Tag Archives: mobility

IPMI Blog, Resources

The Leading Edge of Mobility

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Lots is changing in the way people get from place to place, and today Forbes says the state of Michigan is at the leading edge of it all.

While the state is preparing now for more alternative-fuel vehicles, shared rides, and everything we hear about the future of mobility, it’s also already creating jobs in those areas–jobs that may make up for those lost by new technology. Its universities are training students to be prepared for the new ways people will get around and enjoy successful careers in those areas. And it’s working on ways to protect people’s privacy in a connected-vehicle world.

Read the whole story here. 

IPMI Blog, Resources

The Shuttle Predicament

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It’s not an unfamiliar scenario: A university (or a hospital or an airport or even a municipality) carefully crafts a shuttle system to get people around, factoring in traffic, speed limits, and stop times.  And even after agonizing over every detail, the buses still don’t run on time. Argh.

It was a big challenge at the University of Florida Health campus until administrators decided to do something a little revolutionary: Turn the problem over to students to solve. And guess what? Using a complex mathematical theorem and some careful calculations, they did it. The shuttles run on time and everybody’s happy.

Read about the campus’s shuttle predicament and exactly how their smart students figured it out in the September issue of The Parking Professional magazine. After that, check out the full report generated by the students outlining their whole proposal in IPI’s Resource Center. Will their creative solution work for your shuttle system? Comment here and let us know!

Parking & Mobility Article, Resources, Transportation & Mobility

Connecting The Commuting Dots: Offering intermobility services to maximize campus access.

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By Casey Jones, CAPP

18-09 Connecting the commuter dotsA FUNDAMENTAL SHIFT IN THE PARKING INDUSTRY has occurred during the past decade or so in which parking professionals see their role as service providers rather than simply ensuring cars are parked between yellow or white lines. This shift has resulted in a sea change in the relationship between the provider of parking and the parker and has given rise to the development of new technologies, services, and products aimed at im­proving the parker experience.

Another shift is currently underway that is perhaps even more tectonic in nature and further defines not just the rela­tionship between the deliverer of the service and the receiver, but what services our industry is tasked to provide.

The parking industry is beginning to embrace the idea that our product is more than just a space to park cars and that instead we provide access and mobility. Access allows people to reach the destinations of their choice, whereas mobility is the ease at which we move from point A to point B. We’re beginning to realize that a significant enough num­ber of commuters desire access to multiple transportation modes and are likely to use alternatives to driving, at least part of the time, if we couple parking and transportation options in a complementary and seamless manner. In the U.S., universities and colleges are leading this revolution and serve as examples for the entire industry.

Driving Change
There are many factors driving this shift. First, and per­haps most importantly, higher education in the U.S. is facing significant budgetary challenges. To remain com­petitive and relevant, institutions of higher education must add high-caliber faculty, offer inspiring and up-to-date buildings and facilities, and provide programs that inspire, entertain, and support life-long loyalty from alumni. Building parking structures can be expensive, and the typical method of paying for parking garages with permit and citation revenue is largely insufficient to construct what is needed. Even if permit holders can fund new garages through increases in permit fees, there is often little or no political appetite for such endeavors.

Second, a growing sector of the campus ­community—namely students—wants commuting options. Some­times riding a bike to campus is desired while other trips require a car. Sometimes taking Uber or Lyft is the best option while other times the campus shuttle or public transportation works just fine. The myriad of choices is a good thing, but often the options are not designed to work together to provide a mix-and-match approach that can save money and time and improve convenience. Commuters are typically left to figure out on their own how to fit the options together.Fortunately, several high-performing university parking and transportation programs are figuring out that people shouldn’t be considered uni-modal and may, in fact, prefer to use different options depending on the day, season, and circumstance. Knitting together com­muting services in a seamless, convenient, and effective manner is referred to as mobility-as-a-service (MaaS).

Mobility as a Service
The MaaS Alliance is a European public-private partnership working to create “the foundations for a common approach to MaaS, unlocking the economies of scale needed for successful implementation and take-up of MaaS in Europe and beyond.” Its goal is to facilitate a single open market and full deployment of MaaS services.
The Alliance defines MaaS as “the integration of various forms of transport services into a single mobility service accessible on demand. To meet a cus­tomer’s request, a MaaS operator facilitates a diverse menu of transport options, be they public transport; ride-, car-, or bike-sharing; taxi or car rental/lease; or a combination thereof.”

The European MaaS framework centers on a single commercially motivated, private-sector technology aggregator that interfaces directly with the consum­er. In the U.S., it is more probable that public-sector providers of parking and transportation will remain as the centerpiece of the commute services delivery. Public-sector players may be supported by both pri­vate operators and technology providers, but delivery will likely flow through the owners of publicly owned facilities and services. The U.S. version of MaaS is mo­bility on demand (MOD) which, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation, is defined as “an inno­vative, user-focused approach which leverages emerg­ing mobility services, integrated transit networks and operations, real-time data, connected travelers, and cooperative Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) to allow for a more traveler-centric, transportation system-of-systems approach, providing improved mo­bility options to all travelers and users of the system in an efficient and safe manner.”

