Tag Archives: parking

Parking & Mobility Article, Resources, Sustainability, Transportation & Mobility

The Parking Professional: Building Well

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Strategies, linkages, and lessons for the parking, transportation and mobility industry.

2018-12 Building Well 18-12 Building Well

By RACHEL YOKA, CAPP, LEED AP BD+C,

The United States Green Building Council (USGBC) and the Green Business Certification Institute (GBCI) administer multiple certification standards in addition to LEED standards. One of these standards will be familiar to our readers: Parksmart. The Parksmart program promotes sustainable and high-performing garages and parking garages through certification at multiple levels.

GBCI also administers certification and credentialing for a relatively new certification standard dedicated to promoting buildings that maximize the opportunities for both human health and environmental sustainability: the International WELL Building Institute™ (IWBI™).

Those familiar with the triple-bottom line of people, planet, and profit, will recognize the importance of human health and wellness in this concept. Our health and wellness intersect with the environments where we spend most of our time. LEED criteria address these concepts in many cases, examining air quality, lighting, comfort, and general environment through multiple strategies to improve our experience in residential, office, and other property types.

Over the course of a 30-year building lifecycle, personnel costs account for more than 90 percent of costs, dwarfing design and construction costs of 2 percent and operations and maintenance costs of 6 percent. No matter what industry, those numbers are telling—and addressing human health and wellness to the benefit of both individuals and organizations makes financial sense, as well as good stewardship of our most important asset—our people.

Fundamentals of the WELL Building Standard
WELL addresses buildings and the features that have impacts to human health and wellness. Given that we spend nearly 90 percent of our time indoors, the impact of the quality of our natural environment as well as the quality of our built environment cannot be understated.

The standard is an “independently verified, per­formance-based system for measuring, certifying and monitoring features of buildings that impact human health and well-being.” More than 100 features ad­dress areas including nutrition, fitness, mood, sleep patterns, productivity and performance. These fea­tures may deal with operations and design, of the im­pact to human behavior. Certification may be achieved at silver, gold, or platinum levels.
More than 100 million square feet have been reg­istered or WELL-certified, including projects in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, the UAE, Europe, and Australia. WELL is flexible across multiple building types and offers pilot programs for multifamily residential, edu­cation, retail, restaurant, and more.

The standard addresses seven concepts: air, wa­ter, nourishment, light, fitness, comfort, and mind. These concepts provide the top-level structure for the certification program. (For comparison pur­poses, Parksmart contains four primary categories: Management, Programs, Design and Technology, Innovation). In WELL, these seven concepts include more than features, which may be considered compa­rable to Parksmart measures. Each feature includes multiple parts that may be reviewed in the certification standard.

LEED or Parksmart
Both programs are initiated with registration through an online platform and applicants provide documenta­tion to substantiate features (or measures).
One key difference is that WELL requires perfor­mance verification, which is a series of onsite, post-­occupancy performance tests to monitor building per­formance after occupants have moved in. Certification is earned once the project has documented compliance with selected features and passed performance verifica­tion. A second key difference at this time is that recer­tification is required after three years to make sure that the building maintains the desired level of design, main­tenance, and operations. This is a critical step to ensure that buildings are functioning as they were designed to and that the desired behaviors of occupants match the planned outcomes, allowing operations to be recalibrat­ed if those results don’t match what is planned.

WELL breaks up certification standards into three primary groupings:

  • Core and Shell
  • New and Existing Interiors.
  • New and Existing Buildings.

The first two apply to different owner/tenant splits depending on how much of the building remains in the control of the building owner. New and Existing Buildings will be most familiar in the parking, trans­portation, and mobility industry, addressing the entire scope of design and construction, and some elements of operations.

Point Structure
Preconditions, which are known as prerequisites in LEED, must be achieved and may be considered non-negotiable. Similarities exist to IPMI’s Accredited Parking Organization (APO) program; the accredita­tion mandates that 25 required criteria are achieved as a baseline. Optimizations, known as measures in Parksmart, are selected and documented from a total of 59 available choices.

New and Existing Buildings must achieve 41 pre­conditions in the certification system for Silver Certifi­cation. The system includes 59 possible optimizations. Buildings that meet 40 percent of the applicable op­timizations earn Gold, and 80 percent earn Platinum. Pilot programs (including communities and multifam­ily residential and educational building types) offer similar point structures.

Preconditions in the New and Existing Building category include aspects such as air quality standards, construction pollution management, fundamental wa­ter quality, visual lighting design, interior fitness circu­lation, activity incentive programs, accessible design, post-occupancy surveys, and beauty and design.

Optimizations include air quality monitoring and feedback, water treatment, responsible food produc­tion, daylight modeling, exterior active design, physical activity spaces, and adaptable spaces, as well as inno­vation points.

