Tag Archives: technology

Parking & Mobility Article, Resources, Transportation & Mobility

Mobility Services and Technology

September 1, 2019 Rachel Yoka Leave a comment

How curb management is part of the smart city and mobility road map.

By Teresa Trussell, CAPP

AS A PARKING INDUSTRY VETERAN, I have been reading this magazine for approximately 17 years, and I must say I have never seen more excitement than at this moment over a single topic: curb management. As I read each article, I find myself thinking about the concept of the smart city and smart mobility and how these services relate to technology.

I cannot help but picture curb management as a waypoint on the road map, rather than the destination itself. Curbs did not suddenly just appear—we’ve all been backing into them for years while trying to parallel park and hoping no one noticed—so why is it just now an issue? The answer is quite simple and takes us all back to our economics 101 class: supply and demand. A recent shift to urban and alternative transportation methods as well as the proliferation of smartphones as a connected resource have resulted in competing needs for the curb areas, which can no longer be considered as only parking (or no parking) zones, loading and unloading areas, and utility agency-use regions. This shift has pushed cities and parking operations into rethinking their transportation and parking models with a desire to create a dynamic downtown region that’s built around the smart city and smart mobility road map.

Defining the Terms

Before we dive into the smart city and mobility road map, it is important to define what smart city and smart mobility means. The first time I read this phrase I thought to myself, “What, were we a dumb city before?” My answer was yes—in a sense!
Smart City

Data has provided cities and operators with the necessary information to make informed decisions that would have previously been made on assumptions or manual counts. Having access to this data in real time provides identifiable patterns that allow decision-makers to continually adjust their transportation and parking processes. This data is a result of technology implementations on both the transportation and parking home fronts.
The International Data Corporation defines a smart city as development based on smart initiatives combined to leverage technology investments across an entire city with common platforms increasing efficiency, data being shared across systems, and IT investments tied to smart missions. A common goal shared from city to city is to improve the lives of its citizens and visitors. By combining this common goal and the concept of data, the smart city uses technology to connect various components across the city to derive data and improve the lives of its citizens and visitors.

Smart Mobility

This concept is a new way (or perhaps a return to a former way) of thinking about how we get from point A to point B with an emphasis on moving people rather than cars, zero emissions, and a cleaner, safer, and more efficient urban district. These modes of transportation include scooters, bicycles, buses, light rail trains, subways, streetcars, taxis, autonomous vehicles, electric vehicles, walking, pedicabs, and ride-share vehicles. Smart mobility is often designed around five key principles:

Safety: Reduction of injuries and fatalities and an urban environment that is safely walkable.
Clean Technology: Transportation modes focused on zero-emissions.
Integration: Connecting the dots of transportation modes from door-to-door with route planning using technology as well as connections with city resources outside of parking and transportation needs.
Efficiency: Moving people to their destinations with minimal disruption.
Flexibility: Consumers have options regarding modes of transportation that suit their individual needs and preferences.

The link between smart cities and smart mobility is the direct connection between data gleaned from technology in support of the smart mobility concept and ultimately increasing usage of alternative transportation options and connect the dots for consumers. Through data usage, apps can allow consumers to plan routes that avoid traffic congestion, locate parking while avoiding congested parking areas, and use various modes of alternative transportation for the first and last miles. Likewise, operators can use this same data to improve safety within the city by identifying an issue before it is problematic—such as changing traffic patterns.

Combined, we have a definition of a smart city using the smart mobility concept as a city that uses technology to connect various components across the city to derive data and improve the lives of its citizens and visitors by offering various forms of transportation options focused on a cleaner, safer, and more efficient environment.

Creating the Smart City and Mobility Road Map
Our world is becoming more urbanized than ever before. By 2050, more than 60 percent of the world’s population is expected to live in cities, and public and private companies, as well as federal, state, and city governments, are getting involved to make the connection between people and the city itself. This includes rethinking the former downtown model. Studies say parkers account for 30 percent of circling traffic. Parking apps are addressing this by directing people to available areas. As the focus on smart mobility increases, a shift in the parking model must also occur. Limited land access requires parking outside city regions with a dependency on the first and last mile revolving around smart mobility—or mobility-as-a-service (MaaS).

The objective of MaaS is to provide an alternative to private vehicle use while reducing traffic congestion in a way that is convenient, sustainable, and a cheaper option to traditional transport. When considering the way in which this transforms the downtown districts, a direct competition is created between the increasing city population and the alternative transportation modes, which creates a safety concern in which pedestrians, bicyclists, autonomous vehicles, and ride-share vehicles compete with the single-occupancy vehicle. The resulting model is to focus the urban area around the smart mobility concept.

Many operations are creating a set of guiding principles for emerging mobility services and technologies to provide a consistent policy framework of evaluating new mobility services to ensure they align with current city goals as well as assist in shaping future areas of studies, policies, and programs, creating a smart city and smart mobility road map. This is redefining the way our cities will be developed in the future

Components of the Map
The smart city and smart mobility road map are made up of:

Mobile Apps: Provide immediate access to data and communication channels, allowing people to efficiently conduct business with less interruptions. For example, locate a parking spot while avoiding traffic jams; identify the nearest bus stop, bicycle, or scooter rental; or catch a streetcar while reducing circling traffic patterns.
Data and Technology: Using mobile applications and technology advancements, parking operations suddenly have access to large amounts of data that were previously unavailable. This data provides insight regarding high-congestion areas and the ability to create a pricing model designed to encourage transit use through proper space utilization, as well as create a basis for the smart city and mobility platform.
Transportation Alternatives (First and Last Mile): Decrease traffic congestion within urban areas with a transportation focus. Mobile apps provide consumers with the ability to park farther away from their intended destination followed by alternative transportation option assessments via their smartphones. This is an invaluable solution to the issue of limited land access and perceptions of parking shortages.
Right-sized Parking: Parking operations are consistently challenged while balancing the parking supply and demand equation. Parking planning must meet the goals of the city or operation to include events, but planning for busy times often leaves an excess of parking during standard periods. To right-size parking, data is essential. This is a result of transportation and mobile applications and space-counting technology. Traffic and pedestrian patterns are the key to understanding where parking is needed, how it can be relocated, and where transportation modes can be implemented.
Land Use and Infrastructure: Through data analysis, efficient land use is identified, promoting a positive financial impact on the city or operation’s infrastructure investment planning as future technologies are considered. Autonomous vehicles, electric-vehicle charging stations, and shared-mobility services are changing the way we think about city parking garage use. Most of these items are currently managed along curbs or ad-hoc areas with personal vehicles occupying large structures in convenient areas. With the model shift, most personal vehicles will be expected to park in exterior areas while people use smart mobility options to reach the urban area. Garages will consist of items previously managed along curbs, creating smart mobility hubs.
Curb Management: As we move shared mobility services away from our curbs, we open the curb areas for a new use that is centered around the smart mobility concept while creating a safe environment for transit and pedestrians and freeing space for business deliveries. While new parking structures can be built, curb availability is limited. Limits on how the curb is used must be addressed as we restructure the transportation and parking environments.
Bicycle and Scooter Valet Services: As we ask consumers to consider alternative transportation methods, the use of bicycles and scooters has increased dramatically. This has also resulted in large quantities of bicycles and scooters being left haphazardly on sidewalks and in messy clusters. Operators, faced with the need for a quick, easy, and convenient return of these shared items, created the concept of a bicycle and scooter valet service, ideally housed in the mobility hubs mentioned above. Consumers simply drop the bicycle or scooter off to the attendant who takes care of putting it away while the consumer continues about his business. Additionally, a bike service area is available for riders who need to repair a tire or service their bike.
Electric and Autonomous Vehicles: With a focus on zero emissions, smart cities will undoubtedly use shared, electric, autonomous vehicles to transport people from one point to another. Consumers will simply call for a ride using their phones, much as we do when using services such as Lyft and Uber. Additionally, with the anticipated increase in electric vehicle use, charging stations will be provided in the mobility hubs where single occupancy, gas-powered vehicles parked.

The road map will consistently change as technology advancements occur and as human beings alter their behavior and environmental considerations. However, a foundation for the smart city and mobility road map is certainly identifiable, and the development of mobile applications and smartphone/smartwatch services geared toward the transportation and parking industry is a driving factor that has propelled this new vision. The concept of curb management is only a portion of the smart city and smart mobility road map—a part that is dependent on other portions for success in the present as well as in the future.

TERESA TRUSSELL, CAPP, is Midwest sales director of PayByPhone. She can be reached at ttrussell@paybyphone.com.

Parking & Mobility Article, Resources, Transportation & Mobility

Campus Expansion Demands Parking Innovation

September 1, 2019 Rachel Yoka Leave a comment

By Bill Smith and Craig Smith

WHEN IPMI VISITS SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS, NEXT JUNE, Conference & Expo attendees will have a chance to see an innovative parking project. H-E-B, the Texas-based grocery retailer, is close to completing the development of a new five-level parking garage that will provide 744 spaces to employees and visitors to the company’s historic Arsenal Campus. This parking project apart is set apart because the new garage is located across the busy, four-lane Cesar Chavez Boulevard from the campus and features a skybridge pedestrians can use to safely move to and from the parking garage.