To avoid confusion between MaaS and MOD, I’ll use the term “intermobility” to describe offering a variety of commuting options in a coordinated, com­plementary, and flexible manner that may or may not be tech-­enabled. In the U.S., intermobility is already well beyond the concept stage and found most often at progressive, forward-thinking institutions of higher education. Here are some examples:

Arizona State University
Arizona State University’s (ASU’s) robust alternative transportation features the Eco-Pass program that ties together important modal options. Registered bicyclists, holders of high-occupancy-vehicle carpool permits, and student and employee bus pass holders can purchase a discounted bundle of 30 all-day park­ing passes for parking in a designated parking lot or structure.

The University of Virginia
The University of Virginia provides incentives in which carpool (known as Cavpool) members get 20 occasional use parking permits per year when they sign up to become members. For added flexibility, per­mits are interchangeable among members of the same carpooling group.

Stanford University
Stanford University in California offers the Commute Club, which includes incentives to reduce parking de­mand while providing modal flexibility. For starters, members receive up to $300 per year for agreeing not to drive alone or park near campus. Club members can buy up to eight daily parking permits per month for times they need to drive and can pocket a few hundred dollars per year even when they buy the maximum number of daily permits allowed. Eligible commuters also receive free transit passes and can join a free vanpool or receive a free permit if they carpool. Promotions during the spring and fall include generous prize drawings for members and make the program fun and exciting.

University of Wisconsin
Flex Parking is available at the University of Wiscon­sin. Users of this program sign up for parking for a spe­cific lot or garage but only pay for the actual time they are on campus. Unlike the typical annual parking pass, this approach promotes the use of alternatives to driv­ing. Another innovation allows members of carpools and vanpools to have priority over non-­carpoolers when permit renewal occurs. Front-of-the-line priv­ileges mean those who share a ride get their pick of campus parking locations.

Boise State University
Several years ago, Boise State University in Idaho offered 10 scratch-off daily parking passes for bicycle commuters who purchased access to the university’s secured bicycle storage facility known as the Bike Barn. The program was recently revamped. Now called the Deluxe Bicycle Registration program, the program provides registrants access to secure bicycle storage; their bike is registered (easier to recover if stolen) and they receive four all-day parking passes and 15 percent off university bike shop merchandise and services.

Sacramento State University
Most schools have a mobile app that provides a wealth of information about events, dining options, athletics, and more, and most also provide some information about parking and transportation. Sacramento State University in Californa features commuting informa­tion prominently on its app, and with one click users can get real-time parking availability information, pay for parking, find out when the next shuttle arrives, and find bicycle routes and bike parking options.

Keys to Success
The examples above make clear a few emerging keys to intermobility success:

  • Less all-you-can-eat. In The High Cost of Free Parking, Don Shoup cleverly (and accurately) labels the typical way of selling annual parking permits as “all-you-can-eat.” The problem, Shoup notes, is that when you sell someone something for a whole year, they’re likely to use it. This may not be true of gym memberships, but it’s true for parking. A meaningful enough number of people on your campus may only want or need to drive occasionally. Let’s figure out who those people are and sell boutique permits that may only be good for certain days of the week.
  • Data is key. If we intend to sell fractional parking permits, we’ll need to have a good handle on how our parking facilities are used by day, week, season, and time of day so we don’t over- or under-sell them. Collecting, analyzing, and making data-driven deci­sion will help us ensure that a space will be available even for the occasional parker.
  • Flexibility is a must. I live in a place that isn’t all that friendly to biking a few months out of the year. What’s more, life happens to people, and a mode that seemed to work at one point in your life may not meet all your commuting needs at another time. Inter­mobility requires flexibility so people can pick and choose their modal options based on what best meets their needs. Like with a cellphone contract with no immediate way out, commuters may feel as if making the shift from one mode (driving) to something else (public transportation) may be too much of a com­mitment because they anticipate life happening. The best intermobility programs are those that provide patrons with the most flexibility and an easy way to move from one mode to another based on their needs.
  • Parking is still prime. Let’s face it: Driving is still the dominant mode of transportation and is likely to be for the foreseeable future. Experience suggests that many within the campus community are reluctant to move completely away from their preferred option. The successful intermobility pro­fessional understands this and will package offer­ings to include parking. Several occasional-parker options exist in the higher education space. Maybe we need to welcome and accommodate occasional cyclists and transit riders with pricing and service packages that allow parking most of the time. The truth is that even a modest modal shift away from single-occupancy driving will have a meaningful ef­fect on parking demand, especially if we can spread the reduction in demand broadly across facilities and times of peak occupancy.
  • Single point of sale. Most commuters need some help figuring out what commuting options work best for them, and if we up the complexity ante by allow­ing people to piece their commutes together as they see fit, we’ll likely need a common delivery platform and a single customer interface that easily allows access to each mode.
  • Partnerships make it possible. Universities typ­ically control most, but not all, the modal programs and services offered on a campus. Public transpor­tation systems, private parking owners adjacent to campus, transportation network providers, and others are involved in the provision of transporta­tion services; partnering with outside entities will be essential to maximizing access and mobility and customer convenience most of all.