Fitness
Of the seven concepts in the system, the parking, trans­portation, and mobility industry may find the features provided in the fitness section most relevant. This concept supports the “integration of physical activity into everyday life by providing opportunities and sup­port for an active lifestyle and discouraging sedentary behaviors.” There are multiple linkages where as an industry we can apply WELL strategies, including:

  • Interior fitness circulation.
  • Activity incentive programs.
  • Exterior active design.
  • Physical activity spaces.
  • Active transportation support.

The next section addresses each of these five ele­ments and their potential adaption to our industry and its facilities.

Interior fitness circulation
This precondition addresses stair accessibility and pro­motion as well as design. One staircase in buildings with two to four floors should be accessible to building occu­pants and provide wayfinding and visual prompts and should be both clearly visible and within 25 feet of the primary entrance, lobby, or welcome area. Stair width must be 56 inches between handrails and or allowable by code. In addition, this addresses aesthetics; two of the following must be included: artwork, music, daylighting, view windows, designated lighting levels, or biophilic elements. (Biophilia, as defined by Wikipedia, is the in­herent human inclination to affiliate with nature.)

The design of staircases and related wayfinding is a natural fit for our parking and transportation facilities and may be simply applied to new designs. This con­cept can and should be extended to potential walking and biking trails to and from parking facilities to the desired destinations.

Stairwell exemplifies interior fitness circulation element through its daylighting and biophilic views.

Activity incentive programs
For this precondition, the project must implement two programs for all full-time employees (FTEs). Although not a comprehensive list, most relevant to our industry are tax-exempt payroll deductions relating to active transportation or mass transit or subsidies towards annual bicycle share membership.

The widespread adoption and promotion of transportation demand management (TDM) policies and programs in the parking and mobility industry relates directly to this feature. Please see page 34 for a detailed summary of TDM in this issue, or download the resource in the IPMI resource center at parking-mobility.org/resource-center.

Exterior active design
This optimization (to reiterate, these optimizations are potential, and not required), addresses pedestrian ame­nities, pedestrian promotion, and neighborhood connec­tivity. Pedestrian amenities include benches, clusters of movable furniture for outdoor seating, drinking fountains, or water stations. To promote active pedestrian circula­tion, elements include water features, plazas or open-air courtyards, gardens and landscaped elements, and public art. Neighborhood connectivity incorporates high Walk Scores® and additional diverse uses as identified by LEED BD+C within a half-mile.

Some of our members’ facility designs take these concepts to the next level; Park(ing) Day culminates in these expressions on an annual basis. The image on the next page showcases both exterior active design as well as other criteria addressed in this article.

Physical activity spaces
This optimization aims to promote physical activity through designated free indoor exercise space as well as external opportunities for exercise. External spaces must be complimentary and within a half-mile walking distance:

  • Green spaces/parks with playground features.
  • Workout station or fitness zone.
  • Trail network.
  • Accessible body of water or public swimming pool.
  • Gym or fitness center.
  • Recreational fields.

The more recent application of rooftop fields and similar spaces on parking facilities provides a terrific opportunity to place these facilities in close proximity to the building seeking WELL certification.

Active transportation support
The Centers for Disease Control defines active trans­portation as “any self-propelled, human-powered mode of transportation, such as walking or bicycling.” This optimization covers bicycle storage and support, addressing distances to the main entrance as well as bicycle maintenance tools and bicycle storage. Storage must be provided for at least five percent of regular building occupants, in addition to shorter-term storage for 2.5 percent of peak visitors. Post commute/fitness facilities are also addressed in this part, requiring both showers and lockers.  TDM programming, LEED, APO, and Parksmart di­rectly address active transportation support, especially in the form of bicycling facilities and bike-share.

Additional Considerations
One of the core concepts in the standard is Mind. This concept addresses the complex connection between mental health and building design. A building may be designed to support and reinforce a health mental state.

Beauty and design
This required precondition’s intent is “to thought­fully create unique and culturally-rich spaces.” More qualitative than quantitative in its approach, the proj­ect must contain features that promote human delight; celebration of culture, spirit, and place; and integration of public art.

Biophilia
Design in our buildings can use or mimic natural elements. This optimization addresses how to incor­porate nature through the development of a biophilia plan (environmental elements, lighting, and space layout), the incorporation of natural patterns, and op­portunities for interactions between people and nature both indoors and outdoors. An addition optimization addresses this concept further in the areas of outdoor biophilia (landscaped areas or accessible rooftop gar­dens) indoor biophilia (wall and potted plantings in interior spaces), and multiple water features.

Altruism
This optimization covers charitable activities through the provision of paid time on or off the clock for vol­unteer opportunities, as well as financial contribu­tions. Our community is well-versed in the benefits of connection to charitable causes for both employees and patrons; The Parking Professional has featured the generous Donations for Citations and related program­ming showcased by our IPMI members; see p. 27 in the November 2017 issue for more.