The project is part of a larger expansion of H-E-B’s headquarters campus, which has created the need for more parking. The parking garage and bridge project is part of a $100 million master plan, under which the company plans to add 1,600 employees to its downtown headquarters by 2030.

As might be expected, it was challenging to find the necessary space to develop parking in this bustling area, but the development team came up with a solution that permitted H-E-B to build the new parking facility within the corporate campus. The addition of the skybridge ensured that the new development provides safe and convenient parking for employees and visitors without affecting traffic on the busy street.

“Success often leads to a need for more parking,” says Casey Wagner, executive vice president and managing director of the Houston office of Walker Consultants, the parking consultant on the project. “Meeting that additional need often requires creativity, and this project stands out in that regard. The entire team, starting with the owner, showed a truly creative spirit.”

Meeting Increased Parking Need
In a sense, developing necessary parking was the simple part of the project. There was an existing parking lot on which the new structure could be built, which served as the project footprint.

The garage was designed to architecturally complement H-E-B’s historic headquarters building, which has played an important role in San Antonio’s history. The building was originally established as an arsenal and is still known as The Arsenal. It was established as the predecessor to Fort Sam Houston and supplied ammunition and provisions to troops in four armed conflicts, beginning with the Civil War.

Given the historic importance of H-E-B’s headquarters building, it was imperative that the new garage complement it architecturally while fitting seamlessly into the neighborhood. To achieve this, the garage was constructed with a mix of materials that included steel, concrete, metal screening, metal fencing, D’Hanis brick, and other masonry elements. The completed garage beautifully achieves its architectural goals while providing a safe and convenient parking experience.

The five-level deck boasts a number of amenities designed to improve the parking experience, including rows of rooftop-shading trellis aligned above the parking spaces to provide shade and reduce the garage’s carbon footprint. LED lighting is used throughout the garage to enhance visibility and improve safety while reducing operational costs through enhanced efficiency. Extensive landscaping improves the project’s aesthetics while further reducing the garage’s carbon footprint. Finally, wire fencing is used to establish the borders of the parking complex.

“Improving the parking experience is a vitally important consideration when you design a parking facility on a corporate campus,” Wagner says. “If employees can park their vehicles quickly and conveniently, they can get to their workstations or to meetings more efficiently and in a better frame of mind. The work day is much more pleasant for employees when it gets off to a good start in the parking facility, and those employees are typically more productive and effective at work. The Arsenal Building garage accomplishes all of these goals.”

Reaching for the Sky
What really stands out about the new garage is a pedestrian skybridge that allows pedestrians to safely walk to the Arsenal Building. One of the most challenging aspects of the project was to create a way for drivers to traverse the busy four-lane Cesar Chavez Boulevard after they park their vehicles. Of course, safety wasn’t the only consideration. Traffic management can be a nightmare for such a busy street, particularly when it needs to accommodate large numbers of people crossing the boulevard on foot during peak commuting times.

The skybridge was an obvious solution but one that had the potential to fall into the “easier-said-than-done” category. The historic nature of the Arsenal Building was a potential roadblock. In a city like San Antonio that’s acutely aware of its history—and justifiably proud of it—it can be difficult to gain the necessary support for development that will fundamentally alter the architectural personality of the area. That’s one of the reasons the San Antonio Conservation Society has traditionally balked at the idea of skybridges.

Potential opposition was avoided through the creation of a design that ensured the skybridge would complement local design while standing out as an architectural marvel on its own. San Antonio is a city of bridges. If you’ve had the privilege of visiting the city’s Riverwalk or taking a boat trip along the San Antonio River, you’ve experienced them. The South Alamo, Lojoya, Presa, Navarro, St. Mary’s, Market, Commerce, and Crockett bridges allow residents and tourists to cross the San Antonio River to visit its world-famous shops and restaurants.

This skybridge was designed to evoke the historic bridges along the San Antonio River and complement the city’s beautiful landscape. Designed by project architect Ford, Powell & Carson, it is constructed of cast concrete with chipped edges and stacked clay tile.
Casting the necessary concrete and installing the skybridge onsite would have required closing Che Guevara Boulevard for several days, which wasn’t really an option. As such, the skybridge was built offsite with precast concrete and delivered to the site in three sections, which were then assembled and lifted into place in a single night, while traffic was negligible. The finished skybridge is 160 feet long and 10 feet tall by 10 feet across. It stands 27 feet above the busy four-lane roadway.

“The pedestrian bridge connecting the garage to the Arsenal Building was the ideal solution,” Wagner says. “It’s an essential element of the parking program because it provides safe and convenient access to and from the garage, while minimizing the impact of the parking garage on traffic in the area.

PROJECT DETAILS
Location: San Antonio, Texas
Owner: H-E-B
Development team: Walker Consultants, parking consultant and structural engineer
Ford, Powell & Carson, architectural firm
Whiting-Turner, general contractor
Number of parking spaces: 744
Levels: Five elevated decks and two bays
Estimated construction budget: $19 million

The work day is much more pleasant for employees when it gets off to a good start in the parking facility, and those employees are typically more productive and effective at work. The Arsenal Building garage accomplishes all of these goals.

“It’s also a stunning addition to the local architecture,” Wagner continues. “The way it reflects San Antonio’s character is tremendous.”

The completed garage beautifully achieves its architectural goals while providing a safe and convenient parking experience.

Read the article here.

BILL SMITH is principal of Smith-Phillips Communications and contributing editor to Parking & Mobility. He can be reached at bsmith@smith-phillips.com.

CRAIG SMITH is a freelance writer. He can be reached at smithcw48@gmail.com.

Parking & Mobility Article, Resources, Transportation & Mobility

A Legal Framework for AV Implementation: Local Government

August 1, 2019 Rachel Yoka Leave a comment

By Michael J. Ash, Esq., CRE

THE LAST MILE IN TRANSPORTATION will also be the most important in the implementation of autonomous vehicles (AVs). While AV applications will have their place on highways, the most noticeable and profound effects AVs will bring to daily life will occur in urban areas. Local governments and regulators will have the ability to reshape the built environment to accommodate AVs and changes to our transportation, parking, and mobility demands. Local governments should therefore be receptive to the needs of their constituents and plan for the integration of AVs into daily life.

This article is third in a four-part series on the legal challenges presented by emerging technologies. Part 4 in the series will examine challenges in the private sector with the regulation of autonomous vehicles. To read the first two articles, visit parking-mobility. org/resourcecenter and search “AV framework.”

Local governments have the best opportunity to be proactive in shaping how AVs define the future of transportation, parking, and mobility. The new federal guidance for automated vehicles published by the U.S. Department of Transportation, “Preparing for the Future of Transportation: Automated Vehicles 3.0,” outlines the best practices for local governments for AV deployment in five recommendations.

These are:

1. Facilitate safe testing and operation of automated vehicles on local streets. While many of the regulatory constraints for real-world testing of AVs will come from state legislatures, local governments will need to implement the regulations in diverse and challenging urban settings. Local streets will provide challenges to AVs, including intersections, pedestrians, and road congestion. The built environment in urban areas should adapt to accommodate the testing of AVs for safe deployment. Local governments can best regulate their streets to include specific routes for AV testing in safe locations and during specific hours of operation.

2.Understand the near-term opportunities that automation may provide. Municipal governments have an opportunity to be the early adaptors to AV technology through the deployment of municipal vehicle fleets. Current safety technology developed in AVs can be integrated in municipal vehicles, such as street sweepers and snowplows, for real-world testing with a driver still available to oversee the vehicle operation. Cities are looking to AVs for the next generation of public transportation. AVs are ideal for a closed-loop jitney service, offering low-speed transportation around a specific route. The ability of AVs to circulate throughout a downtown reduces the need for single-occupant taxi service by offering more efficient and assorted public transportation options. San Francisco, Calif., recently announced a plan to integrate AV public transportation in a new planned development to reduce the reliance on individual automobile ownership required to reach conventional modes of public transportation.

3.Consider how land use, including curb space, will be affected. Cities will need to reimagine how the curb is used in daily life. On-street parking will need to make way for AV queuing aisles for ride-hailing services and public transportation. Land use and development patterns may shift to integrate access to AV routes. As the reliance on individual vehicle ownership declines, parking requirements for land uses will also decline. Surface parking lots in downtown urban areas will become prime development opportunities as long-term parking demand declines. Other real estate development opportunities may be available to repurpose structured parking garages as AV storage, maintenance, and charging facilities are located outside prime city centers. Rather than proximity to densely populated areas, AV operators’ real estate needs will be based on ride-hailing demand and reliable sources of charging power. Local municipal zoning should begin to account for the shift in demand of AV vehicles. Zoning criteria should include current ride-hailing trends to analyze how parking demands may change in the future.

