IPMI Blog
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Campus Events -The Basics
October 8, 2024Campus Events -The Basics By Mike Harris, MBA, CAPP Campuses around the country are a vibrant and exciting place to operate. As parking professionals, there are many different hats we all must wear in order to fulfill all the demands placed on our departments. One of these is managing Read More »
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Hybrid Residential Parking Districts
October 7, 2024Hybrid Residential Parking Districts By Steven Bergin, CAPP The City of Richmond has six restricted residential parking districts (RRPD), each with their own unique program that allows residents to purchase permits to park freely in their district. Most of our parking districts were established due to parking pressures from Read More »
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Ask The Experts: Large Scale Parking Operations
October 3, 2024When we contacted the Ask the Experts volunteers with our question for October, we received a landslide of thoughtful responses and did not have enough room to include them all in the magazine. But knowledge should never be wasted! So, here are even more great answers to the October question, Read More »
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Why EVs Are the Most Affordable and Smartest Option for Seniors
October 2, 2024Why EVs Are the Most Affordable and Smartest Option for Seniors By Magaret-Ann Leavitt Before diving into sustainability, I spent years focusing on Boomers transitioning into retirement. What did I learn? Seniors prioritize affordability, simplicity, and comfort. As we age, safety and cost-efficiency become key—enter electric vehicles (EVs). EVs Read More »
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The Current State of Chaos at the Curb
October 1, 2024The Current State of Chaos at the Curb By Ali Barsamian Cities across North America are grappling with a growing challenge: taming the chaos at the curb. With the rise of delivery services, ridesharing, and micromobility options, demands on curb space have skyrocketed, pushing city planners, parking directors, and Read More »
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University Parking with LPR Technology
September 30, 2024University Parking with LPR Technology By Trystan Henry Many universities are enhancing accessibility by using License Plate Recognition (LPR) technology to improve ADA parking. In many cities, municipalities often offer free curbside parking and free spots in garages for vehicles with ADA plates. Visitors often expect the same reduced Read More »
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Future-Proofing Urban Mobility: Establishing a Paid Parking Program
September 26, 2024Future-Proofing Urban Mobility: Establishing a Paid Parking Program By Brooke Krieger As urban areas continue to grow, the demand for effective parking management solutions is more crucial than ever. Establishing a paid parking program is a strategic move for municipalities aiming to manage parking demand, reduce traffic congestion, and Read More »
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Insights and Engagement: Reflections on Recent Municipal Roundtable Session
September 25, 2024Insights and Engagement: Reflections on Recent Municipal Roundtable Session By Hannah Adeponu, CAPP I recently moderated a Municipal member roundtable session with David Lipscomb from the District of Columbia Department of Transportation. We talked about Best Practices in Curbside Management. This is the first of these type of sessions Read More »
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On-Demand Transportation Solutions Reduce Campus Parking Headaches
September 24, 2024How On-Demand Transportation Solutions Help Campuses Reduce the Headaches of Managing Parking By Jackson Lake Large college campuses often grapple with parking challenges, causing frustration for students, staff, and visitors. Implementing on-demand transport solutions can significantly reduce these issues. Let’s explore the benefits: Accessibility and Convenience Campus environments sprawl Read More »
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Celebrating Success
September 4, 2024Celebrating Success By Faye Morrison After two decades in transportation, the last 12 specifically in parking, I started to believe what everyone says—no one loves parking. In many ways, you feel separate from the community you serve, even though you provide a vital and necessary service. When I became parking manager Read More »
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Everyone Has a Story to Tell
September 2, 2024Everyone Has a Story to Tell By Greg Hladik, Ph.D. Each of you reading this has a story to tell and an award nomination worth submitting, no matter how big or small you think it is. The impact you’ve made in your organization or community deserves to be recognized, Read More »
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Car Wash, Anyone?
August 28, 2024Car Wash, Anyone? By Maria Irshad, CAPP, MPA In January, when the New Year resolutioners began flooding the gyms, I started parking my car on the rooftop because parking in the surface lot was chaotic. The first thing I noticed on the rooftop was that there were about 130 Read More »
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What Happens When an Organizational Team Loses Its Leadership?
August 21, 2024What Happens When an Organizational Team Loses Its Leadership? By Lisa Copeland, CAPP, PMP, CUFM Organizational teams can suffer in a number of ways following the loss of well-respected leadership. In organizations where tasks and goals are supported, driven, and appointed from the top down, a missing link in Read More »
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Navigating New Parking Regulations: Adapting to Changes in Tennessee and Florida
August 20, 2024Navigating New Parking Regulations: Adapting to Changes in Tennessee and Florida By Katherine Beaty As of July 1, 2024, new laws in Tennessee and Florida have introduced significant changes to the way we operate commercial parking lots. Tennessee’s MOTION Act (Senate Bill No. 1692) and Florida’s CS/CS/HB 271 aim Read More »
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Guiding the Smart City: IoT Sensors vs. Cameras for Curbside Management
August 14, 2024Guiding the Smart City: IoT Sensors vs. Cameras for Curbside Management By Marc Boher The debate between IoT sensors and camera-based detection systems for curbside management is significant. Each offers unique benefits and understanding their capabilities can help determine which is more efficient, cost-effective, and suitable. Sensors are devices Read More »
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Don’t miss your chance to volunteer.
July 31, 2024Don’t Miss your chance to volunteer. by Rachel Yoka, CAPP, CSO, IPMI This call closes August 2. Don’t miss out. Here’s the official summary: The current season will kick off this October and continue through May 2026. IPMI members in good standing provide their expertise, time, and knowledge to advance Read More »
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The Best Things To Do While You’re in Columbus
May 21, 2024The Best Things To Do While You’re in Columbus By the team at the City of Columbus Division of Mobility & Parking Services What are the best things to do while you are in Columbus? The Columbus’ Division of Mobility and Parking Services team shares their go-to places to Read More »
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Columbus’ Secret Bar Menu
May 14, 2024Columbus’ Secret Bar Menu By the team at the City of Columbus Division of Mobility & Parking Services Columbus has no shortage of great bars, but with so many options, it can be tough to decide where to go. That’s why we talked to the Division of Mobility and Read More »
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How to Eat Your Way Through Columbus
May 6, 2024How to Eat Your Way Through Columbus By the team at the City of Columbus Division of Mobility & Parking Services The Columbus Division of Mobility and Parking Services couldn’t be more excited to be hosting the IPMI Parking and Mobility Conference and Expo in our city. While you’re Read More »
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What We Learned In 2023: Lessons In Parking and Mobility Transformation
April 30, 2024What We Learned In 2023: Lessons In Parking and Mobility Transformation By Justin Goodwin Adjusting an entire city’s parking infrastructure is not as simple as flipping a switch. In 2022, the Division of Mobility and Parking Services transformed the curbs of Columbus, replacing 3,000 meters with 150 multi-space kiosks, Read More »
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Paying Tribute to Douglas Myers
April 22, 2024Paying Tribute to Douglas Myers The parking and mobility community mourns the loss of longtime University of Oklahoma Parking and Transportation Director Doug Myers. Doug passed away on April 17, 2024, after a courageous battle with cancer. He was 64. Doug was the director of the OU Health Sciences Read More »
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Parking Density Report + Webinar from Urbanism Next
March 30, 2024Parking Density Report + Webinar from Urbanism Next By Calvin Thigpen Parking Density Report + Webinar from Urbanism Next (April 5th): Researchers from the University of Oregon’s Urbanism Next Center have completed a report addressing how much parking is needed to meet demand and improve compliance, using data from a Read More »
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Don’t Let the Old Man In
March 27, 2024Don’t Let the Old Man In By Roamy Valera, CAPP In the wake of Toby Keith’s passing, the world mourned the loss of a country music legend. His departure sparked introspection, prompting me to reflect on the passage of time and the changing roles we assume in life. For Read More »
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What’s Your ‘Why’?
March 26, 2024What’s Your ‘Why’? By Ben Henderson, PE, SE I recently sat down with a young man who was interested in joining my team. He was very cerebral in his thinking, and before long, we were delving into his experience and what he liked most about his time in the Read More »
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Paying Tribute to Scott Kangas, CAPP
March 25, 2024Paying Tribute to Scott Kangas, CAPP By Shawn Conrad, CAE Scott Kangas, CAPP, a long-time colleague of many, recently passed away. The IPMI community will always be grateful for the kindness and mentoring he shared with many of his peers throughout his long career in parking. Scott volunteered on Read More »
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AI’s Role in Creating a Better Customer Experience
March 20, 2024AI’s Role in Creating a Better Customer Experience By Brian Wolff Artificial intelligence (AI) has existed for many years; however, technological advancements are now bringing its usefulness in a broad array of functions into focus. There is no question AI will enhance a parking customer’s experience, with speed and Read More »
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What Are You Even Doing With Your Life?
March 19, 2024What Are You Even Doing With Your Life? By Adrienne Tucker, CAPP If you work for a town, city, or municipal agency and are not attending the member roundtable discussions hosted by IPMI, what are you even doing with your life? Seriously, though, as an attendee of the Municipal Read More »
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EV- Scooters
March 18, 2024EV- Scooters By Jimmy Herrera, CAPP Every day, I see more and more electric scooters. They are all over Houston. In Texas, any vehicle that uses public roadways is considered a “motor vehicle,” which means e-scooters are subject to the same rules and regulations as automobiles. Here in Houston, Read More »
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Booting and Collection
March 13, 2024Booting and Collection By Jovan Douglas, CAPP, MBA Parking management faces challenges in enforcing regulations and collecting fines effectively. Vehicle booting emerges as a valuable solution, deterring parking violations by imposing real consequences for non-compliance. When drivers know that their vehicles may be immobilized if they don’t adhere to Read More »
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Allyship & Equity: Building a Community for All
March 12, 2024Allyship & Equity: Building a Community for All By Mark Santos, CAPP, PE, Joseph R. Madison II, and Andy Santos We need your help! As members of the IPMI Allyship & Equity Advisory Group, we seek to create educational programming that meets our parking, mobility, and transportation community where Read More »
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Sustainability in the Parking Industry: Solar-Powered Parking Lots
March 11, 2024Sustainability in the Parking Industry: Solar-Powered Parking Lots By Heidi Wingate, CAPP As people all over the world are becoming more conscious about sustainability, the parking industry is also joining in by going beyond the traditional concept of parking spaces and adopting eco-friendly practices. When we choose to implement Read More »
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How to Say “NO” With Options!
March 6, 2024How to Say “NO” With Options! by Michelle Wahl, CAPP How many times have you heard, “No, I am sorry, that is not an option,” in the parking realm? When a different response could be, “While this is not a legal way to park, please let me provide you Read More »
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Identifying Parking Demand for Office Buildings
March 5, 2024Identifying Parking Demand for Office Buildings By Elvis Reyes, CAPP Class A building developments have taken a huge hit post-COVID as the popularity of working from home has grown and does not seem to be going away. With that, the parking industry has shifted its focus from promoting a Read More »
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Navigating Post-COVID Parking Management: Staffing Challenges and Solutions
March 4, 2024Navigating Post-COVID Parking Management: Staffing Challenges and Solutions By Jovan Douglas, CAPP, MBA The COVID-19 pandemic reshaped the way we live and work, and its impact on parking management is no exception. As we continue to emerge from the pandemic, parking facilities face new challenges related to staffing shortages Read More »
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EV- Urban Planning
February 28, 2024EV- Urban Planning By Jimmy Herrera, CAPP Some municipalities and urban planning authorities incorporate electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure requirements into their long-term plans, to support sustainable transportation. It is important to keep in mind that the term EV means more than just Tesla models built for individual consumers. Read More »
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Rethinking Mobility
February 27, 2024Rethinking Mobility By Benito Pérez, CAPP, AICP, CTP We must rethink our approach to mobility. Historically, owning and driving a car has signified mobility freedom, but this has caused our whole transportation system to be built for cars, often dividing and destroying communities in the process. Despite advancements in Read More »
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Safeguarding the Future: Data Security and Privacy in the Parking Industry
February 26, 2024Safeguarding the Future: Data Security and Privacy in the Parking Industry By Junior Khan, CAPP In the digital age, the parking industry is undergoing a transformation fueled by data-driven technologies. However, with great innovation comes the responsibility of safeguarding sensitive information. Data security and privacy have become paramount concerns Read More »
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Black Leaders in Transportation
February 21, 2024Black Leaders in Transportation By Madison Huemmer It’s February which means it’s Black History Month! I want to take a moment to celebrate the contributions of a few black leaders in transportation. Garrett Augustus Morgan Born in Paris but moved to Cleveland in 1895. There, Morgan witnessed a car crash Read More »
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The Benefits of Accurate SOPs in Parking Management
February 20, 2024The Benefits of Accurate SOPs in Parking Management By Jovan Douglas, CAPP, MBA In the changing dynamic of balancing residents, guests, business owners, and other stakeholders in high-density urban areas with limited parking, having accurate Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) in place can be a game-changer. These precise guidelines not Read More »
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Event Parking Strategies
February 7, 2024Event Parking Strategies By Elvis Reyes, CAPP Parking operations play a vital role in ensuring an event goes well. Identifying the consumer who comes to a venue and “knowing your crowd” is key to an operator’s success. A great example of this is the Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida. Read More »
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Preserving Road Safety: The Critical Need for Enforcement Against Altered License Plates
February 6, 2024Preserving Road Safety: The Critical Need for Enforcement Against Altered License Plates By Scott A. Petri The open road is a shared space where safety and accountability go hand in hand. License plates play a pivotal role in maintaining order and ensuring responsible conduct on our streets. However, an Read More »
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The Impacts of Automated Enforcement Technologies on the Parking Industry
The Impacts of Automated Enforcement Technologies on the Parking Industry By Heidi Wingate, CAPP Automated enforcement solutions are becoming more important as the parking industry experiences a technology revolution. By improving efficiency, simplifying operations, and strengthening enforcement, these technologies—which include license plate recognition (LPR) systems and sensor-based enforcement—benefit parking Read More »
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It’s Just Parking!
January 31, 2024It’s Just Parking! By Christopher Polk, CAPP I was given some great advice one day from my boss as I was stressing over whatever the issue of the day happened to be. My frustration and stress must have been clearly visible. As he was walking out of my office, Read More »
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Navigating the Parking Industry’s “Jump the Shark” Moments
January 30, 2024Navigating the Parking Industry’s “Jump the Shark” Moments By Katherine Beaty In the vast landscape of the parking industry, certain decisions have earned the dubious distinction of “jumping the shark.” For those who remember the iconic show, Happy Days, the pejorative signifies a moment when a creative endeavor takes Read More »
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To Be Towed, or Not To Be Towed
January 29, 2024To Be Towed, or Not To Be Towed by Michelle Wahl, CAPP The City of Bloomington, within the last year, implemented a new towing policy which is quite different than what this community has experienced in the past. The division has been extremely successful in the implementation of these Read More »
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EV – From Racing to Parking?
January 24, 2024EV – From Racing to Parking? By Jimmy Herrera, CAPP Today, 2.5 million electric vehicles (EVs) are on the road. Everything indicates that they are here to stay and will need somewhere to park. As more manufacturers make net zero emissions commitments, more will be invested in improving the Read More »
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Mentoring: Helping Others Achieve Their Dreams
January 23, 2024Mentoring: Helping Others Achieve Their Dreams By Irma Henderson, CAPP January is National Mentoring Month! Established in 2002, it is a campaign recognized yearly by the President and administration, dedicated to recognizing mentoring and the impact it can have on people’s lives. It is a time to celebrate the Read More »
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Wayfinding in Large Parking Facilities
January 22, 2024Wayfinding in Large Parking Facilities By Elvis Reyes, CAPP It’s a common scene to watch vehicles circling in parking lots and parking facilities with a lost look on their faces as they struggle to find open parking stalls. Even more so when most consumers prefer to park close to Read More »
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Smart Parking Innovative Solutions
January 17, 2024Smart Parking Innovative Solutions By Heidi Wingate, CAPP In today’s fast-paced city life, the traditional way of parking is getting a modern upgrade with the introduction of smart parking solutions. The use of Internet of Things (IoT) sensors and smartphone apps is driving this change because they offer consumers Read More »
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Cookie Cutter Solutions (A Change in Philosophy)
January 15, 2024Cookie Cutter Solutions (A Change in Philosophy) By Christopher Polk, CAPP ‘Times they are a changin.’ The ‘future is now.’ If only some vendors could read the writing on the wall. So many are still trying to put all parking operations into one box. Parking is extremely dynamic, and Read More »
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Managing a Scooter Parking Program
January 10, 2024Managing a Scooter Parking Program by Michelle Wahl, CAPP As a parking administrator, you must embrace other modes of transportation to support your organizations or, in this case, the City of Bloomington’s sustainability initiatives. The City of Bloomington has contracted several scooter vendors that serve our community members and Read More »
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EV: Worth the Weight?
January 8, 2024EV: Worth the Weight? By Jimmy Herrera, CAPP Electric vehicles (EVs) seem to be here to stay. Every day, they seem more common and perform just a little bit better. From range to charging stations, the benefits seem to improve. Slowly but surely. That’s great on streets and highways Read More »
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Promoting Diversity in the Valet Parking Industry
January 3, 2024Promoting Diversity in the Valet Parking Industry By Elvis Reyes, CAPP For years, the valet parking industry has been predominantly a male-dominated industry. We have seen a slight shift in the valet employee demographics after COVID-19, but still, the numbers are not even close. This, of course, will lead Read More »
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Artificial Intelligence and Future-Proofing Parking
January 2, 2024Artificial Intelligence and Future-Proofing Parking By Heidi Wingate, CAPP Parking management is experiencing a new era of customer-oriented service that is proactive in nature. In order to better adjust these facilities to the constantly changing urban environment and address existing issues, the parking sector is embracing solutions powered by Read More »
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Parking Attendant: Worst Job in America?
January 1, 2024Parking Attendant: Worst Job in America? By Christopher Polk, CAPP The 50 worst jobs in America, according to the people who do them (msn.com). I am sure that most of us, at some point in our careers, have been on the frontlines of an operation. It can be a Read More »
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PAV Municipal Roundtable Discussion
December 12, 2023PAV Municipal Roundtable Discussion By Christopher Polk, CAPP I recently attended the PAV Conference at the Kingsmill Resort in Williamsburg, Virginia. The conference was well attended, and the presentations were engaging and informative. The golf was incredible, too. On the last day of the event, I attended the Municipal Read More »
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Turnover and Barhopping
December 11, 2023Turnover and Barhopping By Steven Bergin, CAPP It’s been over a year – in October 2022, the City of Richmond began enforcing time-restricted parking regulations on Saturdays in strategic areas of our central business district. This is part of our downtown city center area where Monday through Friday parking Read More »
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Tailored Excellence: Navigating Unique Parking and Mobility Challenges Across the Country
December 6, 2023Tailored Excellence: Navigating Unique Parking and Mobility Challenges Across the Country by Ben Henderson, PE, SE I’ve heard it many times and seen it in action in pursuing new projects. The team that approaches a new client and says, “Well, we did it like this way there, so trust Read More »
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Bring Your Superpower!
December 5, 2023Bring Your Superpower! by Kendra Violet In October, Women Industry Leaders (WIL) held their first Coffee with a WIL Leader featuring Tina Reid, Co-Founder and Executive VP for Pivot Parking. Tina shared with us her journey through the world of parking. Now that I’ve had time to digest my Read More »
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Timeless Day
December 4, 2023Timeless Day By Mary B. Mabry, CAPP Recently, I forgot to cancel a day off time request when a personal trip did not happen. Faced with the dilemma of going through the hoops to cancel that time, I decided to take that day off even though it was mid-week, Read More »
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Spotlight on Parking Data (Post 6 of 6)
November 27, 2023European Parking Association: Spotlight on Parking Data Follow this series of six posts highlighting content from the European Parking Association (EPA), presented by EPA President Nigel Williams. Nigel joins some of the EPA’s data experts and other thought leaders to bring you this content, published by EPA in September Read More »
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Spotlight on Parking Data (Post 5 of 6)
November 20, 2023European Parking Association: Spotlight on Parking Data Follow this series of six posts highlighting content from the European Parking Association (EPA), presented by EPA President Nigel Williams. Nigel joins some of the EPA’s data experts and other thought leaders to bring you this content, published by EPA in September Read More »
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Technology, Green, and Innovation
November 14, 2023Technology, Green, and Innovation by Natnael Jowhar, CAPP In today’s fast-paced urban landscapes, parking is getting a major facelift, adapting to the dynamic needs of our modern society. While it might sound mundane, the parking scene is undergoing a radical transformation, fueled by tech advancements, sustainability goals, and urban Read More »
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Spotlight on Parking Data (Post 4 of 6)
November 13, 2023European Parking Association: Spotlight on Parking Data Follow this series of six posts highlighting content from the European Parking Association (EPA), presented by EPA President Nigel Williams. Nigel joins some of the EPA’s data experts and other thought leaders to bring you this content, published by EPA in September Read More »
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Why a Parking Consultant Can Be Helpful to You and Your Program
November 8, 2023Why a Parking Consultant Can Be Helpful to You and Your Program by Anthony Mazeika As a parking professional who has served on both the public and private side, there never seemed to be enough hours in the day to tackle the endless demands associated with managing a parking Read More »
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The Fallacy of Dashboards
November 7, 2023The Fallacy of Dashboards by Santiago Morales Exploring the essence of dashboards and the evolution of parking intelligence, it’s essential to debunk a common misconception. Dashboards, widely considered as indispensable tools, enable organizations to derive valuable insights from their data, serving as a singular source of trust, providing real-time Read More »
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Spotlight on Parking Data (Post 3 of 6)
November 6, 2023European Parking Association: Spotlight on Parking Data Follow this series of six posts highlighting content from the European Parking Association (EPA), presented by EPA President Nigel Williams. Nigel joins some of the EPA’s data experts and other thought leaders to bring you this content, published by EPA in September Read More »
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Share Your Smart Parking, Transportation Pilots, Programs, and Case Studies for New Publication
November 5, 2023Share Your Smart Parking, Transportation Pilots, Programs, and Case Studies for New Publication Share Your Smart Parking, Transportation Pilots, Programs, and Case Studies for New Publication Do you work for an airport where technology was deployed to monitor and manage the valuable curbside and improve traffic flow? Do you Read More »
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Spotlight on Parking Data (Post 2 of 6)
October 30, 2023European Parking Association: Spotlight on Parking Data Follow this series of six posts highlighting content from the European Parking Association (EPA), presented by EPA President Nigel Williams. Nigel joins some of the EPA’s data experts and other thought leaders to bring you this content, published by EPA in September Read More »
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Integrating Real-time Availability with Parking Payments
October 25, 2023Integrating Real-time Availability with Parking Payments By Stefanny Perez Apart from regulating traffic demand in congested areas, paid parking regulations involve a business model where drivers pay for their infrastructure use, rather than the general population. It also represents a significant source of income for municipalities, which can be Read More »
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Planning Project Success (Tips and Tricks)
October 24, 2023Planning Project Success (Tips and Tricks) By Nicholas King As parking professionals, we know the importance of proper project planning. Whether for on-street, off-street, existing structures, new construction, rip and replace, or even simple relocation of parking assets or signage installations. Improper planning, communication with vendors/contractors, or even team Read More »
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Spotlight on Parking Data (Post 1 of 6)
October 23, 2023European Parking Association: Spotlight on Parking Data Follow this series of six posts highlighting content from the European Parking Association (EPA), presented by EPA President Nigel Williams. Nigel joins some of the EPA’s data experts and other thought leaders to bring you this content, published by EPA in September Read More »
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It’s All About IPMI’s Professional Recognition Awards
October 18, 2023It’s All About IPMI’s Professional Recognition Awards By Kathryn Hebert Hello fellow IPMI members or should I say family! During my recent tenure as an IPMI Board Member, I had the honor and privilege to Co-Chair the Professional Recognition Awards Committee for several years with my friend and colleague, Josh Read More »
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All-In-One TDM Solutions Cut Costs and Improve Efficiency
October 17, 2023All-In-One TDM Solutions Cut Costs and Improve Efficiency By Danny Drees Manage more than just parking with a unified transportation demand management (TDM) system. Whether serving a sprawling campus or a unique community, transportation professionals stand to gain from more connected and flexible technology. There are many benefits to Read More »
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Professional Recognition Awards: Highlighting the Best of the Best
October 16, 2023Professional Recognition Awards: Highlighting the Best of the Best By Josh Cantor, CAPP Each year, parking, mobility, and transportation professionals at all stages of industry careers are recognized with the Professional Recognition Awards (PRA) from IPMI. The Professional Recognition Awards were created to acknowledge professionals and organizations operating, maintaining, and Read More »
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Submitting for Awards in Multiple Categories: The More the Merrier!
September 19, 2023Submitting for Awards in Multiple Categories: The More the Merrier! By Irma Henderson, CAPP The IPMI Awards of Excellence is an outstanding program that honors the industry’s latest and greatest programs, facilities, and projects. Starting a submission or even considering participating in the program can be daunting. You may Read More »
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Parking in a University Town
September 13, 2023Parking in a University Town By Steven Bergin, CAPP We are a few weeks into the new school year and have been busy servicing students with permits and addressing their citations. I’ve been wondering, do any municipalities with an urban university work with students directly to provide them with Read More »
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It’s Like The Academy Awards of Parking!
September 12, 2023It’s Like The Academy Awards of Parking! By Julie Dixon This is like the Academy Awards of our industry, at least, that’s how I felt when I accepted one of the 2023 IPMI Organization of the Year awards on behalf of DIXON Resources Unlimited. Honestly, this was such an Read More »
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Professional Recognition Award: What is the Impact?
September 11, 2023Professional Recognition Award: What is the Impact? By Jordan Justus Winning an IPMI Professional Recognition Award had a massive impact on Automotus. The recognition immediately heightened our credibility, making customer acquisition notably smoother. Within months, we secured contracts with major cities we connected with at IPMI. On the talent Read More »
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Customer-Focused Operations Lead to Outstanding Customer Service
August 30, 2023Customer-Focused Operations Lead to Outstanding Customer Service By Lisa Copeland, CAPP, PMP, CUFM There is much to be said about an operation’s ability to provide outstanding customer service. Customer interactions are information-sharing opportunities between both parties – the customer and the customer service provider. The benefits of an amenable Read More »
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Public Art Funding in Evanston, Illinois
August 29, 2023Public Art Funding in Evanston, Illinois By John W. Hammerschlag High above the street at 1800 Maple Self Park in Evanston, Illinois, two figures balanced on a steel beam appear to be edging toward one another. The sculpture, by internationally known artist Hubertus von der Goltz, was installed in Read More »
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A Rational Argument: 5 Reasons Why Hospitals Should Implement Parking Fees
August 28, 2023A Rational Argument: 5 Reasons Why Hospitals Should Implement Parking Fees Republished with permission from the Southwest Parking & Transportation Association (SWPTA) blog. By Andy Cushman, CAPP Parking at hospitals has been a subject of ongoing debate, with proponents arguing for free parking to alleviate patient and family burdens, Read More »
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The Value of IPMI Accreditation: A Deep Dive into its Importance
August 23, 2023The Value of IPMI Accreditation: A Deep Dive into its Importance Republished with permission from the Mid-South Transportation & Parking Association (MSTPA) blog. By Mark E. Hairr For organizations contemplating the prospect of obtaining IPMI’s Accredited Parking Organization (APO) designation, my advice is unequivocal: Dive in wholeheartedly. At the University Read More »
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A Little Inspiration from the Garden
August 22, 2023A Little Inspiration from the Garden By Jennifer I. Tougas, Ph.D., CAPP It’s that time of year when the backyard’s small garden produces more vegetables than we can eat. I’m sharing tomatoes with colleagues and putting up tomato juice, sharing squash and zucchini with my neighbors and baking zucchini Read More »
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Exercise Your Procurement Muscles: Ask the Experts for Help!
