Planning

One of the most impactful decisions you will ever make is where to cast your hotel loyalty (tongue in cheek). As a frequent flyer, I’m Southwest all day long as that Companion Pass is the best perk in the travel industry. Many years ago, I chose Hilton, despite Paris. Many a high school spring break was brought to the Pinyot family courtesy of Hilton Honors points, and my Lifetime Diamond achievement.

How One City Is Rebuilding Its Parking Program from the Ground Up

Generative AI is moving at lightning speed. Headlines predict sweeping change. Vendors and software companies are promising fully automated agents. Our bosses (and their bosses) are demanding an AI strategy yesterday. But parking doesn’t need more hype. It needs discipline.

In this blog, I hope to present some information and guidelines regarding temporary traffic control. Typically, we think about traffic control in the context of police officers, construction crews or those involved in flagging operations. But as parking professionals we have to consider major events (planned or unplanned) or special event parking also include traffic getting to the parking space.

When you think about using an autonomous vehicle, is your reaction ‘No Waymo’? Or are you curious about the changing technology around us and instead think ‘Yes Waymo’? Being that I live part time in Phoenix, I have become quite accustomed to seeing Waymo on the streets around us for almost a decade now. First as a testing ground in Tempe and then mainstream as one of the first launch cities in the US. About 18 months ago, my husband Nathan transitioned from Uber to Waymo when it was possible, and I quickly followed suit.

In this four-part Parkonomics series for Urban Land, Kevin Bopp, Bernard Lee, and Andrew Sachs, CAPP, examine how parking facilities must evolve to remain viable in a rapidly changing mobility landscape

Shaping the Future of Mobility

In this panel discussion, university parking leaders will explore how institutions can apply the same proven strategies used for football game day to other high-demand events. From staffing and communication plans to pricing structures and traffic flow management, we’ll discuss how best practices can be scaled and adapted across the academic calendar.

Climate risk, particularly severe weather, is becoming an increasingly important factor in how parking and mobility infrastructure is designed and how vehicles are insured and protected. Hail is one of the costliest and most disruptive weather threats facing vehicle-centric infrastructure in the United States. As vehicles with panoramic glass roofs, advanced sensors, and EV components become increasingly technologically complex and expensive to repair, the financial impact of hail damage continues to grow. At the same time, insurers are responding with higher premiums, stricter underwriting, and more stringent requirements for proactive mitigation.

Extreme weather events are becoming a more regular occurrence. As I write this blog, large portions of the country are digging out from significant winter weather events – many of whom do not experience ice, snow and subzero temperatures on a regular (or even occasional!) basis.

Why Severe Weather Resilience Matters for Parking Infrastructure

As communities across the country work to deliver improved and integrated transportation systems, pedestrian infrastructure remains a challenge to develop at a level which allows the overall transportation network to operate optimally. For public transportation, areas with higher densities and interconnected pedestrian facilities provide a network to allow people to move around more easily without relying on a vehicle. These robust pedestrian facilities not only allow promote more use of non-vehicle modes of mobility, but make the entire transportation system safer and more efficient thereby reducing conflicts between vehicles and pedestrians. For those of us who drive, walk, bicycle or use scooters, we know first-hand the different perspective you have when peering out the car windshield compared to walking or biking near and around vehicular traffic. Well-designed pedestrian facilities reinforce that walking and biking are viable options that can get you where you want to go with the hassle of dealing with driving, congestion and parking. Unfortunately, pedestrian facilities still lag behind in many communities where lack of priority and funding hampers their development. Since there can be various governmental jurisdictions involved with streets and right-of-way, it’s imperative for localities to have a structure in place to ensure pedestrian facilities can be planned and executed in a coordinated manner.  By championing best practices involving a multi-modal complete streets design approach, progress can be made to greatly enhance a community’s overall transportation system. Mark Hairr, PTMP, is an Executive Director for Wave Transit. Mark can be reached at mhairr@wavetransit.com.