Parking and mobility professionals are encouraged to review AV 3.0 in full available for download at https:// www.transportation.gov/sites/dot.gov/files/docs/policy-initiatives/automated-vehicles/320711/preparingfuture-transportation-automated-vehicle-30.pdf.
mand of AV vehicles. Zoning criteria should include current ride-hailing trends to analyze how parking demands may change in the future.

4.Consider the potential for increased congestion and how it might be managed. The deployment of AV transportation will be undermined if local regulators do not prevent traffic and congestion. The potential speed and convenience of AVs will be lost if urban centers become congested with too many vehicles. Attempts to regulate the flow of AV traffic will be crucial in the early stages of deployment during the transition from driver-operated vehicles to AVs. Local governments should study traffic patterns and routes from ride-hailing services to plan better transportation efficiencies. The most efficient routes will combine speed of travel and the ability for ride-sharing, allowing more riders to mobilize in fewer AVs and do so faster. It is conceivable that as on-street parking is eliminated, there will be new travel lanes for AVs through densely populated areas.

5.Engage with citizens. Finally, the best guidance for local governments is to engage with citizens. Local governments are ideally suited to understand the needs and demands of their constituents and ensure the deployment of AV technology is consistent with the patterns and trends of the community. By tailoring AV deployment to the concerns of their citizens, local governments can ease the transition from driver-operated vehicles to AVs.

Read the article here.

MICHAEL J. ASH, Esq., CRE, is partner with Carlin & Ward. He can be reached at michael.ash@carlinward.com.

Parking & Mobility Article, Resources, Transportation & Mobility

Participation and Buy-in

August 1, 2019 Rachel Yoka Leave a comment

How and why Penn State’s parking chair system works to reduce campus parking pain.

By Ryan Givens, CAPP, and Dave Dorman, CAPP

WITH THE ADVENT OF PAID PARKING at the Pennsylvania State University’s (Penn State) University Park campus more than 20 years ago came the development of a parking chair system with three primary purposes: distributing permits to faculty and staff members, deciding who would be issued what type of permits within allocations, and disseminating parking-related information.

As anyone working in a major university or college setting can appreciate, parking can be a contentious and politically charged subject. From university executives to frontline staff personnel—food preparation, janitorial staff, etc.—where someone parks seems to influence not only how a person’s day starts or ends, but can affect the entire day. Whether a university executive, a physical plant worker, the library front-counter staff, a distinguished faculty member, or members of the university police, everyone deems his or her time valuable, and all serve important roles that jointly contribute to the overall success and mission of the university. While all are important, there is a spoken and unspoken hierarchy and tenure, and decisions about who parks where need to be made. The tough question is who should be making these decisions?

In The Beginning
First, let’s learn more about the parking and infrastructure here at Penn State’s University Park campus and how we make it work: Penn State has more than 12,000 employees (10,200 registered for parking); 44,000 undergraduate students; 6,000 graduate students; and over 1,000 people who visit the University Park campus on a daily basis. As parking professionals, we strive to work in a fair, reasonable, and consistent manner as much as possible (not that those things always go hand-in-hand) to accomplish one primary goal: ensure that everyone is able to access campus, complete daily task(s), and exit campus safely, all while maintaining established parking allocations and providing an exemplary customer service experience. Easy, right?

Parking is a limited resource not only for our campus but also for many of you. Here at University Park, we maintain 22,000+ parking spaces disbursed through 136 parking lots; 2,040 spaces are designated for resident student use, while 1,205 spaces are designated for long-term student storage and 3,600 spaces are reserved for staff and student commuter use. As you can see, this often leaves us with more demand than capacity as the remainder of the spaces are used by faculty and staff, guests to campus hotels, true visitor parking, and students paying the on-campus pay stations.

The Parking Chair System
We employ a philosophy of granting some access to many people instead of a lot of access to just a few. Using this approach and a color and letter zone system, we look at each parking lot or deck designation separately (or at small clusters), then look at the general proximity to the numerous colleges or departments, and consider the number of employees designated within the surrounding buildings. To maximize usage, we allocate between 100 and 107 percent (for our core lots) depending on the size of the lot. For commuter lots our permit allocation is at almost 200 percent. Our allocation format does not account for all employees in any given unit, but it does provide fair and reasonable access for all units that have employees in an area.

We then establish our permit allocations across our lots and decks for the respective departments and colleges. For example, if there are six departments or colleges with employees in the buildings surrounding a parking lot, we look at the ratio of employees in each area and allocate the space based on that ratio. For example, if one college represents 45 percent of the employees, that unit would get 45 percent of the parking spaces.
All our customers are important to us, and if you ask them, they will let you know their need is greater than everyone else’s. Students are fairly easy and fall into basic categories: those residing on campus, long-term on-campus and off-campus storage, and commuter, with each residence determining what permit each student is eligible to purchase. Faculty and staff, however, present a more complicated situation given the various positions and levels within the many positions.

University Park has a network of more than 100 designated parking chairs—people. Parking chairs are selected by each college or department; typically these “volunteers” are within the human resources or faculty coordinator offices from each area. These are appointed positions, so the respective college or unit leadership has a vested interest in seeing this task performed as well as possible.
Parking chairs make the decisions within their departments as to who does or doesn’t receive a permit in high-demand parking areas. Transportation services does not have ready access to employees’ personnel records, so we do not know which faculty member may have tenure over another. We do not know whether a department offered parking within a lot under its allocation as a hiring incentive. We do not know the hierarchy that may exist within a department and how that dean views the pecking order when it comes to issuing parking permits. So we (happily) allow each college or unit and the parking chairs to determine their own criteria for assigning parking and to make those politically charged parking assignment decisions.

Advantages
This system allows us to focus on the overall allocation and management of the parking spaces. It also allows chairs to be able to communicate directly with faculty and staff within their respective units, as the chairs provide a network of onsite representatives to answer questions and assist their staffs. Also, it removes the need for 10,000 faculty and staff to come to the parking office. One of the biggest advantages is that transportation services does not have to make all the small decisions; it allows us to focus on the overall allocation and management of the parking spaces.

Challenges
Of course, no system is without some drawbacks, and the parking chair system is no exception. The system is as good or as poor as each respective chair. Therefore, it is paramount to keep in regular contact with the parking chairs and perform spot audits to ensure accurate and updated records.
A major challenge is these are appointed positions, and staffing changes affect parking chair duties. For example, the university recently reorganized and centralized the human resources department. This brought about an almost 75 percent change in parking chairs and a large loss of institutional knowledge about parking at the chair level.
This shift in parking chairs happened in conjunction with other events. We were at the end of our three-year faculty/staff permit cycle and issuing of new permits, along with the implementation our new online faculty/staff registration process. At first, the convergence of these events appeared to be looming as a potential major crisis. However, the events gave us a reason and opportunity to immediately meet with each of the new parking chairs for in-person training. We were able to turn potential chaos into a productive opportunity to network with and establish a positive working relationship between our office and our newest representatives. These relationships are very important as we work to maintain a constant line of communication between the parking office and our parking chairs, making sure that faculty and staff permit holders have positive customer experiences.

Technology
The need to keep the data flow going and records as accurate as possible is critical not only to an efficient parking operation, but also our chair system. At first, our chairs used a two-part faculty/ staff registration form to record everything related to assigning or returning a permit, keeping a copy for themselves and sending us the other copy via interoffice mail.

At first, the convergence of these events appeared to be looming as a potential major crisis. However, the events gave us a reason and opportunity to immediately meet with each of the new parking chairs for in-person training. We were able to turn potential chaos into a productive opportunity to network with and establish a positive working relationship between our office and our newest representatives.

We have worked the past few years with T2 Systems to find a way to better use technology for our chair system. We recently implemented a preferred parker administration (PPA) program and opened an online portal for parking chair use. The portal allows parking chairs to determine the permit they wish to assign and add the employee to their online allotment. The chair then sends a quick email containing the permit number, employee name, and ID number to one of our personnel. Our staff then goes into the portal to complete the permit assignment.

Looking Forward
In addition to our parking chair network, the processes we have developed provide for the gathering and updating of faculty/staff permit data in real time, allowing for up-to-the minute information to be added, which opens the door for future applications, such as mobile parking solutions and license plate recognition (LPR) for access control and enforcement.

We mentioned that a benefit of the chair system is that we can focus more on overall allocations. This is becoming increasingly important as we, like many others, are faced with how to deal with the loss of parking. In addition to losing some parking recently, construction will begin this fall on a parking deck with over 1,600 spaces. This deck is being built on existing parking lots, many of which are overflow lots. Construction will result in a temporary loss of 277 spaces, and we are permanently losing 17 spaces in one of the core lots that overflows into this area.

