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An Automatic Winner

A Philadelphia project adds automated parking and gains fast loyalty with residents.

By Ian Todd

PRESCRIBED PARKING MINIMUMS and concern about the anticipated effect of TPP article P&M Automatic winnerautonomous vehicles (which some would argue is overhyped) may help form developers’ views on the importance of parking. However, some developers view parking, or rather fully automated parking, as an essential amenity in their developments and have even found it to be the amenity buyers value the most. One such developer is Scannapieco Development Corporation (SDC) based in Philadelphia, Pa.

SDC recently implemented an 86-space fully automated parking system in its 500 Walnut project. 500 Walnut, a 26-story residential tower at the corner of Philadelphia’s Fifth and Walnut streets features 35 condominium residences and an impressive list of high-end amenities that make it one of the city’s most exclusive, luxurious residential projects to date.

The 500 Walnut Project Targeting the ultra-high-end residential market, SDC has had the ongoing record of the highest condominium sale price in the city for almost 10 years. To help to ensure this project’s success, SDC looked to improve its list of high-end amenities for 500 Walnut by implementing an automated parking garage. SDC sought a vendor that could provide a system that used multiple pieces of equipment to park and retrieve vehicles, providing greater system redundancy, which minimizes system downtimes and increases convenience for residents. The system also had to provide full support services
such as 24-hour remote monitoring and support and the ability to be onsite within a very short timeframe should an issue arise.

The Parking System

The state-of-the-art, 86-space automated parking system is located in the basement of 500 Walnut. Westfalia worked closely with SDC and project architect Cecil Baker + Partners to ensure the parking system efficiently integrated with the building structure and maintained the ultra-luxury aesthetics where the residents interacted with the parking system in the two transfer areas on the first floor. Opened in early 2018, 500 Walnut uses a system that collects vehicles directly from the concrete floor of the two basement levels, allowing a high throughput.

Residents of 500 Walnut drive up to the building and a transponder in their vehicle sends a message to open the outer garage-style door, allowing them to enter the luxurious marble auto court area. Once in the auto court, the outer door closes and a transparent transfer area door opens in front of them, allowing them to park their vehicles in the correct position with guidance from an instruction screen. The residents then use a sleek touch screen immediately outside the transfer area to answer a set of standard questions and confirm they wish to park their vehicle in the system; the transfer area door then closes, and the automated system handles the rest. Residents have then completed the parking process in a private, hassle-free manner and then take the personal elevator to their condominium. No one has to get into the resident’s vehicle, meaning residents can safely leave their personal belongings in the car without fear of tampering.

Once the transfer area door has closed and locked, the system scans the transfer area to ensure there are no people present. The vehicle is then lowered to a basement level where the mechanism drives under the vehicle, clamps its wheels, and transports it onto the transfer car. The vehicle lift can then return to the ground floor to allow another vehicle to enter the transfer area while the previous vehicle is being parked.

To retrieve their vehicles, residents can either swipe their fob at the reader in the personal elevator or at one of the fob readers immediately outside the transfer areas (or they can call down to the concierge to retrieve their vehicle for them). Once their fob has been read, the system retrieves the vehicle from its parked location and moves it to the vehicle lift, which raises the resident’s vehicle to a transfer area on the ground floor. On one of the touch screens adjacent to the transfer areas, the residents are given an estimated wait time—which averages just over two minutes—for their vehicle to be returned to the transfer area. When the vehicle lift is at the ground floor, the door opens, allowing the resident to enter the vehicle and drive it forward out of the transfer area to exit the property on to Fifth Street. The transfer area door closes as soon as the sensors indicate the vehicle is no longer present.

The parking system at 500 Walnut is equipped with two levels of parking with two individual transfer cars that can move within an aisle to store and retrieve vehicles. The palletless system transports vehicles into the parking garage and positions them directly on a concrete or steel deck. Building construction can be based on concrete or steel or a combination of both, depending on project location and the client’s construction preference.

The Amenities

This system was customized for this specific development. Pictorial representations of the system and equipment pieces and simplified user screens were created to allow non-technical personnel to easily interact with the parking system. The concierges at 500 Walnut also have access via a terminal at their desk, allowing them to perform certain functions such as retrieving vehicles and permitting residents’ visitors to use the system.

500 Walnut’s facility offers:

■■ Cost- and time-efficient parking.

■■ Increased safety.

■■ Less human involvement and fewer human errors than traditional systems.

■■ Convenient 24/7 access.

Read the article here.

IAN TODD is director of automated parking systems at Westfalia Technologies. He can be reached at itodd@westfaliausa.com.

Unpacking the APO: Approach to Sustainability

By Rachel Yoka, CAPP, LEED AP BD+C, WELL AP

IPMI LAUNCHED THE ACCREDITED PARKING ORGANIZATION (APO) program with a focus on excellence in our industry. The APO program recognizes parking, transportation, and mobility organizations at the top of their game—these organizations can be recognized at one of two levels (Accredited and Accredited with Distinction). In identifying excellence and establishing criteria, IPMI created 14 categories that represent critical operational areas, including but limited to:

  • Governance and Organization.
  • Financial Budgeting and Management.
  • Customer Service; Asset Maintenance.
  • Safety, Security, and Risk Management.
  • Sustainability and Access Management (Transporta­tion Demand Management [TDM]).

The Sustainability (and Access Management) sec­tions contain three required items. Applicants must demonstrate 25 required items in total, which establish a baseline for success. These criteria are often broadly defined and may be achieved through a variety of means (and accompanying documentation).

Realistic Goals
The good news: It’s relatively simple to document because the APO program was designed for every organization, allowing tremendous flexibility in how to provide information. Although many of the criteria touch on the triple bottom line, these required ele­ments must be achieved:

  • Demonstrates a strategic commitment to environ­mental sustainability. (Sustainability Criteria 10.1).
  • Demonstrates implementation of sustainable prac­tices that showcase a direct reduction in energy or resource use. (Sustainability Criteria 10.2).
  • Demonstrates a commitment to reducing or distribut­ing travel demand. (Access Management Criteria 11.1)
  • Documentation for achievement of Criteria 10.1, or strategic commitment to environmental sustainability, could include:
  • A sustainability master plan or annual report for the organization demonstrating strategic objectives, benchmarking, and outcomes.
  • A section of the organization’s website that show­cases goals, strategies, and programming to de­crease the reliance on the single-occupant vehicle and diversify transportation modes and alternatives.

The really good news: Either of these items could potentially document all three of the required criteria!

