University

As parking professionals, we are very comfortable with providing parking as a service. People visit our parking location because it is close to where they want to go. The actual experience of parking is not the event that they are looking forward to, it is part of a process to get to that event. So, what happens when parking IS the main event? It means that professionals that are used to providing efficient and effective service now need to consider another aspect – hospitality.

We obtained our first mobile LPR system in 2021 with the intention of going permitless after the first year of working out all the bugs, kinks and nuisances that having virtual permits brings. The uncertainty of budget constraints related to the pandemic and the turnover of staff delayed the roll out by several years. We made the decision that 2026 is the year to go permitless at Kent State! Some initial thoughts to help make the transition smooth include the following.  We’re planning to implement slowly with targeted user groups initially. We’ll start with students first, then faculty and staff, vendors and contractors, visitors, then events. This should allow us time to work through any issues that might arise and eliminate the largest group of permits initially to provide the greatest efficiency upfront. We plan to engage our university marketing and communications team to provide a roll out platform to inform our stakeholders prior to implementation. We envision a social media campaign and email marketing to raise awareness. The most difficult groups to capture and what we foresee being the biggest challenge to permitless operations is the one-time visitors and events. We’re currently analyzing different solutions to see what is the most cost effective and user-friendly options for our guests to campus. These groups have been our biggest hangup because we don’t know quite how to handle them yet in a permitless environment. We’re looking forward to the efficiencies that LPR provides, but we also know that this will be a big change for our campus community. Meredith Garrett, PTMP, is the Assistant Director of Public Safety, Parking & Transit Services for Kent State University. Meredith can be reached at mgarre12@kent.edu.

Torrance, CA — HONK, North America’s leading provider of contactless payments for parking, announced that El Camino College has replaced its legacy parking permit system with HONK’s fully digital, automated solution — streamlining operations, improving the campus parking experience, and laying the foundation for future growth. The College’s move away from physical permits represents a broader shift in how parking is managed, with HONK’s digital platform giving El Camino new tools to streamline day-to-day operations for both administrators and campus drivers. Administrative teams now spend less time on manual tracking, accounting, and reconciliation – everything is digital, easier to audit, and less prone to error. “We needed a modern parking solution that would make our internal operations more efficient while improving the overall experience for our students and staff, said Matthew Vander Horck, Chief of Police,  El Camino College. “HONK delivered a system that is intuitive for our team, reduces administrative burden, and gives our campus community a simple, mobile-first way to park— with the flexibility to grow as our needs continue to evolve.” For students and staff — the people parking on campus every day — the change is even more visible. Parking is now mobile-first, giving drivers a faster, more intuitive experience that aligns with how they already use technology. No more waiting in line, managing paper passes, or dealing with lost permits. The system supports popular mobile wallets like Apple Pay and Google Pay, which means drivers can pay using the same tools they already rely on every day. Behind the scenes, the system has also helped reduce long-term operational costs. By shifting away from hardware-heavy infrastructure, El Camino has minimized the need for expensive equipment replacements and ongoing maintenance. “El Camino’s move to digital parking reflects what we’ve seen work well across higher education,” said Matt Critchell, Chief Revenue Officer, HONK. “Schools are looking for systems that are easy for students to use and simple for teams to manage, and El Camino now has a parking program that reduces manual work, scales as needs change, and supports a modern campus experience.” About El Camino College Founded in 1947, El Camino College is situated on a beautiful and spacious 126-acre campus near Torrance, California. The college enrolls about 33,000 students each semester and boasts a curriculum of about 200 degree and certificate programs taught by exceptional faculty in an environment that supports equity and student success.

