Survision, a global leader in Vehicle Recognition technology, is pleased to announce its latest integration with SpotHero, a leading digital  reservation service that lets you find and reserve hourly, monthly, airport, and event parking at thousands of lots and garages across North America. This strategic software integration empowers parking operators to seamlessly enforce paid parking policies, improving efficiency, compliance, and the overall parking experience. Through this collaboration, parking operators leveraging SpotHero’s system can now automatically validate payments and enforce violations in real time using Survision’s PlatEnforce solution. This innovation reduces the need for manual enforcement, enhances accuracy, and ensures smoother operations for both parking managers and their customers. “The integration between Survision’s PLATENFORCE solution and SpotHero provides a seamless experience for customers by enabling vehicle verification directly through Mobile LPR. This integration enables vehicle verification directly through Mobile LPR, making the check-in process much faster, and efficient for both operators and drivers.”  – Laura Caillot, Managing Director of Survision Benefits for Parking Operators and Drivers Vehicle recognition capabilities provided by Survision LPR-based Vehicle Recognition is a powerful set of accurate data that boosts the reservation process by: Automating Enforcement: Real-time validation of parking payments eliminates errors and reduces reliance on manual checks. Improving Compliance: Reliable enforcement ensures that parking rules and paid sessions are properly followed. Increasing Operational Efficiency: Automation saves time and resources, enabling staff to focus on higher-value tasks. Enhancing User Experience: Drivers benefit from a seamless and accurate system that minimizes disputes and improves trust. Availability This is happening now! Survision Powered SpotHero App is live and available to all operators. For more information on how this integration can benefit your parking operation, visit survisiongroup.com/platenforce and http://spothero.com/.

To build or not to build a parking deck? Or is the real question, do perspectives need to shift? It’s easy to say, “Build a deck! This will solve all of our parking problems!” and many times, this is the solution that frustrated students give. The question of building a parking deck has come up at our university many times over the years. I have a stack of plans that never came to fruition that I inherited. The last attempt to build a deck was in the spring of 2020. We were in the process of awarding the bid when campus closed due to COVID-19. Financial concerns and enrollment uncertainty scraped those plans, but the question of whether we will build a parking deck continues to come up. We recently received this question from our student senate in a transportation advisory committee meeting. Our university is a suburban campus with a robust public transportation option as well as ample parking on the perimeter of campus and in remote lots. We have plenty of parking spaces for everyone; we just don’t have everyone’s ideal parking area. Parking in these areas requires people to take another method of transportation, whether it’s biking, walking or taking public transportation to reach their destination. This requires a shift in perspective for many people that are not familiar with public transportation or are used to parking close to where they need to be. We explained to the student senate the costs associated with parking decks and how that would directly impact permit prices. We also explained that there is ample parking, so justifying the cost of building a deck and in turn raising permit prices is counterproductive and not fiscally responsible.

Cincinnati, OH — Parking Base Edge, the applied research and innovation initiative of Parking Base, announced the launch of its first partnership with the University of Cincinnati’s Master of Science in Information Systems (MSIS) program. The collaboration merges UC’s academic rigor with Parking Base’s deep parking industry expertise to explore the next generation of AI-powered mobility and automation systems. This partnership combines academic rigor and research depth with Parking Base’s real-world expertise and technology platform. Under the guidance of UC faculty and Parking Base engineers, graduate students are helping research: AI-powered business intelligence dashboards that reveal operational trends and performance indicators. Predictive models to support smarter planning and decision-making. Dynamic pricing models will allow operators to test scenarios and forecast how rate changes impact demand and revenue. This partnership creates a unique collaboration between academia and the parking industry, focused on helping operators apply AI to make smarter, data-driven management decisions. “AI is already transforming mobility, and its use in parking and mobility is still in its infancy,” said (?) University of Cincinnati representative. “Through this collaboration with Parking Base, we’re helping the next generation of parking and mobility leaders not just understand the extraordinary power of AI-powered systems, but to harness that knowledge to create new systems to improve parking and mobility.” The Parking Base Edge initiative is designed to accelerate the adoption of artificial intelligence, automation, and smart mobility technologies across the parking sector. By combining Parking Base’s real-world operational data and platform capabilities with UC’s research depth and analytical expertise, the partnership enables real-time experimentation and rapid prototyping of advanced digital mobility tools. “This collaboration tools to clients…reflects Parking Base Edge’s mission of pushing the boundaries of what’s possible in parking and mobility through research, innovation, and partnership,” said Ebby Zachariah, CEO of Parking Base. “We believe that by working with leading academic programs like UC’s MSIS, we can shape the intelligent mobility networks of the future.” Parking Base and UC are currently focusing on building scalable models that can adapt to real-world conditions, from airport and university campuses to downtown districts and mixed-use developments. The goal is to redefine how parking systems interact with vehicles, people, and city infrastructure in the era of intelligent mobility. About the University of Cincinnati MSIS Program The University of Cincinnati’s Master of Science in Information Systems program combines deep technical expertise with applied innovation in AI, automation, and smart systems. The program prepares students to partner with leading organizations to develop transformative digital solutions for tomorrow’s connected world. About Parking Base Parking Base is the leading company offering cloud-based parking management solutions to handle all aspects of parking operations. Its comprehensive suite of products includes Permit Manager, Valet Manager, Destination Manager, and Access Manager, and it delivers a seamless and customizable digital, cloud-based solution in a single platform. Parking Base’s tools are designed to optimize efficiencies for parking owners and operators, while enhancing the customer experience. For more information about Parking Base, please visit www.parkingbase.com.

Join staff and current APOs in exploring the program. Discuss the application process, best practices for success in achieving the designation, and the positive effects that APOs have realized as a result of their accreditation.

For decades, cities have relied on parking fines as static tools—anchored in tradition more than purpose. Yet as transportation networks grow more complex and streets become riskier, this status-quo approach is failing both residents and policymakers. It’s time to rethink how fines are structured so they not only influence behavior, but do so fairly and strategically. Today, fine schedules often apply harsh penalties to low-risk administrative violations while underpricing high-risk behaviors—like blocking fire hydrants—that endanger the public. This mismatch erodes trust, especially when lower-income residents face disproportionate financial hardship for infractions with minimal social impact. When penalties feel arbitrary, they are perceived less as tools for safety and more as regressive taxes. Data shows that deterrence hinges not just on penalty dollar value, but on its relevance—how well it aligns with risk, compliance value, and community context. Cities that recalibrate fines to reflect both severity and neighborhood realities can improve equity and collections while encouraging safer streets. Prioritizing smarter fine design, proportionality, and targeted enforcement could allow cities to shift away from blanket forgiveness programs—which require administrative lift without addressing root causes. Tools like dynamic pricing, location-based fines, and income-sensitive penalties can help cities strike the balance between fairness and impact. Some jurisdictions have already begun to reform fine structures: New York and Los Angeles are exploring income-based and data-driven fine optimization, respectively, while Chicago recently capped penalties for administrative violations. These efforts signal a growing recognition that fines should reinforce social value, not perpetuate inequity. By grounding enforcement in community impact, equity, and measurable outcomes, cities can treat fines as meaningful policy levers—not punishment. Matt Darst is the Head of Professional Services for Trellint, a Modaxo Company. Matt can be reached at matt.darst@trellint.com.