SUSTAINABILITY: ACCREDITED CRITERIA

10.1 Required: Demonstrates a strategic commitment to environmental sustainability.

10.2 Required: Demonstrates implementation of sustainable practices that showcase a direct reduction in energy or resource use.

10.3 Provides incentives to promote use of low-emitting and fuel-efficient or alternative-fuel vehicles.

10.4 Demonstrates use of alternative-fuel fleet vehicles.

10.5 Provides payment system in parking facilities to reduce idling upon exiting.

10.6 Recycles or repurposes materials and equipment.

10.7 Uses energy-efficient lighting systems and/or controls in parking facilities.

10.8 Uses energy-efficient, environmentally favorable heating ventilation and air conditioning systems and/or controls in facilities requiring ventilation, or facilities designed without mechanical ventilation.

10.9 Uses halon-free fire-suppression systems.

10.10 Demonstrates planning for continued sustainability gains.

Accredited with Distinction Criteria

10.11 Achieved Parksmart Certification, LEED Certification, Green Globes rating, or equivalent certification for at least one parking facility.

10.12 Posts policies regarding sustainability in prominent public space.

10.13 Manager(s) directly responsible for day-to-day parking operations has earned and maintained a qualified environmental sustainability credential.

10.14 Implemented external wayfinding system to reduce time spent searching for a parking space.

10.15 Implemented internal wayfinding system within parking facility or facilities to reduce time drivers spend locating a space.

10.16 Installed and maintains electric vehicle charging stations.

10.17 Provides tire inflation stations or mobile tire inflation services.

10.18 Implemented water-reduction technologies/strategies.

10.19 Roofing system designed to reduce heat-island effect and/or provide stormwater mitigation.

10.20 Generates renewable energy on site, and/or purchases renewable energy credits.

10.21 Provides proactive parking facility maintenance plan.

10.22 Uses permeable materials in at least in one surface parking facility.

Earning APO
To become accredited, an organization must meet at least 80 percent of the remaining criteria (in addition to the 25 required items). Refer to the summary chart for a snapshot of the criteria as they relate to sustainability. Those familiar with LEED and/or Parksmart will notice that the criteria may seem similar—they are designed to be mutually reinforcing and recognize the same objectives as identified in the IPMI Sustain­ability Framework. APO is a comprehensive accreditation (not just a sustainability one), yet the program acknowledges the value and importance of sustainability (and TDM) initiatives in a comprehen­sive approach to excellence.

IPMI will recognize our newest APOs on stage in San Antonio, Texas, at the 2020 IPMI Conference & Expo, and there’s plenty of time to complete the process before the February 1, 2020, deadline.

Want to find out more? Visit parking-mobility/apo or reach out to us at apo@parking-mobility.org.

Read the article here.

RACHEL YOKA, CAPP, LEED AP BD+C, WELL AP, is IPMI’s vice president of program development. She can be reached at yoka@parking-mobility.org.

 

Taking Control of the Curb

By David Singletary

TRANSPORTATION AND MOBILITY LOOK VERY DIFFERENT than they did a decade ago. 19-09 Curb ArticleThere used to be a handful of ways to travel throughout a city: single-occupancy vehicles, public transit buses, trains, taxi cabs, and the occasional bicycle. Today, the number of options has increased with the introduction of shared ride-hailing vehicles such as Uber and Lyft, subscrip­tion-based car-share services, and docked and dockless bikes and electric scooters.

Each of these new modes, along with growing fleets of parcel and on-demand delivery services and other vehicles, requires access to the curb, which is allocat­ed primarily to car parking. This mismatch between the needs of a modern mobility ecosystem and the traditional curb governance rules has created chaotic curbs that reduce the efficiency of urban mobility by encouraging double-parking, obstructions in the right-of-way, and cruising for parking.

At any given time, a city block could have dozens of vehicles competing for a spot: a truck temporar­ily parked to make deliveries, ride-hailing vehicles pulled over to pick up or drop off passengers, cars ­parallel-parked on the street, a city bus at a bus stop, or electric scooters stored on the street or sidewalk. With all of these vehicles requiring access to the curb, cities need better and more flexible tools to coordinate, manage, and optimize curbside use.

The first step in successfully managing access to the curb is with a parking enforcement system that can measure, incentivize, and enforce which vehicles are allowed to take up space on the curbside and under what conditions. A real-time enforcement system can be part of the backbone of a city’s mobility operation because that single piece of technology can be used to monitor and incentivize compliant curb use across all vehicle types.

Curb Management
Currently, most cities, universities, private operators, and agencies have a parking enforcement system to manage on- and off-street parking for cars. There are plenty of capable systems and companies that can help you write parking tickets, accept payments, manage appeals, integrate license plate recognition (LPR), and manage citations in a traditional parking world view. The important question is “how will your current or future technology partners help you ensure compli­ance across your evolving ecosystem—which now includes transportation network companies, scooters, commercial vehicles, and whatever comes next?”

Curbside management is best thought of as an ex­tension of parking: The curb is a scarce resource, there should be costs and other rules (such as time limits) regulating its use, and non-optimal behavior should incur a penalty (currently, a parking ticket, boot, or similar). With this in mind, the future of curbside management will necessi­tate an evolved version of parking enforcement that combines a mix of tradi­tional boots-on-the-ground enforcement, automated enforcement techniques such as LPR, and program­matic enforcement for the growing number and types of connected vehicles. At present, single-occupancy, privately owned vehicles require traditional parking enforcement techniques, which are resource-intensive and challenging to scale. However, the advent of the internet of things and pro­liferation of connected vehicles mean that the rates to access the curb and the rules that apply can be deliv­ered and enforced in real time to an unlimited number of vehicles citywide.

In the short term, one opportunity for better en­forcement is with delivery vehicles, which are increas­ingly contributing to congestion as online shopping and food delivery grow in popularity. According to UPS, the company pays a significant amount in fines every year for vehicles that receive citations for parking illegally—and these are just for observed events. Delivery drivers don’t have the directive to take the time to pay the me­ter or use their smartphones to start a parking session for a delivery that may only take a few minutes.
Limited coverage of enforcement throughout the day means that temporary parking, such as that from delivery companies, happens without effective enforcement. As a result, the companies know driv­ers will receive tickets on only a small percentage of non-compliant parking sessions, which reduces their incentive to pay for parking. Said another way, their access to the curb is underpriced because enforcement of the rules is inefficient and hard to scale. That drives low compliance, which compounds negative effects on traffic and congestion.