August 21, 2023Exercise Your Procurement Muscles: Ask the Experts for Help! By Brian Shaw, CAPP It used to be that sourcing a Parking Management System (PMS) to manage permits, transactions, citations, etc., was such a huge undertaking, that parking operations tended not to source this product very often. It was not Read More »
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Surviving the Grind: How to Avoid Corporate Burnout
August 16, 2023Surviving the Grind: How to Avoid Corporate Burnout By Heather Matthews, CAPP, PMP The corporate world can be a challenging environment to navigate, with its high-stakes, fast-paced culture often leading to long hours and intense pressure. Many professionals find themselves experiencing corporate burnout, a state of chronic stress that Read More »
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Evaluating Campus Operations
August 15, 2023Evaluating Campus Operations By Mike Harris, CAPP Operating campus parking and transportation departments on campus is very complex. When doing so, it is extremely important to have a plan. This helps to keep you focused, provides clarity for all involved, and helps lay the foundation for things to come. Read More »
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Loveland Foundry Parking Structure
Loveland Foundry Parking Structure By John W. Hammerschlag Nestled in the foothills of the Colorado Rockies just north of Denver, Loveland, Colorado, has been a destination for artists since the 1970s. Known as the “Gateway to the Rockies,” Loveland shows off its artistic heritage with over 200 sculpture installations Read More »
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Three Views on the End of Parking Minimums
July 17, 2023Three Views on the End of Parking Minimums By Robert Ferrin, CAPP Minimum parking requirements date back to the 1920s—nearly as long as zoning codes—and most cities implemented them in the 1960s. They have shaped our cities and helped personal vehicles dominate Americans’ transportation. More than 50 years later, 2017 Read More »
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Bottle Necks
July 11, 2023Bottle Necks By Mike Harris, CAPP I was fortunate enough to have experienced the IPMI conference in Ft. Worth and really enjoyed all it had to offer, and I can honestly say it offered a lot. On my way back home as I waited in the baggage claim area Read More »
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Town and Gown Relationships
July 10, 2023Town and Gown Relationships By Matt Davis, MCJ, CAPP Does your local parking system operate and function on its own or does your system have a sprawling university campus that adjoins its local municipal boundaries? If you are one of the many communities that has this wonderful dynamic, then Read More »
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Sampling Methods for On-Street Parking
July 4, 2023Sampling Methods for On-Street Parking By Linden Smith When I began working in the parking industry 10 years ago now, we had a “how to” report from Chance Management Advisors that became my introduction to parking analysis. This report was the starting point for a journey that now includes Read More »
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How Art Restoration Can Bring Vintage Public Art Back to Life
June 29, 2023How Art Restoration Can Bring Vintage Public Art Back to Life By John W. Hammerschlag Driving through older American cities and towns, one might notice “ghost murals” – murals painted decades ago and faded by the elements and time. Once such mural graces the exterior of a building at Read More »
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Oh My, IPMI!
June 27, 2023Oh My, IPMI! By Robin Pulsifer I’m not sure where to start, so I’ll start at the beginning. One year into a new position as Director of Parking for Keolis Commuter Services, I decided, for the first time, that it was the perfect time to attend an IPMI conference, Read More »
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IPMI 2023: Takeaways from My First IPMI Experience
IPMI 2023: Takeaways from My First IPMI Experience By Tobias Marx Reposted with permission from LinkedIn. I have never considered myself a conference person. The idea of leaving my wife alone with our young children always made me feel uneasy. Besides, what could be so special about attending a Read More »
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Removing Parking Minimums: The Journey Begins
June 22, 2023Removing Parking Minimums: The Journey Begins By Steven Bergin, CAPP In April 2023, The City of Richmond repealed parking minimums – as you know, this means developers will no longer have to provide a set amount of off-street parking for future housing, retail, and restaurant projects. This was a Read More »
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Illuminating Ideas: The Future for Connected LED Lighting is Now
June 21, 2023Illuminating Ideas: The Future for Connected LED Lighting is Now By Mike Riebling The future of your LED lighting installation is brighter when lighting controls and sensors are added. Stand-alone controls are one option to enable deeper energy- and cost-savings (see previous blog ‘Illuminating Ideas: Take Control of Your Read More »
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What the Future of Parking Might Look Like
June 20, 2023What the Future of Parking Might Look Like By Junior Khan, CAPP The future of parking will likely involve more technology, automation, and innovation. Here are some trends that are likely to shape the future of parking: Smart Parking: Smart parking systems use sensors and technology to help drivers Read More »
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Empowering Students to Create a More Sustainable Future
May 31, 2023Empowering Students to Create a More Sustainable Future By Steven Fernstrom The Bethlehem Parking Authority, an IPMI Accredited Parking Organization (APO), recently hosted an after-school sustainability program with the Bethlehem Area School District. Over six weeks, team members from the Bethlehem Parking Authority instructed the Go Green after-school program sessions Read More »
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UPDATE: So, You Want to Electrify Your Fleet?
May 30, 2023UPDATE: So, You Want to Electrify Your Fleet? Read the original blog post of May 26, 2022, So, You Want to Electrify Your Fleet, here now. By John W. Nolan, CAPP Wow! I cannot believe more than a year has passed since we bought four EV buses and installed Read More »
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E2 Apartments – Evanston, Illinois
May 17, 2023NEXT – 347 W. Chestnut, Chicago, Illinois By John W. Hammerschlag The E2 Apartment building, located at 1890 Maple Avenue in Evanston, Illinois, was completed by Fifield Companies in 2015. The 16-story unit received the 2015 Significant Contribution Award in New Construction from Design Evanston and the 2016 Gold Read More »
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The Best of Both Worlds
May 16, 2023The Best of Both Worlds By Mike Harris, CAPP I was fortunate enough to have been able to attend Mid-South Transportation and Parking Association (MSTPA) Annual Conference a few weeks back in Savannah, Georgia. It was great catching up with old friends and meeting new ones. A great time Read More »
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Transportation Pollution Reduction Highlighted in the EPA’s Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund Implementation Framework
May 15, 2023Transportation Pollution Reduction Highlighted in the EPA’s Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund Implementation Framework By Trevyr Meade The EPA’s $27 billion Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund was created as part of the Inflation Reduction Act with the goal of mobilizing private capital for clean energy and climate projects. In its recently Read More »
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Sustainable Parking: How to Design & Operate Eco-Friendly Parking Facilities
May 10, 2023Sustainable Parking: How to Design & Operate Eco-Friendly Parking Facilities By Junior Khan, CAPP Sustainability has become a major concern in the modern world, and the parking industry is no exception. With growing awareness of environmental issues, there has been an increased focus on designing and operating eco-friendly parking Read More »
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Millennials and Leadership. Are they Ready?
May 9, 2023Millennials and Leadership. Are they Ready? By Chuck J. Boddy, CAPP Millennials, born between 1981-1995 (depending on who you ask), not to be confused with Generation Z born between 1996-2010, are now the largest generation and make up majority of the workforce. In the past, there have been negative Read More »
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Illuminating Ideas: Take Control of Your LED Parking Garage Lighting
May 8, 2023Illuminating Ideas: Take Control of Your LED Parking Garage Lighting By Mike Riebling Control is empowering – so why not take control of your LED parking garage lighting? Adding lighting controls can deliver value beyond on/off illumination, such as deeper energy- and cost-savings. Lighting control options range from stand-alone Read More »
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Mobility Promotes Sustainability, Too
May 3, 2023Mobility Promotes Sustainability, Too By Ravali Kosaraju, PE, PTOE Mobility is an essential element of urban and transportation planning in the 2020s and it will continue to be for decades to come. When we provide seamless mobility, we promote more vibrant economic development, more sustainable communities, and a better Read More »
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Planning for Success with Customer Experience in Your Parking Facility
May 2, 2023Planning for Success with Customer Experience in Your Parking Facility By Nicholas King As parking professionals, we often find ourselves looking for the best ways to impact the client’s experience while utilizing our products and services in parking facilities. Some parking owners and operators feel that more signage is Read More »
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Making the Parking Experience Forgettable
May 1, 2023Making the Parking Experience Forgettable By Ben Henderson, PE, SE I’m sure we’ve all had very pleasant parking experiences…and some that weren’t so much. Although not the destination itself, parking is often the first and last experience you’ll have when arriving at and leaving a destination. The best experiences Read More »
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Creative Ways Of Making Money With A Parking Garage
April 26, 2023Creative Ways Of Making Money With A Parking Garage By Junior Khan, CAPP One creative way of making money with a parking garage is by using the space for events and experiences. Rather than just offering parking spaces, you can transform your garage into a unique venue that hosts Read More »
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Smart Mobility: Using Tech for Superior Customer Service
April 25, 2023Smart Mobility: Using Tech for Superior Customer Service By Daniel DeMott, PMP, CSM Is your organization leveraging every tool that today’s dynamic technology has to offer? Seamless connectivity is no longer simply a perk for customers; it’s an expectation. Embracing leading-edge tech in mobility management practices will maximize your Read More »
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Will Swapping From Gas to Zero Emission Vehicles Save the Planet?
April 24, 2023Will Swapping From Gas to Zero Emission Vehicles Save the Planet? By Dion Knill As we celebrate Earth Month, the push for a more sustainable transportation system has never been more important. Electric Vehicles (EVs) are seen as a promising solution for reducing carbon emissions and mitigating climate change. Read More »
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April is Earth Month!
April 19, 2023April is Earth Month! Here’s what NDOT is doing to keep Nashville beautiful and clean and how you can get involved! By Sissy Muro Juarez Litter in the right-of-way is a big problem in Nashville. The Nashville Department of Transportation and Multimodal Infrastructure (NDOT) and Metro Beautification and Environment Commission Read More »
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Building with Sustainability in Mind
April 18, 2023Building with Sustainability in Mind By Lisa Nemeroff Building with sustainability in mind can help to reduce the environmental impact of your property and create a more attractive and sustainable community for tenants, employees, and customers. Investing in electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure is a key component of this Read More »
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Campus Parking – Many Options Available
April 17, 2023Campus Parking – Many Options Available By Mike Harris, CAPP Almost all campuses fall into the categories of being both unique and predictable. They have parking spaces located in lots, garages, and/or on street, and almost all want to park in the most convenient space next to the door Read More »
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Smart is as Smart Does: IPMI Task Force to Propel Smart Transportation
April 11, 2023Smart is as Smart Does: IPMI Task Force to Propel Smart Transportation By Casey Jones, CAPP, PMP Last fall, IPMI stood up the Smart Transportation Task Force and invited a well-rounded and diverse set of industry thought leaders to promote and possibly accelerate transportation-focused smart strategies. I’m honored to Read More »
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Illuminating Ideas: How to Mitigate Glare and the “Cave Effect” in Your Parking Garage
April 10, 2023How to Mitigate Glare and the “Cave Effect” in Your Parking Garage By Mike Riebling Great lighting is essential whether you have a single deck parking structure or a five-story garage. Think about the discomfort you experience from sun glare — it can also occur indoors due to excessive Read More »
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Effectively Reach Your Audience Through the Four Primary Learning Styles
April 5, 2023Effectively Reach Your Audience Through the Four Primary Learning Styles By Meghan Maynard Do your responsibilities include educating employees or customers on how to use your software and equipment? Or, do you spend time training employees as part of your job? Whether your main job duties and responsibilities involve educating, Read More »
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Municipal Government: Kings & Queens of Parking
April 4, 2023Municipal Government: Kings & Queens of Parking By Kathryn Hebert My career has been in the municipal/public sector space for more than 35 years, with about 25 of those years in the parking industry. In 2020, I left municipal government and started my own business in a similar space focused Read More »
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NEXT – 347 W. Chestnut, Chicago
April 3, 2023NEXT – 347 W. Chestnut, Chicago, Illinois By John W. Hammerschlag NEXT is a luxury apartment building located in Chicago’s River North neighborhood. A hotspot of art, culture, shopping, dining, and nightlife, River North has a lot to offer, making the once derelict area attractive to developers and residents. Read More »
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What Does Good Planning Do For You?
March 29, 2023Why Does Parking Have to be a Bad Word? By Kevin White, CAPP, AICP and Jaime Snyder, CAPP As a trained planner, I don’t have to remind myself of the value of good planning. The merits of good planning (and the outcomes of bad/no planning) are reinforced by experiencing Read More »
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Disadvantages or Negative Impacts of Running a Parking Garage Remotely
March 28, 2023Disadvantages or Negative Impacts of Running a Parking Garage Remotely By Junior Khan, CAPP The advent of technology has led to various businesses operating remotely, and parking garages are no exception. Running a parking garage remotely involves using technology to monitor and manage parking spaces without being physically present Read More »
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Illuminating Ideas: The Right Parking Garage Lighting Can Enhance Customers’ Visual Acuity and Comfort
March 27, 2023Illuminating Ideas: The Right Parking Garage Lighting Can Enhance Customers’ Visual Acuity and Comfort By Mike Riebling A poorly lit parking lot may be the perfect backdrop for a thriller or scary movie scene. But for a parking administrator? It’s your worst nightmare! Transitioning to LED lighting, though, Read More »
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Technology Is the Friend of the Modern Day Workforce
March 22, 2023Technology Is the Friend of the Modern Day Workforce By Scott A. Petri The fears of being replaced by a machine have haunted the workforce so much so that movies feature the rise of machines against mankind. According to “The Great Resignation Why Gen Z is Leaving the Workforce Read More »
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Execute Violently: A Leaders Call
Execute Violently: A Leaders Call By Andy Troth, CAPP Not actually violently but with passion. As we all know there are different types of leaders; you can become one through self-awareness, surrounding yourself with great mentors, and sometimes people are naturally born leaders. Execute Violently was my late son Read More »
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Best Approach for Acquiring Parking Technology & Drawbacks to the RFP Process
March 21, 2023IPMI Learning Lab: Testimonials on the Best Approach for Acquiring Parking Technology and Drawbacks Using the Traditional RFP Process. March 29, 2023 – 2 PM EDT gtechna is pleased to announce an upcoming IPMI Learning Lab featuring Faye Morrison, Parking Director, from the City of Medford, and Bruno Lopes, Read More »
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What is Your EV Readiness?
March 20, 2023What is Your EV Readiness? By Robert Ferrin, CAPP By now, you have probably lost track of how many electric vehicle (EV) articles, blogs, and posts you have read or seen in the last six to 12 months. Whether you like it or not, the EV revolution is here Read More »
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What’s New With CAPP?
March 15, 2023What’s New With CAPP? By Kathleen Federici, M.Ed. Occasionally you may find yourself asking, “What’s new with CAPP?” The answer to your question is, “There is so much that is new!” The CAPP Candidate Handbook has a bold new look and now matches its sister document the Recertification Guidelines. Read More »
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Advancements in the Shuttle Industry
March 14, 2023Advancements in the Shuttle Industry By Junior Khan, CAPP The shuttle industry has seen significant advancements in recent years, driven by the rapid development of technology. Two of the most important advancements in the shuttle industry are GPS tracking and fleet management software. GPS tracking technology has revolutionized Read More »
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What You Said is NOT What I Heard
March 13, 2023What You Said is NOT What I Heard By Mary B. Mabry, CAPP Have you ever been in a situation at work or a professional gathering where you hear something being said and suddenly think, “Wait, what did they just say? “ Was that what they meant to say, Read More »
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Parking and Land Use in Our Urban Environment
March 8, 2023Parking and Land Use in Our Urban Environment By Linden Smith I’m a (former) consultant in City Planning. I feel the discussion of parking requirements needs to be viewed in a larger context, as the implications of change in the logistics of commerce and land uses will dictate parking Read More »
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Honoring an Industry Legend: A Tribute to Doug Holmes
Honoring an Industry Legend: A Tribute to Doug Holmes Forward by Shawn Conrad, CAE, CEO of IPMI As I sat down to write down some thoughts about the passing of Doug Holmes, I found it difficult to summarize the impact that he had on our parking community. Doug was Read More »
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Campus Mobility: Processes to Achieve a Modern Campus and Promote Growth
March 6, 2023Campus Mobility: Processes to Achieve a Modern Campus and Promote Growth By Mike Harris, CAPP Campuses are living and breathing organisms, they are consistently changing and evolving. It is up to us as parking and transportation professionals to help campuses with those changes. Mobility, in all its forms, needs Read More »
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Delegation
March 1, 2023The Demands and Rewards of Management By Varena Harding, CAPP I have been a manager for over 10 years. One of the hardest tasks I have had to face as a manager is delegating. It was hard to let go of projects that I have overseen for years. Read More »
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10 Ways to Build Resilience
February 28, 202310 Ways to Build Resilience By Paula E. Camargo The more focused, specific, intentional, and informed our strategies are, the more impactful and rewarding they can be and the better able we will be to demonstrate the impact of our work. And when others see the impact, they Read More »
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Minimum Parking Requirements and Their Effect on the Parking Industry
February 27, 2023Minimum Parking Requirements and Their Effect on the Parking Industry By Junior Khan, CAPP Minimum parking requirements have damaged the parking industry and their removal will result in unavoidable changes that will determine the future of the industry. For those unaware, minimum parking requirements are zoning laws that Read More »
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Illuminating Ideas: Why It Makes Sense (& Cents) to Upgrade Your Parking Garage Lighting
February 22, 2023Illuminating Ideas: Why It Makes Sense (& Cents) to Upgrade Your Parking Garage Lighting By Mike Riebling Sustainability is top of mind these days and with good reason. Buildings must adapt to minimize their long-term environmental impact. Your parking structure is no exception. Upgrading to LED lighting can Read More »
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APO – A Great Investment on Many Levels
February 21, 2023Accredited Parking Organization (APO) Designation – A Great Investment on Many Levels By Mike Harris, CAPP We as parking professionals know the importance of organizational planning. At times we get distracted focusing on the day-to-day fires that need to be put out and neglect the overall operational needs Read More »
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The Poetry Garage
February 20, 2023Art in Themed Parking By John W. Hammerschlag The Poetry Garage is a poetry-themed self-park located at 201 W. Madison on the corner of Madison and Wells in Chicago, IL. The facility opened in 1997. In May 2002, Hammerschlag & Co. purchased the garage in partnership with Syndicated Equities Read More »
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We Are All Project Managers
February 15, 2023We Are All Project Managers By Paul Whetzel, CAPP As parking professionals, we are all project managers. Whether it be a new construction project, repair/upfit project, software/hardware implementation, lighting project, signage projects, etc. we are managing projects daily. At Charleston County, coordination is key to a successful project, and Read More »
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Why Does Parking Have to be a Bad Word?
February 14, 2023Why Does Parking Have to be a Bad Word? By Kevin White I’ve been struck during my time in the parking industry at the negativity directed by the public at parking departments, parking enforcement officers, and other parking management staff, often directly to the faces of parking staff in Read More »
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Five Languages of Love in Parking
February 13, 20235 Languages of Love in Parking By Katherine Beaty The parking industry has changed very rapidly in the last few years. Vendors/operators/parking programs can no longer be dependent on their products and services to build meaningful and stainable customer relationships. We must move beyond the widget. So how do Read More »
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Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) is a Great Opportunity
February 7, 2023Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) is a Great Opportunity By Paula E. Camargo On top of all the pressure in our corporate environments, we want to master diversity and inclusion. Diversity work has expanded over the years and we can see this evolution in the very names we Read More »
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Nominations Now Open for the IPMI Board of Directors
February 6, 2023Nominations Now Open for the IPMI Board of Directors The Nominating Committee of the International Parking & Mobility Institute (IPMI) is pleased to announce the annual Call for Nominations for individuals interested in serving as members of the IPMI Board of Directors. The Role of the IPMI Board of Read More »
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Data: Can’t Live With It, Can’t Live Without It!
January 31, 2023Data: Can’t Live With It, Can’t Live Without It! By Kevin Woznicki Big data, curb management, occupancy, space counts, etc. – all need data and it must be accurate. What are some of the things to consider when going about finding the data you need to solve a problem, Read More »
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EV Design Considerations That Make You Go Hmmm…
January 30, 2023EV Design Considerations That Make You Go Hmmm… By Richard Easley Electric vehicles (EVs) are talked about all the time these days. How much more can we absorb of yet another article or presentation on EVs?? Well, here’s something new from your very own IPMI Planning Design and Construction Read More »
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The Demands and Rewards of Management
January 25, 2023The Demands and Rewards of Management By Varena Harding, CAPP Managers play an important role in the success of the organization, especially when it comes to employee satisfaction and retention. Managers deal with a lot and have a lot of responsibilities. Being a manager is a demanding position, Read More »
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Preventative Maintenance Challenges
January 24, 2023Preventative Maintenance Challenges By Paul Whetzel, CAPP The City of Charleston, South Carolina, is a coastal city offering a different set of challenges for staff when it comes to preventative maintenance. With the close proximity to the ocean, salts find their way into the garage in a variety of Read More »
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New Year Brings “Recalibration”
January 23, 2023New Year Brings “Recalibration” By Paula E. Camargo Whenever a new year comes around, I see it as a chance to catch my breath. Usually, I have been going full speed ahead, so busy crossing things off a long to-do list that I realize I often forget to look Read More »
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Accountability
January 18, 2023Accountability By Varena Harding, CAPP We have all been in a situation, especially at work, when someone asks you a question you think you should know the answer to, but honestly you have no clue. It may be easy to just come up with some answer that “makes sense” Read More »
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Art In Themed Parking
January 17, 2023Art in Themed Parking By John W. Hammerschlag The ubiquitous double-helix garage ramp design is beneficial for efficient traffic flow and enables developers to maximize stall count. A downside to this design is that it can add to customer confusion as to where they have parked their car. To Read More »
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So Why Carpe Datum (Seize the Data)?
So Why Carpe Datum (Seize the Data)? By Katherine Beaty First, data helps you make better decisions. It adds long-term value to your organization, has positive financial implications, and gives your organization competitive advantages that are achievable in no other way. All data is filled with potential if you Read More »
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Sometimes the Best Solution is the Simple One
January 11, 2023Sometimes the Best Solution is the Simple One How a Simple Idea Turned into a Priceless Community Engagement Opportunity between FLASH, Bethlehem Parking Authority, and Bethlehem Area School District By David Venancio Sometimes the best solution is the simple one. When Bethlehem Parking Authority (BPA) came to me about Read More »
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Choices at the Pay Station
January 10, 2023Choices at the Pay Station By Steven Bergin, CAPP In the City of Richmond, Virginia, we’ve offered two pay options for on-street parking for our citizens for years: Cash/credit card at the meter/pay station or pay by phone/app using one provider. Adding additional app options was recommended by our Read More »
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Understanding Curb Management: Tackling Demand at the Curb
January 4, 2023Understanding Curb Management: Tackling Demand at the Curb By Mary Catherine Snyder IPMI is starting off 2023 with the hottest of hot topics these days – Curbside Management and an IPMI spotlight on Washington DC, San Francisco, and Seattle on January 11. When actively managed, the curb space is Read More »
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Technology in Parking – A Security Challenge
January 3, 2023Technology in Parking – A Security Challenge By Cynthia Lang, CAPP, MPA Data analytics, enforcement, occupancy, turnover rate, way finding, and parking management share a need for technology. The answers to parking’s most basic questions retrieved by using tools capable of producing data points at the push of a Read More »
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Saying Goodbye to Parking Minimums
January 2, 2023Saying Goodbye to Parking Minimums By Robert Ferrin, CAPP The start of a new year is a very real reminder that change is all around us. The new year is a time to reflect on what has been and what will be. And often it’s a time to say Read More »
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Transitioning to Electric
December 28, 2022Transitioning to Electric By Cynthia Lang, CAPP, MPA According to U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm, the U.S. power grid is more than 25 years old.1 Upgrading the current grid to meet President Biden’s goal to be 100% clean electricity by 2035 is a lofty goal. This change Read More »
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Life Throws Us Snowballs
December 27, 2022Life Throws Us Snowballs (or in Some Cases – Hardballs) By Kathryn Hebert I’m now at that weird age that I find myself looking back at my life and at the same time looking forward to the next opportunity. Life gets in the way sometimes. Just when you think things Read More »
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Ocean Tides, Shifting Sands, and the Changing Landscape
December 26, 2022Ocean Tides, Shifting Sands, and the Changing Landscape By Maria Irshad, CAPP, MPA Ocean tides and currents launch waves at the shore, shifting sand, grain by grain until ultimately the landscape changes. How has the adoption of technology changed the landscape of your operations? And how do you plan Read More »
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Kindness
December 21, 2022Kindness By Varena Harding, CAPP Being kind is truly powerful. Think about what we could achieve in our organization if we chose to be kind to the people we come in contact with. We wouldn’t make our coworkers feel judged, embarrassed, or not heard. They would feel seen, appreciated, Read More »
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Art in Urban Development
December 20, 2022Art in Urban Development By John W. Hammerschlag One of the many challenges institutions and building developers face when planning new developments is personality and curb appeal. How can they ensure the neighborhood’s new addition stands out in a crowd of concrete and steel? One way they are tackling Read More »
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Electric Vehicle Inequities
December 19, 2022Electric Vehicle Inequities By Kellie Dugdale In recent years, there has been a significant increase in the adoption of electric vehicles (EVs). According to the Department of Energy, the number of EVs in the United States has more than quadrupled since 2013, with over 2.3 million EVs on the Read More »
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Impacts of COVID and Customer Service
December 14, 2022Impacts of COVID and Customer Service By Paul Whetzel, CAPP How many organizations are still dealing with impacts of COVID? I would say most still are! Charleston County employees we are still required to report a positive test to our HR Department. Currently, our Parking Operations Division is understaffed. Read More »
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The Politics of Parking
December 13, 2022The Politics of Parking By Cynthia Lang, CAPP, MPA When you hear the word “politics,” parking may not the first thought to come to mind. Those of us who work in this industry know all too well that politics can and does play a role. Let’s examine how politics Read More »
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Your Time is Valuable
December 12, 2022Your Time is Valuable By Jennifer I. Tougas, Ph.D., CAPP We are approaching the one year anniversary of devastating tornadoes that struck the southeast and Kentucky in particular. Hundreds of homes and businesses were destroyed in Bowling Green alone, and 17 people lost their lives. The University was spared, Read More »
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How Will Autonomous Vehicles Impact the Way We Park?
December 7, 2022How Will Autonomous Vehicles Impact the Way We Park? By Alex Alegre The rise of autonomous vehicles is set to revolutionize the way we park. No longer will we have to waste time and fuel circling the block looking for a spot – self-driving cars will be able to Read More »
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‘Tis the Season…for More EVs.
December 6, 2022‘Tis the Season…for More EVs. By Rachel Yoka, CAPP, LEED AP BD+C The US Forest Service recently announced a new pilot program in Greenfield Village at The Henry Ford in Dearborn, Michigan, in which the Forest Service EVs delivered Christmas trees from the Huron-Manistee National Forest for families in Read More »
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Passing the Baton
December 5, 2022Passing the Baton By Jennifer I. Tougas, Ph.D., CAPP I recently accepted a promotion to be the AVP for Business Services at Western Kentucky University (WKU). This opportunity allows me to contribute to the University at a higher level than I could as the director of Parking & Transportation Read More »
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Post-Pandemic and The Parking Revenue: How Can Revenues be Maximized?
November 30, 2022Post-Pandemic and The Parking Revenue: How Can Revenues be Maximized? By Cynthia Lang, CAPP, MPA On December 31, 2019, the World Health Organization announced the first report on COVID-19. Within 90 days, in March 2020, COVID-19 had been declared a global pandemic. No one could have anticipated what followed Read More »
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Donations For Citations
November 29, 2022Donations For Citations By Gary A. Means, CAPP Some of our members may have heard of our Food for Fines program here in Lexington, KY, but for those who haven’t, I’ll give you a quick recap and hopefully encourage organizations to roll out a similar program in your community: Read More »
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Developing a Curb Management Strategy: Three Factors of Formulation
November 15, 2022Developing a Curb Management Strategy: Three Factors of Formulation By Andrew Lamothe and Jason Sutton, CAPP As cities navigate complex parking environments, adapt new policies, and integrate innovations, curb management continues its trend toward mainstream adoption. Most if not all parking and transportation experts across the U.S. agree that Read More »
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The EPA Congress: Broadening Thinking and Inspiring for Industry Shifts
November 14, 2022The EPA Congress: Broadening Thinking and Inspiring for Industry Shifts By Alejandra “Alex” Argudin, CAPP Last month, I was honored to speak at the 20th European Parking Association (EPA) Congress and Exhibition in Brussels, Belgium. It was an enormous privilege to represent my country and the International Parking and Read More »
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Employee Engagement Requires a Strategy and a Plan
November 8, 2022Employee Engagement Requires a Strategy and a Plan By Liliana Lasso Rambo, CAPP We often hear about the value of having engaged employees at work and how we can monetize an organization’s culture by enhancing the way employees feel at work. How do you monetize/measure the positive or negative Read More »
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Leadership Lessons from PIPTA
November 7, 2022Leadership Lessons from PIPTA By Casey Jones, CAPP, PMP I had the privilege of moderating a leadership panel at PIPTA’s annual conference recently in Salt Lake City. Thanks to Kenzie Coulson (Utah Property Management Association), Kaite Justice (Valley Regional Transit) and Ian Ortlieb (Missoula Parking Commission) for their insights, Read More »
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Increasing Parking Supply When Supply Is Constrained
November 2, 2022Increasing Parking Supply When Supply Is Constrained By Cynthia Lang, CAPP, MPA In urban areas where land use is littered with mixed-use buildings, shopping malls and high-rise apartments there are few options to increase parking supply. As cities increase multi-modal options in efforts to reduce the number of vehicles Read More »
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Benefits of Cooperative Purchasing
November 1, 2022Benefits of Cooperative Purchasing By Paul Whetzel, CAPP After attending a couple of conferences this year, I am still amazed by how many vendors and end users are not aware of cooperative purchasing. For those that don’t know how it works, it basically allows you to bypass your organization’s normal Read More »
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Frontline Fundamentals: A Platform for Education and Collaboration for Your Frontline Employees
October 31, 2022Frontline Fundamentals: A Platform for Education and Collaboration for Your Frontline Employees By Cindy Campbell The past few years have been such an intense time of change for many employees throughout our industry, especially those working on the frontlines in roles like customer service, enforcement, operations, and more. Further, Read More »
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The Power of Influential Leadership
October 26, 2022The Power of Influential Leadership By Tiffany Peebles Growing up, many of us remember the old mentality of a manager – heavily focused on policies and procedures, power and control, and instructing versus inspiring. Today, most leaders know the importance of leading versus managing. If you are fortunate enough to Read More »
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CMPA Conference – Join us in LA!
