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The Accredited Parking Organization program recognizes parking, transportation, and mobility organizations that have achieved a comprehensive standard of excellence. It focuses on best practices in responsible parking management and operations, access management, customer service, professional development, security, sustainability, and more. The APO with Distinction designation is reserved for organizations that exceed the standard of excellence.

The last thing you want on travel day is unnecessary stress. Yet, for many, the journey begins with a frustrating, time-consuming search for an available parking space at the airport. By reserving your parking in advance, you eliminate this stress entirely and gain a significant advantage before you even check your bag. The primary benefit is guaranteed space. Whether it's the holiday rush or peak summer travel, knowing you have a spot waiting for you—often in a preferred location like a covered garage—provides instant peace of mind. No more frantic driving up and down aisles, wasting precious minutes you could be spending relaxing or getting through security. Furthermore, booking ahead is almost always the cheapest option. Airport parking services frequently offer dynamic pricing and special online discounts that are unavailable to drive-up customers. This can lead to substantial cost savings, freeing up more money for your trip itself. A reservation streamlines your departure, saves you money, and ensures you start your journey feeling calm and organized. Don't leave your parking to chance; book online and enjoy a smoother travel experience from the moment you leave your home. Vincent Thomas, MSM, PTMP, is the Vice President, Aviation North, for Reimagined Parking, Inc. Vincent can be reached at vincent.thomas@reimaginedparking.com.

As communities across the country work to deliver improved and integrated transportation systems, pedestrian infrastructure remains a challenge to develop at a level which allows the overall transportation network to operate optimally. For public transportation, areas with higher densities and interconnected pedestrian facilities provide a network to allow people to move around more easily without relying on a vehicle. These robust pedestrian facilities not only allow promote more use of non-vehicle modes of mobility, but make the entire transportation system safer and more efficient thereby reducing conflicts between vehicles and pedestrians. For those of us who drive, walk, bicycle or use scooters, we know first-hand the different perspective you have when peering out the car windshield compared to walking or biking near and around vehicular traffic. Well-designed pedestrian facilities reinforce that walking and biking are viable options that can get you where you want to go with the hassle of dealing with driving, congestion and parking. Unfortunately, pedestrian facilities still lag behind in many communities where lack of priority and funding hampers their development. Since there can be various governmental jurisdictions involved with streets and right-of-way, it’s imperative for localities to have a structure in place to ensure pedestrian facilities can be planned and executed in a coordinated manner.  By championing best practices involving a multi-modal complete streets design approach, progress can be made to greatly enhance a community’s overall transportation system. Mark Hairr, PTMP, is an Executive Director for Wave Transit. Mark can be reached at mhairr@wavetransit.com.

When I tell people I run operations for a parking authority, I get that look, the polite smile, the raised brow, and the unspoken, “Wait… really? Parking?” Fair question. For over 20 years, I was deep in healthcare construction, overseeing $85 million expansions, building out senior living campuses (complete with their own utility plants), and managing environments where failure was never an option. So how did I end up managing curbs, license plate readers, and debates about whether people should back into spaces? Simple: I said yes. Yes to a new challenge. Yes to an industry most people overlook. And yes to discovering that parking isn’t just about asphalt and meters, it’s about movement. It’s about infrastructure, logistics, and how cities actually breathe. At my first IPMI convention in Louisville, somewhere between a smart mobility panel and a tasting table (it was Kentucky, after all), I realized: this isn’t a detour. It’s a new lane entirely, one that blends engineering with community trust, operations with real human behavior. I even found myself explaining why you can’t throw a rooftop party on a parking deck (people move around more than 4,000-pound vehicles). That’s parking: where physics meets people, and strategy gets tested by reality. So if you’ve ever wondered whether your skills can leap industries, here’s your sign. Sometimes, the best opportunities don’t shine. Sometimes, they just look like a parking spot. Mark Toro, PTMP, is the Deputy Director of Allentown Parking Authority. Mark can be reached at mtoro@allentownparking.com.

We obtained our first mobile LPR system in 2021 with the intention of going permitless after the first year of working out all the bugs, kinks and nuisances that having virtual permits brings. The uncertainty of budget constraints related to the pandemic and the turnover of staff delayed the roll out by several years. We made the decision that 2026 is the year to go permitless at Kent State! Some initial thoughts to help make the transition smooth include the following.  We’re planning to implement slowly with targeted user groups initially. We’ll start with students first, then faculty and staff, vendors and contractors, visitors, then events. This should allow us time to work through any issues that might arise and eliminate the largest group of permits initially to provide the greatest efficiency upfront. We plan to engage our university marketing and communications team to provide a roll out platform to inform our stakeholders prior to implementation. We envision a social media campaign and email marketing to raise awareness. The most difficult groups to capture and what we foresee being the biggest challenge to permitless operations is the one-time visitors and events. We’re currently analyzing different solutions to see what is the most cost effective and user-friendly options for our guests to campus. These groups have been our biggest hangup because we don’t know quite how to handle them yet in a permitless environment. We’re looking forward to the efficiencies that LPR provides, but we also know that this will be a big change for our campus community. Meredith Garrett, PTMP, is the Assistant Director of Public Safety, Parking & Transit Services for Kent State University. Meredith can be reached at mgarre12@kent.edu.