Innovation
The innovation concept allows for greater creativity and expansion of the WELL standard into the future. Both LEED and Parksmart offer innovation points to address aspects not covered in the current version of the standards. Innovation proposals may extend beyond the current requirements or thresholds, or con­tain a new concept.

Takeways and Next Steps
This overview of the WELL standard merely touches the concepts of human health and wellness, our built environment, and relevance to the parking, transpor­tation, and mobility industry. However, there are two key takeaways that we as an industry can utilize as a starting point.

1.Our human health is inextricably linked to our physical environment. As parking, transportation, and mobility professionals, we have the ability—and the opportunity—to make a massive impact on the health and wellness of our communities through our planning, design, operations, and programming.

2.The IPMI Accredited Parking Organization program, TDM, LEED, Parksmart, and WELL all pursue similar, related, and intertwined out­comes. High-performing buildings are sustainable. High-performing operations are profitable. Healthy, productive, and high-performing people are both. We should as an industry continue to explore these concepts and magnify these programs’ collective impacts together—to maximize our positive and profound impact on our individual communities.

Read the article here.

To find out more about WELL, visit wellcertified.com.

To jump in the fray and explore what these concepts mean for us in the future, contact me. I can’t wait to hear your feedback.

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

 

IPMI Blog, Resources

Mobility is an Outcome

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By Casey Jones, CAPP

A simple but fundamental truism of our industry is that people don’t park to park; they park to do something else. Our industry didn’t always get this. In our early days, the focus was on getting cars parked between painted lines. Today our focus is on providing programs, services, and facilities with the user and the destination in mind. When we align our offerings with the reason people are driving and parking, we positively affect the city, university, hospital, airport, or retail shopping center and their visitors, guests, employees, and students. Parking is a means to a greater goal and our industry advanced when we embraced this way of thinking.

IPI’s name change to the International Parking & Mobility Institute signals another critical change in thinking. Mobility describes the ease by which people can access their destinations of choice and includes the beginning, way points, and end of each trip, the transportation network used between destinations, and various modes of travel conveyance whether by car, shared transportation, public, or active transportation. Mobility is therefore an outcome and if I have it I can easily, conveniently, and economically access destinations of choice or necessity. If mobility is limited, I am impeded in my ability to do the things I want or need to do.

It’s an exciting time to be a parking and mobility professional and our expanding role means that our efforts are more important than ever. Embrace this change and join the movement focused on more positive outcomes for the communities we serve.

Casey Jones, CAPP, is vice president with TimHaahs.

IPMI Webinar: Municipal Procurement: Repeating Mistakes on Purpose

On-Demand Webcast: $35.00 for IPMI Members, $85.00 for Non-Members

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Description: Are your RFPs for technology products finding the best products for your operation at the best price? RFPs aim to introduce a level playing field for vendors and reduce any potential for favoritism, and garner the best prices. But it doesn’t always work that way; cities can achieve better outcomes by changing the way they buy software. Refocusing RFPs on the operation’s unique needs instead of product specs can bring much more effective results, but it’s a different way of thinking than the traditional. Join us for this archived webinar and learn how to use the RFP process more effectively to get the products you want at the best possible price.

Objectives:

1. Understand the weaknesses of current procurement practices.
2. Evaluate a new RFP evaluation methodology.
3. Produce an improved way to purchase cloud-based technology.

Presenter:

Ben Winokur, chief of staff, Passport Labs, Inc., is a lawyer turned data product manager. He loves working with audacious, passionate entrepreneurs. He owned and sold a company before, and he has a passion for SaaS startups. Winokur currently leads Passport’s data platform product, helping parking and transit operators manage their operators based on real-time data.

Parking & Mobility Article, Resources, Transportation & Mobility

The Parking Professional: Inside the Minds of Parkers

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Research says there’s plenty of parking but drivers disagree. Here’s what a new survey says about that dichotomy.

By Devorah Werner

It’s a balmy Saturday afternoon at the University of Tennessee and the college football 18-09 Inside the mind of Parkersteam is gearing up to play. You can feel the ener­gy in downtown Knoxville as the streets fill up, typically with more than 100,000 visitors eager to watch the game at the stadium or at local bars. A few of the downtown garages fill up quickly, almost within mo­ments. And then, nothing. Several other garages downtown, well situated and with myriad spots available remain virtually empty. And drivers circle and circle, frustrated at not being able to find a spot where they’d like one.

Why?
Why do some lots fill up quickly while others remain unnoticed? How much time are people wasting looking for parking? Do people avoid certain areas because they don’t think they’ll find parking? How does that affect local businesses and events? Would better access to parking availability data make a difference in people’s mindsets?
We set out to discover what goes on in the mind of parkers with an omnibus survey of 1,000 randomly selected drivers from across the country.
Here’s what we discovered:

There’s Nothing out There
There seems to be widespread feeling, despite many studies to the contrary, that there simply isn’t any­where to park. More than three quarters (76 percent) of respondents to the survey said they avoid traveling to certain areas because of a perceived lack of parking.
But apparently spots do exist. Studies of the pleth­ora of available parking across the U.S. often lament a world of excess. One study estimated as many as eight parking spots for every car in the U.S., and some cities such as Houston, Texas, are said to have 30 per resident.