With these two projects, between 270 and 370 permit holders will be displaced during construction; for some, that loss will be permanent. The only place we are able to handle this volume of permits is on the other side of campus. Needless to say, many drivers will not be happy. This is where the chair system really comes into place. We will work with the chairs to reduce their allocations according to the appropriate percentage of the total allocations in the lots affected during and after construction. Parking chairs will determine who is reallocated and who will remain in the lots by the construction site.

Not only will the parking chair network provide us with a means of working through and assessing the effects of the specific loss of parking, but it will be instrumental in helping to deliver important information for the upcoming parking-related changes to the building projects. In essence, the chairs will be the messengers of news many faculty and staff will not take well. At the end of the project, the parking chairs may have access and insight into information on the assignment or reassignment of office space and personnel into buildings around the construction project. This information will provide us with the opportunity to work those changes into determining future allocations and trying to stay ahead of the curve of change.

We are not sure if this system would work everywhere. In many cases, peers tell us they’ve never heard of such a system. Maybe we benefit from developing this system at the outset of paid parking on campus. Or, perhaps given some of the unique and complex issues the Penn State University setting creates, the parking chair system will only work for us. We have found great value from the insights the parking chairs have to offer and have found this group to be a tremendous asset in the management of parking on campus.

Read the article here.

RYAN GIVENS, CAPP, is associate director of transportation services at Penn State. He can be reached at rjg22@psu.edu.

DAVID DORMAN, CAPP, is parking allocation manager at Penn State. He can be reached at djd6@psu. edu.

Parking & Mobility Article, Resources, Technology, Transportation & Mobility

Looking Ahead: Moving Faster

August 1, 2019 Rachel Yoka Leave a comment

The changing mobility ecosystem and its effects on the parking industry.

By Nathan Berry

THE TRANSPORTATION INDUSTRY has been transformed in the past few years, and innovation shows no signs of slowing down. There are many new forms of transportation, and citizens have dozens of options at their fingertips—public transit, electric scooters, dockless bikes, ride-hailing services, personal and shared vehicles—and autonomous vehicles are on the horizon. All of these modes are competing for valuable curb space, creating new challenges for cities to manage.
With all of these unprecedented changes and the As new modes of mobility are introduced, a new set fast pace of innovation, private companies, cities, and of challenges is forthcoming that expands beyond the universities are striving to stay on top of the trends traditional parking environment. Through conversaand lead the industry by implementing more technolo-tions with city and mobility leaders, I have identified gy to improve and better manage their complex mobil-a few common themes organizations are trying to adity ecosystems. dress as they strive to decrease congestion and create
more livable communities:

Managing the curb.
Collaborating among modes (parking, transit, micro-mobility, etc.).
Dealing with the introduction of scooters and dock-less bikes.
Leveraging technology for mobility management.

Curbside Management
In the past, parking departments have had a primary focus on managing the rates and rules for parking and making sure drivers had a way to pay. But changes in the industry now require parking leaders to think about the bigger picture and how their operations can better manage the curb. It is no longer just about on-street parking and the choice of paying with a meter or a mobile phone; today’s leaders are facing challenges with electric scooters crowding the sidewalk and ride-hailing vehicles stopping at the curb to pick up and drop off riders. To make cities more livable for their citizens and continue driving economic growth, city and parking leaders need a way to understand and manage their unique mobility ecosystems.
As cities make way for the future of mobility, it will be critical to consider autonomous vehicles and other innovations that will require digital systems for operations. Currently in many areas, the curb is managed offline as rules, rates, and regulations live on physical signage or on non-connected systems, which can lead to confusion for drivers and enforcement officers. As new modes of transportation use the curb, centralized digital management is becoming a necessity. Cities can better understand what’s happening on their streets and make decisions to improve congestion and centralize the issuance and validation of access to the curb (parking rights, essentially) in order to make the city more livable, efficient, and equitable.

Coordinating this exchange of information, which often requires collaboration with private companies, requires the city to play a new role. To ensure access without stalling innovation, municipalities have to start leveraging technology to centralize data across modes of transportation so they can make data-driven decisions about how to provide equitable transportation options.

One successful example of effective curbside management is a pilot program with Lyft in San Francisco, Calif. Riders who requested a Lyft on Valencia Street—one of the busiest When cities and parking leaders areas in the city—were directed to a have more control, they can side street to meet their rides instead of manage a complex mobility
blocking the curb on the main street. As a result, average vehicle speed on Valencia
increased, improving the flow of traffic. This small behavior shift for each individual, amplified across the thousands of people using Lyft in this area, has created a larger positive outcome for the city.

Mix-modal Collaboration
With so many possibilities for getting around a city, citizens can use multiple modes of transportation to get from point A to point B, but they are forced to manage each mode separately. Agencies are recognizing this trend and shifting from mode-oriented to user-oriented services.
The shift to mix-modal is well-demonstrated by Miami-Dade’s Department of Transportation and Public Works in Florida. In 2016, Miami-Dade reorganized its entire transportation system under one umbrella agency to embrace the idea of mobility management and improve the transportation experience for citizens. More cities are considering a similar consolidation and approach as they understand that when parking, transit, and micro-mobility are managed collectively, it leads to more collaboration and provides a holistic view of mobility challenges and opportunities. With more data available, leaders can make better decisions for positive city outcomes.
We’re also seeing a convergence of transportation options that focus on the user journey, especially when it comes to first mile/last mile solutions. In April 2018, the Charlotte Area Transit System (CATS) in North Carolina, announced a partnership with Lyft to offer subsidized rides for users of its CATSPass app. Passengers who originate or terminate a trip at specific station locations receive a contribution toward their Lyft fare. With this partnership, CATS was able to increase public transit usage in the city by providing options to use multiple forms of transportation in a single journey, streamlining the user experience.

Scooters and Micro-mobility
In 2018, scooter companies dropped thousands of scooters in cities across North America, creating great excitement and debate among citizens, city leaders, and mobility companies. With both Lime and Bird boasting more than 10 million scooter rides taken to date and the continued expansion into more cities in the U.S. and abroad, micro-mobility management has risen to the top of challenges that city and parking leaders face.
Many cities responded initially by implementing systems and rules intended to minimize disruption by limiting access to their curbs and streets. But by focusing on the challenges, cities risked missing the opportunity to incorporate new modes of transportation to make their cities more equitable and livable. In the subsequent months, cities have begun the process of building systems to coordinate fleets of micro-mobility vehicles, including the creation of data standards and data-sharing agreements with scooter providers. As those initiatives mature, cities will need to use shared data to ensure the alignment of incentives between public and private sector participants.

Cities and micro-mobility companies have an interest in creating a system in which all parties—end-users, the city, and the micro-mobility companies—can benefit. With a shared data system that can help scooter companies balance supply and demand, citizens will have greater access to transportation options, cities can better control and manage the scooters on their streets, and micro-mobility companies can optimize the number of vehicles available.

Leveraging Technology
The new innovations in our industry have the potential to positively affect cities and their citizens, but the missing piece is often having the right technology to implement desired solutions. Organizations are looking to implement technology that creates simpler and more efficient systems for drivers, enforcement officials, and city leaders, while providing unprecedented access to data about parking trends, behaviors, payments, enforcement officer routes, and more, all in real time. This information is the key to tackling broader city initiatives, such as ensuring equity, reducing congestion, and fostering innovation, and allows transportation leaders to make data-driven decisions for better mobility management.

Parking and transportation leaders understand the importance of technology, but there are many options to consider. The first step is to help leaders better understand mobility trends by leveraging technology to manage all forms of transportation in one place. A mobility platform is the solution, allowing cities to connect multiple mobility services (mobile pay for parking, digital permits, parking enforcement, meters, micro-mobility, ride-hailing services, and more) in a centralized hub. Cities then have real-time access to data to help identify trends, make informed policy decisions, and effectively code the curb. The platform can also house information about rates, rules, and regulations, which can then be pushed out to all of the connected services.

With a more connected system, it becomes easier for cities to make adjustments, big and small, that will influence the daily decisions citizens make about how to travel throughout the city. When cities and parking leaders have more control, they can manage a complex mobility ecosystem and ultimately, provide a positive experience for their citizens and promote economic growth in a sustainable way.

The bottom line is that cities, universities, and agencies are facing many of the same challenges, regardless of their organization’s size or location. Innovation is not slowing down, and the changes that will affect our industry this year and in the years to come are unknown, which is why there needs to be an established system of collaboration between private and public sectors. Private and public organizations will lead the way with new technology and developments, making it critical that the public sector has the tools necessary to keep up and stay on pace. With greater collaboration, organizations can share best practices that can help everyone be successful.

Read the article here.

NATHAN BERRY is regional sales director at Passport. He can be reached at nathan.berry@ passportinc.com.