“The university is a series of individual entrepreneurs held together by a common grievance about parking.” Clark Kerr’s observation from his time as Chancellor of the University of California, Berkeley still rings true. Decades later, parking remains one of the most persistent sources of frustration on college and university campuses. Students circle lots looking for spaces, faculty want reliable access near offices and classrooms, visitors struggle to understand where they can park, and administrators are left balancing competing needs with limited resources. What has changed since Kerr’s era is the technology available to manage parking. Yet many universities still rely on physical permits, spreadsheets, and manual processes that no longer align with the expectations of modern campus communities. Parking has become part of the daily campus experience, and outdated systems can undermine that experience before the day even begins. University parking is inherently complex. Faculty, staff, resident students, commuters, athletes, and event attendees all have different needs, usage patterns, and expectations. Managing these demands fairly with legacy tools almost guarantees confusion and dissatisfaction. Cloud-based digital parking management platforms are built to handle this complexity. They provide flexible tools that adapt to different user groups and demand patterns, while offering online self-service for permits, payments, and renewals. Automation reduces errors, eliminates the cost and waste of physical permits, and frees parking staff from routine administrative work. Financial oversight improves as well, with automated reporting and account-level tracking across departments or campuses. Rutgers University’s digital parking management program illustrates the impact of this shift. By moving to a modern cloud-based system, the university was able to combine permit types, enable online transactions and system-wide access, improve event and guest parking, and gain real-time data for planning and pricing. Compliance improved, complaints declined, and parking became more predictable for users. For many people, parking is their first interaction with campus. Digital parking management helps ensure that experience is efficient, transparent, and far less frustrating, turning a long-standing grievance into a strategic operational advantage. Click here to read the Parking & Mobility magazine article. Chris Perry, PTMP, is the Senior Vice President of Parking Base. He can be reached at chris.perry@parkingbase.com.

If the past several years revealed anything about urban mobility, it’s that the curb has quietly become one of the most politically charged, economically valuable, and publicly visible pieces of city infrastructure. Leaders from Austin, Los Angeles, and Washington, D.C. participated in IPMI’s Building Blocks webinar, where they shared how curb space has transformed from simple parking real estate into a multi-use frontline for transportation, commerce, and public life in their cities. In the not-so-distant past, the curb was a brief pause. A moment between where we were and where we were going. We parallel parked the car, checked for signs, maybe paid a meter, then went on to our destination. Much has changed. The once quiet edge of the street is now a full-blown stage for rideshare zones, sidewalk cafes, e-commerce deliveries, bike lanes, EV charging, micromobility, and bus priority projects. As Ken Hustings noted, curb space has become so valuable that a meter rate increase in Los Angeles was not only acceptable; it helped the city preserve staff positions during a fiscal crisis. The public’s relationship with the curb shifted in a very real way during the pandemic. As downtowns emptied and front doors became loading docks, people noticed just how much work the curb was doing behind the scenes. Take-out, package deliveries, and temporary restaurant patios all depended on it, and when it wasn’t managed well, the impacts were hard to ignore. David Lipscomb, Washington, D.C.’s curbside manager, recalled that this moment was eye-opening for residents. A minor inconvenience had quickly become a safety and access issue as delivery vehicles stacked up, cafe tables spilled onto sidewalks, and curb space was pushed to its limits. The public began paying attention to what mobility professionals had long understood: unmanaged curb space creates chaos. Awareness is just the first step. Turning that awareness into better outcomes requires updated policies and a different kind of leadership. Today’s parking and mobility professionals aren’t just managing assets; they’re also storytellers, educators, and coalition builders. Joseph Al-Hajeri, Austin’s Park Enterprise Manager, described his role as “getting the public to nerd out” about curb management using data, pilots, and transparent communication so that complex policy becomes shared understanding. In today’s rapidly evolving mobility landscape, the curb has become the new City Hall: a high-stakes, high-visibility arena where decisions play out block by block. And those who manage the curb are emerging as some of the most influential communicators shaping urban policy and public understanding. Maria Irshad, PTMP, MPA, is the Deputy Director for The City of Houston (ParkHouston). Maria can be reached at Maria.Irshad@houstontx.gov.

We received so many great responses to the January/February 2026 question that we wanted to share them all!