To solve this complex problem, cities must consider the way they want delivery vehicles to fit into their curbside ecosystem and deploy systems that align their interests with the owners of these fleets. To align incentives among these groups in the near-term, cities must increase the aggregate cost of non-compliance by issuing citations on a higher percentage of non-com­pliant delivery sessions and/or increasing the fee per citation. This holds true for virtually every type of ve­hicle that requires access to the curb.
Because the ability to detect non-compliance and issue fines is a function of a city’s parking enforcement system, the flexibility and responsiveness of its cho­sen technology will have a disproportionate impact on the city’s ability to control access to the curb and, consequently, build a mobility system that meets the needs of its citizens and visitors. The job of parking en­forcement software has evolved, and delivery vehicles illustrate that the techniques and technology that were necessary to perform the old job won’t be sufficient as the industry transitions from parking management to curbside management.

Implementation
With the myriad changes in the past decade, we can hardly imagine what the next 10 years will have in store for the parking and mobility space. But leaders need to start thinking today about the future state of their op­erations and how to apply existing and effective meth­odologies, such as paid parking for single-occupancy vehicles, to emerging modes.
To effectively manage the curb, it is important to find the right solutions that can provide the right com­bination of expertise and technology to futureproof your operation. In a world where everything happens at lightning speed and is highly dynamic, an enforce­ment system and strategy that allow you to standardize integrations and centralize data governance will be the lynchpin in enabling you to manage your operation in real time.

Read the article here.

DAVID SINGLETARY is vice president of Passport. He can be reached at david.singletary@passportinc.com.

 

A Legal Framework for AV Implementation: Local Government

By Michael J. Ash, Esq., CRE

THE LAST MILE IN TRANSPORTATION will also be the most important in the implemen­tation of autonomous vehicles (AVs). While AV applications will have their place on highways, the most noticeable and profound effects AVs will bring to daily life will oc­cur in urban areas. Local governments and regulators will have the ability to reshape the built environment to accommodate AVs and changes to our transportation, parking, and mobility demands. Local governments should therefore be receptive to the needs of their constituents and plan for the integration of AVs into daily life.

This article is third in a four-part series on the legal challenges presented by emerging technologies. Part 4 in the series will examine challenges in the private sector with the regulation of autonomous vehicles. To read the first two articles, visit parking-mobility. org/resource­center and search “AV framework.”

Local governments have the best opportunity to be proactive in shaping how AVs define the future of trans­portation, parking, and mobility. The new federal guid­ance for automated vehicles published by the U.S. De­partment of Transportation, “Preparing for the Future of Transportation: Automated Vehicles 3.0,” outlines the best practices for local governments for AV deployment in five recommendations.

These are:

1. Facilitate safe testing and operation of automated vehicles on local streets. While many of the regu­latory constraints for real-world testing of AVs will come from state legislatures, local governments will need to implement the regulations in diverse and challenging urban settings. Local streets will provide challenges to AVs, including intersections, pedestri­ans, and road congestion. The built environment in urban areas should adapt to accommodate the test­ing of AVs for safe deployment. Local governments can best regulate their streets to include specific routes for AV testing in safe locations and during specific hours of operation.

2.Understand the near-term opportunities that au­tomation may provide. Municipal governments have an opportunity to be the early adaptors to AV technology through the deployment of municipal vehicle fleets. Current safety technology developed in AVs can be integrated in municipal vehicles, such as street sweepers and snowplows, for real-world testing with a driver still available to oversee the ve­hicle operation. Cities are looking to AVs for the next generation of public transportation. AVs are ideal for a closed-loop jitney service, offering low-speed transportation around a specific route. The ability of AVs to circulate throughout a downtown reduces the need for single-occupant taxi service by offering more efficient and assorted public transportation options. San Francisco, Calif., recently announced a plan to integrate AV public transportation in a new planned development to reduce the reliance on indi­vidual automobile ownership required to reach con­ventional modes of public transportation.

3.Consider how land use, including curb space, will be affected. Cities will need to reimagine how the curb is used in daily life. On-street parking will need to make way for AV queuing aisles for ride-hailing ser­vices and public transportation. Land use and devel­opment patterns may shift to integrate access to AV routes. As the reliance on individual vehicle owner­ship declines, parking requirements for land uses will also decline. Surface parking lots in downtown urban areas will become prime development opportunities as long-term parking demand declines. Other real estate development opportunities may be available to repurpose structured parking garages as AV stor­age, maintenance, and charging facilities are located outside prime city centers. Rather than proximity to densely populated areas, AV operators’ real estate needs will be based on ride-hailing demand and reliable sources of charging power. Local municipal zoning should begin to account for the shift in de­mand of AV vehicles. Zoning criteria should include current ride-hailing trends to analyze how parking demands may change in the future.

Parking and mobility professionals are encouraged to review AV 3.0 in full available for download at https:// www.transportation.gov/sites/dot.gov/files/docs/policy-initiatives/automated-vehicles/320711/preparing­future-transportation-automated-vehicle-30.pdf.
mand of AV vehicles. Zoning criteria should include current ride-hailing trends to analyze how parking demands may change in the future.

4.Consider the potential for increased congestion and how it might be managed. The deployment of AV transportation will be undermined if local reg­ulators do not prevent traffic and congestion. The potential speed and convenience of AVs will be lost if urban centers become congested with too many vehicles. Attempts to regulate the flow of AV traffic will be crucial in the early stages of deployment during the transition from driver-operated vehicles to AVs. Local governments should study traffic patterns and routes from ride-hailing services to plan better transportation efficiencies. The most efficient routes will combine speed of travel and the ability for ride-sharing, allowing more riders to mobilize in fewer AVs and do so faster. It is conceiv­able that as on-street parking is eliminated, there will be new travel lanes for AVs through densely populated areas.

5.Engage with citizens. Finally, the best guidance for local governments is to engage with citizens. Local governments are ideally suited to understand the needs and demands of their constituents and en­sure the deployment of AV technology is consistent with the patterns and trends of the community. By tailoring AV deployment to the concerns of their citizens, local governments can ease the transition from driver-operated vehicles to AVs.

Read the article here.

MICHAEL J. ASH, Esq., CRE, is partner with Carlin & Ward. He can be reached at michael.ash@carlinward.com.

 

Looking Ahead: Moving Faster

The changing mobility ecosystem and its effects on the parking industry.