We’ve understood for a while that we maximize access and mobility when we design, build, and operate parking facilities to accommodate multiple modal op­tions. We also accept and embrace that ours is a service industry and that providing a positive customer expe­rience is crucial to our success and relationship with those we serve. It’s now time to fully integrate parking and transportation programs and services to accom­modate a mix of commuting options that offer conve­nience, flexibility, efficiency, and ease of use.

The truth is that even a modest modal shift away from single-occupancy driving will have a meaningful effect on parking demand, especially if we can spread the reduction in demand broadly across facilities and times of peak occupancy.

Read the article here.

CASEY JONES, CAPP, is vice president at Timothy Haahs & Associates, Inc. He can be reached at cjones@timhaahs.com.

 

Parking & Mobility Article, Resources, Transportation & Mobility

Disruption! Mobility! What’s a Parking Professional to Expect?

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By Trevyr Meade, LEED GA

18-09 Disruption Mobility IPMI’s Parking Research Committee convened experts and professionals and invited them to weigh in on what to expect in transportation, shared mobility, and effecting positive change.

WE HEAR A LOT ABOUT MOBILITY—the ability to get from place to place—especially in cities. But what do trends in transit, shared rides and vehicles, and alternate modes of transportation mean for parking organizations? IPI’s Parking Research Committee asked some of the industry’s top experts for their opinions.
During the next 10 years what will be the biggest driver of change in our transportation systems?

Gary Lawrence: I think there will be three major drivers of change in our mobility and access systems. First will be the deg­radation of existing infrastructure with insufficient funding to replace it while also embedding needed communications ar­chitecture. The second will be a shift from fossil to alternative fuels. And there will be increases in urban congestion in surface transportation system, requiring multidi­mensional thinking.
Chris Atkins: The biggest drivers will be the rise of the sharing economy, its effects on driving, as well as the rise of autonomous and electrically powered ve­hicles. Also, from a technology perspective, the continued rise of digital transforma­tion using data to design new models of citizen mobility.

Robert Ferrin: Mobility behavior enabled by innovation will be the biggest driver in our transportation system. Con­ventional norms on how we access place are rapidly changing, spurred by shared-­mobility providers and instant informa­tion at your fingertips. Owning a car is no longer a necessity in locations where good public transit is coupled with robust car- and bike-share, dynamic shuttle systems, and other shared-mobility providers. As mobility behavior continues to change, it is important we create forward-thinking policies and programs to encourage the efficient movement of people and goods to support the growth of our communities.

Diana Alarcon: For South Florida, it will be the development of a regional mass transportation system. Our current mode of transportation in South Florida is a car. The three regional counties are currently working with the local transit agency on developing a mass transportation system of moving folks through all three counties. As these transitions occur, it will be the local cities’ challenge of that first/last mile trav­el. That is using all modes: walkability, bi­cycle, ride-sharing, car, car-sharing, trolley, bus and modern street car. And the biggest challenge will be: How do we make it work with the limited right-of-way available and curb to manage the traffic flow?

Joachim Hauser: The biggest driver for change will be digitalization indeed. There is no other technology around the block that will have more influence. ­Decision-making by each driver and indi­vidual will be accomplished by city-wide fleet management and in-car traffic man­agement, observing singular movements of cars, and managing traffic in a wider city-appropriate manner.

What should parking and transportation professionals know about shared mobility? What effects will shared mobility have on parking?

David Stein: The effects of shared mo­bility are real, but at the same time, there is still a great unknown in what the end results will be regarding parking. Adoption rates, investment in new technologies, and varying approaches to these emerging concepts mean there is no one-size-fits-all model and each municipality, region, or country will have already experienced different impacts to date. However, I think there is some consensus that as shared mobility begins to rise, the demand for parking will decrease and the way we think about parking will change. Accordingly, we should be proactive and resolute in our ap­proaches and response to the emerging and evolving system.

Robert Ferrin: In our urban cen­ters, shared-mobility providers are offering a new way to get from point A to point B that does not include taking traditional transportation options such as public transit or a single-occupancy vehicle. These pro­viders are having profound effects on our industry. For off-street providers, shared mobility is, in some cases, driving down parking demand and forcing operators to think differently about how they allocate spaces and permits to users. For on-street pro­viders and regulators, shared-mobili­ty providers are changing the way we allocate curb lane space beyond the traditional uses such as taxis, limos, and metered parking spaces. Flexible use of curb lane space is important to maximize limited parking and loading areas.

Joachim Hauser: We know from scientific studies that each car-­sharing car is able to substitute for up to seven individual cars. This figure might not be scalable to the entire car park, but there is a clear option to reduce the number of cars in a city. Most of these eliminated cars might have their parking at roadside, and they are seldom used. So this might not affect off-street parking at all. Furthermore, cities might use the chance to reduce on-street parking capacities to the advantage of park­ing operators. Also, mobility as such does not seem to be close to its saturation yet, which means more options for rides probably will lead to more rides but not to more cars. New opportunities are given by usage of strategically inter­esting parking locations as mobility hubs.

What current trends are you seeing related to mobility that are disrupting traditional transportation trends?

