Tag Archives: trends

Member News: ParkMobile Mobility Study Shows COVID-19 Will Have a Significant Impact on Consumer Behavior

ParkMobile - New LogoSurvey results indicate changing outlooks about where people will go and how they will get there

Atlanta, GA, – June 24, 2020ParkMobile, the leading provider of smart parking and mobility solutions, released a new research study today showing the impact of COVID-19 on consumer behavior. The survey, conducted with over 2,000 ParkMobile users in the month of May, reveals that people plan to make significant lifestyle changes as a result of COVID-19 over the next two years, including less travel, less commuting, and attending fewer events. Additionally, people plan to use mass transit and ride sharing less often and use their personal vehicles more often.

The complete survey results are posted on the ParkMobile website at parkmobile.io/covid. Below are some key highlights.

  • People say they will work about 50% fewer hours in an office environment
  • 29% of respondents expect to use their personal vehicles more often
  • 46% of respondents will take public transportation less often and 29% of respondents expect to use ride sharing options less often
  • Over 40% of respondents plan to attend fewer concerts, sporting events and other large gatherings.
  • 30% expect to do less personal travel and 34% expect to do less business travel

 

Additionally, survey respondents expect to increase usage of contactless payment options, allowing them to pay without needing to hand someone cash, a credit card, or touch physical payment hardware. According to the survey, 40% expect to increase their use of contactless payment options in the coming year, while only 4% expect that use to decrease.

“It is clear that COVID-19 is creating a ‘new normal’ for people everywhere,” says Jon Ziglar, CEO of ParkMobile. “This study shows that people are being extra cautious when it comes to the places they are going, how they are getting there, and the way they are making payments. These behavior shifts will most likely continue until there is a vaccine.”

 

About ParkMobile

ParkMobile, LLC is the leading provider of smart parking and mobility solutions in North America, helping millions of people easily find, reserve, and pay for parking on their mobile device. The company’s technology is used in thousands of locations across the country, including 8 of the top 10 cities as well as college campuses, airports, and stadiums. People can use ParkMobile solutions to quickly pay for on-street and off-street parking without having to use a meter or kiosk. Additionally, ParkMobile offers parking reservations at stadium venues for concerts and sporting events. Reservations are also available in metro area garages, allowing people to drive into the city without having to worry about finding parking. ParkMobile has been named to the Inc. 5000, Deloitte Fast 500, Smart Cities Connect “Smart 50,” and the Atlanta Journal Constitution’s Top Workplaces. Additionally, the company won the 2020 Stevie Awards for Product Innovation. For more information, visit ParkMobile.io or @ParkMobile on Twitter.

 

ParkMobile Contact:
Jeff Perkins, CMO, jeff.perkins@parkmobile.io

Member News: What Automatic Access Control Systems Can do for Car Parks in This New Reality

Quercus Tech ACS

 

May 21, 2020

Interaction is natural and it is an inherent need of every human being. Nevertheless, latest technologies lead to avoiding human contact and simplifying lives thanks to automation. This path to the future based on avoiding interaction has been accelerated by the Covid19 situation. Considering the trend of increasing use of private transport, now it’s the best time for parking. More than ever it is mandatory to decrease or eliminate the physical contact points inside the premises.

PRESS RELEASE

How can LPR cameras like Quercus Technologies’ help prevent the virus spread at entries and exits of a car park? Quite simple. The less we poke around, the less chances for it to spread

In everyday life drivers who park in a car park have to interact with different devices in the process. It seems unavoidable to use things such as ticket dispensers, payment machines, cash or vouchers… And it’s been confirmed that the virus can stand on surfaces for long.

The major issue lies with the use of the ticket dispensers at the entry and exit; the best option to avoid this contact point is to simply go in and out without using a ticket. Technology built in SmartLPR Access cameras integrated with access control systems allows to automate entries and exits of the parking facilities. When drivers arrive at the parking premises, their vehicle’s license plate is recognized and registered and the barrier rises up automatically. This ticketless feature is widely used for car park monthly subscribers because it grants them a “hands free” access; bear in mind that this can also be used when creating registration lists for employees or regular customers with benefits.

If prepaid ticketless operation is not available, another physical interaction will be held at the payment stations. Don’t worry though, there are options that will allow you to minimize this such as using QR codes that make paper tickets readable at short distance away from the payment device. QR codes combined with the fact that most of the patrons will likely use a credit card will reduce the amount of user input.

Quercus Technologies ACS

To facilitate the previous process even more, some banks have taken the temporary measure to increase the contactless payment security limits. This will ensure that most of your daily parking fees can be paid without entering PIN and therefore making the payment a zero contact process.