October 25, 2022CMPA Conference – Join us in LA! By Jon Hamblen The California Mobility and Parking Association will be holding our Annual Conference November 7 – 9, 2022. The Conference is our association’s opportunity to finally get together after our prior two conferences were moved to online events due to Read More »
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Dealing with Loss in the Workplace
October 24, 2022Dealing with Loss in the Workplace By Shontel Zamora Dealing with the loss of a loved one is never easy. It is usually met with a large show of support during the first initial days and weeks. There are tons of books and resources dedicated to help those who Read More »
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Infrastructure Opportunities & Challenges: What is to Come & How to Prepare
October 19, 2022Infrastructure Opportunities & Challenges: What is to Come & How to Prepare Blink Charging will be presenting a FREE Learning Lab on October 26 to discuss this topic in depth. Click here to register now! While electric vehicle sales have risen an average of 40% each year since 2016, Read More »
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Parking and Mobility Trends
October 18, 2022Which Parking and Mobility Trends Will Have the Most Impact Over the Next Five Years? By Al Carroll While it’s difficult to identify/rank one specific trend that will have the most impact to our industry over the next five years, the majority of trends we’re currently seeing and expecting to Read More »
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How Does Paid Parking Affect Downtowns?
October 17, 2022How Does Paid Parking Affect Downtowns? By Philip Oliver Republished with permission from the author’s LinkedIn Blog. Working in business development for a parking company in the South, I come across quite a few towns that are interested in implementing paid parking, but are curious about the real impacts and Read More »
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IPMI Volunteers Moving the Industry Forward
October 12, 2022IPMI Volunteers Moving the Industry Forward By Shawn D. Conrad, CAE Thank you to the hundreds of IPMI members that stepped forward in the “Call for Volunteers” to participate on our committees and task forces. These volunteers will work on projects and activities including an EV charging cohort, smart transportation, Read More »
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How To Manage And Own Your Personal Brand
October 11, 2022How to Manage and Own Your Personal Brand By Kathleen Laney Republished with permission from Laney Solutions blog. To clearly differentiate the value you bring to an organization during the interview process, you need to do more than have a good reputation. You need to have a well crafted personal Read More »
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The Fear of Failure
October 10, 2022The Fear of Failure By Adrienne Tucker, CAPP “Do not fear failure but be terrified of regret” – Deshauna Barber, Ms. USA – 2016. “Amen!” I shouted as soon as she said those words. Sure, she was giving a commencement speech and not talking about parking, but something was nagging Read More »
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Should You Consider an Early Retirement Offer?
October 5, 2022Should You Consider an Early Retirement Offer? By Mark A. Vergenes As corporate America continues to shift and reorganize, cost cutting, restructuring, mergers, buyouts, and downsizing are the norm. Amidst all this change, some companies are offering their employees early retirement packages. But how do you know if the Read More »
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Submit for Your Chance to Shine!
October 4, 2022Submit for Your Chance to Shine! By Mark Lyons, CAPP The 2023 IPMI Call for Awards is accepting entries through November 3, 2022. Now is the time to share your entries for the Awards of Excellence and Professional Recognition Awards programs! Award winners are recognized at the annual IPMI Parking Read More »
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The Devil is in The Details
October 3, 2022The Devil is in The Details By Melissa Yates, CAPP On October 19th, Laura Lierz and I will be discussing “The Devil is in The Details” where we will be focusing on the typical transactional project implementation process and how most pitfalls occur with services and anticipated functionality delivery of Read More »
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The Origin of the Spiraling-Track, High-Performance Door
September 28, 2022The Origin of the Spiraling-Track, High-Performance Door By Michael Watkins Did you know that Rytec was the first domestic door manufacturer to offer the spiraling style of high-performance doors in North America? In 1999, Rytec acquired the rights to sell this patented rigid panel, roll-up door design from a Read More »
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The Courtesy Wave
September 26, 2022The Courtesy Wave By Jennifer Carroll, CAPP The finger wave (courtesy wave) is something I only discovered after I moved south of the Mason-Dixon line. Raising your fingers off the steering wheel as a “greeting” to others passing by. It is fairly safe as you can keep your hand/thumb on Read More »
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EV Charging Stations Drive Business Loyalty
September 21, 2022Renters Want To Go Electric, But Where Will They Charge? By Margaret-Ann Leavitt I am often asked, “Why should I install EV charging stations?” There are many answers to that question: EVs are better for the environment, they reduce greenhouse gasses and they look good parked outside your business. Read More »
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What is Work-Life Balance and Why Does it Matter?
September 19, 2022What is Work-Life Balance and Why Does it Matter? By Heather Matthews, CAPP, PMP This blog was first published by the New England Parking Council (NEPC). What is work-life balance? And why is it important for Parking and Transportation professionals. Work-life balance is the balance between time spent on Read More »
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EV Charging: An Opportunity not to be Missed
September 14, 2022EV Charging: An Opportunity not to be Missed By Nick Stanton What We Have Learned So Far These last few years have seen unprecedented technological innovation in the parking, transportation, and mobility industry. Previously, an exciting new technology-solution in our industry was announced, maybe once or twice in a Read More »
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Do the Pros Outweigh the Cons?
September 13, 2022Do the Pros Outweigh the Cons? By Jennifer Carroll, CAPP As many of us continue to adapt to working from home, today I am reminded of what I miss from working non-virtually or IRL (in real life). I was always envious of my friends and coworkers who got to work Read More »
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The European Union Takes the Helm in Ending the ICE Age
September 12, 2022The European Union Takes the Helm in Ending the ICE Age Europe sets its sights on 2035 and outlaws the sale of gas-powered vehicles. By Bill Blomberg The European Union (EU) recently announced they are taking a bold, unprecedented move and will join California in ending the production and Read More »
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Big Cities at #IPMI2022
September 7, 2022By Diana Alarcon, CAPP Big cities met at the IPMI 2022 Conference to discuss what’s happening in their communities. We had approximately 20 cities participate. One of the leading topics: how we are all managing the curb? The conversation then dived into how variable/demand-based pricing for on-street and loading/unloading fit Read More »
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Are We in a Recession?
September 6, 2022Are We in a Recession? By Mark A. Vergenes Economists disagree on whether a recession has begun or may be coming soon. 58% of Americans think the U.S. economy is a recession, according to a July poll from Investor’s Business Daily. However, economic indicators, including employment, are strong, Read More »
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Work-Life Balance Post COVID
August 29, 2022Work-Life Balance Post COVID By Shontel Zamora The topic of maintaining a good work-life balance has been a point of interest for decades, even before the pandemic. The topic was quite popular early in our COVID experience as the world went virtual, and millions who had never telecommuted before Read More »
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“CAPP” off Your Parking & Mobility Career in 2023
August 22, 2022“CAPP” off Your Parking & Mobility Career in 2023 By Kathleen Federici, MEd Is last month’s IPMI Parking & Mobility Conference & Expo still on your mind? Do you find yourself thinking about how you can keep that momentum going? Did you watch as the newly minted CAPPs walked Read More »
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Top Five Trends at IPMI 2022
August 15, 2022Top Five Trends at IPMI 2022 By Mark Frumar and James Waddell After a successful 2022 IPMI Parking & Mobility Conference & Expo the Spot Parking team have shared their insights into five key trends they took away from this year’s conference. Technological innovation is back on the agenda Read More »
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Analysis & Applications of Technology Course: Valuable Tools and CAPP Prep
August 10, 2022Analysis & Applications of Technology Course: Valuable Tools and CAPP Prep By Kathleen Federici, MEd Data has become an essential component of parking and mobility operations for owners and operators throughout the industry. It is all around us. Data-driven decisions are possible because of the new tools and resources Read More »
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8 Things We Learned About Customer Success at IPMI 2022
August 4, 20228 Things We Learned About Customer Success at IPMI 2022 By Sarah Becherer *Reposted with permission from the Ocra blog.* This post is a summary of our takeaways from a stellar session at IPMI featuring Brian Wolff, Jeff Johnson, and Catherine Dunwoodie. We’ve done our very best to represent their insights based Read More »
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Old Dog, New Tricks
July 27, 2022Old Dog, New Tricks By James Knickrehm, Ed.S. I was a first-time attendee at #IPMI2022 in New Orleans. My background is on the mobility side of our operation. I am sure my boss would say I know enough about parking to be dangerous. IPMI is the industry standard for Read More »
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Why I Volunteer
July 26, 2022Why I Volunteer By Casey Jones, CAPP, PMP My first IPMI conference was in 1999, and shortly thereafter I began volunteering for the organization. In 2007, I was elected to the Board of Directors and have volunteered on more committees, task forces, and efforts than I can remember. From Read More »
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This is a Crisis!
July 20, 2022This is a Crisis: What in the Wide World of Mobility is Happening Out There? By Cindy Campbell We hear about labor shortages on an almost daily basis. The Great Resignation, the Great Renegotiation, the Great Reshuffle, the Great Rethink…whatever you want to call it, the parking and transportation Read More »
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Chaos and Order
July 18, 2022Chaos & Order By Matt Penney, CAPP The Chinese image of yin and yang is a curious sight. Two bent raindrops, one black, one white, chase each other inside of a tight circle. The image has symbolized numerous differing ideas, but almost always it points to a balance of Read More »
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Quiet Quitting
July 13, 2022Quiet Quitting By Shontel Zamora After surviving the trend of ‘ghosting’ employees, an immobilizing pandemic, and the great resignation, who would have thought the next hurdle to jump would be ‘quiet-quitters‘? The new buzzword around the water cooler has sprung up, but it may not be what you think. Read More »
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Renters Want To Go Electric, But Where Will They Charge?
July 12, 2022Renters Want To Go Electric, But Where Will They Charge? By Margaret-Ann Leavitt With roughly 15% (or 6.5M) U.S. renters now considering an electric car, multifamily dwellings are quickly adding EV charging to their list of amenities – and taking advantage of free money. In 2021, the U.S. Department Read More »
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Use 529s to Pay for Education and Save on Taxes
July 7, 2022Use 529s to Pay for Education and Save on Taxes By Mark A. Vergenes 529 plans are a tax-free way to save for a child’s education. They’re also called college savings plans, qualified tuition programs, or QTPs. Like a 401(k) retirement plan, they require plan holders to invest Read More »
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Future-Proofing EV Charging Deployment
June 29, 2022Future-Proofing EV Charging Deployment By Paul Pirhofer, CAPP When planning for EV charging stations whether one to two chargers or multiple chargers, don’t minimize – instead consider a plan to future-proof deployment. Let’s focus on Level 2 charging for this discussion. Level 2 plugs into an EV’s on-board converter Read More »
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APO Standards Guiding us for New Challenges as a Municipal Operation
June 27, 2022APO Standards Guiding us for New Challenges as a Municipal Operation By Tavris Parker, CAPP Each season we huddle up and discuss the new challenges for the upcoming year. Each person’s roles and responsibilities are essential to the operations success. We follow the IPMI Accredited Parking Organization (APO) Standards Read More »
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Parking in a Post-Pandemic Economy
June 22, 2022Parking in a Post-Pandemic Economy By Robert Dunphy This article was written for and originally published in Development magazine, a publication of NAIOP. As workers return to offices and shoppers return to stores, new parking strategies may emerge. The COVID-19 restrictions that began in March 2020 led to business closures and Read More »
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Sign, Sign, Everywhere a Sign
June 20, 2022Sign, Sign, Everywhere a Sign By Jennifer Carroll, CAPP Is it just too “uncool” to read signs now a days? I know most people pay attention to the stop signs, yield signs, but what about the others? I do not think it is too much to ask or expect everyone Read More »
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Parking: A Thankless Job
June 13, 2022Parking: A Thankless Job By Arishna Lastinger I have now been in the parking industry for five short – but seemingly long – years. During those five years, one thing that I’ve realized, more than anything, is that parking really is a thankless job. From the parking lot attendants Read More »
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Ethics and Meaning Behind the CAPP Pin
June 9, 2022Ethics and Meaning Behind the CAPP Pin By Sam Veraldi, CAPP You will notice a new CAPP pin being showcased at conference. The triangle shape of the pin that houses those coveted CAPP letters has been changed to a rectangle shape. Why? It is because the rectangle shape represents trust, Read More »
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Is This the Bottom of the Market Drop? Look for Three Rebound Clues.
June 7, 2022Is This the Bottom of the Market Drop? Look for Three Rebound Clues. By Mark A. Vergenes Stocks dropped again in the past few weeks, continuing a bear market that began in late April. While bad news drove the start of the market drop, successive declines are most likely Read More »
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Life Happens Fast
May 30, 2022Life Happens Fast By Steve Hernandez, CAPP NOTE: This blog was republished with permission from the MSTPA website blog. If you are new to our industry or are a young professional trying to establish yourself within your organization, I hope you find this post valuable… It is hard to Read More »
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So, You Want to Electrify Your Fleet?
May 26, 2022So, You Want to Electrify Your Fleet? By John W. Nolan, CAPP You’ve decided you want to begin to electrify your bus fleet. That was a decision I made over ten years ago, however getting there wasn’t easy. I went to numerous conferences and asked many questions to various Read More »
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Did You Make Someone Smile Today?
May 18, 2022Did You Make Someone Smile Today? By Vicki Pero, SHRM I came across an article about positivity at the beginning of this year, and it recommended keeping a joy jar. The way this is supposed to work is that you place a jar in a prominent location in your Read More »
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2022-23 Board of Directors & CAPP Certification Board
May 12, 2022IPMI Announces 2022-2023 Board of Directors and CAPP Certification Board The International Parking & Mobility Institute is pleased to announce its 2022-2023 Board of Directors and CAPP Certification Board. Elections were held by the association in April 2022. At the conclusion of IPMI’s 2022 Parking & Mobility Conference & Read More »
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Lancaster Christian Street Garage & Public Library Events
May 11, 2022Lancaster Christian Street Garage & Public Library Events By Larry J. Cohen, CAPP The last week of April was a historic week for the Lancaster Parking Authority and the City. I’d like to thank everyone for their role in helping to bring to fruition a five-year effort in the Read More »
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Understanding the Parking Lifecycle
May 9, 2022Understanding the Parking Lifecycle By Matt Davis We often think of structured parking as a process that begins with design and ends with the opening of a new facility. However, the parking lifecycle starts at the earliest planning stages of a project, whether expanding a campus, designing an entirely Read More »
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Show a Little Respect
May 2, 2022Show a Little Respect By Jennifer Carroll, CAPP In this post pandemic era, of all the challenges we face in hiring hourly team members to fill all our open positions, have you taken some time to show respect and appreciation for the team members you do have? In October 2021, Read More »
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Our Parking Management Values
April 28, 2022Our Parking Management Values By Tavris Parker, CAPP Recently our leadership and management team members were asked to come up with a mission statement and provide details on our values. We came up with an acronym of PARK. Our Parking Management Values are as simple as PARK! P – Read More »
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PPA Heads to Allentown: Learn, Connect, and Innovate
April 25, 2022PPA Heads to Allentown: Learn, Connect, and Innovate In just a few weeks, parking, transportation, and mobility professionals from throughout Pennsylvania and beyond will reconnect at the 2022 PPA Annual Conference & Tradeshow. This fantastic education and networking event will take place in Allentown, May 11-13. This year’s conference includes Read More »
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Electrifying Thoughts on Earth Day
April 21, 2022By Victor Hill, CAPP It’s exciting to watch how the tempo of conversation around electric vehicles is changing and auto manufacturers are showing off more and more vehicles. But I can’t help but wonder if the rush won’t have unintended consequences, and I’m not the only one. The desire to Read More »
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Earth Week 2022
April 19, 2022By Brian Shaw, CAPP As we celebrate another Earth Week this week, I am remarking on the progress Stanford continues to make in our sustainability efforts. We are now using 100% renewable energy thanks to the recent opening of a new solar farm near Fresno, CA. However, I also think Read More »
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From Change Management to Resiliency
April 17, 2022By Kathleen Federici, M.Ed. This blog in its entirety was originally published by Training Industry in Training Industry Magazine’s Spring 2022 edition. Change management projects and initiatives sometimes fail because the people involved are not resilient enough to deal with the change. Resilience is the quality that enables a person Read More »
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Are You A Leader Who Delivers – Or A Leader Who Destroys?
April 15, 2022by Pamela Corbin, CAPP We have all worked for various types of leaders throughout our careers, ranging from outstanding to mediocre. While it is challenging to work for individuals who simply don’t “lead”, it does provide the opportunity to gain perspective and insight on what kind of leader you want Read More »
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Inhabited Vehicles and AB1685
April 14, 2022By Christina Jones, CAPP, MBA This blog was originally published by the California Mobility & Parking Association on April 5, 2022. Assembly Bill 1685, currently circulating through the California legislature, proposes the forgiveness of up to $1,500 in parking fines and fees annually to individuals verified to be experiencing homelessness. While the Read More »
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Five Criteria for 5-Star Airports
April 12, 2022April’s Parking & Mobility magazine features the challenges and opportunities faced by today’s airports. One facility stepping up to meet customer needs in a huge way is Houston’s William P. Hobby Airport, which earned a 5-star rating from Skytrax, the international air transport rating organization. But what does it take Read More »
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Achieving Balance
April 10, 2022By Tavris Parker, CAPP What does it mean to be in balance? Achieving balance according to www.worklifebalance.com is often a daily task. The right balance for you today may be different for you tomorrow. Here are three tips for achieving balance that I have found to be very helpful: There Read More »
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Atlanta’s Grant Park Gateway Uses Parksmart, SITES, and LEED to Achieve Sustainability Goals
April 7, 2022By Trevyr Meade At GBCI, we recently celebrated Atlanta’s Grant Park Gateway, the first project in the world to achieve LEED, SITES, and Parksmart certifications. This inspirational project transformed an 8-acre parking lot into a beautiful community space that now includes a restaurant, shaded terrace plaza, acres of green space Read More »
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Keep it Positive
April 5, 2022By Julie Dixon Focus on the positive aspects of parking and make them a part of the solution. We want people to follow the rules, so let’s focus on compliance. Enforcement will be inevitable, but if we promote and initiate the positive, it starts to shift the conversation and focus Read More »
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Telling Your Story
March 24, 2022By Shawn Conrad, CAE As someone who has a keen interest in changing public perceptions, I have a specific interest in the song Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story, which is part of the final act of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Hamilton musical. The theme of this song is about Read More »
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California AB1685 Homeless Parking Fine Forgiveness Bill
March 23, 2022By Perry H. Eggleston, CAPP The California Mobility and Parking Association (CMPA) is opposing a bill in its current form that is making the rounds in the California Legislature focusing on a fine forgiveness program for those who are “verified” homeless. Assembly Bill 1685 requires parking agencies to forgive up Read More »
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Behind Every Smart City is Smart Tech
March 20, 2022The City of Pittsburgh had long been known for its steel mills and smokestacks, but fast forward to the present day and you’ll find that innovation and a focus on the future is what this big city with a small-town feel is renowned for. This evolution has, in part, been Read More »
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The Curb is One of the Most Valuable Assets
March 17, 2022By Chrissy Mancini Nichols and Jonathan Wicks, CAPP This blog is a summary of the Frontline Fundamental session titled: Curb Management – Lessons Learned. The full session is available in the IPMI On-Demand Education Library, free to members and $35 for non-members – click here to order. The Curb is Read More »
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What Does Compact Even Mean?
March 15, 2022By John W. Hammerschlag Often, we drive through parking garages and encounter “Compact Car Only” signs. What does that mean to the customer? What exactly is a compact car? The definition of compact car is left to interpretation and can result in parking stalls improperly used, impeded traffic flow, and Read More »
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Watch Me Work
March 13, 2022By Victor Hill, CAPP Yes, that’s a picture of Optimus Prime behind me. The other one features Megatron. Both pay homage to the 1986 movie that traumatized a generation of kids, me included. What, you expected to see a wall of degrees or my CAPP certificate? When I started working Read More »
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The Power of Connection
March 10, 2022By Jamie Snyder, CAPP These past two years have taught us many things. How to bounce back from adversity, how to meet unknown challenges head on, how to…. dare I say…. PIVOT. However, one of the greatest things it has taught us is how important human connection is to us. Read More »
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APO – If Not Now When?
March 8, 2022By Casey Jones, CAPP I was with a client recently who shared that they aspire to become an Accredited Parking Organization (APO)…in five years. “Five years, why wait five years? I think you’re much closer than you think,” I responded. Rationally I get it. One naturally hesitates even with a Read More »
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Positioned for Success
March 6, 2022By Robert Ferrin, CAPP Back in November I blogged about just how exciting a time it was now that an Infrastructure Bill had been passed. That excitement is starting to come in focus as guidance is being provided by the federal government on how applicants can access the $1.2 trillion Read More »
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Professional Recognition Awards: Highlighting the Best of the Best
March 3, 2022By Josh Cantor, CAPP It’s the first week of March already, which means there’s just under two weeks left to submit your application for one of IPMI’s prestigious Professional Recognition Awards. Award submissions are due before midnight on March 15, 2022. Professional Recognition Awards recognize the individual contributions of parking, Read More »
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Why CAPP? Lessons from Recent CAPPs.
March 1, 2022By Kathleen Federici, MEd One of the best milestones a parking, transportation, and mobility professional can accomplish in their career is the CAPP designation. The CAPP credential not only showcases your industry knowledge, but is a great step to highlight your expertise and commitment to your current (or future employer), Read More »
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Ask the Experts: How Do You Define Mobility?
February 27, 2022“Mobility” has been used to describe everything from shared bikes and scooters to mass transit to walking to the ability of people to simply get around. If someone outside the industry asked, how would you define “mobility”? That’s the question we posed to our Ask the Experts panel for the Read More »
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Doing Great Things…Together
February 24, 2022By Kristin Vitello These past two years have been challenging for all of us, but what I have seen is incredible perseverance. We have adapted to the “new” norm and won’t let this stop us from success! As a relatively new employee of IPMI, I participated in my first IPMI Read More »
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Baltimore Parking Professionals Step Up To Assist With a Tragic Situation
February 23, 2022by Robert Milner and Greg Smith On Monday, January 24, 202, three Baltimore City Firefighters – Lt. Paul Butrim, Firefighter/Paramedic Kenny Lacayo, and Lt. Kelsey Sadler – lost their lives in a structural collapse while fighting a fire in a vacant rowhouse in Southwest Baltimore. For the Baltimore City Fire Read More »
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How Has Managing Parking and Travel Demand Changed?
February 22, 2022By Brian Shaw, CAPP The COVID-19 Pandemic has changed commuting and travel behavior. In the past, we could count on commuters going to work five days a week. No longer is that true. What do parking and mobility professionals need to do now and for the foreseeable future to adjust Read More »
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QR Code Safety
February 21, 2022The January 2022 edition of the IPMI Insider newsletter shared a link to an article that caused quite a stir titled, “Scammers Are Using QR Codes to Plunder Parking Meter Payments.” The response from the IPMI community was swift and abundant. Several companies have shared their responses to this challenge, and Read More »
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Playing Our Part in a Bigger Cause
February 20, 2022By Tavris Parker, CAPP Recently my city welcomed back the Annual Polar Plunge. The Polar Plunge is a fundraising event for more than 23,000 athletes who participate in the Special Olympics. After a year off due to COVID, locals were eager to show support for this cause. The Plunge event Read More »
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Awards of Excellence: This is Your Year!
February 17, 2022By Mark Lyons, CAPP Have you ever thought that it would be really nice if the Award of Excellence (AOE) program felt more achievable? Or, what about if there were more winners? Then say no more. Your wish has come true! Over the past several months, the committee that oversees Read More »
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Attitude of Gratitude
February 16, 2022By Tiffany Peebles Most leaders have a desire for their teams to be GREAT! While there are many ways to assist our teams in reaching their maximum potential, one practical way to improve the chances of their greatness is simple: the attitude of gratitude. In the parking industry, we ask Read More »
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How To Unlock Your EV Charging Station’s Revenue Potential
February 13, 2022By Paul Pirhofer, CAPP This post serves as a summary and recap of the Learning Lab held on January 26, 2022. Click here to watch the full presentation. With the data showing a growing increase in Electric Vehicles (EV), along with a robust political push towards electric mobility, we still Read More »
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New Orleans in July!
February 10, 2022By Tina Altman Just coming back from a site visit in New Orleans where our July Conference & Expo will be held, and I have to say, walking into the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center and being greeted by the team was a feeling like no other. We were just Read More »
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The Great Bus Driver Shortage: Where Do We Go From Here?
February 9, 2022By Sam Veraldi, CAPP The COVID 19 pandemic affected many jobs and industries in the United States in the last two years. One of those that has been materially affected the transit industry and more specifically, a bus driver shortage. This impact has had a tremendous effect on universities, transit Read More »
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Growing List of Cities Requiring New Buildings to Include EV Parking
February 8, 2022Washington, D.C., has joined the growing list of cities that are requiring new buildings to include EV parking in their plans. As reported by Smart Cities Dive, new and refurbished commercial and multi-unit buildings in Washington, D.C., that have at least three off-road parking spaces will be required to make Read More »
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The Great Resignation
February 7, 2022By Carmen Donnell, CAPP Over the last year, we have been hearing more and more about ‘the great resignation’ and perhaps more so in tech than any other industry. I read a catchy phrase the other day that suggested what is far worse than ‘the great resignation’ is ‘the great Read More »
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Words (Not) To Live By
February 6, 2022By Christina Jones, MBA, CAPP I recently participated in a conference session that really resonated with me: Words We Need to Stop Using. The main theme was to identify ways in which we can improve our communications with each other and the general public, recognizing that words may take on Read More »
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Top Reasons to Finally Take the CAPP Leap
February 3, 2022By Kathleen Federici, MEd As you likely already know, CAPP is the leading professional designation for the parking, transportation, and mobility industry. CAPPs represent the best of the industry, and as one you will be joining a unique and exclusive community of experts. If CAPP certification is something you have Read More »
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U.S. Department of Transportation Announces Availability of $1.5 Billion in RAISE Grants
The U.S. Department of Transportation has published a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for $1.5 billion in grant funding through the Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) discretionary grant program. The popular program helps communities around the country carry out projects with significant local or regional impact. RAISE Read More »
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Getting Flexible!
February 1, 2022By Brett Wood, CAPP, PE Flexibility is the new name of the game in our industry. Flexibility at the curb to adapt to new competing demands. Flexibility in our staffing to create multi-functional positions that support the customer. And flexibility in our ability to generate revenue in the face of Read More »
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Watch Your Tone?
January 30, 2022By Melonie Curry, MBA Do you remember the days of chilling in your room and your mom calls you and you yell WHAT? And she responds, you better watch your tone of voice or if you were in arms reach… you know how the story ended. As communicators, it is Read More »
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Alright Stop, Collaborate, and Listen…
January 27, 2022By Rita Pagan, DES Did Vanilla Ice get it right? Now that you have that song in your head…anyone else have a problem actively listening when others talk? My brain doesn’t stop, and I can’t help interrupting sometimes. I’m going to make it my New Year’s resolution to try and Read More »
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Why We Love Parking
January 26, 2022By Robert Ferrin, CAPP If you’ve listened to an industry podcast or interview of late you often hear the question, “How did you get into parking?” Responses vary, but two common themes emerge: one, I have no idea how I got into parking, I certainly didn’t plan to be a Read More »
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Goodbye 2021 and Hello 2022: We LOVE IPMI’s Professional Recognition Awards!