By Nathan Berry

THE TRANSPORTATION INDUSTRY has been transformed in the past few years, and 19-08 Looking Ahead: Moving Fasterinnovation shows no signs of slowing down. There are many new forms of transpor­tation, and citizens have dozens of options at their fingertips—public transit, electric scooters, dockless bikes, ride-hailing services, personal and shared vehicles—and autonomous vehicles are on the horizon. All of these modes are competing for valuable curb space, creating new challenges for cities to manage.
With all of these unprecedented changes and the As new modes of mobility are introduced, a new set fast pace of innovation, private companies, cities, and of challenges is forthcoming that expands beyond the universities are striving to stay on top of the trends traditional parking environment. Through conversa­and lead the industry by implementing more technolo-tions with city and mobility leaders, I have identified gy to improve and better manage their complex mobil-a few common themes organizations are trying to ad­ity ecosystems. dress as they strive to decrease congestion and create
more livable communities:

  • Managing the curb.
  • Collaborating among modes (parking, transit, micro-mobility, etc.).
  • Dealing with the introduction of scooters and dock-less bikes.
  • Leveraging technology for mobility management.

Curbside Management
In the past, parking departments have had a primary focus on managing the rates and rules for parking and making sure drivers had a way to pay. But changes in the industry now require parking leaders to think about the bigger picture and how their operations can better manage the curb. It is no longer just about on-street parking and the choice of paying with a meter or a mobile phone; today’s leaders are facing challenges with electric scooters crowding the sidewalk and ride-hailing vehicles stopping at the curb to pick up and drop off riders. To make cities more livable for their citizens and continue driving economic growth, city and parking leaders need a way to understand and manage their unique mobility ecosystems.
As cities make way for the future of mobility, it will be critical to consider autonomous vehicles and other innovations that will require digital systems for operations. Currently in many areas, the curb is managed offline as rules, rates, and regulations live on physical signage or on non-connected systems, which can lead to confusion for drivers and enforcement officers. As new modes of transportation use the curb, centralized digital man­agement is becoming a necessity. Cities can better understand what’s happening on their streets and make decisions to im­prove congestion and centralize the issuance and validation of access to the curb (parking rights, essentially) in order to make the city more livable, efficient, and equitable.

Coordinating this exchange of information, which often requires collaboration with private companies, requires the city to play a new role. To ensure access without stalling in­novation, municipalities have to start leveraging technology to centralize data across modes of transportation so they can make data-driven decisions about how to provide equitable transportation options.

One successful example of effective curbside management is a pilot program with Lyft in San Fran­cisco, Calif. Riders who requested a Lyft on Valencia Street—one of the busiest When cities and parking leaders areas in the city—were directed to a have more control, they can side street to meet their rides instead of manage a complex mobility
blocking the curb on the main street. As a result, average vehicle speed on Valencia
increased, improving the flow of traffic. This small behavior shift for each indi­vidual, amplified across the thousands of people using Lyft in this area, has creat­ed a larger positive outcome for the city.

Mix-modal Collaboration
With so many possibilities for getting around a city, citizens can use multiple modes of transportation to get from point A to point B, but they are forced to manage each mode separately. Agencies are recognizing this trend and shifting from mode-oriented to user-oriented services.
The shift to mix-modal is well-demonstrated by Miami-Dade’s Department of Transportation and Public Works in Florida. In 2016, Miami-Dade reorganized its entire trans­portation system under one umbrella agency to embrace the idea of mobility management and improve the transportation experience for citizens. More cities are considering a similar consolidation and approach as they understand that when parking, transit, and micro-mobility are managed collectively, it leads to more collaboration and provides a holistic view of mo­bility challenges and opportunities. With more data available, leaders can make better decisions for positive city outcomes.
We’re also seeing a convergence of transportation options that focus on the user journey, especially when it comes to first mile/last mile solutions. In April 2018, the Charlotte Area Transit System (CATS) in North Carolina, announced a partner­ship with Lyft to offer subsidized rides for users of its CATSPass app. Passengers who originate or terminate a trip at specific sta­tion locations receive a contribution toward their Lyft fare. With this partnership, CATS was able to increase public transit usage in the city by providing options to use multiple forms of trans­portation in a single journey, streamlining the user experience.

Scooters and Micro-mobility
In 2018, scooter companies dropped thousands of scooters in cit­ies across North America, creating great excitement and debate among citizens, city leaders, and mobility companies. With both Lime and Bird boasting more than 10 million scooter rides taken to date and the continued expansion into more cities in the U.S. and abroad, micro-mobility management has risen to the top of challenges that city and parking leaders face.
Many cities responded initially by implementing systems and rules intended to minimize disruption by limit­ing access to their curbs and streets. But by focusing on the challenges, cities risked missing the opportunity to incorporate new modes of transportation to make their cities more equitable and livable. In the subsequent months, cities have begun the process of building systems to co­ordinate fleets of micro-mobility vehicles, including the creation of data standards and data-sharing agreements with scooter pro­viders. As those initiatives mature, cities will need to use shared data to ensure the alignment of incentives between public and private sector participants.

Cities and micro-mobility companies have an interest in creating a system in which all parties—end-users, the city, and the micro-mobility companies—can benefit. With a shared data system that can help scooter companies balance supply and demand, citizens will have greater access to transportation op­tions, cities can better control and manage the scooters on their streets, and micro-mobility companies can optimize the number of vehicles available.

Leveraging Technology
The new innovations in our industry have the potential to posi­tively affect cities and their citizens, but the missing piece is of­ten having the right technology to implement desired solutions. Organizations are looking to implement technology that creates simpler and more efficient systems for drivers, enforcement officials, and city leaders, while providing unprecedented access to data about parking trends, behaviors, payments, enforcement officer routes, and more, all in real time. This information is the key to tackling broader city initiatives, such as ensuring equi­ty, reducing congestion, and fostering innovation, and allows transportation leaders to make data-driven decisions for better mobility management.

Parking and transportation leaders understand the impor­tance of technology, but there are many options to consider. The first step is to help leaders better understand mobility trends by leveraging technology to manage all forms of trans­portation in one place. A mobility platform is the solution, al­lowing cities to connect multiple mobility services (mobile pay for parking, digital permits, parking enforcement, meters, mi­cro-mobility, ride-hailing services, and more) in a centralized hub. Cities then have real-time access to data to help identify trends, make informed policy decisions, and effectively code the curb. The platform can also house information about rates, rules, and regulations, which can then be pushed out to all of the connected services.

With a more connected system, it becomes easier for cities to make adjustments, big and small, that will influence the daily decisions citizens make about how to travel throughout the city. When cities and parking leaders have more control, they can manage a complex mobility ecosystem and ultimately, provide a positive experience for their citizens and promote economic growth in a sustainable way.