Yet people think there isn’t anywhere to park.
Wade Roberts, manager of parking services for the city of Knoxville, provides firsthand evidence of this dichotomy. He manages eight parking garages in down­town Knoxville and says, “People visit downtown and pack into two of our garages. Everyone then becomes frustrated with the perceived lack of available park­ing.” And that’s with six lots sitting empty.

But his anecdotal evidence is even more telling. Roberts lives in the suburbs of Knoxville and says almost everyone he meets tells him they “avoid down­town because they don’t want to deal with parking.”

Knoxville seized the problem by the horns and in­stalled a parking counting system at one of the city’s garages to test what would happen if drivers could see parking availability data clearly displayed. A sign at the entrance of the garage lets drivers know how many spots are available, which is particularly helpful at un­derutilized garages.

The pilot project was deemed a success as drivers learned when it was worth entering the garage and when to search elsewhere. The city is now installing the same system in three more downtown lots, with the goal of countering the fear of downtown parking.
This phobia of downtown parking does more than just frustrate suburbanites. It negatively affects local businesses, city revenues, and growth potential.

Increasing parking availability data has the power to reverse that by bringing people back to downtown areas as they become aware that spots do exist and can be surprisingly easy to find.

The outcome of better parking guidance in down­town areas can be exponential for cities as profits increase for shops and restaurants, more businesses become interested in investing in downtown lo­cations, and increased job availability helps grow local economies.

Wasted Time
Of the 1,000 drivers surveyed, 15 percent attest to spending more than 30 minutes each week looking for parking. That’s a minimum of 26 hours a week of wast­ed productivity per person or an aggregate sum of more than 3,900 wasted hours every single week.
Those hours spent in search of a spot also trans­late into increased emissions and congestion on local roads—a blight on the environment and traffic pat­terns. The experience of wasting time searching for spots also leads to the added cost of the frustration drivers experience and the effect it has on the rest of their day, including their work productivity and inter­personal relationships.

If spots were indeed unavailable, these wasted hours would be a necessary evil. But what about when they are?

While this is likely the case in cities, universities, and shopping centers across the U.S., Baylor University in Waco, Texas, provided some firsthand evidence of how wasted that time really is. The university boasts 11,000 parking spaces across five student garages but was con­stantly fielding complaints of insufficient parking.

How hard can it be to find a spot in a college with 11,000 of them?
Apparently harder than you might think.
For students struggling to get to class on time, driv­ing into a garage, circling each area, and then having to leave the lot without finding a spot is indeed a waste of valuable time. While the administration could clearly document sufficient parking, student experience clear­ly evidenced insufficient parking.

In truth, both experiences were valid. Without parking guidance directing students to where spots were available, the plethora of parking was nearly use­less and, at best, inefficient.

For Baylor, simply installing a parking guidance system helped eliminate a lot of that wasted time. When a lot is full or almost at capacity, students can see that information displayed. The data allows them to make the choice to bypass one lot and move on to another with more available parking.

Matt Penney, director of parking and transportation at Baylor, found that the stress and frustration stem­ming from wasted time was virtually eliminated once the university turned to parking guidance. Not only did complaints stop but, he says, “I started getting texts from students [about the variable message signs dis­playing spot availability] saying things like ‘that sign is awesome’ and ‘that sign is a winner.’”

Baylor students also put their money where their mouths are—while the school initially funded a park­ing counting system at one of the campus garages as a pilot program, the student government used $20,000 in discretionary funds to help fund systems at three more of the university’s garages.

Public Transportation
When thinking about parking, local road congestion and time wasted searching for spots are what usually come to mind. But highway congestion and the colossal waste of time it creates are almost a thing of legend in some areas of the U.S.

The Washington, D.C., region is notorious for its endless commuting time. It consistently ranked as having some of the highest levels of congestion in the country. D.C. drivers spent an average of 63 hours stuck in traffic last year. That’s two and a half days just sitting behind the wheel, waiting to get to work or back home. The obvious solution is increas­ing the use of public transportation.

The Virginia Railway Express (VRE) is a joint project of the D.C. region and the Commonwealth of Virginia, aimed at reducing peak period congestion with commuter trains. When the VRE was first introduced in 1992, it averaged around 3,000 users a day. Two summers ago, the average ridership was more than 20,000 and growing.
That can be interpreted as 20,000 fewer cars on the highways commuting to and from D.C. But where did those 20,000 cars go?

Commuters may celebrate the option to avoid the daily angst of using local highways, but they certainly didn’t want to replace it with the aggravation of trying to find parking to get on the train on time.

