What We Learned at IPMI 2025 – Data, Drones, and Game Day Drama

By Peter Richards, P.Eng.

The International Parking and Mobility Institute (IPMI) Conference is always a chance to spot what’s next in parking and mobility (and maybe a little of what’s not working yet). This year was Peter Richards’ 5th year attending (and 1st since he founded Parkicity), and it delivered everything from live drone feeds at NFL stadiums to lessons on permit data pitfalls. Here are a few key takeaways from IPMI in Louisville.

1.Permits, Pilots, and Parking Near Stadiums

On a tour near the Louisville City FC soccer stadium, we heard about a Residential Permit Parking (RPP) program that was launched – and then quickly shut down – because residents said they weren’t notified. But they were. The area, once home to a car junkyard, now hosts 2,200 gravel lot spaces and has big redevelopment plans for retail and apartments. But enforcement and event planning challenges remain. People park for free far from the stadium, and attempts at event programming (like concerts) have literally torn up the turf.

It should also be noted that Louisville is a multi-vendor paid parking app, meaning visitors have the choice of their favourite app.

2. From LPR to Insight: The Dirty Work Behind Clean Data

A major thread at the conference was data and how to collect occupancy, 24/7 or periodically. One presentation highlighted the benefits but also the complexity of turning license plate recognition (LPR) and camera data into useful information. The raw feeds – LPR scans, citations, permits, payment transactions, even drone images need serious cleanup:

• Enforcement schedules can skew what’s captured
• Sensor coverage is patchy, especially beyond pay stations
• License plates need fuzzy matching (is that a Z or a 2?)
• Metadata like vehicle type or duration is often missing
• Privacy measures must anonymize plates before analysis

One theme emerged: “Data should inform decisions, not lead them.” Cities need “before and after” metrics – occupancy, permits issued, citation volume, and compliance – to prove that a permit or pay program solves an actual problem.

Hayes Valley’s “Pay or Permit” program in San Francisco came up as a model, built on three pillars:

1. Most parkers aren’t local
2. Most non-residents are overstaying
3. Occupancy is consistently high

3. Toronto’s Parking Tech and EV Future

The City of Toronto shared its evolving mobility landscape – and how parking is still part of the story. A few standout stats and ideas:

• One lot near Spadina added Purolator parcel lockers and increased revenue by 33%. Multi-functional lots add value
• 50% of EV charging users lived within 1km of the charger, 57% of users live within 5 km
• They’ve processed 50,000 new EV transactions
• Long-term goal: reduce from 3,100 to 2,000 meters – but keep them for the next decade

One big idea or dream floated by the TPA VP of Operations: a future monthly bundle for parking, transit, and bike share access. Not here yet – but the bundling / Mobility as a Service joint offering conversation is getting louder.

4. Digital Curb Challenges from Seattle to Boston

Cities are still figuring out how to digitize the curb. A few shared challenges:

• Cameras are tricky to deploy due to mounting, power, and departmental silos
• Cyclomedia and Cartegraph are used in Boston, but 20% of signs were missing from digital records
• Trucks and passing vehicles can feed false data into sensors or AI
• Even with real-time availability, Minneapolis noted delivery drivers likely wouldn’t use this information – routes, schedule, and habits matter more
• Seattle’s commercial load zone data showed 80% of vehicles were parked illegally, underscoring that enforcement is essential – especially for small businesses that rely on load zones for survival. It was stressed that the management of these commercial loading zones is a key factor to the value of the permit and if they would actually buy the monthly permits
• Seattle released the CurbIQ digital curb inventory and real-time information of these load zones, and it’s super cool: https://seattle.curbiq.io/public-default/

5. NFL Game Day Parking is a Logistics Masterclass

Walter P Moore walked us through the logistics of managing 26,000 spaces on NFL game day at the Houston Texans’ NRG Stadium:

• 21,000 spaces are used by fans, the rest for staff, media, and other “back of house” roles
• Rideshare lots, pedestrian plans, and cashless mobile passes are all part of the playbook
• “Eyes on approach and egress” with roaming vehicles is key
• Staff use active guidance to manage entry and exit flow
• Most fans are parked 15 minutes after kickoff, and the lots are cleared within 1 hour after the game

Could Parkalytics and their drone parking surveys support live feed monitoring or drone mapping here in the future? Something for event management planners to consider.

6. Ushering in the New Curbside Management Era: How to Transition from Parking to Curbside Management

• This municipal workshop was led by experts from Minneapolis, Miami Parking Authority, Washington DC, Fairfax County, City of Richmond (and Parkicity), and centered around various burning questions and issues municipalities are having at the curbside, from policy and regulations, to simply digitizing and mapping their curbs.
• Despite various sized municipalities, the issues were similar – staffing, budgets, politics, prioritization, coordination, data ownership, and communication
• Cities want to digitize their curb, but need internal champions
• Solutions discussed included budgeting for curb-related digitization and studies, using software to aid the process, and starting small with pilots

Final Thoughts

There’s no single path to modern curbside management, but the ingredients include items such as strong data foundations, clear goals and objectives, city buy-in from top to bottom, smart tech applications, and responsive operations.

Have questions on any of these takeaways or want to test out some of these strategies in your city? Let’s talk.

Peter Richards, P.Eng., is the President and Principal Consultant for Parkicity. Peter can be reached at pete@parkicity.com.

This blog is republished with permission from Parkicity: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/volume-8-what-we-learned-ipmi-2025-data-drones-game-day-drama-5jxjc/