David Stein: The growth in the ride-hail industry is probably the most prevalent and identifiable trend that’s disrupting tradi­tional transportation throughout the world. First and foremost, the concept and functionality of a taxi has been transformed, and in many places, the ride-hail industry has outpaced and outnum­bers the traditional taxi market. It has also changed the way we think about moving from space to space and mobility in general. While car-share has changed our perception of mobility and is viewed as a mechanism to reduce car ownership and use, the pure func­tionality, cost, and convenience offered by ride-hail vehicles is changing the transportation landscape. For example, a recent article in Crain’s New York Business cites the rise of Uber and Lyft as both a major contributor to conges­tion while at the same time, discour­aging people from driving into the city. Operationally, parking operators are seeing less volume and demand in their facilities, creating what the author calls a “one-two punch” to our transportation system and skewing transportation trends like ­never before.

Diana Alacorn: Ride-sharing is a game changer in how people move in two ways: It allows someone the flexibil­ity of moving without the responsibility of a car, but at the same time, the num­ber of ride-share vehicles on the road­way is creating more traffic congestion. In time, the market will work through the number of ride-share vehicles that are on the road, but the demand for parking spaces will decrease as less peo­ple bring their own cars. Ultimately it may be a wash because reduced parking demand will open up curb space, which can accommodate ride-share queuing to reduce the traffic congestion on city surface streets.

Gary Lawrence: Declines in the quality of infrastructure—roads, rail, bridges—and associated infrastructure such as parking structures are compounding in­creases in vehicle trips and associated congestion. In addition, online shopping is putting more delivery vehicles on the streets, particularly in dense urban centers. Demand increases coupled with a reduced delivery speed and reduced reliability are causing frustration in many communities.

How do you see the design of parking structures evolving in response to these changes?

Robert Ferrin: Parking garages will need to adapt to new trans­portation innovations and be more than buildings that house vehicles. Older garages will need to be retrofitted to accommodate connected vehicles or lose their competitive advantage to newer facilities. Revenue-control equipment will need to be flexible to allow for in-vehicle payment and access and share real-time parking availability in an efficient manner. New garages should be designed to accommodate non-parking uses such as housing or office space, as the latest urban infill projects in Columbus, Ohio, are being designed.

Chris Atkins: Large-scale deployment of the internet of things (IOT) and communications infrastructure will generate lots of data. The data will be used to design mobility solutions, including parking, to take advantage of the ability to sense, moni­tor, and respond in real time. New pricing techniques and unified payment systems will also be designed using this data.

David Stein: With parking operators experiencing less de­mand, cities are seeing a golden opportunity for redevelopment through the adaptive reuse and/or redevelopment of their park­ing assets, both surface and garages. With many cities seeing their assets reaching the end of their useful life and limited op­portunities for growth, as well as people moving back into cities from the suburbs, there is little point to continued investment in such properties. Cities across the U.S. are seeing these prop­erties transformed into mixed-use development, rich in transit accessibility, and reinvigorating what were once desolate blocks.

How can the parking industry partner with mobility providers and managers to positively effect change?

Diana Alacorn: Parking operators from all branches of the busi­ness need to look and recreate the experience for the first and last mile. We work to meet federal, state, and local laws, but we forget to provide the patron an amazing experience. What is that experience? How can we all make it better? What is the customer service that you want to deliver and have your customer experi­ence? What do we need to do to make that experience the best! Working on the first and last mile will be the most important linkage between the parking and mobility industries.

Chris Atkins: Embrace the sharing economy, develop part­nerships to enhance the “smartness” of your infrastructure, and view yourself as a critical part of citizen mobility.
Gary Lawrence: I think the parking industry will need to move from being peripheral to mobility problem-solving to a more centralized role bringing together all modes and potential uses for storage and distribution.

Robert Ferrin: Municipal parking leaders should be creat­ing forward-thinking regulations to celebrate and grow these new mobility options for our customers. Setting the stage in the public realm for these transportation options to prosper will lead to additional mobility opportunities for all citizens in our com­munities. Taking chances with pilot or demonstration projects can test a concept and lead to increased acceptance of mobility options, such as car-share, ride-share, dynamic shuttle systems, and bike-sharing systems.

The effects of shared mobility are real but at the same time, there is still a great unknown in what the end results will be regarding parking.

Read the article here.

TREVYR MEADE, LEED GA, is certification program lead with the U.S. Green Building Council and a member of IPI’s Parking Research Committee. He can be reached at tmeade@gbci.org.

 

Our Experts

DIANE ALARCON is transportation and mobility department director for the City of Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

CHRIS ATKINS is vice president for digital government transformation at SAP Public Sector.

ROBERT FERRIN is assistant director for parking services with the City of Columbus (Ohio) Department of Public Service.

JOACHIM HAUSER is head of project, automated driving on business ground, with the BMW Group.

GARY LAWRENCE is chief planning and resilience strategist/principal with Enviro Dynamix.

DAVID STEIN is director, parking planning and policy, with the New York City Department of Transportation.

 

Parking & Mobility Article, Resources, Transportation & Mobility

Driving Smart Cities: The Trends affecting parking, transportation, and the evolution of mobility.