In Boston, Mass., for example, weekday mornings see long lines of cars waiting to enter commuter lots. Some wait as long as 20 minutes for a spot. It’s not quite as long as commut­ing would be, but it’s enough to dissuade some drivers.

At the VRE, there was an acknowledgement that they couldn’t increase rail use without considering parking for commuters. Earlier this year, the VRE installed automated parking counting systems that provide real-time data to com­muters to help them assess parking availability. A mobile app provides the same live data so that drivers can check parking lot status before they even leave home. This allows them to better plan their time and avoid the frustration and wasted time of circling for a spot when there aren’t any.

Planning Ahead
People may be apt to complain about lack of parking, about wasting time, about the frustrations of looking for parking. But how likely are they to care enough to do something about it?

Pretty likely, actually.
The survey found that nearly 70 percent of respondents reported they would use an app to find parking information at their destination. People are willing and interested in doing what they can to avoid parking angst as long as cities and parking lot vendors are willing to invest in gathering and displaying that data.

Tracking and displaying real-time parking data does more than just bring passing parkers in. Having that infor­mation available lets parking lots, cities, and universities display parking data on their websites or via apps so that drivers can make better informed decisions about where to look for parking.

At the University of California, Riverside, parking data for each of five lots is displayed on the college’s website. Each lot displays the number of available spots and what the occupancy levels are. For students heading out to class, that data can make the difference between being calm and on time or being harried, stressed, and late.
For the Virginia Railway Express, parking data dis­played on the VRE mobile app and at VRE.org gives pas­sengers a head start on their commutes. With two rail sta­tions commuters can choose from, parking availability data can make a crucial difference in getting to work on time.

In Knoxville, for football fans at the University of Ten­nessee, parking data available via app means they can make more intelligent decisions about where to look for parking instead of all congregating to the same lots.

In a world where 76 percent of people avoid downtown because they think there’s nowhere to park, and people waste countless hours every year in search of parking, pro­viding real-time parking data is of inestimable value. It can improve profitability in downtown areas, help universities and public transportation run more smoothly, and improve a city’s bottom line.

Perhaps most importantly though, access to data on parking availability can make a difference in people’s mindsets about parking and help reduce everyday stress and frustration.

Read the article here.

DEVORAH WERNER is content strategist with Logixits. She can be reached at dwerner@logixits.com.

THE PARKING PROFESSIONAL | SEPTEMBER 2018 | PARKING.ORG/TPP 49

Parking & Mobility Article, Resources, Transportation & Mobility

THE BUSINESS OF PARKING | LEGAL: Don’t Be Arbitrary and Capricious

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By Michael J. Ash, Esq., CRE

HENRY “HANK” ROWAN JR.’S induction furnace design is used throughout the world to melt metal, but he is best known for his philanthropy. In 1991, Hank and Betty Rowan donated $100 million to Glassboro State College, which became Rowan University. Rowan University began an almost 30-year program of development that resulted in new education programs, departments, and facilities. The physical campus and student body have expanded tremendously, and its hometown of Glassboro, N.J., has also been transformed.

One of the typical controversies in a college town is the balance between student and resident parking. In Glass­boro, this recently reached the New Jersey appellate courts in the matter Glassboro Guardians v. Borough of Glassboro, Docket No. A-1670-16 (April 18, 2018).
In an attempt to control the use of on-street parking and restore a balance between student and resident on-street parking, the Glassboro Town Council adopted an ordinance requiring all rental properties within the municipality to “provide a minimum of one off-street parking space for every one authorized occupant 18 years of age or more.” This new parking regulation was challenged in court by the Glassboro Guardians, a nonprofit corporation comprised of indi­viduals who own rental properties within the municipality and presumably rent to students for off-campus housing.

The Guardians claimed the ordinance:

  • Was arbitrary and capricious.
  • Was improperly enacted under the municipality’s police power.
  • Violated the equal protection clause of the New Jersey Constitution and New Jersey Civil Rights Act.

After a three-day trial the judge struck down the ordinance.

Regulating Parking

While there is little doubt that on-street parking can be regulated throughout a municipality with the establishment of parking meters, signage, and a program of penalty enforcement, typical police powers must be implemented in such a way as to conform with the law. Some of the first residential permit parking programs were subjected to legal challenges alleging discrimination against non-residents and an improp­er allocation of the public resource of on-street parking. The U.S. Supreme Court, in upholding the legality of a residential parking permit program, can be interpreted to support addi­tional aspects of on- and off-street parking regulation.

In previous cases, the Supreme Court clearly identified the rational objectives of a residential permit parking program, including en­hancement of the quality of life for residents of a community, properly regulating the utilization and balance between off-street parking facilities and on-street parking resources, and promoting the flow of traffic by limiting the circling of non-residents searching for free on-street parking.

