On April 23, 2025,  IPMI hosted a webinar titled Parking Mitigation Strategies: A Data-Driven Approach to Campus Parking and Transportation.

Summary:

Over the last decade, Princeton University’s commuting population surged by nearly 40%. Meanwhile, parking capacity remained static, posing significant challenges. How did Princeton evolve to meet the new demand for parking? With a multi-pronged approach, they integrated cutting-edge technology, incentivized alternative commutes, and rolled out transit programs, all while maintaining operations on a 275+ year-old campus amidst major construction. Join the Princeton University team as they showcase how data can drive smarter decisions, ease parking stress, reduce congestion, and ultimately improve the campus experience. 

Presenters included:

Kevin Guilbault, PTMP, Deputy Director, Transportation and Parking Services, Princeton University

Praveen Rajasekaran, Assistant Director for Parking Operations, Princeton University

 

Here are the a few key takeaways from this webinar:

  1. Data-Driven Enforcement Yields Significant Operational Gains. Princeton University used license plate recognition (LPR) and virtual permit systems to track usage patterns, identify repeat offenders, and enforce parking rules more effectively. By reducing their enforcement team from 3 to 2 officers and using strategic data insights, they increased citations by 50%—from 50 to 75 per day—while covering fewer, more critical spaces.
  2. Transition to Zone-Based Parking Enhanced Efficiency. Switching from fixed-assignment parking to a zone model allowed the university to balance demand, support growing commuter populations, and reduce unnecessary walking distances. Zones are paired with targeted transit solutions, making the system more flexible and equitable.
  3. Warnings Were Largely Ineffective in Curbing Violations. Analysis revealed that issuing multiple warnings had little effect on repeat offenders. Transitioning to a stricter citation policy (with fewer warnings) improved compliance and increased revenue. A clear 3-strike policy was implemented to escalate enforcement appropriately.
  4. Night & Weekend Abuse Exposed a Coverage Gap. With no enforcement during evenings and weekends, graduate students and transient visitors significantly abused parking rules. This led to unsafe conditions like blocked fire lanes. The university plans to address this by contracting a third-party vendor for ad hoc enforcement during these times.
  5. Staff Empowerment and Professional Growth Are Integral.Princeton emphasized professional development for enforcement staff by involving them in data analysis, strategy workshops, and operational planning. This boosted job satisfaction, efficiency, and career advancement opportunities, while also improving overall enforcement outcomes.

 

View the full webinar in IPMI’s On-Demand Education Library today! Click here to order to watch at your convenience.

Interested in future IPMI Webinars? Click here to view upcoming programs.