“The university is a series of individual entrepreneurs held together by a common grievance about parking.” Clark Kerr’s observation from his time as Chancellor of the University of California, Berkeley still rings true. Decades later, parking remains one of the most persistent sources of frustration on college and university campuses. Students circle lots looking for spaces, faculty want reliable access near offices and classrooms, visitors struggle to understand where they can park, and administrators are left balancing competing needs with limited resources. What has changed since Kerr’s era is the technology available to manage parking. Yet many universities still rely on physical permits, spreadsheets, and manual processes that no longer align with the expectations of modern campus communities. Parking has become part of the daily campus experience, and outdated systems can undermine that experience before the day even begins. University parking is inherently complex. Faculty, staff, resident students, commuters, athletes, and event attendees all have different needs, usage patterns, and expectations. Managing these demands fairly with legacy tools almost guarantees confusion and dissatisfaction. Cloud-based digital parking management platforms are built to handle this complexity. They provide flexible tools that adapt to different user groups and demand patterns, while offering online self-service for permits, payments, and renewals. Automation reduces errors, eliminates the cost and waste of physical permits, and frees parking staff from routine administrative work. Financial oversight improves as well, with automated reporting and account-level tracking across departments or campuses. Rutgers University’s digital parking management program illustrates the impact of this shift. By moving to a modern cloud-based system, the university was able to combine permit types, enable online transactions and system-wide access, improve event and guest parking, and gain real-time data for planning and pricing. Compliance improved, complaints declined, and parking became more predictable for users. For many people, parking is their first interaction with campus. Digital parking management helps ensure that experience is efficient, transparent, and far less frustrating, turning a long-standing grievance into a strategic operational advantage. Click here to read the Parking & Mobility magazine article. Chris Perry, PTMP, is the Senior Vice President of Parking Base. He can be reached at chris.perry@parkingbase.com.

Join us for a live interview where Kacey Siskind, SVP of Account Management at HONK, sits down with Linda Braak, Director of Customer Care & Planning at UC Davis, to discuss what UC Davis has learned since redefining its permit parking program and why working with HONK has made a difference.

In 2023 my home state of Minnesota adopted the “Safety Stop” or “Idaho Stop” for bicycles.  This allows bicycles to treat a stop sign like a yield sign.  So if no one is coming, the bike can roll through the intersection.  It was interesting to hear the feedback from regular vehicle commuters who’s first reaction was often along the lines of, “That can’t be safe.  Why do bicycles get to break the law?”  While there is a good amount of data to show that overall this is safer for cyclists, another advantage is better flow for regular vehicles.   When presenting information to groups of people that you are trying to convince it is helpful to frame it with the benefits to the individual person.  Someone that hasn’t commuted on a bicycle and maybe hasn’t ridden one since childhood probably doesn’t think much about how traffic flows with bicycles.   So the next time someone says bikes should obey all of the traffic laws of a car, ask them to think about a situation where they are behind a bike. With a safety stop, the bike is able to proceed through the intersection and is out of their way before they need to navigate the intersection.  They don’t need to wait behind the bike as it stops, then gets going again, possibly a little more wobbly for a few feet until they are out of the way and you are able to navigate the intersection. For thoughtful motorists, understanding the positive benefits to themselves and overall traffic flow can help turn them into allies. Ben Schnabel, PTMP, is an Assistant Director for Parking Operations at the University of Minnesota. Ben can be reached at schna015@umn.edu.

Why Digital Parking Management is the Future of University Parking

As described by the McKinsey Center for Future Mobility several months ago, micromobility—bikes, scooters, and other personal transport devices—is reshaping transportation. Students appreciate the convenience and sustainability these options provide, but as adoption grows, so do concerns about pedestrian safety and infrastructure gaps. How do we balance innovation with responsibility? Recent studies show accident rates on campuses are climbing, often linked to distracted riding and unclear infrastructure for separating pedestrians and riders. According to a survey published by UPCEA Cener for Research and Strategy, liability and insurance coverage remain gray areas, especially when accidents involve bystanders. Add behaviors like riding under the influence or speeding, and the risks multiply. At Old Dominion University, policy emphasizes pedestrian right-of-way and mandates the responsible operation of micromobility devices in designated areas. Riders must follow traffic rules, maintain safe speeds, and dismount in congested zones. Helmet use is strongly encouraged, and headphones are permitted only on one ear for safety. Other universities have introduced designated lanes and scooter corrals to reduce conflicts - steps worth considering as we design safer systems. As parking, transportation, and mobility professionals, we have an opportunity to lead. What do you think—should universities focus on stronger rules, better infrastructure, or more rider education? What’s been successful on your campus? I would love to hear your ideas and experiences to help create programs that keep everyone safe and make sustainable transportation even easier. I'd like micromobility to become a welcome and respected program in the overall campus community. Lisa Copeland, PTMP, is the Associate Director for Data and Administration at Old Dominion University. Lisa can be reached at lcopelan@odu.edu.

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.

This on-demand webinar course offers information on three different ways to charge EV’s with a focus on adaptable charging.  Behavioral incentives are presented to change charging behavior.  This includes extensive research and the results on a case study completed at the University of California, San Diego.

Open to members from academic institutions. Register for the free higher education members-only roundtable and ask for advice about your own situation, offer your expertise, and connect with others facing similar challenges.