The September/October Ask the Experts question generated so many strong responses that not all could be included in one place. Click here to view the responses featured in Parking & Mobility magazine, then continue reading for additional insights.
As expectations for parking and mobility services continue to evolve, what operational practices or innovations do you believe will define the next generation of efficient parking programs?
Vanessa Solesbee, PTMP, CCTM, Principal, Dixon Resources Unlimited
Organizations must invest in their people as much — or more — than their technology. By nurturing a culture of curiosity and intentionally prioritizing professional development, parking program leaders can ensure that their teams can competently and confidently handle change.
Lisa Copeland, PTMP, PMP, CUFM, Associate Director for Data & Administration, Old Dominion University
I think the future of parking programs will come down to how organizations use data to run the whole parking system. Things like real-time occupancy, usage trends, and predictive insights can really clarify where demand is and make it easier to improve operations. With better data, organizations can cut costs, improve customer experience, support sustainability, and get more out of existing parking — without expensive upgrades.
Erik Nelson, PCIP, Principal, Walker Consultants
Smart automation will continue to grow, helping operators do more with less in all aspects of the business. Many firms offering advanced automation of various functions were exhibiting at IPMI.
Sean Keane, MPA, PECP, Technical Delivery Manager, Passport
Public-private partnerships will define the next generation of parking programs by combining private operators’ incentives to actively manage inventory — dynamic pricing, real-time occupancy data, flexible space allocation — with the technology to execute it at scale. But maximizing utilization and return on revenue only works with enforcement built into that same ecosystem, ensuring compliance data informs pricing decisions and protects turnover across mixed-use environments.
Ahmed Darrat, PE, Chief Product Officer, INRIX
The next generation of parking will be shifting from static management to dynamic, data-driven operations. Leading agencies are moving beyond basic occupancy metrics to understand how parking connects to traffic flow, curb activity, and real-world travel behavior.
The goal is no longer just to fill space; it’s to optimize how people and goods move through cities. Three trends are driving that evolution:
Predictive demand management. Agencies are using real-time and historical data to anticipate demand and adjust pricing, policies, and enforcement before congestion occurs.
The reinvention of the curb. Parking is now competing with last-mile delivery, rideshare, and rapidly growing micromobility options for limited space. The most innovative cities are treating the curb as a flexible asset, dynamically reallocating space based on demand.
Futureproofing for new mobility models. The rise of autonomous vehicles (AVs) will further reshape parking demand, dwell times, and curb usage. Agencies that begin planning now, using data to understand patterns and simulate scenarios, will be best positioned to adapt.
Success will be defined by measurable outcomes. Leaders will need to demonstrate impact like reduced circling, improved turnover, or smoother traffic flow, not just deploy new policies. Parking is no longer a stand-alone system. It’s a critical lever in managing increasingly complex urban mobility. Cities that embrace a connected, data-led approach will set the pace for what comes next.
Jason Jones, Director, Parking & Mass Transit Services, University at Albany
As we layer in automation and technology, the programs that succeed won’t lose human presence; they’ll elevate it, using data to guide decisions while empowering staff to adapt, solve problems, and keep the customer experience smooth and intuitive.
Rob McConnell, PE, SE, LEED Green Associate, Parksmart Advisor, Vice President, WGI, Inc.
I anticipate that autonomous valet parking will become common in the next 10 years. Almost every new car sold in the U.S. since 2013 has the technology on board to be remotely controlled. By modeling a digital twin of a parking facility and deploying lidar scanning and video analytics therein, cars will be stored and retrieved autonomously, improving safety, efficiency, speed, and cost.
Brian Shaw, PTMP, Associate, Kimley-Horn
Parking operators will make greater use of fixed-in-place cameras, AI analytics, and automated license plate recognition to provide real-time space availability data to users, enable directed enforcement, and automate entry/exit to make paid parking more seamless to the public. Also, innovative parking programs should continue to incorporate and grow use of mobile payment platforms while reducing cash or coins for payment.
Angelo Cole, PTMP, PECP, Enforcement Lead, SUNY Brockport
The future of parking lies in managing mobility. Success will be measured by how well parking operations support safety, accessibility, customer service, and institutional goals, not just occupancy or citation totals. Technology, including real-time data, predictive analytics, digital permitting, license plate recognition, and integrated payment systems, enables smarter decisions and a better customer experience. Equally important is a professional enforcement philosophy that prioritizes visibility, education, consistency, and voluntary compliance before citations whenever appropriate. Organizations that embrace innovation while balancing customer service with accountability will build efficient, adaptable, and sustainable parking and mobility programs.
