and I share our COVID blessings with each other through regular texts and still-distanced get togethers on the back porch, and celebrating them together has been its own blessing. When this all ends, I hope that part sticks around.

Kim Fernandez is IPMI’s director of publications.

IPMI Blog, Resources

A New Kind of Crisis Management

October 1, 2020 Kim Fernandez Leave a comment

By Casey Jones, CAPP

Rahm Emanuel famously said, “You never let a serious crisis go to waste. And what I mean by that it’s an opportunity to do things you think you could not do before.” In spite of the tragedy and difficulty we currently face during this once-in-a-century health crisis, my optimistic nature sees hope (and not political cynicism) in what Emanuel was getting at, and I see it play out in organizations within our industry.

In weekly state and regional association virtual meetings, countless stories are told of how changes are being made to improve safety, reduce costs, and adjust policies and procedures to accommodate new customer needs in spite of–and to a large extent because of–the current health crisis. We have moved past any initial paralysis brought on by COVID-19 restrictions and we’re trying new things and succeeding. I was on a state association call recently and the discussion turned to a strategy one university was using to accommodate their permit holders. Previously the school had only offered annual permits but has expanded to shorter-term permits to allow more flexibility.

There are other examples as well, from moving to touchless and online payment systems to flexible permitting and renewal options, all of which consultants like me have been suggesting for years. So what’s different? COVID-19, of course. But understanding that changes are possible because of the pandemic won’t be enough to sustain them beyond the COVID-induced “pilot” phase. Many of the changes we’re making now we’ll want to keep in place in the future when we return to normalcy, and we should use this time to fully grasp why we’re able to make difficult but necessary changes to our programs. We need to dissect each decision to determine exactly what specific factors resulted in approval. Knowing this will help us sustain the positive improvements we’re making now and provide a roadmap for future program improvements.

Casey Jones, CAPP, is senior parking and mobility planner with DESMAN.

IPMI Webinar: Curbing COVID-19 at the Curb, presented by Matthew Darst, Conduent Transportation.

Curbing COVID-19 at the Curb

Matthew Darst, JD; Director of Curbside Management; Conduent Transportation

Register here for this webinar.

Or purchase the entire 2021 professional development series bundle.

How we think about traveling and commuting in the cities where we work and live has changed dramatically with the spread of COVID-19 . We drive less, eschew public transportation, and are less likely to use shared mobility devices. This new definition of mobility has exacerbated declining municipal revenues. Cities and states face a unique challenge: stimulate local economies and generate revenue all while working to reopen responsibly to prevent new hot spots of infection and protect public health.

Curbside technologies offer unique solutions to help fund government programs while safeguarding the public. Curbside technologies can help monitor and mitigate viral spread, provide economic relief to constituents, and create a path for municipal revenue recovery. Cities have an opportunity to quickly pivot and utilize metered parking, permit parking, citation issuance and processing, and data science to achieve critical municipal goals.

Attendees will:

Identify curbside strategies for reducing the risk of contagion, providing relief to customers, and helping fund critical municipal goals.
Assess curbside data for its effectiveness as an early indicator of people congregating/flaunting social distancing guidelines, the need for enforcement, and the spread of COVID-19.
Detail best practices and measure the effectiveness of amnesty and relief programs for constituents and revenue recovery efforts.

Offers 1 CAPP Credit towards application or recertification.

Presenter:

Matthew Darst, JD; Director of Curbside Management; Conduent Transportation

Matt Darst, JD, oversees Conduent Transportation’s analytics team, helping cities use data to better manage curbside resources to promote social equity, improve pedestrian safety, and increase physical distancing during the pandemic. Prior to joining Conduent, he served in the public sector for 16 years.

Register here.

IPMI Blog, Resources

How to Network During a Virtual Event

September 29, 2020 Kim Fernandez Leave a comment

By Ashley Owens

We are all working from the safety of our homes and many of our powerful engagements now happen online. While we are physically distancing, virtually we are not. Online conferences give us access to the best experts, industry leaders, and other potential assets to our network, so it’s important to be creative and strategic in building relationships from virtual events. Here are some ways to virtually network at a conference:

Have a Goal.

Begin by establishing your virtual networking goals. How many people do you want to connect with? Will you begin to spend virtual time weekly with certain connections? Be intentional in planning and strategizing your way through to a conference. This will direct your focus and effort in networking that drives professional advancement.

Comment and Engage.

Share relevant comments and thoughts on topics to showcase your expertise. Be visible on the event platform and community or event app. Post questions, insights, review, and hear from others, too. This strategy helps you find your way to connections with shared professional or educational interests, causes, and contacts.

Create Personal Conversations.

When you follow-up with your new connections, understand that conversations at this time of our life may become personal. This is a powerful way of building trust while sharing both our growth and challenges, both personally and in the business.

Working remotely may have dramatically changed the way we connect, but the possibilities are endless. Stay creative, strategize, and know that success is right in front of you!

Ashley Owens is a networking concierge and head of Ashley Assists. She will present on this topic during IPMI’s 2020 Leadership Summit, online, Oct. 6-8. For details and to register, click here.

IPMI Blog, Resources

What Flyers Need to Know About Airport Parking in a Pandemic

September 28, 2020 Kim Fernandez Leave a comment

Not a lot of people are traveling by plane right now but parking is still top of mind for those who are. In response, Forbes this weekend ran a piece about what flyers can expect when they go to park their cars.

“The COVID pandemic has changed the way you park your car at the airport. There’s an emphasis on safety, and some facilities are closed or have been repurposed for cargo. You’ll need to do more research and pay attention to the details before you park at the airport in a pandemic,” the article says.

The story says parking questions account for 5 percent of the conversation on an airport parking website, and that many of those center around COVID-19 safety. It also outlines safety precautions some airports are taking and notes that with demand for parking down, staff has been reassigned in some cases.

Read the whole story here and let us know in the comments–is this true to what you’re experiencing?