Parking & Mobility Article, Resources, Transportation & Mobility

EV Charging: The Quiet Change

August 1, 2019 Rachel Yoka Leave a comment

By Michael T. App, AIA

ADVANCEMENTS IN MOBILITY HAVE LED some city planners and architects to take the position that that there won’t be a need for parking garages in the future. They assume that everyone will be using ride-hailing services and won’t own personal vehicles. This position always generates a lot of conversation. However, the quiet change that is happening—and rarely gets the same amount of coverage—is that several automakers are planning to halt production of the internal combustion engine and only release electric cars. This will require significantly more charging stations, and it has been said that the garage will be the gas station of the future.
The reality is that most people park at their office in the morning and never move their cars until leaving, rendering the charging station unproductive most of the day.

Accommodating Electric Vehicles

A parking planner needs to consider several things when designing a parking garage to accommodate electric cars with charging stations. First, who are the users of the garage? Garages that serve offices have users who park and stay all day. Garages that serve residential units have users who park for long periods of time as well. Patrons using garages that serve shopping districts or hospitals typically are only parked for a few hours. Parkers at an airport may be parked for extended periods. Each of these uses would need a specific and different charging solution.

Charge times for electric vehicles (EVs) vary depending on battery pack size and vehicle power acceptance rate, with most requiring approximately four hours on a Level 2 station for a full charge. This typically equates to approximately 33 miles per hour of charge. The average U.S. resident drives approximately 13,500 miles per year, equating to 37 miles per day. Based on those statistics, it is possible that in one hour on a Level 2 charging station (a $20,000 piece of equipment) an EV can achieve enough power to make the average commute to the office and back home each day. With the standard charging time, a Level 2 charging station could provide a full charge for two cars per day. Based on this mileage, an electric car would only need to achieve a full charge once every three days. This would allow six cars to be charged by a single Level 2 charging station. However, the reality is that most people park at their office in the morning and never move their cars until leaving, rendering the charging station unproductive most of the day.

In contrast, residential style Level 1 charging stations (a standard household outlet) could be provided. The charging time would be significantly longer, providing only six miles for every hour of charge, but there could be considerably more stations. Assuming that every car would charge every day for eight to 10 hours, each would have adequate power for daily commuting.

Garage Considerations
A parking garage owner has some considerations as well. The first question might be to ask, “Why are electric-charging stations being installed?” It may be that the owner is trying to satisfy Parksmart requirements. Or the owner may be trying to entice EV owners to park in the garage.

A second question an owner might ask is, “How much charge needs to be provided?” Many owners are now realizing that they do not need to provide a full charge, and some are questioning the need to provide any charge at all. An owner would also need to determine if a fee for the power that is used by the electric car is worth trying to collect. In many cases, some owners of garages with charging stations have found the effort and cost to charge for the cost of the electricity used is more trouble than it is worth, so they just provide the power for free.

Recognizing that most charging can be done on a residential-style charging station, parking planners must navigate through the design process with their clients to determine if it is necessary or desired to provide charging stations in public parking garages that serve hospitals, airports, office complexes, and shopping areas and what type of charging station to install. Parking planners working with those developing residential properties and the associated parking facility should recommend that a standard electrical outlet be provided for each parking stall, or provisions for the addition of 100 percent charging coverage, in preparation for a time when more of us are driving electric vehicles.

Read the article here.

MICHAEL T. APP, AIA, is director of architecture with Timothy Haahs and Associates and a member of IPMI’s Planning, Design, & Construction Committee. He can be reached at mapp@timhaahs.com.

Outreach and Media Relations, Parking & Mobility Article, Resources, Transportation & Mobility

Looking Forward: IPMI Board Chair David Onorato, CAPP, on parking, mobility, teamwork, and those Pittsburgh sports teams.

July 17, 2019 Rachel Yoka Leave a comment

by David Onorato, CAPP

LIKE SO MANY INDUSTRY PROFESSIONALS, David Onorato, CAPP, sort of fell into parking. “It was by luck,” he says. “I was working with the [Pittsburgh] city finance department and there was an opening in the parking authority. I was asked if I wanted to move there and I said yes. It’s parking—how hard can it be, right? Little did I know.”

Since that move in 1995, Now, he’s looking ahead to industry changes, how they’ll affect his operation and his beloved hometown, and how they’ll change things for members of IPMI, where he was installed as Board of Directors chair in June.

“The industry is unique,” he says. “Both in its field of operation and in the co-workers and peers you meet. Everyone is very willing to share information, and we’re all in the same boat together. The networking is stronger in this industry than any other industry I’ve seen.”

Getting There

Onorato and his wife, Cathy, have been married for 34 years and have three children, David, Lauren, and Matt. Onorato grew up on the north side of Pittsburgh with a brother and three sisters. His dad, Geno, was a machinist, and his mom, Vivian, taught grade school. Onorato says his parents always emphasized education as the path to success.

Growing up in a large Italian family meant weekly Sunday dinners. “Our parents always gave us comfort in that we felt we had everything we needed.” The family, all 33 members, vacationed together every year for 30 years. “People would wonder how we survived the vacations,” he says with a laugh. The extended family is still close-knit.

Onorato earned a bachelor’s degree from Clarion University and a master’s from Robert Morris University (both in Pennsylvania), worked for the city finance department, transferred to the parking authority, and soon got involved with the Pennsylvania Parking Association and IPMI, earning his CAPP certificate in 2010.

It wasn’t long before the Pittsburgh Parking Authority started making headlines as a forward-thinking municipal organization.

Pittsburgh Parking Grows

“I was involved with the regional association and IPMI in 2010, and that’s when the public-private partnerships (P3s) were being considered,” he says. “The mayor asked me to run a P3 to evaluate the options.” A successful bid was received but was rejected for political reasons. Onorato calls the process eye-opening.

“The private operators were doing it, and they gave us a blueprint,” he says. “The larger value was in on-street parking, and I remember saying that if we do nothing, we can’t be upset if we’re not here in five years. We knew what had to be done.”

The city’s meters were single-space, 30-year-old devices. Onorato’s team hired a consultant to evaluate what was available in the market, and they issued an RFP for multi-space meters. Ten bids were received, and five companies were interviewed. Then pay-by-plate came onto the scene. “We decided to reject all the bids and go with pay-by-plate,” Onorato says. “We did our due diligence. We knew it had never been done in the U.S., and we knew we didn’t want a major capital improvement that would be obsolete in three years.”

Pittsburgh installed pay-by-plate and launched it in 2012, carefully educating the public along the way.

“They were very accepting,” Onorato says—so much so that two years later, the city began offering pay-by-phone. Today, 50 percent of parking transactions are conducted that way, and Pittsburgh has hosted about 10 cities whose officials visited to see how similar setups could work for them.

The city was named IPMI’s Parking Organization of the Year in 2015 and earned Accredited Parking Organization (APO) status, becoming one of the first municipalities to be accredited. “IPMI set the standard with APO,” Onorato says. “When they launched it, we were excited and wanted our organization to apply. It proved more beneficial than I first realized. It established where we were at as an organization and set the bar for the goals we needed to reach. It was a great learning tool for the entire organization.

“APO helped us evaluate our operations against established industry standards,” he continues. “We used it as an educational tool for internal processes—we were doing things and took them for granted.”

The process, he says, made authority staff better at what they were doing, and the recertification requirement helps keep them focused on continual improvement. “We keep it in our vision,” he says. “We always think about what we need to do to meet the APO requirements moving forward. It puts us—the parking industry—on a playing field with other industries that have standards, so we’re recognized as leaders and as professionals.”

Getting Involved

Onorato attended his first IPMI (then IPI) Conference & Expo in 2005, looking to get more immersed in his industry. “I was impressed and knew I wanted to get involved,” he says. “My first thought was to earn CAPP.” He and Christopher Speers, CAPP, the authority’s director of parking services, both earned their certifications in 2010 and aimed for more involvement at the next year’s Conference—in Pittsburgh.

“I got to know the staff,” he says. “I liked what the organization represented, and I decided this was the path I wanted to take.” Having the Conference in his hometown, he says, offered him a great perspective into the behind-the-scenes work and allowed him to witness firsthand how everyone in the organization worked together.

“I decided to run for the Board,” he says. “It took several times, but I got there. And I am very impressed with the Board and their knowledge and background and skill and the way they get things done. There’s a lot of teamwork there.”

He eventually became treasurer and then chair-elect and was installed as chair last month, in Anaheim, Calif.

Goals

“I want to keep the organization on the path it’s on now,” he says. “We’ve had great leadership in past years that has established our path for the future. I want to continue to build upon our past successes.” Onorato noted that adding “mobility” to the organization’s name last fall was a major decision in keeping parking organizations relevant, ensuring they are key players going forward. “Mobility is a major factor. It has to be a key aspect of our vision, and we have to stay on that path as far as transportation network companies, electric vehicles, bikes, shared rides, and transit. It’s not just about parking, but we have to maintain parking as a vital role in the industry. It’s up to us to keep the seat at the table now that we have it.”

Data is also top-of-mind. “All users want to see data,” he says. “We have the technology today to collect mass volumes of data, and it is what we do with the data that will determine the future of the industry. Data has the potential to enhance the industry and the end user’s experience. And with that, and mobility, the thought has to be how we keep people satisfied with changing needs. We have to set the trends and decide what the future of parking and mobility is going forward.”