January 25, 2022By Kathryn Hebert Happy New Year! I’m sure most of you are very happy to say goodbye to 2021 and looking forward to launching into 2022 with bright eyes, new opportunities, and a chance to get back to a more balanced daily rhythm. Josh Cantor and I are very excited Read More »
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What is Normal in a New Year?
January 24, 2022By Joshua Cantor, CAPP I’ve finally accepted that 2022 is underway, not because I have some aversion to a new year or saying Happy New Year, but because I know that there is serious work to get done. Every year seems to bring new goals, challenges, and aspirations, but most Read More »
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Supreme Court Blocks Covid Vaccine Mandate for Businesses
January 23, 2022By Michael J. Ash, Esq., CRE On January 13, the United States Supreme Court rejected an emergency mandate implemented by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) requiring all workers at businesses with 100 or more employees to get COVID-19 vaccinations. The emergency measure also required weekly COVID-19 testing for the unvaccinated and workplace Read More »
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Focus on Your Employees
January 20, 2022By Shawn Conrad, CAE We’ve all seen the reports around the tight labor market and rightfully so. Hospitality, construction, retail, and manufacturing industries like parking and mobility are grappling with a shortage of workers as our businesses and economy inch forward. While the search for new employees is getting a Read More »
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The Benefits of Slowing Down
January 19, 2022By Sylvia Martinez-Mullally, MPA We’re speeding back up to a fast-paced world with plenty of distractions. Back to the politics of parking, putting out fires, and making sure everyone is okay. It’s been a time for reflection, reprioritizing, and, hopefully, slowing down to put yourself first. Yes, I said it! Read More »
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How to Implement Shared Parking
January 18, 2022The dentist needs parking during the day. The restaurant needs parking at night. Why wouldn’t they share a lot? Well, because depending on the circumstances, it’s complicated–way complicated. In this month’s Parking & Mobility magazine, Carmen Donnell, CAPP, shares a plan for implementing shared parking, from considerations to common barriers Read More »
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ROPEd Into the Future
January 17, 2022By Kirk McManus The future of parking is already here. The next generation of parkers and parking entities will involve flying airships, driverless automobiles, a phone app, a web browser, and a car charger. Lift Aircraft already has an FAA-approved, single seat flying airship. A person with a backpack or Read More »
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Making Resolutions Successful
January 13, 2022By Cindy Campbell I heard an interesting statistic this week about how quickly we tend to ditch our annual New Year’s resolutions. Oh sure, we have great intentions, but our follow through seems to be tripping us up. According to an Inc. article, 80 percent of the people who make Read More »
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Five Things About the Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal
January 12, 2022We know the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act is important. We know it has a lot to do with transportation. But how’s a person supposed to figure out the important parts? Relax–IPMI’s got you. Don’t miss Five Things About the Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal in this month’s Parking & Mobility magazine. Read More »
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The Cruising Phenomenon
January 11, 2022The U.S. Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) recently developed a tool to help cities help their drivers find parking and stop circling–after all, circling for parking creates a lot of downtown traffic. The first thing they did was study all that circling. And what they found was surprising: The top line Read More »
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New Life for Old Batteries
January 10, 2022By Leslie L. Stone, CAPP Although the internal combustion engine is not yet on life support, the lockstep march toward zero emissions is certainly well underway. The supply of petroleum-based fuels is finite and no one is arguing against cleaner air. California is leading the way with an executive order Read More »
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Woman Launches “Don’t Curb the Access” Campaign
January 9, 2022A 21-year-old woman from Leicester, England, is getting press for her social media campaign urging drivers to be mindful of wheelchair access routes when they park. Umaymah Dakri, who has spina bifida, launched an Instagram account to document what happens to her when other drivers park blocking wheelchair routes. #DontCurbTheAccess Read More »
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Parking Challenge? Ask the Kids
January 6, 2022When on-street parking near a Cleveland elementary school became a bit more than challenging, the experts turned to a group of kids to figure things out. Fifth and eighth grade students at Cleveland Metropolitan School District’s Orchard STEM School were charged with finding room for 10 parking spaces while preserving Read More »
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You Are a Content Creator
January 5, 2022By Melonie Curry, MBA The struggle is real for content creators. We are challenged weekly to think of new and attention-grabbing content about the service or products of our organizations. The reality is our perspective is limited to our experiences and exposure. We do not have the advantage of being Read More »
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Predictions for the New Year
January 4, 2022By Erik Nelson, PCIP It is a rare opportunity to write a blog post in January. Members of the IPMI’s Research & Innovation Task Force often discuss forward looking topics that are of importance to parking and mobility professionals. What better time to look forward than the start of a Read More »
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A Fee That Works. Almost.
January 3, 2022By Chuck J. Boddy, CAPP On many college and university campuses, mandatory fees can increase the overall costs to attend an institution. From technology fees to other auxiliary fees such as recreation, student activities, or a transportation fee, many services or offerings would be impossible without a fee. At UMBC, Read More »
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Detroit Launches Comprehensive Parking App
January 2, 2022The City of Detroit launched a new version of its parking app this weekend that allows users to identify where spaces are available, compare prices, and prepay for parking in off-street lots and garages. It includes parking in public and private lots and garages as well as metered, on-street spaces. Read More »
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Happy Holidays
December 22, 2021From everyone at IPMI HQ to all of our members and friends, very happy holidays and wishes for a healthy and successful new year, whatever that looks like to you. Our office will be closed from Dec. 24 to Jan. 3, and we look forward to starting 2022 refreshed, energized, Read More »
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Give Them What They Need
December 21, 2021Staffing–recruiting, hiring, and retaining employees–has never been more of a challenge. What’s an organization to do? In this month’s Parking & Mobility magazine, HR expert Julius Rhodes, SPHR, says finding out what employees want from their jobs is critical–and there are several common things most employees say they want: Flexibility. Read More »
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What is the Long-Term Impact of COVID on the Parking Industry?
December 20, 2021By Jeff Perkins The pandemic has not only changed the world forever, but has also had a significant impact on the parking industry. In 2020, the volume of parking significantly decreased, and many of the underlying consumer behaviors related to parking transformed. Now, as parking comes back and surpasses the Read More »
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DOT, DOE Join Forces to Develop Nationwide EV Charging Network
December 19, 2021The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) and Department of Energy (DOE) last week announced plans to “create a Joint Office of Energy and Transportation to support the deployment of $7.5 billion from the President’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to build out a national electric vehicle charging network that can build public Read More »
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‘Tis the Season: Goodwill Springs from a Parking Non-ticket
December 16, 2021A Philadelphia mom breathed a big sigh of relief and resolved to pay it forward after a Philadelphia Parking Authority officer left a note instead of a citation on her windshield. The woman’s inspection had inspired–it slipped her mind, she said–and her heart skipped a beat when she saw the Read More »
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A Unique Second Chance to Make a Great First Impression
December 15, 2021As the COVID crisis continues winding down, the parking industry has been given a second chance to make a great first impression with the customers and institutions we support. As offices, schools, restaurants, venues, and tourist attractions continue reopening and welcoming back workers, students, and guests, parking operations will once Read More »
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Tips for Efficient Cash Handling
December 14, 2021By Diane Santiago, CAPP As much as we want customers to use credit cards to pay for their parking fees, some don’t for whatever reason. Because cashiers accept cash, they need to know some basic practices: double-checking the amount tendered, not accepting counterfeit bills, counting back change, and always issuing Read More »
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Winter Break in a Small College Town
December 13, 2021By Hal Robinson, CAPP Doing anything during the holiday season can be torture for those of us who hate crowds. Oxford, Miss., has a population of fewer than 30,000. During the regular academic year, close to 20,000 additional people reside in and around the city. So, when school is out, Read More »
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USDOT Seeks Comment on Its Strategic Framework
The U.S. Department of Transportation has asked for comments on its 2022-2026 strategic framework. According to a release: DOT is asking the public to help shape the Department’s goals and priorities as we work to transform the nation’s transportation system making it safer, more accessible, more reliable, and multi-modal, in Read More »
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What’d You Say?
December 9, 2021By Kim Fernandez, CAE After two since-preschool lifetimes of power boating and with the prospect of a newly empty nest, my husband and I bought an old Flying Scot sailboat this year. We christened her “Wait Up,” to set expectations and after he did a bit of fiberglass repair, had Read More »
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IPMI 2021: The Energy We Need
December 8, 2021By Patrick L. Wells The Super Bowl of Parking Conferences just concluded, and like many organizations, we didn’t know ahead of time what to expect. We heard the rumors that clients who normally attend had scrapped travel plans from a fear of health concerns. However, upon arriving in Tampa, I Read More »
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Getting Smart
December 7, 2021By Tom Szubka, CAPP These days, everything around us is getting smart–your phone, your watch, even the light bulbs in your house. Smart can make things easier–in some places you can have groceries delivered to your door by hollering at Alexa without getting out of bed. Smart can be annoying–Alexa Read More »
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A Farewell to Arms (Gate Arms, That Is)
December 6, 2021By L. Dennis Burns, CAPP My parking journey began as a long-term parking lot attendant at the new (at the time) Charlotte Douglas International Airport nearly 40 years ago. I spent the first 20 years in operations/management and the second 20 years as a consultant. I have found parking, as Read More »
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Happy Thanksgiving
November 23, 2021IPMI sends all of our friends in parking and mobility Thanksgiving wishes for a happy holiday. We are always thankful to be part of this amazing community. The IPMI Blog will be quiet next week while we’re attending #IPMI2021 in Tampa. We’ll look forward to seeing you here when we Read More »
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Reconsidering Design to Boost Sustainability
November 22, 2021By Jim Anderson Much attention is being given to the environment (rightly so), from recycling plastics to alternative energy to carbon reduction in the atmosphere. Greenhouse gases are emitted in many of the things we do. Human mobility using personal vehicles, planes, trains and other combustion fueled mobility is a Read More »
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Curb Lane Management: Practical Implementation and Challenges
November 21, 2021By L. Dennis Burns, CAPP Curb lane management has become one of the biggest parking industry focus areas in the past few years. Across the country, cities are recognizing the value of their curb lanes as a finite and valuable infrastructure resource. Ultimately, the strategies being developed today to better Read More »
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Out of Office–All the Details or Not So Much?
November 18, 2021By Tina Altman With the holidays and the most exciting event in parking and mobility quickly approaching, out-of-office auto-replies (OOOs) are going to flood inboxes for sure. As an association, we get many of these. Some are direct, some are very detailed, and some make me LOL. I always try Read More »
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Thankful for Parking
November 17, 2021By Brandy Stanley, CAPP It’s the season to reflect on what we are thankful for, and being thankful that our industry is quickly recovering is near the top of my list. While it is clear that COVID caused some significant upheaval in typical parker behavior, it is equally clear that Read More »
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Innovative Collaboration: A Smart, Connected Community
November 16, 2021By Mark Santos, CAPP Interest in smart and connected communities continues to grow as the public explores and better understands the associated benefits including data-driven decision making, increased safety, sustainable initiatives, improved transportation, upgraded infrastructure, and enhanced quality of life. Lake Nona, a 17-square mile community in Orlando located near Read More »
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Investing in Infrastructure
November 15, 2021By Robert Ferrin, CAPP As parking and mobility professionals, you cannot help but get excited about the passing of the Infrastructure Bill. There is no denying our transportation, telecommunications, power, and water systems are aging and in need of modernization. The generational investment included in the Infrastructure Bill will be Read More »
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Purdue, Ford Develop What Could Be Five-minute EV Charging
November 14, 2021A joint project between Purdue University and Ford may have developed five-minute charging for electric vehicles. Researchers said their new type of charging cable is capable of carrying a much higher load without overheating, which has been the barrier to faster charging than the 30 minutes offered by Level 3 Read More »
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Climbing Up and Reaching Down
November 11, 2021By Kim Fernandez, CAE Larry Culp, CEO of General Electric, has been in the news a lot this week. I must admit that I didn’t know who he was until last winter, when my daughter and a tiny college in a tiny town on Maryland’s Eastern Shore chose each other. Read More »
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Putting Places Worth Visiting in Parking Priorities
November 10, 2021Traditional cities are typically found on and around transport routes–rivers, roads and railways. They occupy strategic locations for trade, security, crossings, and meeting points. Streets/roads define the city/urban form as both paths and edges. In the past few centuries, attempts to fix the city have focused on the restructuring of Read More »
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The Paths to Procurement: Implementing Digital Strategies for the Future
November 9, 2021By Mollie Bolin When city leaders are preparing to procure new or updated mobility solutions, they often ask questions such as, “How do I write a request that opens a bid up to a wider range of respondents?” “I have an urgent need–is there a way to speed up my Read More »
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The Truth Behind Common Parking Myths
November 8, 2021By Matt Davis and Michael Pendergrass, AIA, LEED AP, DBIA While parking structures are an extremely common building type, there are a great deal of misconceptions about them. Are parking structures as unsafe as Hollywood leads us to believe? Are they ugly, necessary evils? Is there a single, credible answer Read More »
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GM’s Cruise Shows Off First Autonomous Ride in San Francisco
November 7, 2021Cruise, GM’s autonomous-vehicle arm, showed off video of its first driverless ride in San Francisco last week. The company recently began offering the journeys in its Bolt-based autonomous cars to company employees and other invited guests in the city. Company President Kyle Vogt was the first to hail a driverless Read More »
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My Top Five TED Talks
November 4, 2021By Rita Pagan, DES One of the best things about TED Talks is that there is literally something for everyone. I try and set aside five or 10 minutes a week to watch a TED Talk. Sometimes they are inspiring or interesting, and sometimes it’s just a much-needed mental break. Read More »
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Parking and Mobility Ideas That Change the World
November 3, 2021Parking and mobility make people, businesses, and communities move–they change the world. After the 18 months or so we’ve had and all IPMI members have done for their communities, we think it’s about time everybody else knew it. Fast Company‘s World Changing Ideas competition might just be the way that Read More »
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Efficient Enforcement Offers a Path to Recovery
November 2, 2021By Melina Morokhovich and Poppy Guloien The parking, mobility, and transportation industry is always adapting to the ever-changing environment, but who knew what was headed our way in 2020? The impact of COVID-19 on the parking industry has been widespread and devastating: empty offices, hotels, stadiums, and entertainment venues; lost Read More »
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Real-life Experience with Van-accessible Parking Stalls
November 1, 2021By Diane Santiago, CAPP As a paraplegic who drives a ramp van, whether I am driving to a hospital, college, airport, or shopping area, one of my biggest anxieties is driving to a parking facility and looking for a van-accessible ADA stall–especially if I am driving alone. Many lots do Read More »
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Hertz to Rent Teslas to Uber Drivers
October 31, 2021Car rental giant Hertz announced this week a $4 billion deal to purchase 100,000 electric Tesla vehicles, and said half those cars would be made available to Uber drivers at low rates. TNC drivers with high ratings and at least 150 Uber trips in some markets will be able to Read More »
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It’s Beginning to Look A Lot Like IPMI!
October 28, 2021By Shawn Conrad, CAE Fall has always been one of my favorite seasons. I love the tapestry of colors you see when walking through the woods, I get ready to follow the MLB playoffs and World Series, and I look forward to the Thanksgiving holiday, when my extended family converges Read More »
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Return to Work–Maybe?
October 27, 2021By Brett Wood, CAPP, PE We’ve been waiting forever. The return to the office. Some already clamoring to get back to full-time life. Some deciding that stay-at-home was forever. Some that just want a little bit of both. Based on projections in early summer 2021, we were all circling Labor Read More »
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From Static Storage to an Engaged Curb for People and Goods
October 26, 2021By Benito Pérez, CAPP; Lawrence Marcus; Alejandra Argudin, CAPP; and Michael Sawyer Parking management demands have evolved in the past two decades while municipal practice is catching up. There are several components for organizations to consider, including technology and workforce development to the evolution from being a storage manager Read More »
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Public Art Mural With a Message
October 25, 2021By Gary Means, CAPP Parking garages are a perfect location for public art. Not long after the murder of George Floyd, one of our Lexington Parking Authority board members asked if we would consider commissioning an art mural supporting the Black Lives Matter movement. After a short discussion, pursuing a Read More »
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Federal Climate Adaptation Plans Will Affect Cities, Transit
October 24, 2021More than 20 U.S. federal agencies released climate adaptation plans in response to an executive order asking government as a whole to address climate change. Plans to mitigate environmental effects while increasing equity and access to services that include transit were developed by agencies that include Housing and Urban Development Read More »
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Collaborating on Parking’s Big Challenges
October 21, 2021By Cindy Campbell There have been several recent Forum posts regarding the increasing hostilities our frontline personnel have been encountering with members of the public. While not unique to parking and transportation organizations, this troubling trend is affecting our organizations in a variety of ways. We hear concerns regarding employee Read More »
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How Close Knit We Are
October 20, 2021By Victor Hill, CAPP, MPA A running theme in our industry is just how tight knit we are, whether we compete for customers or work together to solve common problems. And then there was the time I reconnected with an old friend I hadn’t seen in more than 20 years. Read More »
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Toeing the Line on Towing: Balancing Parking Enforcement and Homelessness
October 19, 2021By Allison von Ebers, Kris Becker, Jacque West, and Kirstin Davis Like many jurisdictions, Spokane, Washington’s 311 system receives complaints about inhabited RVs and vehicles in neighborhoods on a daily basis. Waste, garbage, and noise can cause neighbors to call and file complaints with the Police Department and Code Enforcement. Read More »
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Negative Online Reviews: What’s Really Going On?
October 18, 2021By Melonie Curry, MBA Don’t we all cringe when we see that negative review on Facebook or Google? Because a driver made the choice to ignore the sign, we are now scammers and money grabbers. As an organization that issues parking citations, too many limit their reviews of our services Read More »
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Safe Parking for Vehicle Residents Grows
October 17, 2021Arvada, Colo., is the latest municipality to offer safe, overnight parking for people living in their vehicles as homelessness grows. Colorado Safe Parking Initiative runs several lots in the state, mostly around Denver, to provide sheltered places for overnight parking and sleeping. It’s a growing trend throughout the U.S., with Read More »
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Where Did They Go?
October 14, 2021By Kathleen Federici, MEd Recently, I have had several experiences that will not be new to most everyone reading this. Restaurants in my area are now closed certain days of the week, children’s activities and amusements closed on certain days, even our local gardens and zoos are now closed one Read More »
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How U.S. Cities Can Learn from Smart City Innovations in Europe
October 13, 2021By David Parker European cities tend to be forward-thinking on smart city topics, including smart parking. For example, the City of Cologne, Germany has deployed the world’s most comprehensive turn-by-turn parking guidance system, leading the way for cities globally to grow revenues while reducing vehicle minutes traveled, traffic congestion, and Read More »
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Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion In The Age of Mobility
October 12, 2021By Marcía L. Alvarado, PE For as long as it’s been around, urban planning has failed to sufficiently consider diversity, equity, inclusion, and impact. Historically “groundbreaking” urban planning trends, however well-intentioned, negatively impacted and disrupted the lives of marginalized groups. Although implemented 100 years ago, exclusionary zoning laws created to Read More »
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Industry Disconnect: Cutting Edge vs. Reality
October 11, 2021By Kevin White, CAPP, AICP I fear there may be a disconnect developing between a lot of parking and mobility industry discourse around new, “cutting edge” technology and many municipalities and parking operations across the United States and beyond. It seems every time I turn around, there are new vendors Read More »
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D.C. Considers Shrinking Residential Permit Parking Zones
Washington, D.C. is considering breaking up its residential parking permit zones. Under a D.C. Council bill, the city’s current eight zones would become 41, reducing the area where residents could park with permits. Currently, D.C. residents may park anywhere in the city wards where they live. Under the new system, Read More »
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Do Less
October 7, 2021By Rachel Yoka, CAPP, LEED AP BD+C Change is hard (at least in my house). Daylight Savings time is the worst. A few years back, it dawned on me that the entire experience of springing ahead (like that’s a positive thing) put the whole family into a tailspin. Falling back Read More »
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When Emotions Don’t Match the Situation, Hide Behind Policy
October 6, 2021By Matt Penney, CAPP Baylor Parking Services has a heart for service. Staff greet customers with a smile and a hearty hello, Texas style–say howdy to everyone. As friendly as our office likes to be, there is a phrase that we use that sets a boundary for our customer service Read More »
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Not Your Grandfather’s Parking Garage: How Parking Technology Helps Parking Owners Thrive
October 5, 2021By Matt Jobin and Kevin Bopp During the past 18 months, the parking industry has experienced dramatic change, perhaps more than at any other time–at least since Model Ts started rolling off the assembly line. There’s no crystal ball that enables parking owners to see the future and recognize whether Read More »
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Embracing Culture, Looking Ahead
October 4, 2021In 2012, the City of Durham, N.C., was faced with a challenge: The downtown area was growing with planned mixed-use, residential, commercial/retail, and hospitality developments among an already overrun parking infrastructure. First, the city enlisted a consultant to conduct a needs assessment and feasibility study of transitioning an existing urban Read More »
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Cities Move to Make COVID-inspired Parking Features Permanent
October 3, 2021Delaware City became the next municipality to consider making COVID-inspired on-street parking changes permanent last week when its city council moved to keep “grab and go” downtown parking spaces for the long haul. Twenty-three such on-street spaces will stay in the downtown permanently, allowing drivers to park for up to Read More »
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Bring Mine to the Curb, Please
September 30, 2021By Tina Altman Do you think curbside pickup should continue once things get back to “normal?” I used the Walmart pick up/delivery services long before COVID-19 came along. I’m not a shopper and would much rather select what I need and move on to better things. I’m all for the Read More »
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PARCS Re-creation: Implementing a Large Project Imperfectly
September 29, 2021By Christina Ryan; Ben Schnabel, CAPP; and Brian McGann Thinking about replacing your aging parking system and equipment? Wondering what new technology would do for the efficiency of your parking environment? This type of large-scale project can seem too overwhelming to even begin to think about. Executing a large project Read More »
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Ford Invests Big in EVs, Batteries
September 28, 2021Ford Motor Company this week announced it’s investing more than $11 billion in two plants to produce electric vehicles (EVs) and EV batteries, with Executive Chair Bill Ford saying, “We’re on the cusp of a revolution.” The company will build two plants in Tennessee and Kentucky to produce electric cars Read More »
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Helping Staff Rise Above the Rudeness
September 27, 2021We’re hearing it everywhere: rudeness, conflict, and confrontational behavior are on the rise, and parking and mobility professionals–especially on the frontline–are bearing the brunt. At best, a loud encounter with an angry person can leave a professional’s day dented. At worst, it can be dangerous. It’s probably not realistic to Read More »
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Seattle Reviewing 72-hour On-street Parking Rule
September 26, 2021Caught between advocates for people living in recreational vehicles, vans, and other cars, and businesses who say such vehicles using on-street parking long-term keep customers away, the City of Seattle is revisiting its rule that says vehicles can’t stay in the same on-street space for more than 72 hours in Read More »
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Outstanding
September 23, 2021By Kim Fernandez, CAE The LaFerrari was designed to be the Italian car company’s definitive, ultimate model. It was their first hybrid and their last mid-mounted 12 cylinder, roaring with 949 horsepower while saving 40 percent fuel consumption, zero to 60 in 2.4 seconds. Only 499 were made between 2013 Read More »
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Unsung Heroes Transform Downtown
September 22, 2021By Dave Feehan Too often, people working behind the scenes never get the credit and recognition they deserve. In 1989, when I arrived in Kalamazoo, Mich., as the new president of Downtown Kalamazoo Incorporated, the challenges were many. The downtown hotel and conference center was failing. Occupancy at the hotel Read More »
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Embracing “E” Words for Campus Mobility
September 21, 2021By Sarah Blouch, Carl DePinto, Zachary Pearce, and Keith Palma Initiating changes to parking and mobility systems on college campuses can be difficult and frustrating for campus parking professionals. New solutions to old problems abound as technology and innovation flourish in the industry. But the fear of the unknown, competing Read More »
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How’s Your Curbside Management Vocabulary?
September 20, 2021Just a few years ago, “curbside management” wasn’t a thing–certainly not a thing anyone talked about. But today, it’s a very big thing, and a specialty many parking and mobility organizations are working to master. Making use of that valuable curbside real estate is a big challenge, and doing it Read More »
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Retail Giant Partners to Offer Self-driving Deliveries
September 19, 2021Walmart has teamed up with automaker Ford and autonomous start-up Argo AI (backed by Ford) to pilot deliveries by autonomous vehicle in several key U.S. markets. The retail giant, also the largest grocer in the U.S., will offer delivery by driverless vehicle in Washington, D.C.; Miami; and Austin, Texas, using Read More »
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Happy Hallothanksmus!
September 16, 2021By Rita Pagan, DES Labor Day is over, school supplies are gone, and stores have officially overloaded on Halloween decorations. Some even have Christmas items on their shelves! How early is too early to decorate and look sane? Asking for a friend. An unwritten rule tells us we’re “not supposed” Read More »
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An Unintended Side Effect of Furloughs
September 15, 2021By Katherine Beaty We are all still feeling how hard our industry was impacted by the pandemic. Many of us had to furlough staff and to date, only some of those furloughed have been rehired. An unintended side effect of these furloughs is that with less staff, there are fewer Read More »
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Address, Mitigate, Recover: Effective Emergency Preparedness
September 14, 2021By Thomas Hartley, CAPP, and Lissette Hernandez, CAPP Sometimes we are part of unforeseen events that put to the test our ability to react and take control of the situation by testing our skills and knowledge. It’s critical to establish a concise, well-organized emergency operations response plan, to help us Read More »
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Nordstrom to Disney to Parking
September 13, 2021In 1989, the new downtown management organization in Kalamazoo, Mich., began negotiating with the City of Kalamazoo to take over and manage the downtown municipal parking system, writes David Feehan in this month’s Parking & Mobility magazine. A recent survey of residents had revealed that the most hated aspect of Read More »
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Michigan City Enacts Micro-mobility Regulations
September 12, 2021E-scooters and e-bikes will be able to operate on bike paths and sidewalks just like regular bicycles while respecting pedestrians just as regular bikes must in Ann Arbor, Mich., whose City Council gave unanimous preliminary approval to a personal mobility vehicle ordinance last week. The growth of micro-mobility in the Read More »
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Some Heroes Park Cars
September 9, 2021By Cindy Campbell Did you hear?? There’s a new hero in town. Last Friday, Marvel released their latest superhero movie, “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.” Now, I don’t want to give away the whole story here, but there is an interesting plot twist: The title character, Shang-Chi, Read More »
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Is Your Customer Experience (CX) Good Enough?
September 8, 2021By Brian Wolff Customer experience (CX) has gotten complicated and competitive in the last five years! I’m sure I don’t have to tell you, but what started out as a location, location, location business has turned into a technology-fueled and customer choice driven business. Gone are the days when we Read More »
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Modernizing Curbside Management
September 7, 2021How’s your curbside management game? Parking and mobility professionals might have known about curb management before COVID-19 but most other people didn’t–but they learned fast how critical it is to manage that valuable chunk of real estate. In this month’s Parking & Mobility magazine, take a look at the potential Read More »
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Dyson’s Race to Develop an Electric Car–And Why It Never Hit the Road
September 6, 2021In 2014, James Dyson (yes, that one) decided to put his company’s considerable battery knowledge and resources to work developing an electric car. But not just any electric car–one that was powerful, had a long range, and was more comfortable than anything else on the road. Five years and $700 Read More »
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Yogi Berra Was Right
September 2, 2021By Shawn Conrad, CAE I recently had a flashback to the ’90s, when I and others were focused on how to fully use the data our new management system was generating. A colleague shared with me an article written by Philip Agre, a former UCLA professor. Dr Agre’s focus was Read More »
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New Ways of Thinking About Transit
September 1, 2021By Lesli Stone, CAPP In the months since we became fluent in COVID-speak and learned what a modern-day pandemic looks like, we have all become familiar with the “new normal.” Everything seems to have been touched and changed by this virus. How we celebrate holidays, how we get our groceries, Read More »
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Jump Start Employee Biking: How It Can Roll
August 31, 2021By Joshua Cantor, CAPP, and Janet Walker After the tax law changes of December 2017 eliminated the monthly $20 pre-tax bicycling commuting benefit, George Mason University needed to recalibrate its employee biking program, which is an important cog (pun intended) of the transportation program. We needed to find a way Read More »
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Take Care of Your Staff–They’re Taking Care of You
August 30, 2021By Chris Polk, CAPP There are so many businesses experiencing the difficulty of hiring and maintaining staff. The reduced staffing level is leading to a decrease in the level of customer service that is and can be provided. Both frontline and management staff who are still coming to work every Read More »
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Appeals Court Rules Tire Chalking Violates Driver’s Constitutional Rights
August 29, 2021A Michigan appeals court late last week ruled that a city parking officer who chalked the tires of a woman with 14 city parking tickets violated her constitutional rights. Alison Taylor contested a ticket she received in Saginaw in 2014, saying it was invalid because chalking her tires violated her Read More »
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Hiring During the Pandemic
August 26, 2021By Kathleen Federici, MEd Many organizations are looking to hire talent to lead their mission in some way or another. According to Employee Benefits News, while many organizations made layoffs at the start of the pandemic, more than 80 percent plan to hire new employees. So the job posting goes Read More »
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Left or Right?