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By Brett Wood, CAPP, PE; and Rachel Yoka, CAPP, LEED AP BD+C

Driving Smart CitiesThe goal of this piece is to share seven key trends and innovations that will affect our industry and your business. This is not a definitive tome predicting the future, but rather a place to start examining where we are headed as an industry and generate conversations (and possibly arguments) about what that means for us as professionals. While it’s important to review recent survey results and relevant research, we also felt it’s critical to take a look at key bleeding-edge, disruptive, and innovative trends from within our typical space—as well as outside of it.

Trend 1: Evolution of the Curbside Environment
During the past 10 years, the curbside environment in our cities, universities, and airports has changed dra­matically, with rapid growth in competition for needs along the curb. What was once the domain of parking, loading, and transit now sees competition from food trucks, parklets, bicycles, transportation network com­panies (TNCs), and a variety of other uses. This rapid rise in competing interests naturally draws the concern of parking professionals, but the multi-faceted need is actually empowering industry professionals to think creatively and dynamically.

In recent years, our cities have adopted policies that promote flexible use of the curb, aiding businesses with loading needs in the morning, parking needs mid-day, and advanced passenger drop-off in the evenings. This dynamic approach is improving use of the curb and promoting higher activity and revenue for parking pro­grams and businesses alike. With this new approach, we have seen increased thoughtfulness related to policy development, data collection and aggregation, and curbside access. As the transportation industry continues to change, the need to be flexible, creative, and dynamic along the curb will also grow.

FROM THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF CITY TRANSPORTATION OFFICIALS (NACTO)

Trend 2: The Dynamic Parking
(and Transportation, and Mobility) Professional
Evolving responsibilities mean changing skill sets that are required for professional success, as organizations and as individuals. IPI’s 2018 Emerging Trends in Parking survey cited massive change on the horizon for parking professionals; in response to the question “Which of the following best describes the parking professional of the future?” 60 percent stated “parking, transportation, and mobility professional.” Roughly 10 percent selected parking professional or transportation professional.

The role of the current industry professional is already exceedingly more complex than it seems. Our readers know that well. However, the lists below, though not com­prehensive, provide a snapshot of our professional areas of practice today and our evolving and anticipated ones. How will we prepare new team members who join our organizations? How will we keep our current employees and leaders engaged and learning these broad skill sets for continued growth? A significant strate­gic (and ideally annual) investment in continued training and professional development will be required of those organizations that are deter­mined to stay ahead of the curve.

Current Tool Box/Qualities of the Parking Professional

  • Operations
  • Administration
  • Management
  • Technology
  • Politics
  • Economic development
  • Community outreach
  • Human resources
  • Accounting
  • Planning
  • Sustainability
  • Transportation demand management (TDM)

Tool Box/Qualities of the  Future Industry/Mobility Professional
All current qualities, plus…

  • Curb management
  • Mobility as a service (MaaS)
  • Smart city development and support
  • Urban planning
  • Data analysis and benchmarking/KPIs
  • Mobile applications and technology integration
  • Investment and management of alternative modes, including microtransit
  • Transit integrations and partnerships (all modes)
  • True TDM Integration
  • Bicycle/electric bicycle/scooter programs/storage/share
  • Accommodating and encouraging active transportation, including pedestrians
  • Adaptive reuse and capital planning for industry change

And that is just the beginning…

Trend 3: Wrestling  with Big Data

The concept of big data in the parking industry is nothing new—our leaders in the technology realm have been push­ing us farther and farther into the worlds of data collection, aggregation, validation, and analytics. During the past decade, everyone from experts to field personnel have been focused on collecting and unearthing data from all parts of our systems, including:

  • Back-end program management systems.
  • Sensors and counting equipment.
  • License plate recognition.
  • Video analytics.
  • PARCS equipment.

Now that we have all this technology, what do we do with it? First and foremost, professionals should be col­lecting data in a way that they can develop and maintain key performance indicators that support the growth of their programs. Whether that means internal performance metrics to validate and adapt program decisions or external benchmarks to compare against industry peers, the data we have been collecting and maintaining is a valuable source of information to chart our programs.

Second, as more and more cities adapt smart city pol­icies and practices, parking can be at the forefront of this movement, both internal and external to our programs. Most of our advanced technologies are already in place and should be easily adapted for contributions to smart city systems. More importantly, the parking technologies of the past few years are likely customer focused and, we hope, revenue positive, both of which are central tenets of successful smart city technologies. A few examples of park­ing-related smart city technologies include:

  • Wayfinding integrated into everyday apps.
  • Smart and efficient enforcement.
  • Mapping existing and underutilized assets.
  • Creating opportunities for more informed choice and behavioral change.

 

Trend 4: Generational Shifts
Our conversations about millenials and their tremendous effect on society will continue, but more change is coming. Get ready for Generation Z or Gen Z (also known as iGeneration or iGen and post-millennials). Although the name and precise birth years aren’t yet decided (roughly mid-1990s to mid-2000s), we do know quite a few things about how this generation is different.