Dave Gallon, Managing Director, North America, flexigo
The next generation of efficient parking programs won’t be defined by adding spaces. It will be defined by managing demand. A new structure can cost upwards of $20,000 per space and take years to build, while reducing demand costs a fraction of that and can be operational in weeks. The real shift is to stop treating parking as a standalone asset and to start running it as a single node in a unified mobility program. When fixed route and on-demand shuttles, vanpool, carpool, and parking all live on a single platform with one admin portal, every trip that moves to a shared mode is one fewer car competing for a space, and you can see that balance in real time instead of guessing at it. Reservations and live availability replace circling the lot. Just as important, the same system lets you manage and benchmark across campuses, departments, and vendors from one place. The programs that win will measure parking demand and mobility supply together and rebalance continuously rather than pour concrete.
Ben Wesley, PTMP, Regional Vice President, The Car Park
With rapid advancements in both user experience and client expectations, strategic operational attention to the ever-developing applications of intelligent video analytics and multi-modal autonomous assistants will serve well into the future. In an industry where the market is dictated more by the client than the customer, the operator/client partnerships that devote resources to innovating localized facility automation will yield the highest returns.
Troy Richter, PTMP, Director of Parking Services, University of Wisconsin – La Crosse
The next generation of parking programs will be built around one question: “What is easiest for the parker?” Organizations that eliminate friction through AI, automation, and fully integrated digital platforms will define the future. Customers will no longer tolerate disconnected systems. They will expect a seamless experience for every parking and mobility need. In the years ahead, convenience, simplicity, and connectivity will become the expectation, not the innovation.
Ben Pisch, Vice President, Clients & Markets, SenSen Networks
The next generation of efficient parking will turn on what cities choose to measure. Every enforcement pass already reads the whole curb: which spaces are occupied, who has paid, where turnover is healthy, what is blocked. Kept rather than discarded, routine work becomes a continuous sensing layer with no new routes, hardware, or cost. Occupancy, turnover, and demand get sampled on every drive.
Success looks like compliance and healthy turnover, reached with very few citations, and the parking program becomes one of the most valuable data sources a city has. Enforcement becomes the conduit; intelligence becomes the point.
Benoit Reliquet, Head of Parking & Sales, North America and New Regions, Arrive
The next generation of efficient parking will shift from static management to dynamic, unified mobility networks driven by public-private collaboration. This transformation relies on two core shifts: radical service integration and dynamic curb management.
By breaking down data silos, cities can integrate municipal parking, private operators, transit agencies, and payment apps into a single open API ecosystem. This treats parking as a fluid component of the broader transit network, offering drivers and operators seamless, real-time routing and automated payments without forcing them to juggle multiple disconnected applications.
At the same time, the curb must transform from a fixed parking strip into a flexible, multi-use asset. Digitally managed zones will transition based on real-time demand, prioritizing commercial deliveries in the morning, high-turnover ride-share pickups during peak hours, and traditional parking as demand shifts. Ultimately, future-proofing urban mobility isn’t just about better software — it’s about building a shared, data-driven resource that reduces congestion and works simultaneously for city leaders, operators, and drivers.
Brandy Dufon, PTMP, MBA, Vice President, State & Local Market Development, Flash Parking
Parking is in a transitional period between hardware-heavy solutions (meters, gates, cash acceptance devices, handhelds, etc.), software-based systems, and digital products. There is meaningful pushback from consumers, operators, and parking asset owners. Many consumers will continue to transition to a digital experience, but others will want to continue to interact with hardware and people.
Privacy remains a challenge and will continue to be questioned and even abused. An effective parking solution in the future will need to deliver an experience that makes consumers comfortable and is easy to navigate. It will also need to be customizable for many specific situations, as there will likely never be a single solution that can fulfill all operational requirements.
Graham Rossmore, Transportation Planner, City of Los Angeles – Bureau of Parking Management
The curb has emerged as a highly sought-after urban asset due to increased demand for multi-modal solutions, ride-hailing, curbside dining, smart loading zones, and shared bike and scooter parking.
The next generation of efficient parking programs must evolve from managing parking spaces to managing the curb. The agencies that succeed will use real-time data to guide pricing and operations, deploy flexible curb zones that adapt to changing demand, and leverage technology to improve customer experience through mobile payments, tap-to-pay, and integrated platforms.
At the same time, the primary objectives of parking management – enhancing availability, mitigating traffic, assisting local commerce, and securing steady income – must be bolstered, rather than replaced, by innovation. Success in the coming years will be seen in agencies that consolidate parking, loading, and mobility into a comprehensive curb management approach.
Alyssa Alt, Parking Enterprise Manager, City of Colorado Springs, Colorado
In municipal operations, the future lies in efficiently using data from all mobility modes — parking, freight, on‑demand services, transit, bikes, scooters, and pedestrians — to better manage public resources. Each data point reveals demand patterns and supports creative, efficient solutions for both on‑and off‑street systems.