August 25, 2021By Katherine Beaty Are you a left Twix or a right Twix? I love this genius marketing campaign that came out a couple of years ago. Are you curious as to what the difference is between left Twix and right Twix candy bars? It tells you right on the new Read More »
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Parking, Traffic, and Congestion at Special Event Venues
August 24, 2021By Angel Diaz, Henry Espinosa, and Mike Mckeon Have you been to a large sporting event lately and said, “WOW, that was painless getting to my parking spot?” We didn’t think so, but there is a better way–Free Flow Frictionless Parking. At LoanDepot Park, home of the Miami Marlins, getting Read More »
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Park(ing) Day Returns
August 23, 2021Park(ing) Day, the annual celebration that turns parking spaces around the world into parks, is back in full force this year. Happening Sept. 17, the event is being sponsored by Ford Mobility Company-backed Spin, which has even offered funding to help transform spaces into parks for one day. Get all Read More »
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Judge Rules California Gig-worker Law Unconstitutional
August 22, 2021A judge ruled California’s Proposition 22, which allowed transportation network companies (TNCs) and other companies to classify workers as independent contractors instead of employees, unconstitutional last week. Proposition 22 was voted in last November and heavily supported by Uber, Lyft, and other companies that rely on gig workers, including Instacart Read More »
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Rethinking Mobility: Tell Us Your Story
August 19, 2021By Rachel Yoka, CAPP, LEED AP BD+C To say that the last year has been challenging, and disruptive just doesn’t do our industry justice. Our members and industry professionals have displayed innovation, resiliency, creativity, tenacity and pure grit. In our Shoptalks and summits, we’ve heard you talk about adapting your Read More »
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Adaptive Reuse: Short-term ROI or Long-term Investment?
August 18, 2021For owners and developers investing in new parking facilities, adaptive reuse is a popular topic of discussion. While there is no limit to the possibilities we can imagine, the reality is that designing a parking structure to be compatible with other human uses adds to the cost. However, whether you Read More »
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Mentorships for Life
August 17, 2021By Casey Jones, CAPP Oprah Winfrey’s mentor was her fourth grade teacher. Dr. Martin Luther King drew upon his relationship with Dr. Benjamin Mays for inspiration, guidance, and wisdom through immensely difficult times, and Apple’s Steve Jobs tucked a young Mark Zuckerberg under his wing as Facebook was conceptualized and Read More »
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Protecting Parking Patrons’ Personally Identifiable Information
August 16, 2021Parking payment technology has advanced from the spare change in your wallet to an app on your phone hosted in the cloud. Digital parking apps and services provide ease and convenience to both parties to a digital parking transaction. However, while feeding quarters in a parking meter is a rather Read More »
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Michigan City Gets On-demand Autonomous Vehicles
August 15, 2021May Mobility recently launched on-demand, autonomous vehicles in Grand Rapids, Mich. “The on-demand service, which includes four May Mobility Lexus RX450h vehicles and one wheelchair-accessible Polaris GEM equipped with May Mobility’s autonomous technology, operates within a 1.36 square-mile service zone that includes more than 20 designated pick up and drop Read More »
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Tips for Tampa
August 12, 2021By Tina Altman Getting my feet wet again by going to a recent site visit in Tampa ahead of the 2021 IPMI Parking & Mobility Conference & Expo felt so good! Time to dust off the suitcase and get back to some type of normalcy. The airport and flight had Read More »
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Anti-racism at Work: Honesty, Support, and Commitment
August 11, 2021“Being a Black woman in a predominantly White, male industry comes with challenges–and anyone like me can share the ones they’ve faced,” writes Reachel Knight, CAPP, business strategy coordinator with the Calgary Parking Authority. “You hear stories about demotions, being overlooked for promotions, and being denied access to certain projects Read More »
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Tackling TNCs: Curb and Congestion Management in Las Vegas
August 10, 2021By Brandy Stanley, CAPP TNCs are not a new phenomenon, but handling them effectively to reduce the congestion they cause and move people through the downtown core is quite a challenge. The City of Las Vegas is taking a two-pronged approach to helping TNCs do business downtown: Using large kiosks Read More »
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The Mighty B17 and its Secret for Success: The Checklist
August 9, 2021By Matt Penney, CAPP No one had seen anything like it. The B17 was immediately the new king of its class for large, propeller-driven aircraft. At its unveiling, a reporter dubbed it the “flying fortress” because of the numerous machine guns protruding in all directions from its fuselage. Boeing quickly Read More »
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The Electrifying Future: Experts Speak
August 8, 2021News that U.S. President Joe Biden is toughening pollution rules and pushing toward significant growth in electric vehicles came on the heels of several major automakers’ recent decisions to focus on EVs in the next 20 years. But what does all that mean for the parking and mobility industry? In Read More »
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Road Trip? Perfect.
August 5, 2021By Kim Fernandez, CAE There’s a day-long road trip in my near future. Next week, I’ll fill the tank, pop into the Wawa for my obligatory bag of Combos, head across the Chesapeake, and pick up my son from college, where he’s spent the summer in a research program. Three Read More »
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RFPs Just Not That Into You: Finding That Special Someone
August 4, 2021By Mandy Bowers My husband and I were engaged after a six-month courtship. We were introduced by a mutual friend and our first date was at a coffee shop. We pushed past the first date jitters and ended up talking for hours, finding things we shared throughout our conversation. Josh Read More »
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Learning from 2020: Why Cities Need Better Curbside Data
August 3, 2021Accelerating growth in the use of curb space has resulted in the demands on curb space to exceed supply. Today, transportation network companies such as Uber and Lyft complete more than 4 billion annual trips globally–the bulk of which begin and end on urban curbsides. E-commerce continues to grow, with Read More »
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It’s Not You, Social Media, It’s Me
August 2, 2021By Vanessa Solesbee, CAPP, CCTM I grew up with a passion for public service, and while I never thought that passion would take me into parking, I am so glad it did. When I had the opportunity to take classes at the Disney Institute as part of a summer internship Read More »
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TNC Drivers Fear Losing Work with Miami, Austin Autonomous Vehicle Trials
August 1, 2021Transportation network company (TNC) drivers in Miami say they fear losing their income when 1,000 autonomous cars are launched as ride-hails later this year. Argo AI, Ford, and Lyft announced they’d trial the self-driving cars in Miami and Austin this winter. Drivers for Lyft and Uber say they’re concerned the Read More »
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Tampa, Here We Come!
July 29, 2021By Rita Pagan, DES After a year of virtual meetings, I am so excited to be welcoming our members back to an in-person meeting this fall at the 2021 IPMI Parking & Mobility Conference & Expo in Tampa, Florida— with clear safety protocols in place. As we navigate this continuously changing time Read More »
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A Few of My Favorite Things
July 28, 2021By Christina Jones, CAPP, MBA When things get me down and I’m feeling unhappy, I just try to think of nice things. Editor’s note: Christina sent us this post with a note daring us to not sing. We failed–miserably. Enjoy! Wheel stops on pavement and bollards on plazas Contactless payments Read More »
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Telecommuting and Space Use at UCLA
July 27, 2021As COVID-19 took hold in spring 2020, UCLA closed its campus to all but essential employees and its world-renowned medical center, which continued to operate throughout the pandemic, as expected. Beyond that, however, nearly 80 percent of campus employees (excluding medical center staff) were sent home and asked to telecommute Read More »
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Like, Right?
July 26, 2021By Mark Lyons, CAPP Vendor interviews and presentations today—guess what word or phrase is the most overused? Used so much that I want to let everyone know how it hurts. One might think that in today’s accelerated world of constant change and trend watching, we would be hearing the most Read More »
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New Yorkers Still Loving Transportation by Bicycle
July 25, 2021COVID-19 saw a boost to micro-mobility and to biking in cities and urban areas in particular. Those numbers continue to climb, at least in New York City, where more and more residents, visitors, and commuters are embracing two-wheeled transportation through the city. “Cyclist counts on East River bridges climbed to Read More »
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My Summer Podcasts
July 22, 2021By Justin Grunert, MSM I have been seeing many different lists coming out recommending different things, notably Barrack Obama’s summer reading list and summer playlist. Well, here is my list of the podcasts I am listening to this summer! My first recommendation is called Criminal, hosted/narrated by Phoebe Judge. Judge Read More »
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Ensuring Curb Equity
July 21, 2021When we speak about curb equity, we are not speaking about proportional access to the curb. If access were proportional, national delivery fleets would dominate all loading zones and cars would dominate all other on-street inventory. When we speak about curb equity, we are referring to equitable access to the Read More »
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Washington, D.C. Joins Vision Zero to Improve Bike Lane Safety
July 20, 2021By Tim Taylor In recent years, Washington, D.C., has seen exponential growth, with more people than ever living, working, and visiting in the city. With that has come an increased demand for transportation and safety, especially for the most vulnerable commuters: those who use micro-mobility vehicles. To properly adapt to Read More »
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Is It Time for a New Kind of Adaptive Reuse?
July 19, 2021Adaptive reuse–repurposing existing buildings for new uses–has been a topic of discussion in the parking and mobility industry for some time. Now, a traffic engineering and transportation planning company CEO says it’s time to really put words into action and repurpose old parking garages for low-income housing. “Recognizing the success Read More »
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Cities Using Transit to Get People to Nature
July 18, 2021Seattle’s popular Trailhead Direct service, which shuttles people from the city and its suburbs to popular trailheads, resumed running in June after a COVID-19 hiatus. More cities are following suit, offering public transit service to trailheads, parks, and areas of nature away from the so-called concrete jungle. “Trailhead Direct represents Read More »
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Looking Through the Crystal Ball of Parking and Mobility
July 15, 2021By Shawn D. Conrad, CAE “Don’t expect what happened to the transportation industry last year to predict what will occur in the future.” This quote comes from a recent conversation I had with an IPMI member about how the industry has been affected by the pandemic. And while there are Read More »
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Gibbs’ Rules and Rules to Live By
July 14, 2021By Katherine Beaty NCIS is a CBS series that is now on its 18th season. The main character is Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs, who is the leader of a team of special agents belonging to the NCIS (Naval Criminal Investigative Service) Major Case Response Team. Gibbs, a former Marine, Read More »
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Caring for People and the Golden Rule
July 13, 2021By Jonathan Haney, CAPP Caring for each other should be a focus in each of our lives. It is part of the “Golden Rule” to treat others as you would expect to be treated. For some of us, this can become a very trying exercise. When dealing with those who Read More »
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My Parking Career Wasn’t Over After All
July 12, 2021By David Horn, CAPP In March 2020, the beginning of the pandemic, life began to change quickly and the outcomes were a mystery to all of us. My family and I took a summer trip in late July. Upon returning to work, I was told my position would be eliminated Read More »
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The Parking Garage of The Future
July 11, 2021You’ll leave a car in the parking garage of the future, writes the New York Times. But you’ll also make dinner reservations, charge that vehicle, connect with other forms of mobility–and you’ll likely have reserved all of that ahead of time with an app. In short, parking in the future Read More »
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In a Mood
July 8, 2021By Cindy Campbell I’m in a mood today. Come to think of it, I’m in a mood every day. The power is in knowing that I have choices about my mood du jour–and so do you. Moods can positively or negatively influence every activity we’re involved in–routine interactions with friends, Read More »
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The Parking Study is Done. Now What?
July 7, 2021By Jennifer McCoy, PE, PTOA After a parking lot study has been completed in a new, shiny document, cities ask themselves, “What happens next?” Moving into the next task of sifting through parking study recommendations can be daunting. However, here are some great steps to help structure the decision-making process Read More »
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Power of the People
July 6, 2021The last year was a challenging one for people in parking and mobility, to say the least. But some creative and hardy souls not only survived but thrived, making the most of so many changes and shining as leaders of both organizations and their colleagues. Those industry professionals are the Read More »
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COVID-19’s Permanent Changes to Cities Being Deciphered
July 5, 2021COVID-19 seemed to change everything about cities for a long time–how we worked, got around, shopped, communicated, and accomplished a long list of day-to-day activities. And as the world eases into a new normal, NBC News took a look at what may have changed for good, especially in cities: More Read More »
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Rethinking Leadership, Workplaces, and Why Places are Important
July 1, 2021By Rachel Yoka, CAPP, LEED AP BD+C The last 18 months have challenged leaders in every home office and corner of the world. Whether you are leading a large staff or a small but mighty team, the way we work together is fundamentally different (and yet very much the same). Read More »
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GM Commits $25 Million to Equity in Transition to Electric Vehicles
June 30, 2021General Motors announced this week the creation of a $25 million fund to encourage equity as the company and others transition to prioritizing electric vehicles. The Climate Equity Fund, company executives said, will be used to “implement inclusive solutions that bring everyone along, especially our employees and communities.” GM recently Read More »
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Creativity Changes Our World
June 29, 2021When’s the last time your organization got creative–really creative–in a customer-facing way? Our guess is if anything’s pushed you there, it was COVID-19. And lots of parking organizations pulled out the creativity to get through the pandemic, and even thrive. The winners of this year’s IPMI Marketing Awards thought way Read More »
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Putting Your Client First
June 28, 2021By John Mason, CAPP, PMP It’s tough in business sometimes to see what value there could be beyond turning a profit when it comes to implementing systems. Corporate culture tells you it’s all about making money. To some extent, that’s certainly true. You can’t stay in business if you’re not Read More »
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Why Big Tech is Building Autonomous Cars
June 27, 2021The race to build driverless vehicles is expensive, slow, and fraught with metaphorical–and real–potholes. So why are so many big tech companies jumping in? Apple, Microsoft, Google, Amazon, and others have partnered with automakers, other tech companies, and different specialists in the race to produce a truly driverless car. Analysts Read More »
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Leading Through Exhaustion
June 24, 2021By Kathleen Federici, MEd As I hear stories from others, a common theme is exhaustion. The pandemic has taken a toll on all of us in some way or another and unexpected and rapid changes have left some in a state of fatigue. Not only are we dealing with the Read More »
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Managing and Thriving Amid Disruption
June 23, 2021By Brett Wood, CAPP, PE The past 15 months have taught us many valuable lessons, including some aroudn increased awareness and adapting to change. Our industry has certainly managed this change in its own unique way, with parking and mobility programs implementing improvements that were rooted in being proactive and Read More »
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Managing Change Through Financial Diversification
June 22, 2021As an industry, we have been positioning ourselves for disruption for several years. How would we respond to impacts from micro-mobility, ride-share, and ultimately autonomous vehicles and the impending changes to parking demands and activity? In the years leading up to 2020, we spent considerable time and brainpower thinking about Read More »
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7 on 7
June 21, 2021By Matt Penney, CAPP With the close of the spring semester and the onset of summertime, there is a brief window for a sport called “7 on 7.” It’s a modified touch football game for high school students. There are no linemen, no running plays, and no rushing of the Read More »
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Paris Allows On-street, Outdoor Dining to Become Permanent
June 20, 2021Restaurants around the world turned on-street parking into “streeteries” when COVID-19 made dining inside impossible. Now that the pandemic is waning, cities are wondering how long those outside dining areas should continue. Paris, France, says forever. Under new guidance, nearly 9,800 restaurants, bars, and cafes can set up outdoor dining Read More »
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Combos, Cashews, and Calendar Dates
June 17, 2021By Kim Fernandez Depending on my ultimate destination, I stop at either the Wawa just past Annapolis or the Wawa just through Easton (about a half-hour past the Bay Bridge) every time I drive through Maryland’s Eastern Shore. The first order of business is topping off the car’s gas tank, Read More »
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Why You Should Reinvent the Wheel
June 16, 2021By Katherine Beaty The saying “don’t reinvent the wheel” is so wrong! The wheel, strictly speaking, has been reinvented tons of times. We did not always have the full rubber wheel you see on automobiles today. The wheel started from a round stone slab, then was reinvented from stone to Read More »
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Cool Tech? Look Again with Equity Glasses
June 15, 2021We have some amazing technology applications in the parking industry. Some people would be quite surprised if they knew just how “cool” technology has become for the seemingly mundane task of parking a car or a truck or a bicycle or any other means of transport using our streets (and Read More »
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Pants, Post-pandemic
June 14, 2021By Victor Hill, CAPP I’ve been thinking a lot about pants lately. The pandemic put most of our butts in home offices–and in shorts or pajamas–because who needs pants on a video conference? Then we got vaccinated and, after months of sequestering, we’re mostly safe to travel and revitalize our Read More »
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Tucson Expanding Shared Mobility
June 13, 2021The City of Tucson first piloted a shared e-scooter program in fall 2019, and extended that pilot through COVID-19. Now, with micro-mobility’s popularity growing, the city is seeking growing shared mobility program. Full details are available on the city’s website, but it’s seeking vendors and partners to make e-scooters available Read More »
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You Made It? You Win.
June 10, 2021By Kim Fernandez Apparently, a new job interview trend is to ask candidates what amazing thing they did to learn more, better themselves, or boost their careers during COVID-19. Remember last March? It felt like everything we knew, everything familiar and safe, whooshed down a giant black hole in the Read More »
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Awards of Excellence Winners Shine
June 9, 2021A mixed-use tower with garage, loads of sustainable features, and innovative design and amenities. An airport parking ramp that serves as transportation hub and offers value for many user groups. A large garage that’s incredibly sustainable and green. A surface lot that captures more than 130,000 gallons of water. And Read More »
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Giving Them the Cookie
June 8, 2021By Roamy R. Valera, CAPP A dear friend of mine recently sent me a letter he had written to his long-time airline of choice. I know my friend well and as a travel warrior myself, I knew his letter was not going to flatter anyone in the organization. He was Read More »
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Female Mobility–Movin’ on Up
By Carmen Donnell, CAPP Did you know we recently celebrated National Grilled Cheese Day? And quickly after we celebrated National Take-Out Day? For the record, I coincidentally made a grilled cheese the day before it was recognized and did order take-out on the appropriate day! I digress–however it seems there Read More »
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A Record-breaking Parking Space and a Parking Lottery for Vaccinations
June 7, 2021In parking news this past weekend is the world record for most expensive parking space being shattered in Hong Kong. An unidentified buyer paid $1.3 million for a parking space in an ultra-luxury development. The previous record for a parking space was $980,000, also in Hong Kong. Elsewhere, Trenton, Mich., Read More »
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Having a Real Desk and Four Other Things I Miss
June 4, 2021By Rita Pagan, DES I know a lot of people were forced into working from home the last year but I’m heading into almost five years. While working from home has its perks, there are certainly things I miss about working in an office: Having a REAL desk! With two Read More »
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Transit-oriented Development After COVID: What’s Next?
June 3, 2021For more than 20 years, transit-oriented development (TOD) has been a desired destination for people to live, work, and play. The opportunity to reside in a vibrant locale with convenient access to restaurants, shopping, employment, and alternative mobility options has been a preferred lifestyle for many, especially since the great Read More »
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Dog Humor
June 2, 2021By L. Dennis Burns, CAPP While navigating the pandemic, I stumbled onto a secret weapon: dogs as a role model. This began with a joke I read that hit a little too close to home: “If your dog is fat, you aren’t getting enough exercise.” -Unknown The good news is, Read More »
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Ford: 40 Percent of Its Vehicles Sold Will Be Electric by 2030
June 1, 2021Automaker Ford announced last week it expects 40 percent of its new vehicles to be electric by 2030. The announcement came on the heels of the introduction of the all-electric version of its bestselling F-150 pickup truck (pictured here), which they say boasted 70,000 reservations in the first week. The Read More »
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2021 CAPP Recertification Tips
May 28, 2021By Justin Grunert, MSM We’re looking forward to working with CAPPs who will recertify this year. Typically, recordkeeping forms would be due by Jan. 1, 2022, but since we will host the 2021 IPMI Parking & Mobility Conference & Expo in late November, we would appreciate all recertification paperwork be Read More »
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Parking and Payment Processing: Why Choice is Key
May 27, 2021By Kristen Locke, CAPP The rapid acceleration of contactless payments is helping operations offer better customer experiences, reduce hardware maintenance, and streamline operations. With more electronic payments, payment processing now has a huge effect on a parking provider’s revenue. Despite all that, it’s rarely a part of discussions about long-term Read More »
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The Case for Thinking Like a Startup
May 26, 2021“The measure of intelligence is the ability to change.” ― Albert Einstein. A drive-through opera performance in a parking garage in Chicago? Safe curbside food pickups from your favorite restaurant? Repurposed parking lots into pop-up kitchens supporting local restaurants and delivery services? Huge surges in contactless payment options? New digitized Read More »
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The Future Impact of Autonomous Vehicles
May 25, 2021By Jim Anderson Autonomous vehicles (AVs): What are the effects on today’s transportation network and future smart-city design? There is much speculation and opinion as to the evolution of AVs and the continued emergence of transportation network company (TNC) use in the fabric of the urban transportation environment. Notable architect Read More »
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California Mandates EVs for TNCs
May 24, 2021Transportation network companies (TNCs) such as Uber and Lyft will need to transition to electric vehicles in California by 2030, the state legislature mandated last week. The new rules, which say 90 percent of ride-share miles traveled must be in electric vehicles by the start of the new decade, also Read More »
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Got Milk?
May 21, 2021By Shawn Conrad, CAE Most of us remember the “Got Milk?” advertising campaign. A San Francisco agency developed this rather simple phrase and message in 1993 to increase sales for the California Milk Processor Board. Needless to say, the campaign’s success is almost unmatched in the world of advertising. Since Read More »
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Curb Management in the Real World
May 20, 2021By Robert Ferrin and Brandy Stanley, CAPP Everyone hears a lot about curb management, congestion mitigation and data gathering, but sometimes finding solutions in action can be difficult. Join us for a free, online, IPMI Shoptalk June 2 to learn more about the real-life solutions two cities are testing to Read More »
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True Team Effort
May 18, 2021By John Mason, CAPP, PMP Very seldom as a manufacturer or contractor do you find true team efforts when replacing a client’s legacy equipment. A true team effort is when the client fully engages in the change. It’s important as a client that you involve yourself in efforts to learn Read More »
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Minneapolis Ends Parking Minimums for New Development
May 17, 2021Citing sustainability goals and the potential for design flexibility, the Minneapolis, Minn., City Council voted unanimously Friday to end required parking minimums for new development in the city. The measure also increased minimums for bicycle parking and requires many new buildings, including residential, to incorporate transportation demand management (TDM) strategies Read More »
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Silver Linings From the Past Year
May 14, 2021By Cindy Campbell Many of the virtual trainings I conduct include a group discussion. This last year, one of my favorite discussion topics has been, “Tell us about something good that’s come out of the disruption caused by the pandemic.” Many of the responses have been incredibly thoughtful and uplifting. Read More »
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Ignoring the Elephant in the Room
May 13, 2021By Roamy Valera, CAPP I will not mention and/or refer to the significant and major event of the past 12 months or so. In fact, I will treat it as it treated my last birthday (like it never happened!). I was in a conversation right before writing this piece about Read More »
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A Primer on Parklets
May 12, 2021We used to see parklets–tiny parks, some with specific purposes, created out of on-street parking spaces–every once in awhile, most notably on PARK(ing) Day. But thanks to COVID-19 and a societal embrace of all things outdoors, parklets are having their day–and they’re not going anywhere anytime soon. In the May Read More »
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The Challenge of Reopening
May 11, 2021By Chris Polk, CAPP Many states are now beginning to allow businesses to reopen due to the decrease in COVID-19 deaths and the increase in vaccinations. As states have begun to reopen for business, the demand for parking services has increased, and so has the demand for staff. How that Read More »
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Comment on Proposed MUTCD Changes
May 10, 2021By Mary S. Smith The Federal Highway Administration has published PROPOSED changes to the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD), which is the U.S. standard for signs, pavement markings, and other devices on streets and roads. Comments are due May 14, 2020. When finalized and adopted, it will be Read More »
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Happy Mother’s Day
May 7, 2021By Michelle W. Jones, CAE, CMP According to Wikipedia: The modern holiday of Mother’s Day was first celebrated in 1907, when Anna Jarvis held a memorial for her mother at St. Andrew’s Methodist Church in Grafton, W.V. Her campaign to make Mother’s Day a recognized holiday in the U.S. began Read More »
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Mobility Report 2021
May 6, 2021By L. Dennis Burns, CAPP I recently reviewed “Mobility Report 2021—Current Dynamics of the Mobility Megatrend.” Author Dr. Stefan Carsten is a futurologist and mobility researcher investigating which trends are driving mobility issues, how the pandemic is affecting our mobility behavior, and where mobility meets other megatrends such as urbanization, Read More »
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Resiliency is People
May 5, 2021Change is a constant–perhaps no more so than right now–and the change we’re living with is the perfect storm of volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA), and it’s fast. Change, the VUCA way, seems to be the next normal, so we need to learn to deal with it. In this Read More »
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Transportation, the Environment, and Legislation: Thinking Outside the Box
May 4, 2021By Kathryn Hebert Transportation systems produce the largest percentage of greenhouse emissions in the US (more than 28 percent). President Biden is committed to addressing environmental issues through his multi trillion-dollar infrastructure proposal. Last December, the governors of 13 Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states, plus the District of Columbia, signed an Read More »
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Transit Works to Win Back Riders
May 3, 2021Getting on a bus or train wasn’t a first choice for most during COVID-19. The thought of being in an enclosed space with more people than comfort allowed sent car sales soaring and boosted micro-mobility in cities. But with the pandemic waning and more people going back to work, school, Read More »
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Speaking Up
April 30, 2021By Kathleen Federici, MEd. It’s not a shock that this past COVID year (and counting) has everything and everyone turned sideways and upside-down. Nothing is the same. The school year has been very difficult for me and my children, who are not used to cyber learning, and my new gig Read More »
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Drawing Back the Curtain
April 29, 2021By Kevin White, CAPP, AICP Information is power, as they say. This is certainly true in the world of parking and mobility, where a wealth of payment, curb use, traffic, travel pattern, citation, and a variety of other data is being collected and documented. Emerging platforms and technologies bring new Read More »
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Race Relations: It’s ABC
April 28, 2021When Tiffany Peebles, director of the Parking Authority of River City, Ky., was a sophomore in high school, her parents moved the family to a mostly white neighborhood. Riding the bus on the first day of school was the first time I felt like a minority. My world had changed; Read More »
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A New IPMI Member Portal and Forum, Coming Soon
April 27, 2021In the next few days, you’ll be introduced to IPMI’s new member portal, offering a simplified, more intuitive experience. Making changes to and maintaining your member profile, registering for events, and keeping up with everything at your association is about to get easier and more efficient. Be on the lookout Read More »
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The Washington Post Pays Tribute to the Capital Garage
April 26, 2021The Capital Garage “was designed by Arthur B. Heaton, a District architect responsible for apartment buildings such as the Altamont in Kalorama and homes in Woodley Park. The limestone and glass facade was neo-Gothic, adorned with lion-headed grotesques near the top of the building. Stone bas-reliefs at the second story Read More »
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The Global Automotive & Mobility Innovation Challenge
April 23, 2021By Ben Wesley, CAPP Since 2008, when SAE and the Michigan Innovation Alliance first partnered to become what is now the Global Automotive & Mobility Innovation Challenge (GAMIC), hundreds of technical, creative entrepreneurs have competed to earn exposure, commercialization services, and cash stipends. GAMIC is “a challenge to see if Read More »
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Considering a New TDM on Earth Day
April 22, 2021The face of commuting has changed drastically since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic last March. Hesitancy toward transportation modes that put us close together with strangers in an enclosed space, a huge increase in working from home where possible, and even lower gas prices (for a time) have seen Read More »
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Get Out of My Lane!