According to Nielsen data, Generation Z currently makes up 26 percent of the U.S. population, making it larger than the baby boomers or millennials. Its members will comprise 40 percent of all consumers by 2020. Much has been published about their eight-second attention span (down from 12 seconds in 2000), but this may be interpreted in more than one way. Fast Company magazine dug a bit deeper into the attention span question and found that Gen Z has what they call “highly evolved eight-second filters.” Because of the wealth of information and sources of that information, they make decisions on what to read or digest and what to discard very quickly. As professionals, we will need to understand and adapt, as Gen Z will be our customers as well as our employees. Other attributes of this cohort:

  • They seek value for their money. They won’t hesitate to invest, especially on tech, but they will spend time making sure they find the best deal, either in stores or online.
  • They are ambitious, driven, and under pressure to make a difference and gain work experience, including internships and mentoring experience.
  • They communicate with multiple plat­forms—social media, podcasts, and their own branded material. Your typical public relations campaign for the boom­ers simply will not work across these platforms; they need shareable content and will create their own.
  • They are collaborative, but also entre­preneurial—they don’t trust the estab­lishment to provide them with long-term employment and a pension. They are prepared to make their own way.

Perhaps most importantly at present, gen Z grew up connected from birth. With approximately Gen five devices per person (and increasing by the day), they demand immediate and real-time information and seamless integration of services, including those in the mobility sphere.

Trend 5: Managing the Changing Workplace
During the past decade, the workplace has steadily taken on a new look in an ef­fort to meet the desires of a new gener­ation of workers. Led by the technology and innovation sector, the workplace has become less rigid and more about open collaboration. And the way we work has changed, with a great focus on flexible work schedules, digital and telecom­mute work options, and mobility to do your work from wherever you may be.
In response to this changing ap­proach to the work environment, the professional who manages transporta­tion and parking choice for the employ­ment sector may need to rethink the way they provide for and manage parking. Employers will likely need to think about commute options for their employees, including flexible transit, parking, and mobility options. Employers also need to help educate and inform their employees of commute options, to help them make better decisions on a day-to-day basis. And commute choices should come with options for digital data access, which help employees keep working, even when on the move.

Trend 6: Disruptive and Innovative Technology
This trend often gets the most press, as almost all elements of the transportation industry are waiting eagerly to see the effects of full vehicle automation and driverless systems. The good news (we think) is that we don’t really need to wait for impactful transportation disruption. Today’s impacts, such as TNCs and shared mobility options, are already changing the way we manage parking. Changing electric vehicle ownership trends will likely change the way people make decisions about parking. And data-sharing, along with connected vehicles, will change the way we interact with parking technologies.
In regard to autonomous vehicles, the parking professional has a large stake in the ultimate outcome of their implementa­tion and adoption. Vehicles that never park and always shuttle between destinations, waiting on their owners, have the poten­tial to completely change how parking facilities operate. Auton­omous vehicles that are part of a larger ride-sharing fleet could also change how and where vehicles are stored and recharged. The ultimate goal of the parking professional should be to have a seat at the table to help craft policy and make decisions about how cities adapt to and manage autonomous vehicles.

Trend 7: Active Transportation as A New Frontier
Active transportation,otherwise known as “nonmotorized transportation,” includes human-powered activity such as walking or bicycling and plays a significant role in the development of real estate. A high walk score can improve the value of your home or facility. Aside from the dollar value impact, the built environment, which includes neighborhood design, street layout, and building design, has a significant effect on the health of communi­ties, families, and individuals. Walkability di­rectly affects health. Living in a neighborhood with shops and retail within walking distance lowered the risk of obesity by 35 percent , according to a study in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Roughly 45 percent of respondents to the Emerging Trends survey citied the desire for more livable, walkable communities as a key societal trend affecting our industry, mirroring the 50 percent of U.S. residents who stated this was a high or top priority when considering where to live. Access to trails and green space further amplifies these impacts.
So it follows that where we place our fa­cilities and our programs matters—in terms of access, convenience, and overall usage. Consider active transportation as a catalyst for development, a way to make employees healthier and more productive, and a method to increase retail visibility and sales volume.

Perhaps what’s most interesting about these trends will be where and when they in­tersect and amplify, or contradict, each other. The rise of TNCs and competition for the curb will be directly affected by the progress of au­tonomous vehicles (AVs) and other disruptive technologies. The focus of Gen Z on active transportation and the changing shape of work will transform how we develop real estate, especially in major metropolitan areas. Each of these trends will also help shape the evolution of the mobility, transportation, and parking professional—as an industry, we should be poised and ready for change.

Read the article here.

RACHEL YOKA, CAPP, LEED AP BD+C, is IPI’s vice president for program development. She can be reached at yoka@parking-mobility.org.

BRETT WOOD, CAPP, PE, is a parking planner with Kimley-Horn and co-chair of IPI’s Parking Research Committee. He can be reached at brett.wood@kimley-horn.com.

Parking & Mobility Article, Resources, Transportation & Mobility

The Green Standard: A Remarkable Day

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By Paul Wessel

HANGING OUT WITH THE CHICKENS at my Airbnb in upstate New York and reflecting upon my day at Cornell University, I had an epiphany: I had just seen the future of mobility emerging before my eyes!