Judging Municipal Actions

In New Jersey and most states through­out the country, municipal actions are presumed to be valid, and an objector has a heavy burden in seeking to over­turn them. A challenger must clearly show that the municipal action is “arbi­trary, capricious, or unreasonable” be­cause the underlying policy and wisdom of an ordinance is assumed to reside with the governing body, not the courts, which are not as familiar with the issues in dispute. An ordinance will not be set aside if any set of reasonable facts jus­tifies it. Although a court will typically not investigate the motives behind an ordinance, the court will weigh evidence about the legislative purpose when the reasonableness of the enactment is not apparent on its face.

Here, it seems that the Glassboro Council sought to maintain the balance between student and resident parking through the adoption of the ordinance. However, the court observed the lack of any introductory language or statement of reasons justifying why it was enacted. Without any explanation included in the rule itself, the judge examined the legislative history but found no explanation for adoption of the ordinance. Glassboro failed to articulate any valid reason for the parking policy, and it was set aside after years of litigation.

Tips For Adopting Parking Regulations

  • Include detailed recitals or “whereas” provisions setting forth the factual basis for the parking regulation.
  • Accumulate and reference documents that support the reason for the parking regulation in the form of parking studies, correspondence, or internal analysis.
  • Make a record at the adoption of the policy through comment and discussion.

When considering the implementation of new parking regulations, the parking professional should be able to identify the rational basis for the policy. In addition to the desired regulatory changes, the legislation, whether by ordi­nance or resolution, should clearly articulate the objectives of the regulation.

Read the article here.

MICHAEL J. ASH, Esq., CRE, is a partner with Decotiis, Fitzpatrick, & Cole, LLP. He can be reached at mash@decotiislaw.com.

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

Case Study: Improving the Fan Experience

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18-09 Improving the Fan Experience18-09 Improving Fan experience pg 2

By David Hoyt

The new Mercedes-Benz Stadium (home to the Atlanta Falcons football team and Atlanta United FC soccer) opened for business in 2017. The state-of-the-art facility replaced the Georgia Dome, which was in operation since 1992. From day one, the new stadium’s owners challenged both internal and external team members to create a fan experience like no other, and from the unique architectural design elements to cutting-edge technologies inside and out, Mercedes-Benz Stadium did just that. And, by the way, the new stadium, which rivals some of the most iconic event venues in the world, includes one of the most innovative parking experiences anywhere.

If you have never been, Mercedes-Benz Stadium in­cludes some of the most captivating features ever seen in a sports arena environment. The design includes an eight-panel retractable roof that resembles and opens like a pinwheel, allowing the stadium to open and close depending on weather and other elements.
Inside the stadium, a 360-degree “halo” cylindrical video board curves around the top, from end zone to end zone, showcasing game highlights, advertisements, and other graphics and features. Further, the stadium also features a 100-yard bar stretching the length of the football field on the upper concourse, as well as a fanta­sy football lounge and premium field-level club seating behind the team benches.

How parking made a difference at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.

Ownership continues to invest in this world-class venue by adding more entry and exit points into the stadium, creating a Home Depot Backyard fan zone, a future pedestrian bridge providing access from certain parking areas, and a nearby MARTA transit station. Ownership is relentless in providing a fan experience like no other.

Parking
One of the most critical elements to improving the fan experience was to accommodate the parking needs of the thousands of spectators arriving to events at the stadium. In a place like Atlanta, Ga., the majority of event attendees drive, so the project required the inte­gration of numerous parking facilities and lots.
As is the case with most event operations, but par­ticularly a 70,000-seat urban stadium, the effective and efficient movement of vehicles in and out of the parking areas can have a profound effect on the overall fan experience. Therefore, parking was one of the highest priorities to this project. In particular, a main question was how to administer a parking program that can en­hance—not detract from—the arrival experience.

Designing a Program for Fans
The first step to ensuring a positive parking experience was to develop a parking program specifically designed for the fans. The project team, which consisted of team and ParkMobile staff, was tasked with creating a program that would work for all stakeholders, includ­ing suite holders, season ticket holders, single-game ticket holders, one-off event holders, VIPs, staff, third-party employees, volunteers, and the media. The project team had to account for each of these stake­holders and, in many cases, develop a specific parking strategy for each.

The parking program at the stadium had to effec­tively engage with the fans before their automobiles came to rest at their parking spaces. Out of those initial discussions, an interactive web interface was designed that could provide all necessary stakeholders with the ability to take their appropriate parking action remote­ly via multiple mediums.
This Mercedes-Benz parking reservation interface creates an efficient process for administering the ap­propriate parking rights to the various stakeholders. The interactive reservation system allows future park­ers to select the event they are planning to attend and the parking facility or lot in which they wish to park. The platform provides the location and details of each parking area, including a map, distance from the sta­dium, pricing, and ease of exit. Patrons can then either print their parking pass or retrieve their pass in their stadium or parking reservation app at any time. Future enhancements will include the purchase of the parking pass via certain connected cars, allowing the fan to re­serve and drive straight to a stadium parking lot via the in-vehicle navigation screen. Further, the site provides digital parking passes that are accountable and audit­able, with each game or event permit being unique to that particular date and time.