Onorato remains grateful to past Boards and their members and says the mentors he met at the beginning of his parking career remain so and have since become great friends.

“There are two past chairs to whom I’m very grateful to. I met them early on at the then-IPI conferences, and they have been my sounding board for vetting my strategies. Those two are Roamy Valera, CAPP, and Kim Jackson, CAPP, who are recognized as industry leaders. They always have given me good advice that was a basis for my decisions.”

Back to Pittsburgh

Onorato says he can’t wait to welcome IPMI members back to Pittsburgh for the IPMI Leadership Summit in October (parking-mobility.org/100).

“My first role as chair of the organization will be to host the meeting in Pittsburgh, and I’m very excited about that,” he says. “I’m looking forward to welcoming everyone to the city and would encourage them to get out and see the city. We have restaurants, theaters, and lots to see right in the CBD. The perception of Pittsburgh is different than the reality once you get here, and I’m going to encourage first-timers to take the time to enjoy the city.”

The Pittsburgh Parking Authority enjoys a great, productive relationship with the mayor and city council. Onorato says that comes from time spent building trust.

“We have a great relationship, and we work as a team,” he says. “We had some learning curves—we’re an authority and separate and self-sufficient, but without the city, there is no authority. So we work hand-in-hand, helping fund some operations and different organizations. We understand our relationship with the city, and they understand theirs with us. They see us as a team player, and our individual success comes from our joint success.”

During his free time, Onorato enjoys following Pittsburgh sports teams, which showcase the city on a national level. He is a frequent spectator at games and has been fortunate enough to attend three Super Bowls and one Stanley Cup Finals. He also enjoys time at his lake house with his family. It’s frequently visited by their children and their friends. “I see them more up there on the weekends than I do at home,” he laughs.

Read the article here.

Parking & Mobility Article, Research, Resources, Sustainability, Technology

Not All Clouds Are Created Equal

July 2, 2019 Rachel Yoka Leave a comment

By Sam Goodner

CHANGE CAN BE DIFFICULT when it comes to the servers, hard drives, and other hardware and software systems that have long served as the foundation of your company’s IT infrastructure. There’s something reassuring about seeing those machines on their racks with their fans whirring and lights blinking. Your IT team falls into routines of performing regular maintenance and working with vendors to install upgrades, but those things provide only a false sense of security. Migrating those on-premise systems to a cloud computing platform enables you to save money, eliminate myriad cyber and physical security risks, strengthen your organization’s compliance posture, and introduce new operational efficiencies that increase revenue.

The term “cloud computing” refers to the delivery of computing services—servers, storage, databases, networking, software, analytics, and more—via the internet. Cloud computing has become one of the most important technological innovations driving digital transformation across most industries, including transportation and parking. It allows businesses to run operations and scale more quickly, efficiently, and cost-effectively while also significantly reducing the risks of the loss or theft of business-critical data.

The cloud computing model resembles the electricity grid. Instead of buying, installing, and maintaining a power generator and other necessary equipment on your property, you connect to the grid and offload those responsibilities and costs to your utility provider. The utility company generates and delivers electricity and maintains all equipment. If the amount of electricity you require fluctuates throughout the day, you don’t have to worry about whether there’s an adequate supply to meet your needs. You just flip the switch and draw more from the grid. In return, you pay the utility provider a monthly fee.

If you’re a Netflix subscriber, you’re familiar with cloud computing. You don’t have to install hardware and store all of Netflix’s movies and shows in your home. You pay a monthly fee to access that content via Netflix’s app, which connects you to its servers over the internet.

On Premises: Expensive and Risky

If you cancel your Netflix subscription, you lose access to its content. That loss of ownership and control is a common crutch that organizations lean on when making the argument for keeping their IT systems on premises. What they don’t realize is how much time and money they waste maintaining those systems while simultaneously increasing the risks that system downtime or a security threat will cripple their operations.

Hardware requires ongoing maintenance and replacement, and the software solutions running on those systems need to be patched, upgraded, or replaced on a regular basis. You must have IT professionals on staff with the necessary expertise to constantly make those upgrades, patch servers, and create and maintain data backups in case your hard drives crash or are damaged in a disaster such as a fire or a flood. The worst-case scenario is your server going down unexpectedly and bringing your operations to a halt.

If you accept credit card payments, you are collecting, processing, and storing your customers’ highly sensitive information. Hackers covet that financial data for their own use or to sell to other thieves on the so-called “dark web.”

That is why the PCI Security Standards Council (PCI SSC) established the Payment Card Industry (PCI) Data Security Standard (DSS), a set of technical and operational requirements that apply to any organization that collects, processes, transmits, and/or stores cardholder data. These requirements include:

Building and maintaining a secure network.
Implementing technologies to protect data, such as end-to-end encryption, anti-malware, access control solutions, etc.
Regularly monitoring and testing networks and proving compliance to auditors.

Cloud Computing Business and Compliance Benefits

Migrating your on-premise systems to the cloud eliminates all of these IT, security, and compliance risks. You no longer have to purchase, maintain, and update equipment or software. You shift those responsibilities to your cloud services provider partner, freeing you and your staff to focus on your core competencies and business priorities. System updates and upgrades are done remotely with virtually no downtime, so there is no need to shut down lanes. Additionally, you can standardize multiple locations on one platform. Scaling resources up or down based on need is quick and easy because you’re paying for more or less cloud space rather than purchasing and provisioning new physical servers.

The result is much faster and a more satisfying customer experience. It is easier for your guests to find parking, which reduces congestion and improves traffic flow. Using real-time data, you can control your revenue and parking operations from virtually anywhere 24/7, including via mobile devices to maximize occupancy and revenue. Accessing and using real-time intelligence enables you to introduce new, more efficient, and cost-effective operating processes, which translates to a significant drop in support calls/emails and in higher customer satisfaction levels.

A parking strategy should also go beyond just controlling access and revenue; a parking technology provider should deliver an ecosystem of future-ready mobility solutions that will evolve with technologies such as private sector ride-sharing services, driverless cars, and frictionless access to better serve urban communities.

Migrating to the cloud will also significantly improve your security and compliance postures. As soon as a customer swipes a credit card, the information stored on the card is encrypted at the head of your credit card readers and sent directly to the payment gateway. You do not store payment card information locally and you achieve instant and ongoing complete PCI compliance.

That raises an important consideration when you’re evaluating any cloud services provider. Your vendor should not store your customers’ payment card information on its systems either. It should partner with a proven cloud platform provider, such as Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud, or Microsoft Azure, which has the necessary resources and expertise to protect sensitive business information without interrupting your daily workflows.

Don’t Let Cloud-lite Fool You

Not all clouds are the same. A vendor may offer to house the IT systems locally at its own data center. However, that hosted, or hybrid model—also known as “cloud-lite”—sometimes has many of the same limitations of an on-premise operation, especially when it comes to maintenance, security, and future-ready capabilities.

Yes, it removes the responsibility of maintaining the hardware from your shoulders, but the IT architecture doesn’t change. The burden of PCI compliance remains on your shoulders, just as it did with your onsite servers. To achieve PCI compliance with a hosted model, you must follow the hundreds of guidelines and ongoing maintenance required as opposed to a cloud-based system managed by a PCI DSS level 1 service provider, who takes on 98 percent of the burden for you.

No Time to Waste

McKinsey & Company reports cloud-specific spending will grow at more than six times the rate of general IT spending through 2020. The chances are that group includes your competitors. Don’t fall behind. Migrate your IT systems to the cloud to create a dynamic, future-proof system that will expand and support new capabilities as technology and customer demand evolves. The parking industry has been dominated by complicated, unreliable technology and processes for too long. Your guests deserve better, and so do you.

Read the whole article here.

SAM GOODNER is president of FlashParking. He can be reached at sam.goodner@flashparking.com.

McKinsey & Company reports cloud-specific spending will grow at more than six times the rate of general IT spending through 2020.

Education & Training, Outreach and Media Relations, Parking & Mobility Article, Resources, Technology, Transportation & Mobility

The Internet of Things and the Future of Parking

July 1, 2019 Rachel Yoka Leave a comment

Y BILL SMITH, APR

YOU MAY NOT HAVE HEARD OF THE INTERNET OF THINGS (IOT), or perhaps you’ve heard of it but aren’t really sure what it is. If you aren’t familiar with the IoT, it’s time to acquaint yourself with the topic because chances are it’s already affecting your day-to-day life.

The IoT is the system of internet connectivity through which technologies and the devices we use in our everyday lives are connected online so they can interact with each other and be controlled remotely. So, if you use a smart thermostat or web-enabled security systems or remotely controllable doors (just to name a few common devices), you are already using the IoT. Go ahead, pat yourself on the back because you are officially an IoT trendsetter.