The bottom line is that cities, universities, and agencies are facing many of the same challenges, regardless of their organi­zation’s size or location. Innovation is not slowing down, and the changes that will affect our industry this year and in the years to come are unknown, which is why there needs to be an estab­lished system of collaboration between private and public sec­tors. Private and public organizations will lead the way with new technology and developments, making it critical that the public sector has the tools necessary to keep up and stay on pace. With greater collaboration, organizations can share best practices that can help everyone be successful.

Read the article here.

NATHAN BERRY is regional sales director at Passport. He can be reached at nathan.berry@ passportinc.com.

 

CLIMBING THE LADDER

Proven techniques to establish yourself as an industry leader.

By Perry Eggleston, CAPP, DPH

THERE IS NO SHORTAGE OF DEFINITIONS OR 19-06 Climbing the LadderPROCESSES for professionals to become leaders. All industries, including parking and mobility, attempt to incorporate some form of leadership requirement into their programs. Dictionary.com defines leadership simply as “the action of leading a group of people or an organization.” However, this definition does not define what the specific actions are in leadership. The question is: Which leadership actions must one use? “Leadership” is simply an accumulation of specific social/management skills applied at the proper time to motivate those who are led.
Law enforcement is one industry that created formalized leadership training for its employees. In California, the Sherman Block Supervisory Leadership Institute is a program in which law enforcement sergeants complete a curriculum of study, read­ing, and reports on various leadership styles and theories. They take part three days a month for nine months.

Warren G. Bennis, a pioneer in the field of leadership studies, said, “Leaders are people who do the right thing; managers are people who do things right.”
Management is easier to define. Merriam-Webster Online Dic­tionary defines management or manage as “to act or direct with a degree of skill.” It seems leadership and management are syn­onymous. Both definitions require the development of skills, and those skills are teachable. However, effective leadership uses tim­ing and application of management to motivate employees, unlike management, which relies solely on authority for motivation.

Eight Competencies for Leaders

In their book, “Leadership for the Common Good: Tackling Pub­lic Problems in a Shared Power World,” authors Barbara C. Cros­by and John M. Bryson present eight competencies for effective leadership. Because the parking and mobility industry affects the quality of life for their communities, most mobility adminis­trators are expected to use all eight competencies at some point during their careers.

While all the competencies are important, their differences are slight, and as a group, they will almost appear equal. How­ever, when looking closely, the differences are logical and easily ranked in importance:

  • Personal Leadership: understanding and deploying personal assets on behalf of beneficial change.
  • Organizational Leadership: nurturing humane and effective organizations.
  • Leadership in Context: understanding the social, political, eco­nomic, and technological givens as well as potentialities.
  • Visionary Leadership: creating and communicating shared meaning in forums.
  • Ethical Leadership: sanctioning conduct and adjudicating dis­putes in court.
  • Team Leadership: building effective workgroups.
  • Policy Entrepreneur: coordinating leadership tasks over the course of a policy change cycle.
  • Political Leadership: making and implementing decisions in legislative, executive, and administrative arenas.

Foundational to the first seven competencies is personal leadership. This is further defined as a leader’s passion in sharp­ening the competencies not for personal gain, but for the better­ment of the organization. Personal leadership is who we are as leaders. These are internal morality and ethics that are ingrained while growing up by social and environment factors.

Steps to Leadership

Once emerging leaders have defined how they want to be known, they can focus on organizational leadership and leadership in context. As an emerging leader, it is important to nurture an effective organization by determining the skill sets of the team and to understand how external forces affect the organization. The emerging leader will better use the remaining competen­cies by understanding how the internal and external players affect the organization.

The policy entrepreneur and political leadership competencies are external to the organization and those over which the new leader has the least control. However, mastery of these two are important to the well-being of the organization, which can affect the morale of the employees.  When there are policy direction changes coming from a new campus president (or other administrators), new mayor (and/or city council), or a new board of directors, the previous organizational goals are threatened. How the policy entrepreneur and political leader navigate these new forces will affect their status as a leader, both internally and externally to the organization.

Research

Up to this point, the discussion has focused on general leader­ship competencies to better understand how organizational leadership is seen in differing contexts. However, contemporary non-academic articles provide some of the best suggestions to specific leader actions that are useful for the parking and mobili­ty professional. The majority of the literature can be broken into three general topics:

  • Communicate. Be a master communicator. As Stephen Covey wrote in “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People,” “seek first to understand, then to be understood.” Most people listen so they can prepare for a response instead of listening to under­stand the message. This takes being quiet and listening, rather than speaking. It takes humbling oneself by taking the time to understand the message, rather than forcing a message. Praise in public, counsel in private, but remember to take personal responsibility when things go wrong. Don’t blame others!
  • Teach instead of direct. Leadership is not knowing every­thing. That is why teams are created—so each member can bring a particular skill to the team. Teaching others your skills allows you to become a teacher instead of just a boss. Included in teaching is challenging yourself and your team to achieve sustained results. Remember, it is influence, and not authority that makes a great leader. Teach to gain respect, and be willing to learn from others. Ray Kroc, founder of McDonald’s, said, “When you’re green, you are growing. When you’re ripe, you rot.” Especially in the parking and mobility industry and its your integrity. Integrity keeps your message authentic.ever-changing technologies, be willing to keep learning or your effectiveness as a leader will rot.
  • Be passionate and humble. Be passionate about your employees, care for your organization’s mission, and encourage your staff to accomplish impossible tasks. Be inspirational by showing empathy and maintaining your integrity. Integrity keeps your message authentic.  A true leader parks his or her ego at the door and aspires to be respected as a person instead of demanding respect due to title or position. Lead by example, but let others shine. Leaders are only as successful as those they lead. Your credit comes when the team shines, so give them the most shares of the credit. Leader­ship is not about you; it is about those you are serving.

 

Using the Skills

Leadership skills are learnable, but like any soft skill, they are acquired by repetition and education. They will dull without consistent use. While some are born leaders, most of us must make positive efforts to learn leadership and practice them daily. Many job descriptions, especially for supervisory and manage­ment positions, expect some level of leadership competency. However, these same industries do not provide leadership train­ing. The expectation is that employees must obtain leadership training from outside the organization via university courses or other channels.

Parking and mobility industry professionals have access to formal and informal leadership training opportunities. The CAPP program through IPMI includes a section on leadership while other leadership training opportunities are available through the regional parking and transportation organizations. A method of self-study is also available. There are numerous authors: Stephen Covey, Peter Drucker, and Warren Bennis are great places to start. Be curious! The best leaders are always seeking new and better ways to lead, and our industry is chang­ing too fast to stop.