Otherwise, if you want to avoid cash or credit payments altogether you can opt to integrate the LPR cameras and Access Control System into a mobile app. By using a mobile platform parkers will use their devices to pay using their licence plate or a pre-registered account as identification. This way they will be paying without touching any local device.

Last but not least, when users drive to the exit Quercus Technologies’ units will once more read their plate number, allowing them to verify if the user has already paid in order to automatically let them out. Every contact point can be easily removed with the combination of License Plate Recognition cameras and an adequate Parking Access and Revenue Control set-up.

LPR technology is not a one day work, it requires several years of experience.

Quercus Technologies has been developing LPR cameras for more than two decades now. SmartLPR Access is the latest generation of License Plate Recognition units designed to contribute to security and smart mobility in car parks and access controls. A single device integrates all what is needed to provide the highest reliability worldwide.

For more information please contact:
Marketing Department
marketing@quercus.biz

Trends to Track

illustration of two people tracking trends on graphsBy Casey Jones, CAPP

With the daily grind of attending to schedules, HR issues, and constant emails, it’s difficult sometimes to do more than keep your nose to the grinding stone. But missing out on the big picture may keep an organization from adapting to our changing world and staying relevant to its customers. Here are four major macro-level factors parking and mobility leaders must track to adapt and grow their organizations:

  • Cars Trends. The number of cars in the U.S. has risen steadily since a five-year period of the Great Recession. More people and driving more miles and the millennial generation has as big of an appetite for car ownership as previous generations.
  • Population Growth and Net Migration. The U.S. population continues to grow and a handful of western states top the list of places where Americans are moving. These states also have less developed public transportation systems and roadway infrastructure to accommodate new users.
  • The Effects of TNCs. Recent research reveals that transportation network companies (TNCs) are putting up considerable vehicle miles traveled and adding to the congestion of many places they serve. Curb management has emerged as a critical new area of focus in large part because of the effects of TNCs.
  • Ecommerce and Delivery. Traditional brick-and-mortar retail business continue to struggle against their ecommerce competitors, and the growth of just-in-time delivery is affecting urban transportation systems.

Focusing on the right trends and not becoming unnecessarily bogged down by the minutiae will help an organization innovate and prepare for the future.

Casey Jones, CAPP, is senior parking & mobility planner with DESMAN. He will be presenting on this topic at the 2020 IPMI Conference & Expo, May 31 – June 3, in San Antonio, Texas. For information and to register, click here.

Eyes on the Trends

By Brian Shaw, CAPP

AS MOBILITY PROFESSIONALS, we have to try to stay aware of trends in our industry. Most of us were caught off guard with the advent of transportation network companies (TNCs) such as Uber and Lyft and the impact they have had on curb space, traditional taxis, car-sharing, transit usage, parking demand, and traffic. What could be coming next that will affect our profession and industry? I will attempt to make some predictions, and I will be interested to see how right or wrong I am in the coming years.

Electrification of Transit Fleets

Batteries continue to get better. Consistent range, per­formance, and safety have made moving bus transit to an electric platform feasible, viable, and cost-effective. China has led the way in this trend, and North Amer­ican transit properties, universities, and airports have begun to transition their bus fleets to electric. Bus manufacturers have emerged who specialize in elec­tric buses while also collaborating with traditional bus companies on conversions.

EV Charging?

Many of us have installed electric-vehi­cle (EV) charging stations in our facil­ities. This may be due to a code require­ment or as a way to attract EV owners to park in our facilities. But the range for EVs has dramatically improved; some EVs can go 100, 200, or more miles on a charge. Is EV charging still needed at worksites as battery range im­proves? Should EV charging be done at home, and should EV charging be free? Should fast or slow chargers be the option?

Transportation Network Companies

Is the growing use of Lyft and Uber a prelude to how life will be with autonomous vehicles (AVs)? Will we own cars in the future and need to park them? How should our facilities be designed and what features do they need if the vehicles can park them­selves? For now, it may be prudent to develop staging areas for TNCs.

Pickup/Drop-off Curb Space

Given the increasing use of TNCs and the likely future advent of autonomous vehicles, our built environments will need to develop new design standards and op­erational use criteria to make the best use of limited curb space. Perhaps when parking demand declines, the curb space issue will be addressed by having fewer curbs in use for parking. At least for the foreseeable future, curb use and availability will remain a challenge.

Technology Instead of Travel

In more urban and suburban areas, this could lead to a growing need for short-term loading zones to accom­modate delivery activities. Commuters may commute less or to various remote locations to facilitate remote working/working from home, reducing demand for monthly permits and parking and increasing need for daily permits. Meetings may take place online with improving video conferencing, reducing mid-day trips and parking demand. Why go to the theater if you can see the next Oscar winner from home? If your dinner can be easily delivered from your favorite restaurant, why go out? This trend should reduce retail parking demand, but it will increase demand for curb and loading areas, particularly in urban settings.