As ownership only had control of a limited number of parking spaces, the project team had to engage with the area operators to secure enough parking for the fans, staff, third-party vendors, and all other stakehold­ers. Because the program had to provide access to all stakeholders, parking inventory had to include both prime and secondary spaces. The current program includes more than 20,000 parking spaces from seven different parking operators up to two miles away from the stadium.

The Importance of Reservations
Because the stadium was going to have a high drive ratio, getting the fans to their parking areas was critical to the success of the program. The project team knew early on that we must focus primarily on providing the ability to pre-purchase and reserve parking. While parking reservations took the guesswork out of making the parking purchase decision, providing fans with real-time routing could reduce the number of people driving around looking for their parking locations.

Thanks to a partnership with Waze, every parking permit allows for real-time routing to the parking facility entrance. Not only does this help create a more efficient and pleasant experience for parkers (and parking staff), but it also helps reduce congestion and improve safety by expediting fans directly to a parking garage or lot.

Monitoring Is Key
While the program encompasses multiple parking op­erators, some have embraced the concept of improving the fan experience through parking. SP+ constantly monitors event parking in real time via its command center at the Georgia World Congress Center (GWCC). Through a robust campus-wide camera system, as well as significant personnel on the ground, watching the situation in the parking areas and on the streets, in­gress times are closely monitored.

This system also includes real-time tracking of how many parking passes have been purchased, as well as an inventory of vehicles and used parking spaces as facilities fill up. This information is critically import­ant to the ability to park as many cars as quickly as pos­sible, taking advantage of unclaimed reservations and under-used parking areas.
GWCC recently invested in additional technology that tracks all transactions down to the smallest de­tail and is fully integrated to accept stadium parking reservations in real time. All the data—electronic and visual—is used to make real-time decisions at the most critical time of the parking experience. The parking team evaluates its performance after every event, taking into account all the factors that influence the ingress and egress of the events—weather, score, date of the event, time of the event, etc. If there are potential improvements to be made, the team takes immediate action before the next event.

Promoting Alternative Transportation
The project team knew that promoting alternative modes of transportation would reduce congestion and improve the overall fan experience at the stadium. In addition to providing significant accommodations to attendees driving vehicles, the project team focused on creating more mobility options for those who may seek an alternative to driving.
As mentioned, there is a MARTA public transpor­tation station next to the stadium, so people have the option to take the train if they choose. Ride-sharing is also growing in popularity, with many attendees being dropped off near the stadium by services such as Uber and Lyft. Mercedes-Benz Stadium partnered with Lyft to provide two pick-up/drop-off locations in close proximity to the stadium.

Another very unique element to this project was the promotion of bicycle transportation. Biking to the sta­dium is easy. The stadium partnered with the Atlanta Bicycle Coalition to provide an enjoyable riding experi­ence, including a bike valet at most events and 250 bike racks around the stadium.

Communicating
The final step to the development and implementation of the Mercedes-Benz Stadium parking program is com­munication. It is extremely important to keep the fans connected and make them feel they are being served in the best manner possible, from arriving at the stadium in their vehicle, via public transportation, or even on a bike or on foot, throughout the course of the game or event, and when they leave at the end. In addition to the various applications and websites mentioned, the media has also been critical to helping get the word out to patrons.

Local Atlanta media regularly provide important information related to parking, technology, alter­native-transportation options, and event tailgating. Mercedes-Benz Stadium also uses social media to a great extent to communicate directly with future cus­tomers regarding events weeks in advance and their parking and transportation options the day of their planned event.

The undertaking of such a significant new stadium, in an urban downtown setting like Atlanta, comes with a number of complications. However, after less than a year in operation, they have already seen many suc­cessful events and results, including:

  • Rated No. 2 in 2017 NFL fan arrival.
  • Voted No. 1 in the NFL and MLS “Voice of the Fan” surveys.
  • Won the SportTechie award for most innovative venue.
  • Sports Business Journal Sports Breakthrough of the Year for food and beverage experience.
  • Sports Team of the Year—Atlanta United.
  • Sports Executive of the Year—Arthur Blank (owner of the Atlanta Falcons).
  • Hosted the 2018 college football playoff champion­ship game.
  • Future host of the 2019 Super Bowl and MLS All-Star Game, as well as the 2020 NCAA Men’s Final Four.

While the average, everyday event attendee may not necessarily make the connection, we in the parking in­dustry understand that without an effective and quali­ty parking and transportation program, not only would the day-to-day events be far more complicated and difficult, but it would be nearly impossible to provide the highest-level fan experience possible. The owners, managers, and decision-makers of Mercedes-Benz Stadium understood the importance of not only creat­ing a great experience inside the stadium, but outside the stadium as well. They took into account the events of the entire event day, from arrival to departure, and went to great lengths to consider the many details of a very complicated process.