Read the article here.

PERRY EGGLESTON, CAPP, DPA, is director, SP+ University Services. He can be reached at peggleston@spplus.com.

PARKING & MOBILITY / JUNE 2019 / PARKING-MOBILITY.ORG

THE GREEN STANDARD: Software Makes Modernization Achievable

By Christopher Perry and Kevin Woznicki

THE CONTINUING GROWTH OF CITIES IS ESCALATING THE NEED for mobility in urban areas, and heavy vehicle traffic calls for smarter parking and mobility systems. To address this, cities are being outfitted with cameras for multiple uses, such as closed-circuit television (CCTV) security, license plate recognition (LPR)-based parking enforcement, frictionless parking, smart traffic man­agement, road tolling, and access control. The camera infrastructure is already in place, and now the need is shifting toward hardware and platform-independent analytics, data collection, and parking management systems based on LPR and other vehicle identification technologies.

There are multiple reasons for upgrading traffic systems is accelerated and at significantly less cost. and parking services with the use of smart software. Moreover, the underlying neural network technology Software solutions provide a cost-effective alter-allows a virtually endless number of uses for soft-native to make use of existing hardware with added ware-based video analytics and LPR technology. benefits that include complete scalability and full interoperability with other systems. When software Typical Implementation is the backbone of these platforms, the development  Let us review an example for a typical implementa­tion systems, and business intelligence management company to operate CCTV systems within garages, using a software suite to manage the access and revenue control aspects of the facility. Cameras are used to monitor entry and exit lanes; they can also be used to provide footage of the license plates and vehicles. To automate the entry and exit process, implementing LPR technology is a plausible choice. Unfortunately, adding LPR-specific cameras is often cost prohibitive.

The ideal solution is integrating LPR software into the parking software that works with all the existing infrastruc­ture, including cameras and the barrier. Because a camera provides video footage of traffic, the setup allows additional analytical software to provide LPR data as well as other options (make and model recognition, for example). This additional information has many uses. While it is an inter­esting source of additional data in a shopping mall when trying to get a picture of the audience, it can also be used as a supplement for LPR data. By supplementing LPR data with vehicle make and model, the vehicle fingerprint becomes more accurate and decreases the margin of error for entry/ exit decisions.

The benefits? Quick deployment, easy setup, a mod­ernized operation, and additional data for the cost of the software instead of an expensive investment in new infrastructure.

Traffic Management

Video analytics technology applied in the case of vehicle brand and model recognition has uses in the traffic manage­ment sector as well. Starting from vehicle counting through traffic-incident detection to creating reference data for law enforcement, it covers several relevant functions while using existing surveillance equipment. Sweeping crowded road sections for traffic jams and immediately signaling the traf­fic management system to propose alternate routes or au­tomated monitoring of dangerous crossroads 24/7 for traffic rule violations are all ready to be implemented.

When traffic analytic solutions are paired with law-en­forcement systems, the result is a more encompassing and efficient solution that can offer multiple green benefits. There is no magic here: A video analytics system is capable of using existing camera infrastructure to provide author­ities with all relevant reference data pertaining to traffic violations, traffic patterns, and traffic volume, thereby in­creasing the overall utility of the system.

These are only a few of the scenarios that can potentially be covered by video analytics software. We are still very early in the implementation of artificial intelligence-powered video analytics software into actual parking and traffic appli­cations, but one thing is certain: Technology exists that has the potential to greatly accelerate the automation of parking and mobility systems and smartening of our cities.

Read the article here.

CHRISTOPHER PERRY and KEVIN WOZNICKI are co-founders of ParkTrans Solutions. Perry can be reached at christopher.perry@parktranssolutions.com and Woznicki can be reached at kevin.woznicki@parktranssolutions.com.

THE BUSINESS OF PARKING | Partners in Marketing

By Bill Smith

SOMETIMES THE MOST VALUABLE MARKETING happens through partnerships. Companies that provide products and services to parking owners and operators are often in a unique position to promote their own brands while providing valuable added benefits to their customers.

Savvy parking consultants have been doing this for years. They publicize the results of the parking plans they develop for cities, explaining their recom­mendations and how they will benefit the communi­ty. This obviously promotes their own brands, but it also provides an invaluable service to their custom­ers by helping build support for the parking plan.
This can be a particularly good strategy for tech­nology providers. Most parking technologies are designed to improve the parker experience, but they can’t succeed if parkers don’t know about the tech­nology or aren’t aware that it’s available to use.

Launching a Program

Virtually any parking technology company can ben­efit from this approach. For example, by publicizing a new installation, parking guidance providers can attract new parkers who want more convenient park­ing to that garage. By doing so, they raise awareness of their products, while helping solidify their rela­tionship with the customer by helping the customer generate more revenue.

Similarly, a pre-booking company can promote going live at a particular garage, airport, or campus parking system. By generating publicity to inform lo­cal parkers that they can reserve parking in advance, a company can create more business for itself and for the parking owner it is serving.

Case Study

Recognizing that mobile payment only benefits driv­ers and cities if people are using it, PayByPhone has created what it calls the Adoption Success Model, a customizable program through which local market­ing and adoption programs are developed to meet a community’s unique needs and requirements. The marketing programs may include any of a number of approaches, including publicity (press releases and feature stories); social media marketing and advertising; and event partnerships with local radio, television, or print media companies.
PayByPhone’s program for the City of Seattle stands out. In summer 2017, they initiated the Soak In Seattle campaign. The summer-long campaign was designed to attract 6,000 new mobile payment customers and generate 840,000 new transactions. Those goals were exceeded through a combination of marketing tactics that included free parking of­fers, street team ambassadors, paid print and digital advertising and public relations, paid ads on social media sites, and a custom landing page.

One of the more creative—and fun—elements of the program was the “parking sticker” campaign. 

Through this campaign a car was covered bumper to bumper with stickers, and anyone who downloaded the PayByPhone app was given a chance to select a parking sticker off the car to win a prize. The marketing program was featured in numerous stories in local newspapers and on local television and radio, enhancing its effectiveness. PayByPhone has run similar programs in Winnipeg in Manitoba, Canada and in San Francisco, Calif., as well as for private owners, universi­ties, and hospitals across the U.S. and Canada.