April 21, 2021By Diana Alarcon, CAPP As I was driving to the grocery store the other day, I heard a person yell from their automobile, “Get out of my lane!” He was addressing his comment to a gentleman riding a bicycle on the street. I wanted to yell back that he has Read More »
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Virtual Conferences–Silver Linings
April 20, 2021By Gary Means, CAPP Back in late February, many of us attended a new IPMI conference called the IPMI Mobility & Innovation Summit. If you didn’t attend, you missed a great deal of excellent content, great speakers, and networking opportunities (a new opportunity is coming in June!). If you did Read More »
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Should Transit Agencies Manage Micro-mobility?
April 19, 2021Micro-mobility share has traditionally been managed by municipalities, campuses, or the agencies that brought it into a system. But one expert writes things like bike-share should be managed by transit agencies, and some are beginning to move in that direction. David Zipper, visiting fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Taubman Read More »
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Walmart Jumps into Autonomous Vehicles with Investment in Cruise
April 16, 2021Retail giant Walmart entered the autonomous vehicle sphere with an investment in Cruise, General Motors’ autonomous, all-electric vehicle development arm, this week. The funding round, which included other investors, totaled $2.75 billion and raises Cruise’s value to more than $30 billion. Walmart invested about five months after entering a pilot Read More »
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On The Road Again
April 15, 2021By Matt Penney, CAPP For the first time in a year and a half, I was on the road again. I ventured outside of the Baylor University bubble in search of parking knowledge. For me, visiting other people and locations is a highlight of our parking industry. Zoom is O.K., Read More »
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Frictionless Parking: Smoothing the Ride
April 14, 2021Enhanced customer convenience, improved traffic flow, increased revenue, lower operating costs–every parking operation continuously strives to achieve these goals. And while there are many ways to accomplish them, frictionless parking is more frequently included in the discussion. The concept of frictionless parking means combining technology and operating practices in ways Read More »
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Are Flexible Work Arrangements the New TDM Tool?
April 13, 2021By Perry Eggleston, CAPP, DPA Rahm Emanuel said, “You never let a serious crisis go to waste. And what I mean by that it’s an opportunity to do things you think you could not do before.” I started as executive director of UC Davis Transportation Services on January 2, 2020, Read More »
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ASU Transforms Garage into Mile-long Art Show
April 12, 2021Students at Arizona State University (ASU) and area art professionals have transformed a campus parking garage into a drive-through experience of light, sculpture, pattern, and sound–an immersive, sensory art experience people experience from their cars. About 115 artists worked on “designspace,” conceived by an area designer who wondered how the Read More »
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Nobody Asked Me
April 9, 2021By Kim Fernandez My nearly nine-year-old, much beloved iMac computer is starting to get old-lady kind of loopy (I feel her pain if we’re all being honest). She hesitates before launching something new, she thinks longer than she used to before opening or closing or saving, her files are a Read More »
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The Silver Lining of Gathering Virtually
April 8, 2021By Josh Cantor, CAPP I recently had the opportunity to participate in an active transportation summit hosted by my office and coordinated with 11 other regional organizations. While the all-day Zoom meeting may have been more complicated to coordinate than the in-person conference we initially had planned, I came away Read More »
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Innovation and Collaboration at the University of Kentucky
April 7, 2021The University of Kentucky understood the need to continue to provide parking assets to support its growing campus, but also the essential component of effectively utilizing limited space for the highest and best uses possible. They also recognized the essential role of incorporating successful economic development master planning strategies to Read More »
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What Is That New Normal?
April 6, 2021By Brett Wood, CAPP, PE For the past 12 months, we have been pontificating about what the post-pandemic world might look like: Would we all just work from home forever? Would we have all of our goods delivered out of convenience? Would the state of our downtowns and campuses forever Read More »
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Analysis: Infrastructure Plan Bets on Transit
April 5, 2021An analysis of the Biden administration’s newly released infrastructure plan promises big investments–$621 billion–in roads, bridges, and other transportation infrastructure. But it also calls for an $85 billion investment in transit, and a Reuters analysis wonders if that’s the best bet at what appears to be the tail end of Read More »
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Measure, Stir, Bake, Relax
April 2, 2021By Rita Pagan, DES Have you ever watched The Great British Bake Off? It has been my go-to “Coronavirus/helping with math/if I hear pivot one more time” guilty pleasure. Although, I must admit, the recipes aren’t things I would necessarily pin to my Pinterest board. Biscuits and sponge cakes have Read More »
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Former IPI Board Member Michael Penny, CAPP: A Remembrance
April 1, 2021By L. Dennis Burns, CAPP I am sad to report that the parking community lost a great professional and trusted colleague. Our friend, C. Michael Penny passed away in his sleep earlier this week. Michael had been battling Alzheimer’s disease for the past several years. He is survived by his Read More »
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Time to Re-think the Goals of Transit
March 31, 2021By Lesli Stone, CAPP I was recently listening to an NPR Podcast, All Things Considered, where the topic was “What is the Future of Public Transit in the U.S.?” There were a lot of great points made in reference to system budget deficits and what relief could be expected. The Read More »
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Revenue Control System Procurement in a New World
March 30, 2021By Don Barrett, CAPP In the past 24 years I have seen many improvements in the revenue control systems that are available on the market. We have seen some equipment providers stop production of their lines of equipment the past several years. We have also seen the number of new Read More »
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Pittsburgh Welcomes Spring with a Flea Market in a Parking Garage
March 29, 2021There’s a special kind of demand for outdoor activities and a feeling of normal this spring, including the return of flea markets. But when dicey weather, a need for social distancing, and a desire to include those who both drive and walk all come into play, what’s a city to Read More »
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The Good Things in 2020
March 26, 2021By Justin Grunert MSM Back in December and January, I kept seeing articles about 2020. You typically see year-in-review articles during that period and this year, articles called 2020 the Lost Year or the Year We Lost. I know our focus has been on the pandemic, but a few good Read More »
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Airports Transform Parking Lots into COVID-19 Vaccination Sites
March 25, 2021As travel slowly ramps back up after COVID-19, airports are donating their under-used parking lots and garages as vaccination sites for their communities: The red lot at Portland International Airport is offering drive-through vaccine services administered by the Oregon Health & Science University. Volunteers from the Red Cross are helping Read More »
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Cowboy Wisdom for Parking and Mobility Professionals
March 24, 2021By L. Dennis Burns, CAPP I have an “ideas file” for writing projects: interesting news items, new product research, industry trend data, or even just photos that might be the seeds of new writing projects. This time of year (at least in Arizona) my wife, Sharon, is busy working in Read More »
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A Pop of Yellow
March 23, 2021By Jennifer Tougas, CAPP, PhD I have fond memories of walking to classes at UGA during my grad school days. From my not-as-convenient graduate student parking lot, my path would take me along East Campus Road to the biology building. During the winter months, the trek was often overcast and Read More »
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Philadelphia Lures Visitors Back with Parking
March 22, 2021Cities stopped charging for parking at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic when there weren’t enough cars to justify it and businesses were struggling to survive. Now, at least one city is using free parking–with a catch–to try and get shoppers, diners, and tourists to come back en masse. Visit Read More »
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What’s Behind That Door?
March 19, 2021By Shawn Conrad, CAE Here in the D.C. metro area, we’ve had many coaches who would be considered legendary: men and woman who enjoyed tremendous and sustained success through their careers. I’m often reminded of one who accumulated an unprecedented 20 state championships. Her string of success began when she Read More »
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Business Intelligence Tools and Data-driven Decisions
March 18, 2021“Data” is definitely one of the words of the year in parking and mobility. From curb management to contactless payments to right-sizing parking to nearly every step forward, we hear a lot about it all being fueled by data. And we all know the truth: It’s fairly easy to collect Read More »
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Listening to Your Customers
March 17, 2021By Jeff Perkins One of the real challenges for parking providers is getting input from customers on an ongoing basis. The highly transactional nature of parking doesn’t always lend itself to a good feedback loop. So, as a parking provider, how do you know how you are doing? Are you Read More »
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Negative Online Reviews: To Respond or Not?
March 16, 2021By Melonie Curry, MBA “That sign was not visible.” “I’ve never heard of that parking regulation.” “Why don’t you address real crimes?” “This is just a money grab by a corrupt government agency.” Sound familiar? How many times a day do you hear these or similar comments? Receiving a parking Read More »
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Wired: Pandemic Prompts Cities to Rethink the Parking Spot
March 15, 2021It’s no news to industry members that the COVID-19 pandemic brought about a change of thinking around parking–after all, parking and mobility professionals are the ones who largely thought through and enacted curb management strategies to help businesses and communities. But as the larger world takes notice, the mainstream media Read More »
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Stop Catastrophizing the Future
March 12, 2021By Cindy Campbell Even if you were never a Boy Scout, you’re probably still familiar with their “Be Prepared” motto. Scout or not, it’s good advice. I spent the majority of my professional career planning and preparing for emergency situations: disaster planning and preparation, participation in large-scale disaster drills, and Read More »
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Managing a Team
March 11, 2021By Natnael Jowhar, CAPP As you know, the way a team is managed plays a huge role in how successful is members are. It does not matter which industry the team works in–the success of the project depends on how the leader is managing them. In my 11 years working Read More »
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Are We on the Verge of a Seismic Shift?
March 10, 2021By David Feehan In the past few weeks, both General Motors and Ford have announced plans to be all-electric with 10 to 15 years. So what can predict from these two announcements? First, the era of personal transportation is not dead. The pandemic has put mass transit systems into survival Read More »
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Boosting Campus Commute Choices at Emory University
March 9, 2021When COVID-19 hit last year, boosting contactless parking options was a no-brainer–nobody wanted to touch anything more than they absolutely had to. But as the pandemic dragged on, it became clear that some operations were going to have to think their permit systems, and nowhere was that more clear than Read More »
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Women, Parking and Mobility, and Leadership
March 8, 2021“When young girls watched Kamala Harris take the oath of office as the first woman to become U.S. vice president, they could envision their own future. It seemed a moment that showed us that a woman can achieve anything,” wrote Miami Parking Authority CEO Alejandra “Alex” Argudin, CAPP, in the Read More »
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Good Luck
March 5, 2021By Kathleen Federici, MEd With the pandemic still among us, it may be difficult for us to think about good luck. In my family, we try to make the most out of the holidays of the month. I use “holidays” loosely during some months, basically as a potentially fun escape Read More »
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Fact, Practice, and Goal
March 4, 2021By Roamy R. Valera, CAPP “Diversity is a fact, inclusion is a practice, and equality is a goal.” This is perhaps one of the more powerful statements I have come across in awhile. I have read it several times and each time, I am forced to focus on the impact Read More »
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Making the Most of 10 Percent Duties as Assigned
March 3, 2021By Irma Henderson, CAPP Listening to Steve Lerch’s keynote about finding innovation from all team members and giving people the time and freedom to find great ideas at IPMI’s Mobility & Innovation Summit last week, I know many in the public sector or union environments may think their hands are Read More »
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A Phased Re-entry
March 2, 2021By Robert Ferrin Believe it or not, we are coming up on one year since the COVID-19 pandemic started. This year has presented numerous challenges and opportunities in our professional and personal lives. We’ve had to constantly pivot to new realities and environmental factors. Through it all, we’ve created new Read More »
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Aristotle Should Have Been an Association Executive
March 1, 2021By Shawn Conrad, CAE March is upon us and for many, that means things will soon warm up and springtime activities will flourish. This is the time of year our friends in other industries seek us out to learn the results of IPMI’s Trends Survey. As in years past, planners, Read More »
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Wind Therapy
February 26, 2021By Michelle W. Jones, CAE, CMP We’ve been hearing for months that we are in tough/crazy/unprecedented times. We’re still being encouraged to stay home and limit our contact with others. It can be isolating and for some, it can be utterly depressing. Some people have found solace in enjoying old Read More »
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Which Technology to Choose?
February 25, 2021By Tom Wunk, CAPP The parking industry, like many other industries, has been profoundly impacted by the pandemic. This catastrophic event occurred as the parking industry was–and continues to be–engaged in a technological transformation. While no one can predict the ultimate “new normal” outcome post-pandemic, it is a certainty that Read More »
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I Swear by Apollo…
February 24, 2021By Casey Jones, CAPP I always believed the Hippocratic Oath was little more than a promise to do no harm. To my surprise, and in addition to swearing to the healing gods Apollo, Asciepius, Hygieia, and Panacea, there is a lot more to the promises doctors make than what was Read More »
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Top Investors Predict the Post-pandemic Future of Mobility
February 23, 2021COVID-19 changed the way a whole lot of us get around, and some of those changes look to be permanent–or, at least, have permanent effects on our transportation preferences and systems. TechCrunch this week asked 10 top mobility investors where they see the future of mobility heading, and they had Read More »
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Pandemic Squeezes Already-tight Parking for Truckers
February 22, 2021The COVID-19 pandemic emptied out airports, train stations, and malls, but it put more delivery trucks on the road than ever as people fully embraced home deliveries of goods ranging from groceries to mattresses to cars bought online. Truckers say that’s squeezed an already big problem: They have nowhere to Read More »
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People May Surprise You. Be Sure to Let Them.
February 19, 2021By Rachel Yoka, CAPP, LEED AP BD+C, WELL AP As we hit the one-year mark of COVID-19 and the pandemic continues to disrupt our industry, it’s challenging to stay motivated, both personally and professionally. At this moment where I live, we are at eight inches of snow and counting today, Read More »
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Valuing the Curbside in a New Normal
February 18, 2021Curb management planning and strategy was already well underway in Washington, D.C., when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, but the virus still managed to change almost everything. On-demand delivery services–DoorDash, Grubhub, etc.–took over crowded curbsides in what felt like overnight and demand for temporary parking space outside businesses skyrocketed from city Read More »
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Defining Our Industry’s Future
February 17, 2021By Brett Wood, CAPP, PE “Research: the distance between an idea and its realization.” -David Sarnoff, founder, Radio Corporation of America (RCA) I’ve had the good fortune to be involved with IPMI’s Research & Innovation Task Force (formerly the Research Committee) for quite some time now. As a co-chair of Read More »
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Curbside Management’s Missing Ingredient: Data
February 16, 2021“Municipalities are increasingly realizing the benefits of understanding and managing their curbs,” writes traffic operations and safety analyst Jacob Malleau on gcn.com this week. “But most cities are missing a key component to modernize their curbside management practices–the curb regulation data itself.” Malleau writes that cities are establishing and revising Read More »
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Breaking Down Parking and Mobility Silos
February 12, 2021By Laurens Eckelboom While the parking industry has always been consumer-driven, there’s little doubt that the consumers in question want more. Consider the parker: The same person who can receive online goods and groceries in a matter of days, even hours. They can instantly stream movies, TV shows, podcasts, and Read More »
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IPMI Responding to the MUTCD Comment Period
February 11, 2021By Shawn Conrad, CAE A big thank you to Benito Pérez, CAPP, from DDOT for Tuesday’s reminder of the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) comment period for input on the Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) national standard. The FHWA is seeking updates/improvements to the MUTCD standard, which governs all Read More »
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Going Frictionless: The Modernization of the Parking Landscape
February 10, 2021By Nick Mazzenga, PE Believe it or not, the parking industry was ahead of the curve when it came to the transition to a more frictionless environment using contactless technologies. COVID-19 only added fuel to the fire to accelerate more widespread adoption of frictionless-enabling technologies. The parking technology industry was Read More »
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Comment Now: Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices, 2021 Update
February 9, 2021By Benito O. Pérez, CAPP, AICP CTP, CPM Whether you are a municipal entity operating a transportation system or a product provider or service delivery company providing support in the transportation space, you may be familiar that there are not only local and state standards on transportation assets and operations, Read More »
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Micro-mobility Providers Band Together in Europe
February 8, 2021Eight micro-mobility companies have formed a coalition in Europe to claim their seat at the transportation planning table. Bird, Bolt, Dott, FreeNow, Lime, TIER, Voi, and Wind formed Micro-Mobility for Europe (MMfE), to join policy discussions and help build a framework for micro-mobility across the continent. Some European nations have Read More »
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Connecting Over Koenigsegg
February 5, 2021By Kim Fernandez Instagram populates your search page with images it thinks you’ll like based on your previous searches (and sometimes what you’re talking about, but we’ll address creepy another day). My search? All exotic cars. Bugatti, Apollo, Koenigsegg, Pagani–these were not names I knew two years ago. But they Read More »
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The Culture of Diversity
February 4, 2021When examining elite performing organizations, the common thread is culture. Organizational culture is the primary driver of group success. Great companies consistently place culture as one of the most important focuses for energy, resources, and staff. The reward is a workforce where every employee lives the company’s values and realizes Read More »
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No (Hu)Man Is an Island: Collaborative Approaches and Future-proofing Parking
February 3, 2021By Michael Back One of the many lessons learned from the ongoing global pandemic is that in times of uncertainty and chaos, community–as a social force–outperforms the individual. Slowing the spread of COVID-19 has been a group effort from the very beginning; the individualist outlook had to be tossed to Read More »
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A Parking Lesson: Walking in Someone Else’s Shoes
February 2, 2021By Scott C. Bauman, CAPP As a municipal parking manager, I often hear the following from residents; “There’s a car that’s always parked in front of my house. I want it gone. That’s MY parking space!” The passion residents feel for the on-street public parking in front of their home Read More »
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Remotely Operated Scooters Coming to U.S. Streets
February 1, 2021Boise, Idaho, will receive the first fleet of remote-capable Spin scooters in the U.S. this spring. Equipped with front- and rear-facing cameras, the scooters have the capability to park themselves in assigned locations when riders are finished using them and to be remotely called by riders via an app. The Read More »
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Please Stop Apologizing
January 29, 2021By Rita Pagan, DES Please stop apologizing during online meetings for dogs barking, cats on your laptop, kids asking for lunch, and leaf blowers. By now we all know the work-from-home quarantine COVID-19 drill. Working families everywhere have figured out how to manage this interesting time. Whether it’s a full Read More »
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Understanding Racism: An Open Conversation
January 28, 2021By Vanessa R. Cummings, CAPP, MDiv Courageous conversations are key to leadership and IPMI is opening the door to offer us the opportunity to talk about a subject that, to some, may be hard to discuss: race. No, not race car driving, but understanding racism. What it is, what does Read More »
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Curb Appeal: Data to Understand and Manage These Valuable Assets
January 27, 2021By Meera Raja The space between streets and sidewalks has become the hottest new real estate. The competition for curbside space is fierce; from delivery to drop-off and all the modes and activity in between, everyone wants a piece of the curb. Traditional street parking and freight space are battling Read More »
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Reading What Your Data Does–or Doesn’t–Tell You
January 26, 2021By Matthew Hulme, CAPP, MPA It is no secret that “data driven decision making” has become a buzzword (buzz-phrase?) in the parking industry. However, it is not a new concept. Good data provides the backdrop for strategic planning, driving new initiatives, and evaluating old ones. The key word here is Read More »
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MaaS, EV Charging, Cashless Payments Top Trends for 2021
January 25, 2021Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS), electric vehicle (EV) charging, and cashless parking payments are the three top trends we’ll see in transportation this year, according to Global Banking & Finance Review. “The biggest challenge on all businesses into 2021 will be how they continue to adapt and react to the ever changing new Read More »
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The Paradox of Choice
January 22, 2021By Justin Grunert, MSM Friday night, I found myself chilling in front of the TV, wanting to watch something scary. I wasn’t having any luck finding something to watch and scrolled through thousands of options on Netflix, then Amazon Prime, HBO Max, and back to Amazon. My first-choice movie was Read More »
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Looking Back, Planning Ahead, and Changing Our Perspective
January 21, 2021By Christina Jones, CAPP Moving to Colorado in 2015 as an introvert who had been out of college longer than I care to admit, I was terrified by the idea of building a social network from scratch. So I challenged myself to try one new thing each month. It could Read More »
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Managing Commercial Vehicle Loading: Technology and Regulatory Opportunities
January 20, 2021By Dawn Miller I’ve developed an odd new habit the past year. When walking, biking, or riding shotgun in the car, I take photos of delivery vehicles double-parking. At times I capture drivers trying to maneuver around the double-parked vehicles, sometimes ever-so-carefully nosing into oncoming traffic. I also take photos Read More »
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What Cities Need
January 19, 2021By David Feehan As January 20 approaches with a new administration in Washington, D.C. (where I live), I have to express my outrage for recent events. I love living in Washington and I have great respect for the heart of our federal government. Having said that, it is important that Read More »
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Finding Inspiration in Challenging Times
January 15, 2021By Shawn Conrad, CAE I needed a bit of inspiration at the closing of 2020 and went to my old mainstay, David McCullough’s best-selling book and Pulitzer Prize winner, 1776. I find inspiration in many different ways, and this book reminded me that while 2020 was a year like no Read More »
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Customer Service Representatives: Superheroes in Disguise
January 14, 2021By Lesli Stone, CAPP Frontline parking and transportation professionals are in a unique position to be the eyes and ears of the communities they serve. Each can observe a large number of engaged people in innocuous activities, day in and day out. These countless observations provide the experience and context Read More »
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Prepare. Plan. Commute. Debrief.
January 13, 2021By Kelly Koster Uncertainty has been the recurring theme of 2020, and I doubt very much will be certain again in 2021. How do you adapt your parking and mobility program for uncertain times? Through skiing of course. Let me explain. In an effort to social distance my ski habit Read More »
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Curbing COVID-19 at the Curb
January 12, 2021By Matthew Darst, JD COVID-19 has changed how we fundamentally live and the pandemic promises to continue to disrupt curbside management for months to come. While the tunnel is still dark, there is light—in the form of pandemic relief and vaccines—in sight. There are measures that can be taken to Read More »
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New Yorkers: We Need More Bike Parking
January 11, 2021Bike shops around the world struggled to keep up with demand when COVID-19 pushed people out of transit and shared rides. Now, New Yorkers are demanding more city bike parking, saying they’ve adopted the new-to-them transportation mode and have nowhere to put their wheels. “For every bike rack in NYC, Read More »
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Keep It or Change It?
January 8, 2021By Kathleen Federici, MEd For 14 consecutive years, my husband and I held a New Year’s Day brunch for our family, neighbors, and friends. We had a themed and costumed Roaring Twenties party on New Year’s Day 2020 to welcome in the new decade that was filled with promising opportunity—at Read More »
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What a Year in Parking and Mobility
January 7, 20212020 will go down as the year lots of us are happy to forget. But like all challenging times, it also produced great innovation, from small organizational changes to big technological leaps. And lots of those things will stick around to make organizations, businesses, infrastructure, and communities better. This year’s Read More »
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The Value of Curb Space
January 6, 2021By Chrissy Mancini Nichols A century ago, in establishing the first parking regulations, planners recognized the value of curb space. In The Storage of Dead Vehicles on Roadways, William Phelps Eno discussed how parallel parking at the curb caused, “considerable waste[d] space” and that on roads dedicated to commercial purposes, Read More »
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Morphing Our Mobility Mindset
January 5, 2021By Casey Jones, CAPP In October 2018, the International Parking Institute changed its name to include mobility. “Our broadened name signifies changes in the industry and what is happening in the larger sphere, where mobility is emerging as a more inclusive term for the expanding role of parking professionals,” said Read More »
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MSNBC: Transportation Changes Equal Effect of Building Railroads
January 4, 2021An analysis on MSNBC equates pandemic-born changes to transportation with the birth of the U.S. railroads in the 19th century. “If the pandemic were to continue or a vaccine was distributed right away, it really doesn’t change anything, because this was a train already moving down the track,” said Rich Read More »
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Five End-of-Year Gifts: Day Five
December 31, 2020To celebrate the end of 2020 and kick off 2021 on a good note, we are offering five free gifts of education for you to use yourself and pass along. In our final free session in IPMI’s holiday series, we’ve selected a bell-ringer of a session from the 2020 IPMI Read More »
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Five End-of-Year Gifts: Day Four
December 30, 2020To celebrate the end of 2020 and kick off 2021 on a good note, we are offering five free gifts of education for you to use yourself and pass along. Today in our free holiday education series, IPMI takes a deeper dive into the technology driving us all forward, presented Read More »
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Five End-of-Year Gifts: Day Three
December 29, 2020To celebrate the end of 2020 and kick off 2021 on a good note, we are offering five free gifts of education for you to use yourself and pass along. Our free holiday education series in the past blog posts has offered a snapshot from our Leadership Summit and Shoptalks. Read More »
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Five End-of-Year Gifts: Day Two
December 28, 2020To celebrate the end of 2020 and kick off 2021 on a good note, we are offering five free gifts of education for you to use yourself and pass along. Next up in our Five End-of-Year Gifts series, tune into IPMI’s Shoptalk series for a recap of Planning for What’s Read More »
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Five End-of-Year Gifts: Day One
December 24, 2020To celebrate the end of 2020 and kick off 2021 on a good note, we are offering five free gifts of education for you to use yourself and pass along. First up in IPMI’s free holiday education series: revisit how authentic concern drives good business in this thought-provoking session from Read More »
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Happy New Year. Finally.