Microtransit

Will microtransit services reduce parking demand? Are they shifting trips from transit or using a personal bike? Are these inducing travel by making it easier and faster to travel short distances? Dockless electric scooters are making inroads in some cities and are becoming more regulated. Perhaps converting or adding dockless device parking where bike parking is located is prudent. It remains to be seen if these microtransit services will be profitable and worth incorporating into planning processes. When mobility-as-a-service becomes possible, microtransit should have a place in travel planning and seamless paying.

LPR and Gateless Parking

Can parking garages and lots be operated with license plate recognition (LPR)-based payment and enforcement exclusively?

Have we seen the end of parking meters, pay stations, and gate arms? Can parking be factored into emerging mobility-as-a-service solutions via LPR? When parking facilities become staging areas for TNCs and/or autonomous vehicles, automated vehicle detection and payments will be needed. While vehicles could be equipped with a device like an E-ZPass, all vehicles have a license plate that is valid everywhere. Perhaps LPR

becomes a way for AVs to pay for parking/staging/charging at a parking facility. If that is the case, will gates and pay stations be necessary? Until cash is gone and humans no longer drive and park, parking equipment should continue to be useful. However, the day is coming when barrier-free, LPR-based parking payment and enforcement will be the norm.

Amplification of Transportation

Is it possible to crack the challenge of real-time ride-sharing—trip, location, and time? Is this service best accomplished with TNCs and ride-matching apps versus dedicated vehicles and routes? When AVs can carry larger passenger loads, perhaps services such as Chariot and RidePal will be economically viable. Until then, daily ride-matching apps seem to have found a viable place. Combining daily ride-matching with LPR-based parking management should allow use of preferred carpool parking and sharing commuting costs for daily carpools. Transit agencies have begun considering using TNCs to provide on-demand trans­portation, particularly for lightly used routes or during off-peak service hours. Arguably, TNCs can be a more cost-effective way to provide needed transportation when ridership loads are low.

Adaptive Reuse

Under what conditions does it make sense to pay the extra upfront costs for adaptive reuse (see p. 36 of the May 2019 issue for more)? Depending on the location of the facility, age, design, and ownership, it may or may not make financial sense to build a parking facility to accommodate an autonomous vehicle future. Can the property be redeveloped? If so, perhaps when parking demand declines to the point where a garage is no longer needed, it may be best to redevelop the property.

A growing aspect of our roles as parking and mobility professionals is to stay aware and informed of these and oth­er trends and advances in our profession. In some cases, our best approach is to wait and see how the trend plays out.

Read the article here.

BRIAN SHAW, CAPP, is executive director of parking and transportation at Stanford University, and co-chair of the IPMI Sustainability Committee. He can be reached at bshaw2@stanford.edu

Trends in Parking: Future Thinking

A Guide to Parking - IPMI coverBy Richard W. Willson, PhD, AICP

Parking will undoubtedly be different in the future. Everything is changing–factors that affect the amount of parking used, the way it is accessed, the design of parking facilities, and parking management tools such as dynamic pricing. This is a time of rapid disruption in city management, transportation, and parking. Because there is uncertainty about how trends will play out and interact, parking professionals must be adaptive and creative. It is vital for the parking industry to be ready for a range of future conditions.

While some trends are clear, others are uncertain. Demographers inform us about an aging society, marked by members of the large baby boom group who will stop driving in the coming decades. While at least some of the millennial group seek urban communities that are less reliant on private vehicles, the delayed entry of some members of this generation into job and housing markets creates uncertainty about whether they will adopt living and commuting patterns as their parents did. They may.

An important question for the future of parking is this: will people own their vehicles in the future or will they prefer to use mobility services as needed? If they choose the latter, this will reduce the amount of parking used in cities and suburbs. It is likely that these preferences will differ between urban and suburban areas, with urban areas experiencing the largest decreases.

There is no crystal ball to answer these questions. There are many scenarios and contingencies, but most of them involve less parking per unit of development. Fast-growing communities may continue to add parking, albeit at a slower rate, while status quo or slow growth ones may be able to reduce parking supply. This chapter summarizes a key point: parking will play a smaller role in cities and suburbs in the future. The primary shift will be to emphasize efficient management of parking over new parking construction.

This is excerpted from A Guide to Parking. To read the full chapter, check out the whole book here.

Richard W. Willson, PhD, FAICP, is professor in the Department of Urban and Regional Planning at Cal Poly Pomona and author of Parking Reform Made Easy and Parking Management for Smart Growth.