By Jodi Hart, CPA, CFE, CAPP
As a proud Gen Xer, card carrying member of the MTV generation and certified latchkey kid, I grew up on bowls of sugary cereal watching Saturday morning cartoons. Hands up. Who thought at this point in history we’d all be flying around in our Jetson cars? Come on. You aren’t kidding anyone. We all did.
Fast forward and we are hearing about autonomous vehicles and AI driven technologies shaping our lives. More and more cities are nixing the urban sprawl in favor of bringing people back into the cities. We are bombarded with green initiatives, bike to work, public transportation instead of driving, carpooling, scooters on the go and even remote work so you don’t have to drive anywhere. We’ve gotten so accustomed to being able to work from home, ordering groceries for delivery, everything you need to buy can be there in a matter of hours right from your phone, you can Uber where you want. All that and we still find ourselves sitting in traffic. Despite what would be the most logical conclusion, shockingly car ownership has increased. According to the U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration “Highway Statistics 2022”, car ownership increased from 90.7% in 2015 to 91.7% in 2022. Who’s to say that this trend doesn’t start reversing. Empty land is scarce, and parking is even more so. We’ve always been told “what goes up must come down”.
It begs to question…. what next?
With what seems to be all that stacked against us, how does parking remain relevant? Admittedly, I’m kind of a Syfy buff. Especially Twilight Zone. One of my all-time favorites was an episode called the “Obsolete Man”. The whole premise is that The State finds a librarian to be obsolete and he was to be sentenced to death. It sounds crazy and farfetched, but in all reality how does parking not become obsolete? What can we do to make sure that doesn’t happen? That weighs on me every day. EVERY. DAY. How will parking look in 5 years? 10? 30? How has parking changed since 1995 until now? I’m certain most of you will say quite a bit. So, what would make us think that in another 30 years it isn’t going to be completely unrecognizable? As the CFO of the Parking Authority, I am constantly focused on the future of this organization and industry. I worry about how decisions will affect viability. We have retirees to think about. Who am I kidding. I have my own retirement to think about. Do we invest in an up-and-coming area? Do we opt to downsize? Do we double down on EV charging infrastructure? Should we investigate converting lots into multiuse facilities? Ditch the card readers and go to apps only? It can be truly exhausting. But also, one of the most rewarding jobs I’ve ever had. Who knew there was so much to parking? Certainly not me. That said, I’m going to petition to have Chief Financial Officer title changed to Chief Future Officer.
Jodi Hart, CPA, CFE, CAPP, is the Chief Financial Officer for Pittsburgh Parking Authority. Jodi can be reached at jhart@pittsburghparking.com.