December 23, 2020We made it. Whew. It was a weird, different, challenging year to say the least. But there were some good things–new technologies, new ways of thinking, and some industry highlights among the craziness. If you haven’t already, take a look back at five of our favorite stories from the year, Read More »
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Family
December 22, 2020By Roamy R. Valera, CAPP I recently had a medical procedure that required an overnight stay at the hospital. I was clearly not planning this event, but it is 2020! I am well and feeling great and of course grateful for a team of doctors, nurses, and healthcare professionals who Read More »
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The Senior Community Show Goes On–Thanks to the Parking Lot
December 21, 2020When COVID-19 halted a Minnesota musician’s performances at a local senior community, she took a hard look at her options–and her eyes landed on the parking lot. Now, she’s hooked up her electric violin 70 times there to provide music and relaxation to the community’s elderly residents. Natalie Vanburkleo-Carbonara has Read More »
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‘Tis the Season–to be Cozy
December 18, 2020By Michelle W. Jones, CAE, CMP Here on the east coast we are on the heels of our first major wintery storm. My friend in upstate New York’s car was buried under nearly a foot of snow. At my house in Virginia, we suffered downed trees and lost power due Read More »
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Giving Extra Grace While Keeping Your Staff Safe
December 17, 2020By Vanessa Solesbee, CAPP In a normal year, many mild-mannered, rational people go a bit crazy during the holidays. As evidenced by the countless news stories about pre-COVID stampedes and fist fights over that prime parking space, this time of year tends to bring out some of our less desirable Read More »
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TDM and COVID-19
December 16, 2020TDM–transportation demand management–is a concerted effort to get people to choose alternates to single-occupant vehicles (SOVs), including transit, micro-mobility, and shared rides, to get from place to place. When COVID-19 made social distancing a trend, TDM took a big hit. And now, with several vaccines in use around the world Read More »
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Academic Parking & Mobility’s Response to COVID-19
December 15, 2020By Brett Wood, CAPP, PE The fall 2020 semester for higher education campuses has been a mixture of trial and error, adaptation, and survival. With the effects of the global pandemic continuing to evolve, ensuring some level of education and campus experience has been a rapidly moving target. Within the Read More »
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Parking Meters on Parade a Highlight in North Carolina Beach Town
December 14, 2020When a global pandemic works its Grinchiness all over traditional holiday activities, it’s time to get creative. And that’s exactly what the town of Carolina Beach, N.C., did when it dreamed up Parking Meters on Parade, which encouraged residents to transform the town’s parking meters into celebrations of the December Read More »
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Breaking Down the Parksmart Standard
December 11, 2020By Megan Leinart, CAPP, LEED AP BD+C Since the launch of the Parksmart certification standard nearly a decade ago, the program has transformed the way owners and operators look at the development of their parking and mixed-use facilities. It has also served as inspiration for consultants, contractors, and solutions providers Read More »
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Calm Your Employees by Knowing What to Do if They Have COVID
December 10, 2020By Matthew Hulme, CAPP, MPA To say that the entire world is sick and tired of hearing the word “COVID” would be an understatement. And yet, here I am writing about it. It is certainly not going anywhere soon and its effects on the parking industry will be felt for Read More »
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Case Study: The South Boston Waterfront Transportation Center
December 9, 2020South Boston’s Seaport District has seen explosive development and growth in the last 10 years, so when it came time to add parking, it made sense to design and build a structure that would bring multiple modes of transportation together and help people get around no matter which mode made Read More »
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Glam Grandmother and Rapper: The Power of Radical Collaboration
December 8, 2020By Casey Jones, CAPP I met news that Martha Stewart and Snoop Dogg were getting together to do a cooking show with a raised eyebrow. I’ll bet some tuned in with car-crash curiosity to witness the interaction between a retail businesswoman, writer, television personality, and former model, and a Long Read More »
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Industry Association: Truck Parking Shortage Worsening, Endangering Drivers
December 7, 2020An association of independent truck drivers says despite efforts to provide more parking for truckers to rest, shortages in every state still exist and are worsening. A spokesperson for the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA) told an industry publication that efforts to develop apps and other technologies drivers could use Read More »
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A Trucker’s Blinking Brake Lights
December 4, 2020By Kim Fernandez Maryland’s I-270 south splits about a mile before it ends, forcing drivers to choose which way they’ll travel around the Washington, D.C. Beltway: right for Virginia and left for Maryland. It’s the main commuting route for people who live in the outer, northwest suburbs of Washington, D.C., Read More »
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The Abundance We Share
December 3, 2020By Kim E. Jackson, CAPP ‘Tis the season–unfortunately, everyone might not be feeling so jolly right now. Many of us just experienced a Thanksgiving holiday that did not include our normal large family and friends gathering, and we now face the challenge of modest end-of-year holiday celebrations. Instead of looking Read More »
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Cookies and Radishes
December 2, 2020By Matt Penney, CAPP There was an interesting social experiment several years ago. Participants were placed in a room with a bowl of radishes and a bowl of freshly baked cookies. One group was told to enjoy all the cookies they wanted. The second group was told to eat the Read More »
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The American Dream, Parking Technology, and the Realities of COVID-19
December 1, 2020By Geoffrey Posluszny The American Dream is an entertainment retail complex located next to the Meadowlands Stadium in New Jersey, just a few short miles from New York City. This development has been in the works for more than 20 years and has had its share of ups and downs. Read More »
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California Town Faces Backlash for Banning On-street RV Parking
November 30, 2020The City of Fullerton, Calif., enacted a ban on on-street RV parking and now faces backlash from people who live in the vehicles and feel they’re being discriminated against. Officials left flyers on RVs parked on city streets explaining the new regulation and saying the vehicles have to be moved Read More »
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Happy Thanksgiving from Your Friends at IPMI
November 25, 2020By Shawn Conrad, CAE We keep hearing that this Thanksgiving will be unlike any Thanksgiving we’ve celebrated in the past. It may be hard to find things you are thankful for in 2020, while a global novel coronavirus wreaks havoc on our health, schools, business, and communities. Thanksgiving has always Read More »
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Reflections on Thankfulness in a Turbulent Year
November 24, 2020By Kevin White, AICP Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday by far. Good food, time together with family, reflecting on what we are thankful for, and giving back to others who need a boost. With COVID-19 cases rising again after a turbulent year, this Thanksgiving will take on a new meaning Read More »
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New York Bill Would Allow Citizens to Enforce Parking Rules
November 23, 2020The New York City Council is considering allowing citizens to report parking violations and collect part of the ensuing fines. Fines would increase from $115 to $175 and citizens who used an online portal to report violations would receive 25 percent of that. The bill’s sponsors say they hope it Read More »
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Going from Grand to Ground
November 20, 2020By Kathleen Federici, MEd As we approach the holiday season, I typically look forward to attending our schools’ holiday concerts. I had no expectation of attending one this year even though both of my children are in band. My nine-year-old plays the clarinet, cello, and piano. Yes, the cello is Read More »
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A Little Radio Nostalgia for the Parking Meter
November 19, 2020Who needs a bit of warm and fuzzy this week? We found some in a Rhinelander, Wisc., radio historian’s recent report, which offered a little lesson and some nostalgia for the old-time parking meter. “Parking meters are a useful way to regulate traffic flow in areas where parking is at Read More »
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Navigating the New Normal
November 18, 2020The COVID-19 pandemic had significant effects on the way parking and mobility operates. From reductions in revenue to an accelerated push to embrace contactless payment and a new emphasis on effective and efficient micro-mobility options, the challenges have been big. As operation have navigated all of this change, they’ve found Read More »
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Changing the Culture of Parking Patrons
November 17, 2020By Keith Kennedy, CAPP After the course of many years and a consistent way of doing business, accepting changes can be challenging. The steadfast culture of how things are perceived or how they “should be” is a roadblock that must be taken down. As new technologies come into play, organizations Read More »
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Rising COVID Rates Transform Hospital Parking Garages
November 16, 2020With COVID-19 rates spiking across the U.S., hospitals are again transforming garages into triage or patient care units. One of the first is Renown Health in Reno, Nev., which turned an entire garage into a COVID patient care unit that opened late last week. The 10-day transformation from parking to Read More »
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Don’t Go It Alone! The Benefits of Attending Events as a Team
November 13, 2020By Rita Pagan, DES During the past few years, online conferences have gained traction as an alternative or add-on to in-person professional conferences when budgets are limited. With the onset of Coronavirus, virtual events have become the norm for now. I believe we’ll move into 2021 with hybrid events that Read More »
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Finding Improvement through After-action Reviews
November 12, 2020By Matthew Hulme, CAPP, MPA The after-action review (AAR) is extensively used in the military to garner feedback on how teams performed during an incident or event. In fact, it was used so often that it became the standard by which any task was deemed to be complete. Any menial Read More »
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Celebrating Veterans Working in Parking
November 11, 2020By Allen Corry, CAPP A veteran is a person with long service or experience in a particular occupation or field. It can also be a person who has served and is no longer serving in the military. Military veterans who have served directly in combat in a war are further Read More »
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Where Should the RVs Go?
November 10, 2020By Christina Jones, CAPP #VanLife hit peak viral status in 2017, with influencers providing MTV Cribs-style walk-throughs on their YouTube channels of their custom-built rigs, and Instagramming updates of the challenges and adventures of the lifestyle. Inhabited vehicles, though, have been a way of life for years for many, and Read More »
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Ways Cities are Leveraging Micro-mobility for Good
November 9, 2020Micro-mobility–shared scooters, bikes, etc.–is proving fantastic for getting people around, particularly in a COVID world. But a new resource says cities have evolved in the way they work with the vehicles and social good is coming from that. The Micro-mobility Policy Atlas, developed by the Shared-use Mobility Center, New Urban Read More »
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Building Hope
November 6, 2020By Justin Grunert, MSM As a movie buff, I love horror movies. And lately, zombies are having a moment. I have seen some great zombie movies and some really awful ones. Maybe they fit when a deadly pandemic ravages the world, causing people to become infected with a fatal disease. Read More »
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Automaker Working to Turn Greek Island into Mobility Hub
November 5, 2020Volkswagen has launched a pilot program to transform the Greek island of Astypalea into a sustainable mobility hub, with car- and ride-sharing and a fleet of vehicles operating on electric powertrains. The six-year program will replace 1,500 conventional vehicles with 1,000 electric cars on the island, and bring in electric Read More »
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Parking Helps Transform Detroit
November 4, 2020By Bill Smith If you haven’t been focused on what’s happening in Detroit, you’re missing one of America’s best stories. Businesses are returning to the downtown, restaurants and clubs have emerged, manufacturing is vibrant again, and Detroit is well on its way to becoming one of the hottest tourist destinations Read More »
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The Real Cost of COVID-19
November 3, 2020By Keith Kennedy, CAPP COVID-19 has taken a lot of people by surprise. When such events happen, everyone rallies. They hope this will be a short duration event. COVID-19 is still here–the threat is still real and still hanging around. There are so many ways this can hit us. Like Read More »
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Transportation Leaders Launch Future of Mobility Commission
November 2, 2020Mobility and transportation leaders from around the world last week announced the launch of the Commission on the Future of Mobility, “to identify opportunities across transportation and technology silos and propose a fundamentally new vision for transportation policy for people and goods.” Members include: Dr. Jared Cohon, president emeritus, Carnegie Read More »
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Undoing Unconstitutional
October 30, 2020By Shawn Conrad, CAE It may be hard to remember simpler times when we weren’t dealing with a global pandemic and the top trend and topic for our industry was curb management. It’s even harder to fathom that only a year ago, parking enforcement and specifically chalking tires was being Read More »
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Dude, Where’s My Wallet?
October 29, 2020By Chris Elliston The events industry has begun to crawl back to life and venues are reopening their doors to the public. Sports teams, entertainment and recreation sites, and universities have been busy pivoting processes to offer a safe return. As fans and guests start to revisit these familiar grounds, Read More »
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COVID-19 and Telework
October 28, 2020By L. Dennis Burns, CAPP As most of us have experienced, the COVID pandemic has resulted in an unprecedented national experiment with teleworking/telecommuting. The necessity of this has also seen a dramatic investment in the technology platforms to facilitate enhanced working-from-home communications. Many companies and institutions that had been anti-telework Read More »
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Study Reveals COVID’s Effect on How We Vacation
October 27, 2020By Brad Goldman We noticed a trend this summer: Our coworkers were driving to nearby vacation destinations and working remotely from there. We were curious to see if this was more of a macrotrend, so we surveyed more than 1,000 ParkMobile users to find out how their vacations changed in Read More »
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Standard Adopted for Wireless Electric Car Charging
October 26, 2020The ability to park an electric vehicle (EV) in a space and walk away to let it charge without plugging anything in got a boost forward Thursday with the announcement of a single industry standard for wireless charging. The standard–officially called SAE J2954–governs inductive charging (wireless) systems up to 11 Read More »
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Civic Duty & Civility
October 23, 2020By Michelle W. Jones, CMP, CAE Election Day is nearly upon us in the U.S. To say that times are contentious is a woeful understatement. Whether you follow politics regularly or you check in only during election season, there is no denying this is an important time. Each of us Read More »
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Checking Our Blind Spots
October 22, 2020By Christina Jones, CAPP How do you check your blind spots? Maybe you have systems in place that alert you when you are drifting—or maybe you are old school like me and ask your passenger if there is something there you can’t see. Ask people for feedback, they sometimes tell Read More »
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Frontline Fundamentals: Innovations in Parking
October 21, 2020By Robert Ferrin The parking industry is constantly innovating. With technology implementation moving so fast, it can sometimes feel like a whirlwind. For our employees, the change can be swift and surprising. How can our most valued assets–our employees–get involved in these innovative projects and programs and what are some Read More »
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When Your Community Speaks, Listen
October 20, 2020By Matthew Hulme, CAPP, MPA When meeting with community partners such as business councils, neighborhood advocacy groups, and resident coalitions, I don’t often hear, “We’d love to see more parking tickets issued around here.” So I tend to take notice when I do. Last time, my hope was that my Read More »
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Airports Managing Through COVID-19 Crisis
October 19, 2020Few parking sectors have been hit as hard by COVID-19 as airports–people simply aren’t flying. That said, when they do fly, driving to and parking at the airport is more attractive than using transit or transportation network companies (TNCs) such as Uber or Lyft, so as lockdowns ease, airport parking Read More »
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Upskilling: You’re Worth It!
October 16, 2020By Kathleen Federici, MEd Why has upskilling suddenly become so important? The short answer is the digital economy. There is a relentless commitment to achieve more with less, especially now during the COVID pandemic. Upskilling is the process of acquiring new and relevant competencies needed today and in the near Read More »
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Flipping the Switch with the BEAST
October 15, 2020By Vanessa R. Cummings, CAPP When you work with customers, which most of us do, you need to know the best way to interact with them. Some are less than friendly; we may also have colleagues, friends, or family who push our buttons. If you can relate to this, then Read More »
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Granular Choice, Reduced Parking Demand, and Delighted Customers
October 14, 2020By Chris Lechner, CAPP UCLA has long been a leader in reducing drive-alone rates. Historically, attention has been focused on subsidizing alternative transportation products, but parking policy plays a key role. Though often overlooked, daily discounted parking is crucial support strategy to meeting transportation demand management goals. UCLA has been Read More »
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Send Me Your Emails!
October 13, 2020By Matt Penney, CAPP “It is Dr. Freemont. I would appreciate you using my proper title each and every time you address me.” Great. I had contacted “Dr. Freemont” about his daughter’s use of his faculty parking permit. In the original email, I addressed him by his first name. He Read More »
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Lime Pushes for Mobility-as-a-Service Status
October 12, 2020Lime, once known for its huge fleet of ubiquitous green bikes, announced it will allow third-party transportation service providers to offer their services inside its app, growing from a bike and scooter booking service to a MaaS provider. Wheels, which offers pedal-free e-bikes, will be the first to join Lime Read More »
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Acting with Purpose and Kindness
October 9, 2020By Rachel Yoka, CAPP, LEED AP BD+C, WELL AP In a normal year, it takes discipline to set goals and stay focused on the steps you need to take to achieve them. This year has thrown us all for one heck of a curve. It’s easy to mindlessly scroll through Read More »
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Are You Empowered?
October 8, 2020By Victor Hill, CAPP The first year I worked with license plate recognition taught me a valuable lesson in managing expectations with reality and the importance of empowering others. I managed a small campus parking operation–four full-time employees, including me, and student enforcement officers. We had high hopes for LPR Read More »
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The National Freight Strategic Plan
October 7, 2020By L. Dennis Burns, CAPP U.S. Secretary of Transportation Elaine L. Chao recently announced the release of the first National Freight Strategic Plan (NFSP). It is the latest effort by the department to strengthen America’s economic competitiveness. The NFSP lays out “a vision for long-term investments in infrastructure, the workforce, Read More »
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Saying Yes–More Than You Usually Would
October 6, 2020By Gary Means, CAPP OK, I know in the parking and transportation business we often have to say “no”. No parking at a fire hydrant! No motorcycles in the gated garage! No walking around in the bus when its in motion! No dance parties on the garage roof! Many of Read More »
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Parking Garage Lauded for Drive-through Art Show in Dallas
October 5, 2020Area 3, a drive-through art show in a downtown Dallas parking garage, brought together 11 local artists to immerse guests in light, sound, and color and is being applauded by media and the public there. “This drive-through exhibition curated by the biennial festival Aurora is easily the coolest art event Read More »
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Growing Grace
October 2, 2020By Kim Fernandez After a socially distanced, back porch, complaining-about-all-things-Coronavirus, decidedly unhappy hour a couple of months back, two friends and I decided we needed more happy—a lot more happy. So we came up with the COVID blessing, which is something we’re grateful for that wouldn’t have happened without the Read More »
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A New Kind of Crisis Management
October 1, 2020By Casey Jones, CAPP Rahm Emanuel famously said, “You never let a serious crisis go to waste. And what I mean by that it’s an opportunity to do things you think you could not do before.” In spite of the tragedy and difficulty we currently face during this once-in-a-century health Read More »
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Leading with Authentic Concern
September 30, 2020By Brian Wolff Leading in good times is challenging enough, and with all that has happened this year, the degree of difficulty has escalated by a factor of at least two. Today’s leader must be able to connect with their people on a different level to be effective. As a Read More »
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How to Network During a Virtual Event
September 29, 2020By Ashley Owens We are all working from the safety of our homes and many of our powerful engagements now happen online. While we are physically distancing, virtually we are not. Online conferences give us access to the best experts, industry leaders, and other potential assets to our network, so Read More »
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What Flyers Need to Know About Airport Parking in a Pandemic
September 28, 2020Not a lot of people are traveling by plane right now but parking is still top of mind for those who are. In response, Forbes this weekend ran a piece about what flyers can expect when they go to park their cars. “The COVID pandemic has changed the way you Read More »
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Hold On–Let Me Overthink This
September 25, 2020By Rita Pagan Feeling like every decision you make lately is questionable? I feel especially doubtful of my decision-making abilities when it comes to the health and education of my children during this pandemic. And just like my mug, I’m OK with just being “okayest” right now to help with Read More »
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California Announces Plan to Ban New Gas-powered Car Sales by 2035
September 24, 2020California Gov. Gavin Newsom said yesterday his state will decrease the number of gasoline-powered vehicles sold there until only zero-emissions cars and trucks are allowed for sale in just 15 years. He hopes all heavy-duty trucks sold there will be be zero-emissions 10 years after that, he said. Last year, Read More »
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Back to School
September 23, 2020By Brett Wood CAPP, PE The weather outside is starting to change, ushering in cooler and more palatable temperatures. That’s usually a sign that students are heading back to college and my favorite sport (college football) is about to kick off. While these things are happening, it’s obviously a slightly Read More »
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Recruiting Professionals into Parking: A Conversation
September 22, 2020“I fell into parking.” “I never thought I’d work in this industry.” We hear it all the time–longtime parking and mobility professionals say they never saw themselves in this industry but loved it once they fell or backed into it. But what if there was a concerted effort to make Read More »
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Forbes: Considering Limited-access Parking for Autonomous Vehicles
September 21, 2020Limited-access highways, which offer high-speed roadway without much interaction with adjoining property or areas, are considered a great proving ground for autonomous vehicles, allowing them to travel quickly while minimizing the potential for accidents. Today, Forbes wonders if a similar concept would be prudent for parking lots, which may present Read More »
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Up, Up, and Away
September 18, 2020By Shawn Conrad, CAE It sounds surreal to say this but I just flew on a commercial flight for the first time in six months. With a family member recovering from surgery, I was needed on the West Coast and looked forward to doing something I did numerous times every Read More »
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Ask the Experts: The Future of Micro-mobility
September 17, 2020Experts say micro-mobility will emerge as a major form of transportation, especially in cities and on campuses, as we re-open after COVID-19. How do you think the industry could best take advantage of this trend? That’s the question we posed to our Ask the Experts panel for the September issue of Parking Read More »
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Emotional Intelligence in the Workplace
September 16, 2020By Tiffany Smith Emotional intelligence (EI) is incredibly complex and incredibly simple. When this became a buzzword of sorts a number of years ago, I immediately became intrigued. I consider myself both emotional and intelligent; I thought, this is a perfect adjective for my brand. Emotional intelligence is defined as Read More »
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Are You Breathing?
September 15, 2020By Kim E. Jackson, CAPP Unfortunately, as we enter into the 2020 fall and winter months, we are still struggling with the COVID-19 pandemic, still trying to address and better understand racial tension and injustice, and soon, those of us in the U.S. will participate in a presidential election. Many Read More »
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Beach Town Businesses Battle Paid Parking Proposal
September 14, 2020Sullivan’s Island, S.C., like a lot of cities and towns, is facing a significant revenue shortfall because of COVID-19. But when the town council proposed instituting paid parking, the beach town’s business owners revolted, saying they’d lose customers if people had to pay to park. “This is not a way Read More »
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My Flying Car
September 11, 2020By Justin Grunert, MSM As a kid watching cartoons and other T.V. shows, the idea of flying cars in the future was fantastic! But sadly, we are in 2020, and no one has a flying car yet. While scrolling through headlines, I found a short article about a Japanese company Read More »
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Return to Normal?
September 10, 2020By Josh Cantor, CAPP Starting in mid-March and the first effects of COVID-19, we started having multiple meetings a day and adjusted our operations as classes moved online for the remainder of the spring semester. By late spring, our daily meetings shifted their focus to preparing for the fall 2020 Read More »
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Parking Lots, Public Spaces, Social Distancing, and Safety
September 9, 2020By Rob Reiter Six months into dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic, Americans are finding ways to keep commerce moving amid many restrictions on use, occupancy, and physical spacing. In addition, the sharp drop in the use of public transportation has increased the pressures for re-purposing some very valuable real estate Read More »
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The Benefits of Green Infrastructure
September 8, 2020By Kathryn Hebert, PhD Green Infrastructure initiatives are used to reduce and handle the excess water storms bring in to urban environments, and even help the environment and economy. Storm runoff is a greater problem in urban areas where pavement and other non-porous surfaces prevent much of it from soaking Read More »
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Reality Checks and Great Things for Frontline Professionals
September 4, 2020By Cindy Campbell I’ve noticed that maintaining my motivation has been challenging lately. There was a time where the idea of working from home sounded so … idyllic. One heaping dose of reality later, I’m far less enamored with the remoteness of it all. Many colleagues are also feeling the Read More »
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The Metamorphosis of a Parking Authority
September 3, 2020By Tiffany Smith The Parking Authority of River City, Ky., (PARC) has made a number of transformations in the last 25 years, and I’ve been fortunate enough to witness this metamorphosis. From adopting automation ahead of the curve to implementing contactless payments system-wide, PARC has been on the leading edge Read More »
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Who Can You Reach With Your Spoon?
September 2, 2020By Vanessa Solesbee, CAPP I listened to the episode of Brene Brown’s podcast “Unlocking Us” again this week in which she interviews David Koessler, the world’s foremost expert on grief and grieving. It is a profound conversation and I highly recommend investing an hour of your time to listen in. Read More »
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Frontline Fundamentals: Building the Team–Ordinary to Extraordinary
September 1, 2020By Melissa Yates, CAPP What does it take to be a leader? No matter your position within an organization, we all have the potential to help our team move to the next level and get on the same page. But how exactly do we get the ball rolling? This was Read More »
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D.C.’s Curb Management Technology Showcased to Consumers
August 31, 2020Washington, D.C., garnered attention in the parking and mobility industry when it launched its innovative curb management program last year, installing several dozen cameras in business windows to inform systems in delivery trucks where and when they could park on the street. This weekend, the system was explained to consumers Read More »
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Re-imagining Emotional Intelligence
August 28, 2020By Michelle W. Jones, CAE, CMP Google’s English dictionary, provided by Oxford Languages, defines emotional intelligence as, “the capacity to be aware of, control, and express one’s emotions, and to handle interpersonal relationships judiciously and empathetically.” In recent years, emotional intelligence has become a more and more common topic at Read More »
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Automated, Valet Garage Concept Open in Detroit
August 27, 2020A partnership between automaker Ford and two tech companies has opened an automated, valet garage demonstration site in Detroit, in the same corridor where 40 miles of AV-only highway lanes are planned. Bosch, Bedrock Technologies, and Ford worked together to build the site, which is available for visits by appointment. Read More »
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Celebrating This Year’s Class of CAPPs
August 26, 2020Earning CAPP is a pivotal achievement for a parking and mobility professional–it puts them in an elite class of experts who’ve demonstrated their commitment to and knowledge of the industry by working for its most respected credential. This year, IPMI is pleased to welcome 43 new CAPPs to the ranks Read More »
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Case Study: National Review of Public Transit COVID-19 Delivery Programs
August 25, 2020By L. Dennis Burns, CAPP I was reviewing some literature on transit operations during the COVID-19 pandemic recently and ran across a case study of transit agencies pivoting to repurposing a portion of their fleets to address COVID-related community needs. The case study, authored by Al Benedict and Mallory Livingston Read More »
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San Diego Restaurants Jump Into TNCs’ Battle About Driver Employment Status
August 24, 2020Saying their already-struggling businesses could be decimated if Uber and Lyft leave California, restaurant owners in San Diego have jumped into the legal battle around TNCs’ driver status. Even though ride-share demand is low now, they say, many eateries depend on the services bringing customers to them. Restaurant owners also Read More »
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What’s On Your Mind?
August 21, 2020By Kathleen Federici, MEd What’s on your mind these days? Our entire team is eager to hear it. This year we have asked for your submissions for our 2021 webinar series. It’s not the call for proposals for our 2021 Conference & Expo (but look for that later this year). Read More »
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Returning to Work in the New Normal
August 20, 2020By Richard L. Bradley, CAPP The University of Mississippi has started inviting faculty and staff back to campus for work. We were well taken care of during our campus shutdown, which stretched from mid-March until July 1, and paid administrative leave was allowed for those with positions not conducive to Read More »
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Keep Calm and Carry On: The Power of Resiliency
August 19, 2020By Casey Jones, CAPP I’m currently reading Erik Larson’s “The Splendid and the Vile,” an account of the year that followed Winston Churchill’s appointment as British Prime Minister and the devastation brought by Hitler and Germany’s Luftwaffe against the island nation of Great Britain. The book details many harrowing experiences Read More »
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Wired: Public Skepticism, Union Opposition Will Greatly Delay Autonomous Transit
August 18, 2020It wasn’t so long ago that autonomous buses and shuttles felt like part of the near-term future. But delays in technology and COVID-19 have put the brakes on that prediction, and now Wired says autonomous transit will have to get past public nerves and strong opposition by unions to happen. Read More »
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A Look at Facebook’s One-stop Mobility Hub
August 17, 2020When Facebook built the Menlo Gateway phase of its Menlo Park headquarters, the company knew getting employees around would be paramount. So the sprawling complex includes three parking structures, the first of which was designed to be a one-stop mobility hub that would give employees lots of choices for getting Read More »
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AVs Get Their Own Lane in Michigan
August 14, 2020Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer yesterday announced the establishment of dedicated lanes for autonomous vehicles (AVs) on a 40-mile stretch of highway between Detroit and Ann Arbor. The lanes will be built thanks to a private-public partnership (P3) and construction is expected to begin after a two-year study to determine the Read More »
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Applying Lessons from PARK(ing) Day to COVID-19
August 13, 2020PARK(ing) Day–that September day when on-street parking spaces around the world are transformed into picnic areas, yoga studios, tiny parks, art exhibitions, and anything else that might fit. Who would have ever guessed we’d use what we learned from that annual celebration to help fight a global pandemic? In this Read More »
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Mastering the Art of Effective–Really Effective–Networking
August 12, 2020By Ashley Owens Networking is such a personal activity–it is not a one-size-fits-all practice. Most people get bogged down in the details and miss out on the foundation of how to build and retain an effective network. At the end of the day, no one cares WHAT you do, but Read More »
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Masks on Miami: A COVID Safety Campaign with Smiling Undertones
August 11, 2020By Alejandra “Alex” Argudin, CAPP How do you make wearing a mask fun? With some hip music, a little swagger and an only-in-Miami attitude. That’s how the Masks On Miami campaign puts a smile on an otherwise hard situation. Aimed at keeping people safe by encouraging them to wear masks, Read More »
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Los Angeles Delays Micro-mobility Regulations Designed to Boost Equity
August 10, 2020The transportation committee of the Los Angeles City Council approved strict new rules governing micro-mobility distribution and use through the city but delayed roll-out until the end of the year. Companies providing shared scooters and bikes praised the delay, saying the new regulations are too expensive and difficult to comply Read More »
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Life Ring in a Coffee Cup
August 7, 2020By Kim Fernandez My family has been home nearly every minute of every day since March. I’m terribly blessed to have them and love them more than life itself…and they’re driving me just a tiny bit crazy. You too? It’s hard to work with so many bodies and a near-constant Read More »
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University Plans for Fall
August 6, 2020Colleges and universities are facing unprecedented challenges this fall: To return to campus, to stay all-remote, to launch a hybrid model, and everything all of those decisions entail. Health and safety have never played as big a role in a fall as they do this year, and that means parking Read More »
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Slowing Down, Reflecting More, Appreciating the Small Things
August 5, 2020By L. Dennis Burns, CAPP Among the many unexpected aspects of living through these unusual times, one that has emerged for me is an enhanced appreciation of the small but critically important aspects of day-to-day life, family, and community that can often be neglected when we are fully engaged in Read More »
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Creating Alternatives to Adaptive Reuse
August 4, 2020By Brett Wood, CAPP, PE I’ve been a parking consultant for awhile now and have done my fair share of downtown parking studies. Most of them start with trying to define how many parking spaces are occupied at peak conditions. As I look back at this experience, I cannot recall Read More »
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As RV Popularity Surges, More Walmarts Ban Overnight Parking
August 3, 2020It was a not-very-well kept secret among RV owners for a very long time: If they couldn’t find or couldn’t afford a campground while visiting a city, they could almost always camp in a Walmart parking lot overnight. But a lot of Walmarts are banning overnight RV parking–sometimes because of Read More »
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Above All Else, Be Kind: Emotional Intelligence During Uncertainty
July 31, 2020By Rita Pagan The struggle is REAL. We’re all stressed in every aspect of our lives right now. There are days I feel like I just can’t function, mentally, physically, and emotionally. It’s overwhelming. So having emotional intelligence is at the utmost importance right now. Emotional intelligence is the ability Read More »
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Valuable Lessons from Accreditation
July 30, 2020By David G. Onorato, CAPP With its 2017 recognition as an IPMI Accredited Parking Organization (APO), the Public Parking Authority of Pittsburgh became one of just a few initial municipal providers to achieve APO status. Awarded with distinction, the designation affirmed the effectiveness of the agency’s aggressive adoption of the Read More »
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Electrifying the Transportation System
July 29, 2020By Robert Ferrin A quiet revolution is occurring in the transportation system as national, state, and local governments are planning toward a carbon-neutral future to combat poor air and water quality and climate change. Automakers, too, are reacting to these currents of change. A recent Forbes article highlighted a dozen Read More »
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Movement for Everyone
July 28, 2020By Casey Jones, CAPP Last November, Lauren McLean succeeded four-term incumbent Dave Bieter to become Boise’s 56th mayor. To establish her agenda and set priorities for the new administration, the new mayor invited more than 70 citizens to participate in one of six transition committees tasked with forming recommendations to Read More »
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Beach Towns Try Controlling Crowding with Parking
July 27, 2020Finding themselves too crowded for comfort during COVID-19 on weekends and, in some cases, too desolate for business during the week, beach towns through the U.S. are enacting–and sometimes removing–restrictions on parking to effect traffic one way or another. A few examples: Parking in parts of Charleston, S.C., was restricted Read More »
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Reaching for the Sky
July 23, 2020It’s been a weird year in parking and mobility. Maybe that makes it a great time to tell some of the industry’s positive stories–the stories that explain why parking and mobility are vital components of successful cities, campuses, healthcare facilities, airports, and all sorts of businesses and venues. We bet Read More »
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Sign, Sign, Everywhere a Sign
July 22, 2020By Matt Penney, CAPP I checked off an item on my to-do list this morning: After four years in my “new” office, I finally got around to a little decorating. The parking signs that had been stacked on the floor now make a border around my office. The wide assortment Read More »
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IPMI’s Roadmap to Recovery Needs Your Help
July 21, 2020By Brett Wood, CAPP, PE During the last few months, several of IPMI’s volunteer committee members have been working to assemble information about the industry’s response to COVID-19 and the overall path for recovery for parking and mobility organizations. Several pieces of information have been shared and can be found Read More »
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Cultivating the Next Generation of Industry Professionals
July 20, 2020“I fell into parking.” “I never thought I’d work in this industry.” We hear it all the time–longtime parking and mobility professionals say they never saw themselves in this industry but loved it once they fell or backed into it. But what if there was a concerted effort to make Read More »
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Dear COVID-19: I Have a Grievance
July 17, 2020By Justin Grunert, MSM Dear COVID-19: How dare you try to ruin my summer! Your infection may be forcing places to close and you may think you have ruined fun–well, think again. I will not be visiting the beaches but I will be enjoying other outdoor activities. I found quite Read More »
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IPMI, Coalition of Municipalities, Request $30B for COVID Recovery
July 16, 2020Over the next few weeks, Congress is working on a potential third stimulus package to assist various sectors of the U.S. economy. The International Parking & Mobility Institute (IPMI), with a coalition of municipalities, is requesting an additional $30B to support cities providing essential services in response to COVID-19. Read Read More »
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Five Great Ways to Improve Your LinkedIn Profile
July 15, 2020LinkedIn has long been known as the place to socially network to hire, improve professional knowledge, network, and bump up one’s career. But it’s also one of the biggest search engines on the internet and people visit it to find all sorts of things. If your profile’s not optimized, they Read More »
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Now Is the Time to Rethink Sustainability
July 14, 2020By Jonah Eidus It shouldn’t take a global pandemic to demonstrate the benefits of a more sustainable future. Yet Los Angeles, which is notorious for its poor air quality, recently experienced some of the cleanest air in the world and its longest stretch of good air quality in more than Read More »
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U.K. Legalizes Shared E-scooters on Roads After COVID-19 Lockdowns
July 13, 2020Commuters in England, Scotland, and Wales will soon have a new way to get around: As of July 4, shared e-scooters are legal on their roads. Trips on pubic transportation are down 90 percent since COVID-19 lockdowns began several months ago, and the scooters’ introduction are intended to help people Read More »
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Music to Our Ears
July 10, 2020By Shawn Conrad, CAE I had a friend who sold machinery. He traveled long distances across North America and Europe, and I once asked him how he passed all that time behind the wheel. He told me he survived on rock-n-roll–I’m about to date myself—he traveled with a suitcase full Read More »
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Lyft’s Self-driving Cars Returning to the Road
July 9, 2020It’s been awhile since we’ve heard anything about autonomous cars getting out there–they shut down along with everyone else this spring–but Lyft’s AVs have started testing again on tracks in Palo Alto, Calif. The company said it used the three-month, COVID-mandated, off-road pause to employ machine learning and keep its Read More »
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Leveraging Analytics as Part of a Data-Driven Operation
July 8, 2020By Kevin White, AICP As businesses and cities reopen from various restrictions imposed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, there is uncertainty in how various sectors will fare and how customers and visitors will react. If your operation hasn’t already adopted a philosophy of data-driven management, the time is now Read More »
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A Seat at the Table During COVID-19
July 7, 2020By Marlene Cramer, CAPP For years, parking and mobility professionals have advocated for a seat at the table. As director of transportation and parking at a university campus, one of my collateral roles is as planning sections chief in our campus Emergency Operation Center (EOC). During the past four months, Read More »
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No More Free Parking for EVs in Hawaii
July 6, 2020A bill that would have extended free parking for electric vehicles (EVs) in state-owned facilities and at metered spaces in Hawaii died without being passed; EV drivers started paying for parking July 1. Free parking for EVs is a common perk of ownership and environmental advocates say it’s an incentive Read More »
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Urban Mobility After COVID-19
July 2, 2020More of us are working from home than ever—some with no return to office in sight. Buses and commuter trains are running nearly empty in some markets, cars stay parked for weeks at a time, and the demand for bikes is unprecedented. COVID-19 has had huge effects on the way Read More »
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Flexibility and COVID-19
July 1, 2020By Mark Lyons, CAPP Albert Einstein said the measure of intelligence is the ability to change. The demand for changes in mobility programs as a result of COVID-19 are enough to make any good mobility professional more flexible than taffy on hot day. I know you’re probably more than done Read More »
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When Will I See You Again?