In 2023 my home state of Minnesota adopted the “Safety Stop” or “Idaho Stop” for bicycles.  This allows bicycles to treat a stop sign like a yield sign.  So if no one is coming, the bike can roll through the intersection.  It was interesting to hear the feedback from regular vehicle commuters who’s first reaction was often along the lines of, “That can’t be safe.  Why do bicycles get to break the law?”  While there is a good amount of data to show that overall this is safer for cyclists, another advantage is better flow for regular vehicles.   When presenting information to groups of people that you are trying to convince it is helpful to frame it with the benefits to the individual person.  Someone that hasn’t commuted on a bicycle and maybe hasn’t ridden one since childhood probably doesn’t think much about how traffic flows with bicycles.   So the next time someone says bikes should obey all of the traffic laws of a car, ask them to think about a situation where they are behind a bike. With a safety stop, the bike is able to proceed through the intersection and is out of their way before they need to navigate the intersection.  They don’t need to wait behind the bike as it stops, then gets going again, possibly a little more wobbly for a few feet until they are out of the way and you are able to navigate the intersection. For thoughtful motorists, understanding the positive benefits to themselves and overall traffic flow can help turn them into allies. Ben Schnabel, PTMP, is an Assistant Director for Parking Operations at the University of Minnesota. Ben can be reached at schna015@umn.edu.

Airport parking used to be a frantic race against the clock—circling crowded garages, forgetting where you parked, and facing long queues at the exit. Now, automated parking technology is finally bringing the convenience of the digital age to the tarmac, transforming the travel experience from the moment you arrive. Modern airports are embracing smart systems that replace traditional chaos with seamless efficiency. These solutions range from sophisticated parking guidance systems, which use sensors and LED lights to direct drivers instantly to open parking spaces, to fully robotic parking garages. In the latter, you simply drop your car in a terminal, and mechanical shuttles whisk it away and stack it compactly. The benefits are numerous. For travelers, it means dramatically reduced parking times, less stress, and the ability to pre-book and pay entirely via mobile app. For airports, automation maximizes space utilization, reduces congestion and vehicle emissions from idling cars, and enhances security through License Plate Recognition (LPR) and constant monitoring. Automated parking isn't just a luxury—it’s a necessary step toward building the streamlined, sustainable airport of the future. Vincent Thomas, MSM, PTMP, is the Vice President, Aviation North for Reimagined Parking, Inc. Vincent can be reached at vincent.thomas@reimaginedparking.com.

Five years later we are still feeling the effects that COVID-19 had on our staffing. Prior to the pandemic our operation had about fifteen full-time and part-time employees. Due to attrition and turnover, we are just barely functioning today with ten full-time and part-time employees. We’ve learned to function very lean, but it is not the standard we have come to pride ourselves on. It is also eating our current dedicated employees alive. We’ve hired several people to try and bring our numbers back up, but we are experiencing turnover at an unprecedented rate. Prior to the pandemic, turnover was very uncommon for our department. So, what has changed and why have we been unable to retain who we’ve hired? We currently have two full-time positions we are actively recruiting for, and we are reflecting on this very question, so the constant cycle of recruiting and hiring can hopefully end for a period of time and our service delivery can become stable once again. Here are a few thoughts we’ve had on our retention issues and how we are planning to solve those issues moving forward. Money. As a public servant, salary is expectedly lower than the private sector, but since the pandemic the gap became a chasm. We have lost several employees due to the below average wages. For the two positions we are currently recruiting for we knew we needed to pivot our compensation strategy to be competitive in today’s market. We were able to work with our compensation department to change the job titles to reflect the current needs of our operation and to compensate fairly. Expectations. We’ve had a few employees leave due to a lack of understanding of job duties. During the interview process and initial onboarding, we plan to take the approach of verbally explaining our job expectations and providing written documentation outlining the job duties and expectations. While this may not solve our retention issues, we’re hoping this will help alleviate them. Meredith Garrett, CAPP, is the Assistant Director of Public Safety, Parking & Transit Services for Kent State University. Meredith can be reached at mgarre12@kent.edu.

In my last blog I started to discuss the challenges of onboarding and suggested that traditional methods of rote training are ineffective for both today's workers and end users in the parking and mobility field. My experience has been that adults have effective learning experiences when the process is interactive instead of one directional.  Scenario-Based learning works well, especially when the student is engaged and challenged. Not only is understanding the material important but hopefully the learner can see a real-world conceptual application.  Having employees practice a skill you've discussed and then asking them to relate why that skill would be important when they were working alone (and had to make a decision) makes the experience significantly better.  Although it's not always possible during the onboarding process, experience has shown that training in groups is superior to one-on-one training.  Students tend to feed - off each other a vast number of correct solutions, allowing the student to apply the correct solution to the problem they may face on their particular shift.  For example, an answer given during daylight hours may be completely different than one given when working the third shift.  I have also found that when students are afforded the opportunity to learn through scenarios, they become more interested in learning new skills and actually want to engage in critical thinking as a driver of problem solving.  Although working in the parking and mobility industry as a frontline worker may not seem to require a lot of critical thinking, you'd be surprised.  I encourage employers to examine their staff, interact with them and assess the problem-solving abilities they possess.  Ask yourself, are they inquisitive? Do they exhibit an open-minded flexible approach? Are they honest and do they have tact?  If the answer to some or most of these characteristics is no, then retraining with an emphasis on critical thinking, may be exactly what's needed.  Applying critical thinking requires one to participate in it, be willing to put in work, and use it to its full potential. Scott Rohde, PECP, PTMP, is the Director of Public Safety for Wesleyan Office of Public Safety. Scott can be reached at srohde@wesleyan.edu.