Through these programs, PayByPhone is generating revenue for itself, but it’s also promoting the interests of its customers and strengthening its relationship with the customer. This type of marketing presents a true win-win scenario for both entities.
This approach can be put to good use by nearly any busi­ness serving parking owners or operators. Whether your company is a technology provider, consultant, design firm, human resources business—really any type of supplier—it makes sense to consider marketing in partnership with your customers.

Read the article here.

BILL SMITH, APR, is principal of Smith-Phillips Strategic Communications and contributing editor of The Parking Professional. He can be reached at bsmith@ smith-phillips.com or 603.491.4280.

 

Parking Spotlight: Design Downtown for Women— Men Will Follow

By David M. Feehan

DARK, DIRTY, DULL, AND DANGEROUS. That is how one woman described parking garages in her downtown. None of us in the parking industry would like to have more than half of our custom­ers saying things like that about the facilities we manage. Yet most parking professionals are not fully aware of how women perceive not only parking in downtowns, but downtowns in general. And the reason is deceptively simple: While women account for more than 80 percent of retail, residential, and healthcare decisions, and today control more than half of the private wealth in the US, they are woefully un­derrepresented in the professions that design the downtown experience—architecture, urban planning, real estate development, engineering, and related fields.

The new book I co-wrote and edited, “Design Downtown for Women—Men Will Follow,” is a wake-up call for all of us who design and manage what for many is a woman’s first and last downtown experi­ence—parking. The authors are mostly women who will change the way you think about what you do, and how you can appeal to your most important custom­er. Part of the book is excerpted here.

Marking Parking Convenient for Women

Dull, dark, dirty, and dangerous.
That is how one woman who was interviewed for this book described downtown parking structures. At the start of our investigation, we used Survey­Monkey to contact more than 100 women who were leaders in their professional fields, and women whom we thought would have important viewpoints on downtowns.

The authors interviewed several women who are active in Women in Parking, an organization that de­scribes itself as “the premier association dedicated to the advancement and achievement of professional women by providing networking, leadership, and career outreach opportunities and support of its members.”
Marcy Sparrow, the chairperson of Women in Parking, is a native of Pittsburgh, a city that has its own parking challenges.

Her approach to parking is simple. She always assumes that there is space available near her desti­nation, but proximity is a major issue for her. Another strong consideration is weather. She wears heels so she doesn’t want to walk very far.

Marcy is not afraid of parking garages, a concern many women have, as long as the garage appears to be clean, safe, and well-lit. She looks for garages with guidance systems that indicate which floors have open spaces.
One issue Women in Parking seeks to address is gender equality. Parking has long been a male-­dominated field, and Marcy and the organization she chairs seek to change that, making sure that women have an equal voice in managing and owning parking.
One parking expert who weighed in on how park­ing can be improved to make the experience more inviting for women is Mark Muglich, former president of ABM Parking Services, one of the largest parking management companies in the U.S.
According to Mark, making parking convenient, safe, and pleasant is essential to the development of downtown, particularly for women. Muglich de­scribes his advice to parking operators below.

Muglich’s Advice

Very little crime is actually committed in parking garages, except on TV and in movies, according to Muglich. But, that doesn’t eliminate the perception that parking garages are crime ridden and unsafe.

The following factors are critical to making people feel safe in parking garages:

  • Cleanliness—A fa­cility with dust, dirt, and debris everywhere sends the wrong impression to criminals and customers alike. Criminals see a dirty structure as a facility where no one is paying at­tention, and an opportu­nity to break into vehicles or commit assaults. Cus­tomers also see a dirty facility as a place where no one is paying attention and see it as unsafe.
  • Lighting—A brightly lit parking garage is invit­ing and feels safe. With the cost and efficiency of LED lighting there is no excuse for a poorly lit ga­rage. Bright lighting at the entrance is critical. It’s also important to brightly light corners and entranc­es to elevators and stairways. Muglich advises oper­ators to see the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America publication RP-20-14, “Lighting for Parking Facilities,” describes parking structure light­ing minimum requirements.
  • Bright painting—Let’s face it, grey concrete is ugly and always looks like someone’s basement. Painting columns and walls in attractive colors, not just white, makes a garage feel pleasant and safer. Painting the ceiling white will also help improve lighting levels. Parking managers should also pay attention to the choice of colors, as noted elsewhere in Carol Becker’s chapter in this book. There is a growing trend to add level theming and wayfinding elements, public art, and other “parking garage in­terior environment enhancements” to enhance the “feel” of parking facilities and improve the patron’s perception of safety and security.
  • Design for safety—Good design elements are critical to making people feel safe in parking garag­es. Designing for safety, sometimes called CPTED, or Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design, is addressed elsewhere in the chapter by Ken Stapleton.   Good design requires openness. Parking facility designers should elimi­nate dead ends and dark corners. Traffic flow that brings moving vehicles to all areas of the garage makes everyone feel safer. This also applies to improving visibility around blind turns, having appro­priate turn radii, glass-backed elevators, etc.  Stairs, elevator lobbies and elevators should have glass walls. Parking garages should also have ground-level retail to “activate” the street level. No one wants to walk past a long blank wall of a parking garage.  CCTV and emergency alarms will help customers feel safer. They must be professionally monitored and provide fast response.
  • Facility maintenance—A well-maintained park­ing facility (clean, freshly painted, expansion joint in good repair, no obvious structural or concrete condi­tion issues [spalling, cracking, etc.]) sends a strong signal that the facility is actively managed and at­tended to. A poorly maintained facility sends an even stronger signal but with the opposite message.
  • Activity and customer assistance amenities—Parking facilities that are designed to promote local activity (first floor retail, bike share stations, inte­grated transit or shuttle stops, security call stations, customer service representatives, public art, decora­tive plantings, etc., promote greater pedestrian activ­ity, which in turn creates a sense of use and safety.

New facilities should be designed as self-serve to maximize efficiency and speed in helping custom­ers to exit promptly. Money saved on cashier labor should be used for customer service representatives.

The exterior of the garage should also be architec­turally pleasing. When you approach the garage from the street by vehicle or as a pedestrian, if it looks well designed your initial impression will be a good one, making you feel safer.

Jane Jenkins, president of Downtown OKC in Oklahoma City, and former chair of the International Downtown Association, describes downtown park­ing as one of the most annoying aspects of visiting downtown. She notes that signage is frequently lacking or confusing, and as a result, people arriving by cars often look for on-street parking in adjoining neighborhoods, causing problems for residents.

Jenkins also comments that the smell in some parking garages is a turn-off. Spilled food containers, discarded cigarette butts, and animal waste can con­tribute to an unsavory smell. The ground level of stair towers often ends up as a urinal and can result in a stomach-turning experience.