Parking and transportation issues often get lost in the details of such a significant project, yet the de­velopment of a comprehensive, intuitive, and quality parking and transportation program has helped to dra­matically improve the Mercedes-Benz Stadium experi­ence for fans from beginning to end.

Read the article here.

DAVID HOYT is senior vice president, sales and account management, with ParkMobile. He can be reached at david.hoyt@parkmobile.io.

 

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

PARKING SPOTLIGHT: UNIVERSITY PROGRAM – Embracing Growth Through Greater Mobility at Ole Miss

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By Mike Harris, CAPP, MBA

For those of us fortunate enough to work on a college campus, days can ar­rive with many challenges that range from parent and student interactions to construction plans that view every surface lot as the next construction site. At the University of Mississippi, we are facing growth at an unprece­dented rate. From 2007 to 2017, the university’s student body increased 39 percent, which has made it necessary for our administration and parking teams to look at various ways to accommodate a lot of change.

The only constant on a college campus is change, and we have had to embrace a lot of changes during the past few years, including construction of five new residence halls and two parking garages. These changes have created several new options for our campus community—as change goes, this is a good thing. The more options people have, the better decisions they can make about what works for them.

Expanding Options
One of those changes has been to ex­pand our biking options, which include free bicycle registration for bike owners as well as an expanded bike rental pro­gram and a newly launched bike-share program through Gotcha. These expand­ed options have proven very popular with our students. We all know the ben­efits of increased bike use: a reduction in the number of vehicles on campus and a healthier community. However, we could not just expand bike programs without also looking at infrastructure to make sure the programs were safe and con­venient to use. To accommodate more bicycling, we removed on-street parking on several main arteries on campus and created bike lanes. We also added more bike racks throughout campus to handle the increased number of bicycles.

Reducing Traffic
We considered campus streets and cross-campus traffic. How could we eliminate as much cross-campus traf­fic as possible while still maintaining emergency, bus, and delivery access? This was accomplished by installing gates that work with emergency strobe sensors and bus clickers, as well as a keypad with an intercom system to ac­commodate unexpected deliveries. This decision contributed not only to less cross-campus traffic, but also created a much safer environment for our pedes­trians and bicyclists and helped develop a more efficient bus operation.

This brings us to buses and the enormous effects they have in helping us manage the growth we have experi­enced. The bus system, which is known as Oxford University Transit (OUT) has been a life preserver in a sea of growth. What began in 2008 as a small system with two routes and five buses has grown to 14 routes and 31 buses with two more on order. This past year saw ridership in excess of 1.4 million people.

Hubs
Some changes in the past few years have helped create a more efficient tran­sit system. One of the biggest changes was to create two transit hubs on cam­pus. One is located at Kennon Observa­tory, which we call our South Hub, and one is located at our newly constructed student union, which we refer to as our North Hub. Prior to this change, the bus routes all ran from the city with stops around campus. As you might imagine, this was inefficient. The buses would get bogged down on campus due to traffic and pedestrians. This was extremely problematic during class change, when vehicle traffic came to a standstill at certain intersections as masses of stu­dents crossed campus.

Our goal was to create two locations that would serve as destinations for the buses coming onto campus. Those routes entering campus from the north would drop off students at the North Hub, and those entering from the south would drop off students at the South Hub.
These hubs increased the speed of our turnaround time tremendously and helped the buses leave campus and stay on route without slowing down by going through campus. Along with this change, we added internal campus bus loops to help transport people to classes and offices. The campus loop is composed of two routes and four buses: Rebel Red goes counter-clockwise, and Rebel Blue goes clockwise, making various stops around campus across from each other. People choose the route that is closest to their destination and, therefore, arrive at their destinations quicker. The hubs serve as transfer points for all routes. The gates mentioned above really do help with keeping the buses on time and eliminating traffic interference for a more efficient transit system.

Our campus has come a long way, and a lot of the changes have been due to construction and the growth we have experienced. We, as parking profession­als on college campuses, should never lose sight of our overall goal, which is to support the mission of the university. This starts by improving transportation for our students, as well as faculty, staff, alumni, families, and visitors, so they can get to where they need to go to take the next steps in their lives. Thanks to the various options available now on our campus, I think we have helped make this possible.

We, as parking professionals on college campuses, should never lose sight of our overall goal, which is to support the mission of the university. This starts by improving transportation for our students, as well as faculty, staff, alumni, families, and visitors, so they can get to where they need to go to take the next steps in their lives

Go to parking.org for more information and start the conversation today! Learn, connect, and engage in person. IPMI comes to you with the best training in the industry.

Read the article here.

MIKE HARRIS, CAPP, MBA, is director of parking and transportation at the University of Mississippi. He can be reached at gmharris@olemiss.edu.