Let me explain.
I was invited to talk about sustainable mobility and Parksmart by Cornell’s Center for Transportation, Environment, and Community Health, otherwise known as CTECH. Specifically, I was joining Cornell’s parking and transpor­tation wizards Bridgette Brady, CAPP, and Reed Huegerich, to speak at CURIE Academy, a summer residential program for high school girls who excel in math and science.

It’s always good to get a sense of your audience, so Bridgette, Reed, and I ar­rived during the morning session.

I walked into a classroom of 50 young women from across the U.S. discussing “systems engineering and systems design thinking for urban mobility” with Cornell engineering professor Samitha Samaranayake, who did his PhD work on “efficient algorithms for stochastic route planning and dynamic network flow allocation.” Though it took me a few minutes to grasp it, they were talking about Uber, Lyft, and taxis; mathemat­ical modeling and optimization; and in­formation technologies. I was clearly not in Kansas anymore.
It quickly dawned on me that these were the kids I’m going to be working for in 10 years when they’ve got their PhDs. If, as Parksmart visionary John Schmid is apt to say, “no one is as smart as ev­eryone,” then standing in that room, my IQ went up 50 points.

Our job was to talk with these young women about how we turn academic theories, formulas, and data visualiza­tions into something real. We shared what parking and transportation profes­sionals do and how Parksmart (parking.org/parksmart) is a tool to inspire adop­tion of the technologies and approaches they were learning about.
We explained that while our gener­ation didn’t create a lot of the negative externalities of transportation—pollu­tion and congestion among them—we certainly exacerbated the problem and, for better or worse, are leaving it to their generation to resolve.
We wrapped up by sharing heat maps and drone videos showing how Cornell uses GIS (graphic information system) to reduce vehicle accidents and single-occupant vehicle trips and then prepped them for a walking tour of a new green parking lot under construction.

A Green Lot
The Peterson lot, designed by landscape architecture students at Cornell, funded by the transportation department and grants, managed by a host of Cornell experts, and being constructed by the university’s engineers, is a leading ex­ample of green surface parking design. It is expected to be certified by SITES, the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) and Parksmart sister program recognizing sustainable-­landscaped site development.

After our walk past the intersection being reconstructed to reduce the pedestrian, bike, bus, and vehicle con­flicts and past a series of bioswales built to reduce water pollution, we landed at the Peterson parking lot. Among other things, we learned about “structural soil,” a Cornell-developed combination of stone and soil that is stable enough to support pavement but penetrable enough to allow for tree root growth.

The Peterson lot integrates and ap­plies more than a decade of research by Cornell faculty and students into a teaching landscape, interpreta­tion, and outreach tool for multiple college programs and campus green infrastructure. Using SITES, a robust monitoring plan, and a comparison to a nearby traditional lot, students and faculty will document the water qual­ity improvements and quantity reduc­tion achieved by their thoughtful sur­face parking design and construction.

Takeaways
It was a full day, so I was happy that the increasingly frequent 90-degree weather broke, that my Airbnb hosts had some lawn chairs, and that the chickens were quiet in their pen. Reflecting back on the past seven hours, I was struck by how the combination of academics modeling transportation with arcane formulas, crackerjack-smart high school girls on the way to becoming our next generation of problem solvers, parking and transportation leaders building tomorrow’s infrastructure today, struc­tural soil, backhoes, and French drains all wrapped up an Ivy-league land-grant university driven to do research that changes the world.

This was the essence of leadership: In secluded upstate New York, I was in the presence of people who Parksmart certified the first university parking structure, were on the path to SITES to certify the first university parking lot, were pushing my organization to reach beyond the parking structure to promote integrated parking and transportation systems, were doing seminal research and roll-your-sleeves-up development on the mobility infrastructure that might just save us, and were building the young minds that are going to have to pick up the mantle.

It was all there. And for an instant, I got to be part of it.

Read the article here.

PAUL WESSEL is director of market development with the U.S. Green Building Council. He can be reached at pwessel@usgbc.org.

Parking & Mobility Article, Resources, Transportation & Mobility

Mobility & Tech: Creating A-List Parking in Urban Settings

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By Taylor Kim, AIA, LEED AP

PARKING IS OFTEN THE FIRST AND LAST IMPRESSION a patron has when visiting a destination. In parking-challenged urban centers such as San Francisco, Calif, where parking isn’t expected to be easy, providing an A-list parking experience can add tremendous value. By integrating mobile app technology, seamless valet services, and mechanical parking for increased flexi­bility, parking can become an amenity rather than an inconvenient necessity.

At Lumina Towers, a luxury resi­dential development in the Rincon Hill neighborhood of San Francisco, each of these technologies was used to not only improve the residential experience, but also provide a cost-effective way to offer sufficient parking within a limited footprint. Lumina consists of four high-rise towers that take up an entire city block. While this site is larger than most, it was still a challenge to accommodate the number of parking spaces needed to serve its 655 units. Given the amount of parking needed and the high level of service desired to serve Lumina’s cli­entele, it was determined that full valet parking, rather than self-parking, was the right approach.