The IoT is already transforming our personal lives, and that lifestyle trend is accelerating dramatically. It won’t be long before we are all constantly in contact with our homes, vehicles, and other elements of our lives (sadly, this includes the office).

Taking Control of Mobility

The IoT is having just as significant an effect on the parking industry. Many of the most important technologies that have been introduced in recent years offer internet connectivity. As a result, they allow parkers, and parking owners and operators as well, to instantly access parking resources from any computer or smartphone.

“Online connectivity has become very important in recent years,” says Dan Kupferman, CAPP, director of car park management systems for Walker Consultants. “Many new connected technologies have been introduced to make the parking experience much more convenient for drivers and more manageable for owners and operators.”

The most recognizable IoT-enabled parking technology is the mobile payment app. During the past decade, a number of apps have been introduced that permit drivers to pay for parking on their smartphones from the convenience of their vehicles.

“Look at how technology impacts your day-to-day life,” says Roamy Valera, CAPP, CEO, Canada and U.S. for PayByPhone. “We already manage so many aspects of our day-to-day lives with our smartphones, iPads, and laptops. When it comes to mobility, parking provides the introduction to the IoT.

“The IoT and mobility start with you and your phone,” continues Valera. “Think about how much better the parking experience is when we apply these concepts to parking. Drivers can pay with their phones, keep track of how much time is left on the parking session, and add more time remotely. When you can manage your parking session with your personal phone you can take control over your journey.”

The IoT’s impact on parking can even begin before the driver leaves the house. Parking pre-booking platforms allow drivers to reserve a space before they set out on the journey. Rather than having to search for a space when they arrive at their destination, drivers can just go online, input a payment credential, and reserve a space. Some parking facilities even let you reserve specific spaces online.

“For many people, parking can be a stressful experience,” says Theresa Hughes, CEO of Chauntry, Ltd. “That stress can be significantly reduced by providing access to a parking space before the driver even leaves home. Garages offering pre-booking technology essentially allow patrons to connect with them from home, ensuring they’ll have a place to park when they arrive. Pre-booking platforms also allow them to enter their payment credentials in advance, which means they don’t have to fumble for a credit card or cash when it’s time to leave.”

When you can reserve parking and manage your parking session in advance, you have another way to take control of your mobility.

Kupferman agrees that pre-booking is a vital element of IoT-driven parking: “Owners are starting to sell parking like entertainment venues sell tickets. That trend will only grow in the coming years.”

IoT Benefits Owners and Operators Too

As many industries have already discovered, the IoT can offer extraordinary benefits to companies as well. That includes parking owners and operators. Connectivity provides tremendous management advantages that benefit owners and operators, as well as patrons.

“When parking equipment is always connected it’s possible to complete management tasks from anywhere, anytime,” says Waldemar Batistella, national product portfolio manager, SKIDATA. “For instance, owners and operators can manage their contract parkers online from anywhere. They can also view detailed data on their operation, as well as the status of equipment. Some owners even use connected technology to remotely manage their garages. Today, owners and operators don’t need to have a physical presence within the parking facility to keep it operating smoothly.”

Selim Esen, CEO and chief technology officer of AVPM, says the remote monitoring benefits of the IoT are significant. “The IoT allows owners to constantly monitor the performance of their equipment,” he says. “PARCS and other types of parking equipment often include monitoring software that allows clients to control their parking assets wherever they are, from nearly anywhere. They can manage their machines, processes, and systems to control costs and help increase safety and improve customer satisfaction.”

According to Esen, by monitoring performance in real time, not only can owners and operators identify problems when they happen, but they can also often anticipate issues before they occur. That’s because system breakdowns will often be proceeded by impaired performance; when that happens, remote fixes can often be implemented.

Gorm Tuxen, president of parking software provider IPsens, agrees. And he says that when equipment doesn’t come with its own monitoring software, independent monitoring technology can handle the task.

“Independent maintenance software allows streamlining of the preventive system maintenance procedures, allowing problems to be fixed remotely in many cases before dispatching expensive field service personnel,” Tuxen says. “It also provides an ongoing history of the performance of the hardware over time. It’s sort of like having an independent monitor on hand to make sure everything is working properly.”

Parking guidance is also an important part of the IoT. Sensors play a leading role in IoT connectivity in other industries and it stands to reason that they would play just as vital a role for the parking industry.

“Parking guidance technology provides constant two-way communication,” says Jake Bezzant, CEO of Parking Sense. “The sensors tell drivers where they can find available parking and at the same time, communicate with owners and operators, telling them which spots are full and when, and providing data about how long parkers occupy their spaces and which spaces are most popular within a structure.”

The benefits of this two-way communication are obvious. Drivers benefit by gaining convenient access to available parking while owners collect real-time data they can use to better manage their parking facilities and make informed planning decisions.

Connected parking technology is even making its way to America’s highways. Departments of transportation (DOT) in Florida and across the Midwest recently implemented systems combining parking guidance sensors and specialized software to help fatigued truck drivers find the closest available truck stop or rest area parking space.

The programs, which are managed separately by each state’s DOT, use parking sensors installed in truck stop and rest area parking spaces to monitor individual space availability and communicate that information to truck drivers via roadside signage and a specialized smartphone app. The systems are managed by a custom-made open source software platform with an application programming interface (API) that connects the system with the apps drivers use to find available parking, allowing drivers to connect with the system no matter where they are. The API can integrate to any network within a state’s system and is able to provide real-time data about where parking is available for tired drivers. All drivers have to do is open the app on their phones and the technology does the rest.

“These programs are already saving lives, and they will become standard equipment on America’s highways over the next 10 years,” Tuxen says. “The technology allows truck drivers to constantly be connected with servers that can guide them to a safe resting place. Ultimately, as smart cities mature, the same technology will be in our cars and will direct us to the closest available parking space to our downtown destinations.”

Looking to the Future

As important as the IoT already is to our daily lives, it’s still in its infancy. As new parking technologies continue to be introduced and added to the grid of connected technologies, garages and vehicles will become more dependent upon them.

“Some of the advances we’ll come to rely on in the future are already in place,” Bezzant says. “For instance, many parking guidance sensors have Bluetooth chips to facilitate payment. In the future, this same Bluetooth technology will be able to manage reserved parking areas for autonomous vehicles, guide the vehicles to open spaces, and manage the transaction.”

According to Kupferman, when it comes to the IoT, the future is limited only by the limits of our imaginations.

“Connectivity offers so much promise for the future of parking, mobility, and transportation,” Kupferman says. “When all these connected technologies are tied together, we can build parking transportation suites that ensure a seamless parking experience while constantly collecting incredible amounts of data that can be used to manage parking facilities better.

“And more amazing breakthroughs are right around the corner,” he continues. “For instance, roadways can now be built with materials that include sensors and computer chips that can collect immense amounts of data about vehicle and pedestrian patterns. There’s even a connected glass road covering that, in addition to recording data, can permit lanes to be realigned in response to utilization patterns identified by its sensors. When it comes to IoT and mobility, the future really is unlimited.”

Read the article here.

BILL SMITH, APR, is principal of Smith-Phillips Strategic Communications and contributing editor of Parking & Mobility. He can be reached at bsmith@smith-phillips.com or 603.491.4280.

Parking & Mobility Article, Resources, Transportation & Mobility

Thoughtful Management: A county’s division of parking management shines in the close-in suburbs of Washington, D.C.

July 1, 2019 Rachel Yoka Leave a comment

By Sindhu Rao

IN MONTGOMERY COUNTY, MD., the Department of Transportation’s (MCDOT) Division of Parking Management has served the parking lot districts (PLDs) of the Washington, D.C. suburbs of Bethesda, Silver Spring, and Wheaton for more than 60 years with thoughtful parking management techniques.

Charged with addressing on- and off-street parking needs while supporting economic and transportation-related initiatives, the PLDs continually implement new parking management and operations solutions to enhance the competitiveness of these traditional and urban environments. The PLDs receive no direct government subsidies and are responsible for generating sufficient revenue to cover capital, operational, and debt service costs. Additionally, a certain amount of PLD funds are transferred to the county for the promotion of transit benefits, streetscape and lighting improvements, and other public amenities.

Organizational Structure

MCDOT’s Division of Parking Management is responsible for the administration of the county’s three PLDs. The division’s mission is to promote economic growth by offering sufficient parking, encouraging efficient transportation mode choice through a careful balance of parking rates and supply, and developing parking management strategies to maximize the usage of available parking.

The PLDs are a single administrative entity, giving it full control over on- and off-street parking management, regulatory and compliance coordination, and customer service. As an enterprise fund, the PLDs must generate enough revenue on an ongoing basis to not only be self-sufficient, but also to transfer millions of dollars to transit funds, urban districts, and the county’s general reserve every year.