June 30, 2020By Roamy Valera, CAPP Saying goodbye to someone after a visit or meeting was clearly underrated prior to the pandemic. We had become accustomed to moving freely and willingly to visit family, friends, and colleagues. In my case, getting on a plane once a week and traveling for meetings and Read More »
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Pandemic Travel Patterns Offer Hints About Future
June 29, 2020The world collectively has learned a lot since COVID-19 begin forcing shutdowns and stay-home orders. Experts say that’s true for travel patterns, and the way people shifted theirs during and after lockdowns may offer a glimpse of the future of human transportation. Bloomberg CityLab says, “The lessons of the great Read More »
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Breaking Up Is Hard To Do
June 26, 2020By Michelle W. Jones, CAE, CMP For that matter, any uncomfortable conversation can be hard. Whether you are ending a relationship, asking an aging parent about end-of-life decisions, or inquiring about the possibility of a pay raise, many conversations we have in business or in daily life are stressful. It Read More »
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Authentic Concern and The Potential of Industry Technology Suppliers
June 25, 2020By Brian Wolff “Authentic concern” is defined simply as a company that genuinely demonstrates concern, as opposed to a fake or half-hearted interaction that leaves you feeling less than appreciated or valued. If your company is delivering authentic concern, your customers feel like they are more than a number or Read More »
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Balancing the Post-pandemic Budget
June 24, 2020By Pamela Corbin, CAPP There is little doubt that the COVID-19 pandemic has had a huge effect on the budgets of parking systems throughout the country. Operating budgets are one of the most important work products in municipalities. They give the authority to incur obligations and pay expenses, allocate resources, and control Read More »
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Planning in Unusual Times
June 23, 2020By L. Dennis Burns, CAPP I recently read an article by Sam Lubell about COVID-19’s effects on cities, in the Los Angeles Times. In his article, Lubell outlines how “although pandemics have long been a tragic scourge on our cities, they’ve also forced architecture and city planning to evolve. The Read More »
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Is This Micro-mobility’s Moment?
June 22, 2020Since COVID-19 lockdowns started in March, micro-mobility has struggled and several big players have either exited specific markets or left the field altogether. But with more people around the world heading back to work and wary of trains and buses, micro-mobility may be enjoying a big boom–and a chance to Read More »
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Choose Kindness
June 19, 2020By Kathleen Federici, MEd I witnessed an act of kindness about three weeks ago that has stuck with me. Kindness is everywhere. Sometimes, the act is so small we don’t allow ourselves to acknowledge it. Sometimes, the act is so large, we can’t allow ourselves to forget it. With our Read More »
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Return to Normalcy?
June 18, 2020By Josh Cantor, CAPP During many large-scale events and emergencies, such as severe weather, I am used to being an integral part of planning and response as I represent parking and transportation. It sometimes takes me being pushy, but I always want to make sure access concerns are addressed, as Read More »
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Diversify Your Portfolio
June 17, 2020By Robert Ferrin A phrase often heard from a financial advisor is resonating with municipal parking operators throughout the nation as we feel the effects of COVID-19 on our budgets. COVID-19 has affected so many things in our world, not the least of which has been parking and transportation demand Read More »
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Communication in a Virtual Training World
June 16, 2020By Kim E. Jackson, CAPP I have the distinct honor of being a trainer for IPMI. I have been training for the past 23 years and one of the major highlights has always been the face-to-face interactions with trainees. During COVID-19, I decided to participate in Frontline Training Live Class Read More »
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Forty-two Years Later, Massachusetts Man Pays Parking Citation
June 15, 2020A Massachusetts man found a parking ticket he received in Maine back in 1978 and it ate at him–so much so that he mailed the ticket and a check for the $3 fine and $1 late fee to the York, Maine Police Department. They were so surprised and amused by Read More »
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The Art–and Value–of Doing Nothing
June 12, 2020By Kim Fernandez This was supposed to be a busy year. Besides work, I had several days of out-of-state college touring with my daughter, plus a five-day trip as a chaperone with her school choir group, plus days to move my son home from college, plus a family vacation, plus Read More »
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Sharing Our COVID-19 Knowledge
June 11, 2020By Nicole Chinea, CAPP I recently went out to dinner post-COVID. I have to admit, it was a bit scary. Despite what is going on in our world at the moment, I am grateful to say that this is the first time I have felt fear from going to dinner Read More »
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What’s the Answer, Part II
June 10, 2020By David Feehan As I thought about my previous blog, I realized that there is much I wanted to say but did not. I raised the issue of diversity in the parking industry and even looked to our leadership at IPMI to ask if we were doing enough. But having Read More »
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What’s the Answer?
June 9, 2020By David Feehan These have been particularly sad and disheartening days for me. I am a native of Minneapolis, Minn., a city that has always prided itself on being enlightened when it comes to race. I owned a house just off Lake Street, where the burning and looking occurred. My Read More »
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Cities Begin Enforcing Parking Regulations as They Reopen
June 8, 2020As COVID-19 lockdowns begin to ease and people head back to their normal lives a little bit, cities around the world are beginning to enforce parking regulations: New York City, which just entered phase one of reopening, announced last night that its famous alternate-side parking rules would be relaxed for Read More »
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Austin, Texas, Expands Free Pick-up Parking
June 5, 2020While cities move toward re-opening after lengthy COVID-19 lockdowns, at least one is expanding its program to offer free parking to people picking up food and goods. Rather than building more curbside pickup zones, Austin, Texas, is offering codes people can use to park for free at any city meter Read More »
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Wrapping Up – and Taking Next Steps!
June 4, 2020By Rachel Yoka, CAPP, LEED AP BD+C, WELL AP The past few months and weeks have been difficult—no matter what part of the industry or world you live in. As we look toward a brighter future, coming together with our IPMI community through the 2020 IPMI Virtual Parking & Mobility Read More »
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See You Monday!
May 29, 2020What a long, strange year it’s been so far, but things are starting to look up. And we at IPMI are excited to see our parking and mobility industry friends online Monday for the 2020 IPMI Parking & Mobility Virtual Conference & Expo—#IPMI2020. It’s not the same as in person Read More »
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Why is it Raining in my Parking Structure?
May 28, 2020By Scott Weiland Ever wonder why it is raining inside your parking structure? Well, it is a sign that your parking structure needs attention. Water is the No. 1 cause of parking structure deterioration. Water-saturated concrete can freeze, expand, and spall. Combined with oxygen, water can also cause corrosion of Read More »
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What Do We Do Next?: COVID-19 and the Triple Helix Model of Innovation
May 27, 2020By David C. Lipscomb This blog is part of a special series on curb management and COVID-19. A joint effort of the International Parking and Mobility Institute, Transportation for America, and Institute of Transportation Engineer’s Complete Streets Council, this series strives to document the immediate curbside-related actions and responses to Read More »
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A New (Ab)Normal
May 26, 2020By Chris Lechner, CAPP As the U.S. begins to open up in ways large and small, the mobility industry is preparing for a broad range of outcomes. There are two fundamental questions facing all of us: How many people are coming back to our venues? How are they going to Read More »
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Real-life Connections in a Virtual World
May 22, 2020By Kim Fernandez Raise your hand if big-event networking can be a little overwhelming. Now raise it if the thought of that same networking during a virtual event makes your head hurt a little bit. I thought so. As it turns out—and this was news to me—virtual networking is a Read More »
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Reassessing Mobility Technology
May 21, 2020By John Nolan, CAPP, MSM Why do we spend so much money on business technology? We do so to help leverage our operations and improve business outcomes. These outcomes include our ability to deliver timely and accurate information—information that improves service outcomes but at the same time increases customer expectations. Read More »
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Learning from COVID-19: Connecting with the Research Community
May 20, 2020By Stephanie Dock, AICP, and Katherine Kortum, PhD, PE This blog post is part of a special series on curb management and COVID-19. A joint effort of the International Parking & Mobility Institute, Transportation for America, and Institute of Transportation Engineer’s Complete Streets Council, this series strives to document the Read More »
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Stand Strong Even if You Stand Alone
May 19, 2020By Tope Longe The world has been rocked by unprecedented occurrence. The norm, as we know it, faltered. Many have been thrown into incomprehensible situations. Many more are likely to be. Change in status quo. Transition too! Transition is “the process or a period of changing from one state or Read More »
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London Begins Reopening, Sees Commute Demands Change
May 18, 2020London, England, has begun emerging from its COVID-19 shutdown and, according to the Evening Standard, is already seeing changes to demand for different commuting modes: Forty percent of Londoners say they’re hesitant to use the Tube rail system. Before COVID-19, 58 percent of people working in the city used the Read More »
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A 10-Point Roadmap for the New Normal in Parking and Mobility
May 15, 2020By Kevin White, AICP Like many other sectors of the economy, the parking and mobility industry has been affected significantly by the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite significant impacts on revenue, staffing, and other functions, municipal operations have deftly adjusted to local conditions and are planning in earnest for an uncertain future Read More »
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Are Parking Minimums a Thing of the Past?
May 14, 2020By Jonathan Wicks, CAPP In this time of evolving transportation needs and consumer preferences, municipalities and developers are asking: Are old-school parking minimums applicable to today’s usage? Developers often find them inflexible, frustrating, and costly. The planning community is increasingly opposed to parking minimums, concerned that they perpetuate an auto-centric nature of Read More »
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COVID-19 & the Curb: Private Sector Works to Adapt and Offer Creative Solutions
May 13, 2020This post is part of a special series on curb management and COVID-19. A joint effort of International Parking and Mobility Institute (IPMI), Transportation for America, and Institute of Transportation Engineer’s Complete Streets Council, this series strives to document the immediate curbside-related actions and responses to COVID-19, as well as Read More »
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Parking, COVID, and Universities
May 12, 2020By David M. Feehan I have spent the last couple of years working to strengthen a business district organization in Dinkytown, the district adjacent to the main campus of the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. This historic district is the place where Bob Zimmerman from Hibbing, Minn., got his start Read More »
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Parking Officer Documents Pandemic with Photography
May 11, 2020A Sausalito, Calif., parking enforcement officer is finding purpose and some positive attention putting a passion to work during COVID-19. Beth DiLego, who holds an art degree from Endicott College, has taken her camera along while patrolling as a city parking officer, documenting both empty streets and storefronts and returning Read More »
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My First Virtual Conference
May 8, 2020By Justin Grunert In the wake of the Coronavirus pandemic, IPMI decided to transition from an in-person Conference to a virtual event. Our first priority was to keep all of our attendees, sponsors, and vendors safe. It saddens me that I won’t be able to see many of you in Read More »
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Leadership is Not Complicated
May 7, 2020By Perry H Eggleston, CAPP, DPA During the last 30 years, I have seen much written and taught on leadership. I attended leadership courses and read many books that provided step-by-step instruction. I became overwhelmed with all the “right” ways to become a leader. I did realize that leadership is Read More »
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Curbside Management in a Recurring Emergency Scenario: A Municipal Perspective
May 6, 2020By Benito O. Pérez, AICP CTP, CPM; and David Carson Lipscomb, MCP This post is part of a special series on curb management and COVID-19. A joint effort of IPMI, Transportation for America, and ITE’s Complete Streets Council, this series strives to document the immediate curbside-related actions and responses to Read More »
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Embracing Technology: Enhance Customer Protection and Experience
May 5, 2020By Jon Martens, CAPP, AICP Major changes have occurred since the mandatory COVID-19 restrictions. Social distancing and PPE (personal protective equipment) have become common discussion points. Grocery stores have added cashier shields, marked spacing on the floor, metered customers, and facemasks. Several retail stores are pushing scan-and-go options to allow Read More »
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Micro-mobility Providers Offer Transportation to Hospital and Essential Workers
May 4, 2020Even as micro-mobility providers struggle to operate during COVID-19 shutdowns, they’re also being offered as transportation options for health care workers and first responders trying to get to work while social distancing. In Baltimore, Md., Lime is deploying about 50 e-scooters near several downtown hospitals and the Inner Harbor area, Read More »
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All Heroes Don’t Wear Capes
May 1, 2020By Shawn Conrad, CAE I was tempted to focus this post on what potential changes our industry will experience when stay-at-home orders are lifted and we look at life post-pandemic. But as I work through my fifth week of sheltering in place, I’d like to offer an observation on the Read More »
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Parking and the Autonomous Future
April 30, 2020By Josh Naramore There has been a tremendous amount of media attention the last few years offering prognostications and insight into a future where autonomous vehicles are the norm. For the City of Grand Rapids, Mich., the future has merged with the present. In July 2019, the city with partners Read More »
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The Parking & Mobility Industry Comes Together in a Time of Need
April 29, 2020By Brett Wood, CAPP, PE This blog is part of a special series on curb management and COVID-19. A joint effort of IPMI, Transportation for America, and ITE, this series strives to document the immediate curbside-related actions and responses to COVID-19, as well as create a knowledge base of strategies Read More »
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New Curb Management Challenges
April 28, 2020By Casey Jones, CAPP I read in the Idaho Statesman that our governor has extended the stay-at-home order in Idaho until April 30. This is not a surprise to me given the abundance of caution across the country. What is surprising is the governor’s adjustment to non-essential business. “Any facility Read More »
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Planes, Trains, Automobiles, and … Resilience
April 27, 2020By Paul Wessel I’ve been thinking quite a bit lately about resilience, technically defined as “the ability to prepare and plan for, absorb, recover from, and more successfully adapt to adverse events.” While our country clearly has fallen short on preparing and planning for the current COVID-19 adverse event, we Read More »
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Is Sustainability Only About Going Green?
April 24, 2020By David Karwaski Sustainability is often thought of as “going green,” or being largely focused on natural environmental effects. Photos of polar bears on tiny flotsam of ice come to mind. But the natural environment is only part of the story—one-third of it, in fact. The other two-thirds are social Read More »
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Making the Switch
April 23, 2020By Conor Burke “This is not normal.” This quote has been used in many aspects of our lives the last few years, and COVID-19 has made sure this phrase will be with us in the foreseeable future. As an industry, parking and mobility has been trending to be more green-friendly. Read More »
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The Race to Profitability: TNCs and Micro-Mobility
April 22, 2020By Brian Shaw, CAPP Getting folks to reduce their driving would seem to be an ideal way to help the environment and improve a region’s traffic conditions. However, any environmental and traffic benefits depend on the mode folks switch to from driving themselves. In the case of micro-mobility and TNCs, Read More »
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Five Essential Elements for Planning a Mobility Hub
April 21, 2020By David Taxman, PE I was recently asked to develop a plan for two mobility hubs at two developments in a south Florida city. Mobility hubs are multiple modes of transportation (i.e. train, bus, bike-share, car-share, etc.) at one location, and are typically located at high-frequency, public transit stations. After Read More »
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Frontline Fridays: Taking IPMI’s Frontline Training Online
April 20, 2020By Cindy Campbell The saying goes that “necessity is the mother of invention.” True enough. We read on a daily basis about the realities of our changing world in response to this pandemic. An abundance of caution is necessary as we try to remain healthy and safe. For most, the Read More »
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Positivity During Pandemic
April 17, 2020By Michelle W. Jones, CAE, CMP There are some advantages to living in a small town. One such advantage is the mentality of, “we’re all in this together.” Local restaurants and bars are offering takeout options, even if that’s not a model they’ve ever had before. Neighbors are sitting on Read More »
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Imagining a New Working World
April 16, 2020By Brett Wood, CAPP, PE A large portion of the working world is adjusting to a new normal of working from home. Many are doing this while also being primary caregivers for a family, head of school for children, and maintainer of sanity for a household. In this current climate, Read More »
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COVID’s Effect on TDM Programs
April 15, 2020By Perry Eggleston, CAPP, DPA With the COVID-19 crisis in full effect, I started to look at the post-crisis impact on traditional transportation demand planning. I work on a large university campus with an active TDM program that’s been successful in the reduction of the number of single-occupant vehicle (SOV) Read More »
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The Kids Are Alright
April 14, 2020By Vanessa Solesbee, CAPP With many of us home full-time now with kids, dogs, spouses, and other loved ones all trying coexist in under one roof, I am seeing a lot of articles focused on getting our kids into routines/schedules/anything to keep them moving forward. But what we are doing Read More »
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Parking Lots Take Center Stage on Easter Sunday
April 13, 2020With people around the world under social-distancing orders, Easter Sunday church services became a focal point of attention this weekend. And while many churches streamed their services to the faithful at home, some made use of parking lots–theirs and others–to hold services without encouraging their flocks to gather too closely. Read More »
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Be Well Among the Disruptions
April 10, 2020By Kathleen Federici, MEd The time we are experiencing right now certainly is a disruption—a disturbance or problems that interrupt an event, activity, or process. As an industry, we are not naïve to disruptions; some would dare say innovative disruptions can and have changed our work, organizations, and product lines Read More »
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Curb Management -> Measure > Manage > Monitor > Optimize
April 9, 2020By Erik Nelson The IPMI Research & Innovation Task Force is offering this blog series to help demystify the approach to implementing curb lane management strategies for the industry. The blog series will present a common model for implementing curb management: Measure -> Manage -> Monitor -> Optimize. This discussion Read More »
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COVID-19 and Our Industry
April 8, 2020Campuses have emptied out. Hospitals are busier than ever. Municipalities are trying to help communities under shelter-in-place orders. And nobody knows when airports will get back to normal. COVID-19 has affected parking and mobility in more ways than we can count, from revenue to payroll to services to security—and essential Read More »
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Reshaping Parking
April 7, 2020By David W. Burr The Coronavirus crisis has thrown our lives into disarray and has shaken up our industry. While the economic impact will linger, the public health crisis will likely pass in a matter of weeks. But even as it passes, it will be important that we as an Read More »
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Court Upholds Phoenix Airport TNC Pick-up and Drop-off Fees
April 6, 2020The Arizona Supreme Court upheld a $4 pick-up and drop-off fee for transportation network companies (TNCs) at Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport late last week. TNCs had argued the fees were unconstitutional, while the airport said they would help distribute COVID-19 recovery costs between all businesses at the airport. The airport Read More »
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New York Legalizes E-bikes, Scooters, in Response to COVID-19
April 3, 2020New York City, long a holdout against e-bikes and e-scooters, this week legalized the mobility devices in response to the COVID-19 crisis. Delivery workers using the motorized devices have, until now, faced fines and having their rides confiscated, but lawmakers said e-bikes and scooters will help those people keep working Read More »
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Staying In Touch
April 2, 2020By Nicole Chinea, CAPP The last couple of weeks have been an adjustment for the entire world. I realize that many of our parking community are considered essential personnel. Not only are they adjusting to a new way of life at home, but they are keeping operations afloat and meeting Read More »
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Unsettling Times
April 1, 2020By Jennifer Tougas, CAPP, PhD When I first heard that there was a “novel coronavirus” in China and the Chinese government was taking extreme measures to try to contain the spread of the disease, it caught my attention. When it started spreading outside of China to the cruise ship docking Read More »
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Before You Repurpose Parking for COVID-19: Important Safety Information
March 31, 2020By John Purinton As healthcare workers man the front lines of the COVID-19 outbreak, one of the challenges they’re forced to confront is how—and where—to manage the dramatic increase in patient volume. This unprecedented demand for additional beds and space to treat patients has resulted in some hospitals seeking to Read More »
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Gathering Together Despite the Distance
March 30, 2020Several hundred parking and mobility professionals gathered together in two virtual IPMI Shoptalks last week, to talk about COVID-19 and operations: human resources challenges, shifting duties, curb management, revenue, garage management, and a host of other topics. They did it online during live, video-enabled events, and we invite you to Read More »
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The Stories We’ll Tell
March 27, 2020By Kim Fernandez Every so often, my dad would go into our family room and sit on the floor in between two giant, mustard-yellow fabric-covered, 1960s stereo speakers, lower the needle on a record, and just listen. He had three favorites: Juice Newton, Crystal Gayle, and Kenny Rogers. Everybody liked Read More »
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Hospital Sets Up COVID-19 Assessment Station in Parking Garage
March 26, 2020You may have seen the photos circulating online—yes, those hospital beds in a parking garage at Vanderbilt University Medical Center are real. Vanderbilt, like many hospitals, has set up a COVID-19 assessment area in its parking garage. Much like other hospitals using tents to assess and triage patients for possible Read More »
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Parking Whack-a-Mole
March 25, 2020By Blake Fitch, CAPP In my last blog post, I wrote about transformation by communication. I explained the process used for adding an additional parking zone to the City of Aspen, Colo., for the first time since 1995. It didn’t take long to see the domino effect from making this Read More »
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Social Distancing ≠ Disconnected
March 24, 2020By Bill Smith It has been an eventful week, to say the least. Many of my clients have begun to work from home and chances are, your customers have too. It’s important to remember that social distancing doesn’t mean people will be disconnected. Your customers and potential customers will have Read More »
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Unsung COVID-19 Hero: The Library Parking Lot
March 23, 2020Children around the world are transferring from the classroom to online learning as the COVID-19 virus forces them to stay home, away from their teachers and classmates. And in some rural areas, that means they’re visiting the parking lot of their local library to get their homework finished. For families Read More »
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Why Personal Resilience Can Make You a Better Leader
March 20, 2020By Rita Pagan The true grit of a leader is not how they perform during the good times, but rather how they display emotional strength, courage, and professionalism during the most trying times. It is impossible to demonstrate resilience unless you have gone through difficult times. I’ve been in that Read More »
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A Discussion About Curb Management
March 19, 2020By Benito Pérez Not since the 1930s has curbside management (formerly known as on-street parking) received so much attention among the transportation industry (and the public!). With cities far and wide densifying and becoming the centers of population activity, city transportation officials are looking at ways to optimize not only Read More »
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Talking About COVID-19
March 18, 2020By Casey Jones, CAPP Our industry hasn’t faced anything like the COVID-19 virus before and it’s affecting the way we all work and live outside of work. Working from home, not being able to work from home, refund requests, health concerns for our employees, growing or shrinking parking use depending Read More »
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Good Deed: Municipality Converts Meters to Curbside Pickup Spaces
March 17, 2020To support businesses in town, the Lexington, Ky., Parking Authority launched an effort to convert several paid parking spaces into curbside pickup-only spaces, for use by people picking up food and items from restaurants and merchants. “While supplies last, the LPA will make every effort to create these opportunities for Read More »
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Mobility of the Future
March 16, 2020As mobility technologies and services, consumer preferences and behaviors, and transportation policies co-evolve over the coming decades, there is great uncertainty about both the pace of continued change and which mobility options will be adopted. A few things, however, are certain: as the world’s population grows and becomes wealthier, the Read More »
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A Happy Parking Story
March 13, 2020By Kim Fernandez Ready for some good news and a smile? I thought so. Read this story about Bhupinder “Bob” Dhaliwal, who retired last week after 33 years as a parking attendant in the same garage in Manitoba, Canada. Saying he’s had the time of his life, Dhaliwal told a Read More »
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Hit By the Bus—and Smiling
March 12, 2020By David M. Feehan I read with a smile Kim Fernandez’s story about her stupid furnace and brand loyalty. It made me recall an incident that occurred just before Christmas. I was on my way to visit my son and his family in Brooklyn. It was a lousy night for Read More »