The Specs

Parking for the development is supplied on three basement levels. The first basement consists of the valet drop-off and pick-up areas and accessible parking, as well as pedestrian connec­tions to each of the four towers. The second and third basement levels are only accessible to valet attendants. To densify the parking to meet the project’s program, the third basement level also incorporates mechanical stackers that use volume to make more efficient use of available space.

Valet-operated mechanical parking allows for more flexible operations and increased parking capacity with minimal increases to the volume of the garage. Because the prime location means many residents don’t regularly use their vehi­cles, valets are able to manage demand by leveraging stackers and remote spac­es in the garage for long-term storage. Experienced valets also make it possible to use a complicated parking layout with a delicate one-way traffic pattern and parking at various angles, resulting in extremely efficient operations.

By integrating mobile app technology, seamless valet services, and mechanical parking for increased flexibility, parking can become an amenity rather than an inconvenient necessity.

Why Valet Makes Sense

Valet is often thought of as an expensive, slow, labor-intensive operation. However, with the use of technology, many of the disadvantages of valet parking have been minimized at Lumina Towers. Instead of a traditional valet operation where drivers request their vehicle once they reach the valet station in the parking garage, resi­dents at Lumina text or call the valet desk for their cars before leaving their units. The valet then queries the central system at the main valet office, where attendants can locate and retrieve the vehicle. By the time the resident reaches the garage, their car is staged and ready.

The garage drop-off was carefully de­signed with the driver in mind. There is adequate queuing space for residents to be able to leave their cars on arrival and proceed to their building during heavi­er peak periods. Attendants are also able to prepare for the morning peak demands during the slower overnight hours by staging the regular vehicles for pick up on the B1 level. Having a regular dedicated valet staff onsite also forges a personal connection, increasing the level of service to the residents.

In one of the densest, busiest cities in the country, Lumina Towers not only overcame the innate challenges posed by parking, but also turned the parking experience into a luxury amenity that provides residents with a seamless, high-level experience.

Read the article here.

TAYLOR KIM, AIA, LEED AP, is project manager and associate with Watry Design. She can be reached at tkim@watrydesign.com.

 

IPMI Blog

We Are Mobility

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By Todd Tucker, CAPP

I’m going to write something radical: the parking industry doesn’t exist anymore.

Yes, you read that right.

But before you open your email to send me an angry note, consider this: How do you define the parking industry? We facilitate travel and transportation. We make people’s lives easier by giving them an easy place to store their vehicles near their destinations. Sure, the format in which we help may be a parking structure, but we are so much more now in the mobility landscape.

We are a mobility and transportation industry now. We are powerful–and right at the cutting edge of a technological revolution in which we must remain agile and think big to retain customers and stay relevant

Let’s look to history for lessons.

Rail was the most popular way to travel for years, but railroad companies experienced a major decline in the 1950s due to the growth of automobiles and air travel. Because they were singularly focused on rail, those companies neglected to see the bigger picture–that they were not just in the railroad business, they were actually in the transportation business. They didn’t innovate. They lost relevance and lost customers. When was the last time you opted to ride a train across the country instead of flying on an airplane?

Similarly, National Cash Register (NCR) was a top-four powerhouse of a company in the early 1900s and prevailed in the transactional-calculations machine business. In the 1950s, however, despite huge market dominance and what should have been a massive head start on the world, they almost went out of business due to a refusal to acknowledge and embrace the computer industry that is now ubiquitous. NCR barely recovered, but countless firms from the last century no longer exist today due to a failure to adopt technological change.

What is the point? Railroads and NCR both failed to adapt.

Connected mobility is here, connected vehicles are here now, autonomous vehicles are coming. Let’s not be afraid of change. Let’s work together and embrace our new world.

Todd Tucker, CAPP, is senior vice president, market development, with ParkWhiz and a member of IPI’s Parking Research Committee.

IPMI Blog, Resources

The Sharing Economy and Mobility on Demand

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By L. Dennis Burns, CAPP

I recently rediscovered a 2016 document published by the Federal Highway Administration: Shared Mobility – Current Practices and Guiding Principles.

In the past few years, the sharing economy has emerged as a developing phenomenon that is reshaping many economic sectors including financial, goods, food, services, and transportation. Based on sharing, renting, and borrowing goods and services rather than owning them, the sharing economy is influencing technological, mobility, and social trends by changing the way people travel and consume resources. This document links the concepts and impacts of the sharing economy to an emerging transportation concept referred to as mobility on demand (MOD).

Mobility on demand is an innovative transportation concept where consumers can access mobility, goods, and services on demand by dispatching or using shared mobility, courier services, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), and public transportation solutions. The most advanced forms of MOD passenger services incorporate trip planning and booking, real-time information, and fare payment into a single user interface (sometimes referred to as the connected traveler. Passenger modes facilitated through MOD providers include car-sharing, bike-sharing, ride-sharing, ride-sourcing/transportation network companies (TNCs), scooter-sharing, microtransit, shuttle services, public transportation, courier network services (CNS) and delivery services, and other emerging transportation solutions.

Interested in learning more? Download the report here.

L. Dennis Burns, CAPP, is regional vice president with Kimley-Horn.