Tamara Zahn, former president of Downtown Indy Inc., said that she believes that parking garages are designed around cars, not around people. This runs counter to a statement Dennis Burns, a nationally recognized parking expert, offered at a recent In­ternational Parking & Mobility Institute conference. “Parking is not a car storage business,” according to Burns. “It is a people business.”

Kate Joncas, former deputy mayor of Seattle and former president of Downtown Seattle Inc., recalls that she has experienced areas around parking ga­rages that are loitering locations, especially when security is not visible. Women who are using pay-on-foot pay stations in parking lobbies, and are opening purses and wallets, can find this experience uncom­fortable and downright threatening.

Attended surface lots, though not good uses of urban land, are much preferred by women. In Kalam­azoo, one surface lot attendant kept a small library of favorite novels in his booth and loaned them to customers with whom he had become acquainted. Having a familiar face in the attendant’s booth made customers, particularly women, feel much more comfortable.

Parking operators can make parking facilities much more inviting for women. Having on site a package of services—dead battery jumps, flat tire assistance, help for customers who accidently lock their keys in their cars—gives any customer, but particularly women customers, a sense of comfort, knowing that if something goes wrong, someone is there to help.

Pathways from parking garages and lots are another area frequently neglected. Lighting, land­scaping, and attention to walking surfaces can make a pathway inviting or downright frightening. Some cities have turned grimy, unlit alleys into attractive pedestrian walkways, with openings into shops, and occasional buskers performing music. Removal of snow and ice in cold weather cities is another service parking operators should maintain regularly.

Just finding a place to park can be a daunting task for anyone. Some cities do a good job of signage, guiding people to public parking. Some parking au­thorities and downtown organizations offer on-line websites that highlight parking facilities, and give useful information such as location of entrances, prices, and hours of operation.
In summary, the design of the downtown parking experience is crucial to attracting women, because so often parking is the first and last experience a woman will have with the downtown business dis­trict.

Read the article here.

DAVID M. FEEHAN is president of Civitas Consulting, LLC. He can be reached at dadpsych@mac.com. “Design Downtown for Women—Men Will Follow” is available at amazon.com.

PARKING & MOBILITY SPOTLIGHT- PARKSMART Project: Sustainable Building Leads the Way to Sustainable Mobility in Dubai

By Sarah Merricks

THE UNITED ARAB EMIRATES (UAE) is going above and beyond to tackle climate risk and focus on environmentally friendly development. This leadership is especially evident in Dubai. One of the fastest-growing metropolises in the world, Dubai has become a model for how a city can transform into one of the most sustainable and
livable cities in the world.

The city has taken a number of initiatives to reduce its carbon emissions through energy-efficiency pol­icies and production of renewable energy, including committing to reducing emissions from government entities and industries by 16 percent. The Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park, for example, is the largest generator of solar energy in the world from a single location—with a capacity to produce 5,000 megawatts by 2030—almost 25 percent of the total estimated energy production in the Emirate.
In March 2014, Dubai municipality mandated green-building specifications and regulations for all new buildings. Dubai is also a leader in waste management; in 2012, it developed a waste man­agement master plan to reduce the amount of waste sent to landfills to zero in 20 years by using an integrated and innovative approach. And most recently, in April 2019, the city was the first in the middle east (MENA) region to receive LEED for Cities Platinum certification.

Government Leadership

These are all impressive achievements that solidify Dubai’s role as an international leader and are due in large part to government leadership. For example, the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) has demonstrated a strong commitment to reducing the effect of its own ecological footprint. As the distribu­tion authority for electricity and water in the Emirate of Dubai, DEWA’s contribution toward healthy and sustainable development through its buildings and assets has been commendable.

In keeping with the company’s vision of becoming a sustainable world-class utility, the authority decided to pursue sustainable design for its office building in Al Quoz, Dubai. And in September 2012, DEWA Sus­tainable Building achieved LEED Platinum certification with a score of 98 out of 110 points, making it the largest government building in the world at the time to earn Platinum certification. It was also the highest scoring building in the MENA region and among the top in the world. Earlier this year, the project built on this commitment by also achieving Parksmart Pioneer certification, and it was the first building in the MENA and North Africa region to be recognized under Parksmart.

The Building

The 236,996 gross-square-foot building houses DE­WA’s customer service center, a customer call center, an engineering and control center, and the Supervi­sory Control and Data Acquisition center for water systems. The building uses 66 percent less energy and 48 percent less water than a traditional office building thanks to the use of high-efficiency water fixtures. The building has a fully automated control panel to control the cooling and air conditioning systems and a number of ventilation units that further reduce energy consumption. An efficient stormwater management plan at the facility ensures recycling of water for irri­gation, and special regulators, sensor taps, low-flow fixtures, and waterless urinals help further reduce water consumption. An in-house laboratory also ensures that water quality conforms to global envi­ronmental standards.

Earlier this year, the project built on this commitment by also achieving Parksmart Pioneer certification and was the first building in the MENA and North Africa region to be recognized under Parksmart.

Materials used in construction contain approxi­mately 36.79 percent recycled content; 28.53 percent of those materials were regionally sourced. The project also has a solar hot water system, an on-site grey­water treatment plant, a 660-kilowatt solar power plant, and a vegetated roof. LED lights and automatic lighting control systems power the building’s lighting mechanism with occupancy sensors. And indoor air quality in the building is constantly monitored through the use of carbon dioxide sensors with alarms in all densely occupied areas, while outdoor air is treated and supplied throughout the building to provide bet­ter ventilation.

Location

Located close to the Dubai Metro Station the project helps reduce pollution and land development impact from automobile use. Bicycle racks have been allocat­ed for 5 percent of the building users, in addition to preferential parking for low-emission and fuel-efficient vehicles and six electric-vehicle charging stations.

As a destination and origination point in the UAE’s transportation system, DEWA recognized the impor­tance of making sure its building maximized its sus­tainable transportation impact and pursued Parksmart in addition to LEED certification for the headquarters. This LEED-plus approach made sure the authority took advantage of both LEED’s sustainability strate­gies and those in Parksmart and were also specific to the parking structure building type. If LEED Platinum was good, DEWA figured, then LEED plus Parksmart must be great. And so it is. .

Read the article here.

SARAH MERRICKS is executive communications director with the United States Green Building Council. She can be reached at smerricks@usgbc.org.

PARKING-MOBILITY.ORG / JUNE 2019 / PARKING & MOBILITY