The division governance structure is organized into four sectional units: administrative management, financial management, engineering and capital project management, and parking operations. Their roles are divvied up in the following ways:

The administrative management section manages the planning, information technology, and customer and administration services staff to optimize organizational effectiveness. The section plans for the strategic redevelopment of PLD real property. The planning team leads the division’s innovation initiatives and plans for growth in the PLDs through short-term demand studies and long-term strategic plans.
The financial management section has overall responsibility for recording and reconciling all revenue, the management of the encumbrance and invoice payment process, the revenue bond debt, and budget. In 2018, the section was responsible for managing program-wide revenue of nearly $38 million.
The engineering and capital project management section provides engineering and project management for the design and construction of new parking facilities. The program ensures the preservation and structural integrity of existing parking facilities. It also provides services such as snow and ice removal; housekeeping services; equipment maintenance for elevators, electrical, and HVAC systems; and groundskeeping care.
The parking operations section is responsible for collecting and processing parking revenue from the many methods of payment offered by the division. It is also responsible for managing the parking citation database, providing onsite security, and overseeing the appeal process for parking tickets.

Biennial Customer Service Survey

As bounded by Montgomery County government bylaws, the Division of Parking Management is required to conduct a parking customer service survey every two years to gauge customers’ perception of the public parking system’s performance. The division hires a consultant to administer the survey, ensuring it is completed in an independent manner. The survey targets two subgroups—permit holders and visitors—and offers those customers an opportunity to provide feedback on a wide range of parking issues. The survey results are used by MCDOT staff to measure the division’s performance. In the most recent survey, visitors and permit holders gave their highest marks to the conditions of facilities, safety and security, and convenience to destination. Overall satisfaction with the PLD’s facilities was high, with an average rating of 4.7 out of 5.

Recent Accomplishments and Initiatives

The county recently became one of the first jurisdictions in the U.S. to partner with two mobile payment vendors. The two-vendor mobile payment system was phased in during six months and is now available at more than 10,000 meters throughout the county. By offering two choices, MCDOT is providing greater flexibility and convenience for parkers.

Another technology adopted by the division is a digital parking guidance system, which offers real-time message signs outside and inside garages to direct people to available parking. This information is published to websites and mobile applications as well. The division’s electric vehicle (EV) infrastructure overview plan addresses the need and pathway for installing electric-vehicle charging stations in PLD facilities. To date, 16 charging stations that can serve 32 vehicles system-wide are operational with plans to install additional stations.

Another positive change the division made in its parking operations is an upgraded lighting system in each of the division’s 20 garages. The new high-output lamps are not only brighter but have saved the division around 20 percent in energy-related expenditures per facility.

Finally, with its partnership with Zipcar, the division has been a leader in promoting the usage of car-share. The division has more than 30 car-share spaces in a mixture of lots, garages, and on-street. To promote the visibility of car-share and encourage MCDOT’s alternative transportation objectives, the division has located the on-street car-share spaces near vibrant retail centers.

Additional initiatives implemented recently include a new residential permit program using mobile license plate recognition (LPR) enforcement, modernization of four parking facilities from single-space parking meters to master meters, a variable parking policy program, a dynamic parking map embedded on the county’s website, the county’s first “cycle-track” bike lane, and revamping the Ad Valorem tax program that helps fund the PLDs.

To support the general tax base and improve pedestrian experience, the division has repositioned land by developing three surface lots into mixed-use centers. As part of a public-private partnership, the division transformed an existing 200-space parking lot in downtown Bethesda into a 950-space subterranean parking garage with first-floor retail and a multi-story residential building above. The publicly owned and operated garage was needed to release pressure off a nearby garage that frequently operated at capacity during peak hours. The project included wider sidewalk space, a pedestrian cut-through connection to an adjacent trail, a public plaza, restaurants, and the addition of hundreds of residents within a short walk of a transit station.

Two other public-private partnerships are currently underway. In Wheaton, the division is redeveloping a 160-space parking lot; by 2020, it will have been converted into a 400-space underground garage with first floor retail, a town square, and a 310,000-square-foot office building above. And in Silver Spring, construction recently wrapped up on a 162-space underground public parking garage with a residential tower above and associated plaza on what was formerly the site of a county parking lot. Beyond these projects, the division is in various planning stages for the future redevelopment of additional PLD lots and garages.

Dual Vendor Mobile Payment System

Mobile payment technology is a win-win. For customers, it is a convenient cashless solution. For parking management agencies, it requires little financial investment or continual operating costs. As the second largest jurisdiction in the Washington metropolitan area, Montgomery County has a significant demand for parking from employees, residents, and visitors in its urban areas. In 2010, the division introduced a mobile payment solution to its payment ecosystem. The division partnered with MobileNOW, and success followed immediately with high adoption rates. Today, the program processes more than 150,000 parking sessions monthly and has generated over $30 million in revenue since its inception.

To build on this success, the county explored solutions to further increase mobile payment use for several reasons. First, mobile payment systems have minimal infrastructure requirements and limited ongoing operational costs and lack credit card processing fees. Benefits flow to customers too, including the ability to conveniently pay for parking, receive a text message when parking time is close to expiring, extend the parking session remotely, pay for only time parked, and track personal parking activity.

Second, the county serves a cross-jurisdictional consumer base. A substantial portion of MCDOT’s parking facility users come from outside the county. Consequently, these parkers are accustomed to using the mobile payment provider offered in their hometown, which may differ from Montgomery County’s. Wanting to avoid balancing multiple payment accounts, there’s a segment of the customer base that’s disinclined to register with the county’s vendor’s app. Therefore, to mitigate the downside of parkers eschewing mobile payment due to unfamiliarity with the county’s vendor, improving mobile payment access became a division priority.

Ultimately, the county decided to become one of the country’s first jurisdictions to provide customers with a choice of mobile payment vendors. The county wanted to capitalize on the opportunity to nudge customers in the mobile payment direction. The county issued a request for proposals in early 2017, and following the bidding process partnered with its existing vendor, MobileNOW, and a new vendor with a well-established presence in the Washington, D.C.-area market, ParkMobile.

Prior to the rollout, a few issues needed resolution. For example, the county needed to get both vendors on board with a sign package. To keep sign clutter to a minimum, it was apparent that both vendors’ branding would have to be integrated into the same signs. The county spearheaded the design process, contracted with a local graphic designer, and developed instructional signage to be installed in visibly prominent locations within garages. Both vendors provided feedback during the design process and approved final drawings. The result was a cohesive sign package that reduced visual clutter in parking facilities.

Another issue impeding a smooth deployment was enforcement complications. The county was challenged with integrating both vendors’ parking enforcement technology into a single software platform. MCDOT collaborated with the vendors’ IT teams for workable solutions, and the county’s enforcement officers are now able to view transaction data from each vendor on their handheld devices in real time.

Decals on meters inform customers of the mobile payment option. However, relinquishing space on meter heads exclusively to vendor decals could have negative future consequences if either vendor folded or did not meet contractual obligations. To work around this potential problem, the county configured a consistent meter layout with four distinct decals:

MobileNOW’s decal displaying a QR code and space number.
ParkMobile’s decal displaying a QR code and space number.
A Montgomery County decal displaying the space number.
A Montgomery County decal displaying a URL address directing patrons to the county’s website with mobile payment instructions.

This approach eases the transition if the partnership with one of the vendors were to end. That company’s decal could be removed or replaced without disrupting the mobile payment program.

By late 2017, the county began an incremental launch. A phased approach was adopted as staff was tasked with installing the four decals on more than 10,000 meters throughout the PLDs. By mid-2018 the launch was complete with 10 garages, 20 lots, and more than 2,300 on-street meters in the PLDs outfitted with dual vendor mobile payment capability. The county plans to expand the program to additional facilities, including pay-by-space environments.

Program Outcomes

Due to the widespread diffusion of mobile technology, consumers have come to expect convenience in many aspects of their lives. While the county has modernized the payment systems in several facilities, budgetary realities have prevented the county from modernizing the entire parking system. This has given rise to frustrated customers. Paying for parking with coins is a common pain point. Indeed, the dual vendor mobile payment system has provided MCDOT and its customers with tangible benefits and improved experience. For MCDOT, the system has proven powerful because it does not require new equipment or maintenance costs. For customers, it has aligned with the convenience that technology has brought elsewhere in their lives.

The county has access to a comprehensive web-based collection of reports from both vendors, enabling analyses of mobile payment activities. To benchmark success of the program, the county tracked mobile payment sessions and revenue per facility in the months leading up to the dual-vendor implementation and tracked sessions and revenue post-implementation. Since implementation of the dual vendor system, year-over-year total parking sessions increased over 20 percent and revenue by $1.3 million.

MCDOT plans to expand the dual vendor mobile payment system to additional parking facilities. The system is currently only available in facilities operated by single-space meters and pay-and-display environments. The county anticipates rolling out the dual vendor system in its pay-by-space garages and lots soon. With this impending expansion, MCDOT will reap further benefits, and greater convenience will flow to additional county parkers.

Read the article here.

SINDHU RAO is IT specialist III in the Division of Parking Management of the Montgomery Department of Transportation. She can be reached at sindhu.rao@montgomerycountymd.gov.