Industry News

February, 2017

Park Assist notes that due to increased demand and interest in its patent-pending, camera-based parking guidance systems, the company has opened a regional office in LA. (It has offices in San Francisco, as well.) The new office will be in the westside metro LA area known as Silicon Beach, “a growing epicenter of technology and innovation.” The west LA space is in a prime location near LAX.

 
Parkopedia has announced the launch of HAD Parking Maps, its indoor mapping services, following successful completion of pilot projects in partnership with the Volkswagen Group Research. Using high-resolution 3D data capturing technology developed by Navvis (Munich), it has created the maps for complex, multistory parking facilities. They enable vehicles not only to position themselves while driving indoors (with a precision of 1 centimeter), but also to navigate in fully automated mode. Parkopedia plans to further invest in and develop the technologies behind the maps services before they can be rolled out on a global scale.

 
IPS Group (IPS) has announced it is collaborating with Honda and Visa to integrate its “smart parking” technology with an end-to-end, in-vehicle, mobile payment parking solution. “IPS strives to innovate in ways that will reshape the role of parking and consumer interaction within urban environments,” said CEO David King. “Partnering to develop an in-vehicle, mobile payment platform will redefine convenience and consumer engagement, and is one of the many exciting benefits that our ‘smart cities’ initiative will deliver to the public.”

 
ZipPark Inc. has successfully installed its event parking management system for the Teton Village (WY) Association at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort. A variety of orld-class venues across North America, the company says, have come to appreciate ZipPark’s event parking system for its speed of
ingress, payment flexibility, and reliability of its environmentally hardened mobile computers.

 
Allpro Parking has once again expanded its valet parking services footprint on the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus, this time with the Jan. 3 opening of valet parking operations at the Conventus building. The demand for convenient parking options continues to grow as the BNM campus grows, the company says.

 
The Lancaster (PA) Parking Authority (LPA) assumed management of on-street enforcement of the city parking ordinances on Jan. 1. Oversight includes parking enforcement during street-sweeping days, in residential permit parking areas, at downtown meters and loading zones, and in managing the issuance of residential parking permits. The LPA will switch to the license plate as the main form of enforcement and payment throughout the city for on-street parking. The current pay-by-space system will change to pay-by-license-plate at the multi-space parking kiosks. Pay-by-plate also will be used at single meters throughout the city for pay-by-phone. 

 
Conduent Inc. has completed its separation from Xerox and is now an independent public company trading on the NY Stock Exchange. It debuts as “the world’s largest pure-play business process services leader with about $6.7 billion in annual revenue, a portfolio of differentiated offerings, and a vision focused on technology and innovation to advance the client and constituent experience.” With more than 93,000 employees in more than 40 countries, Conduent is a Fortune 500-scale company with expertise in transaction-intensive processing, analytics and automation.

Dubai Airports, operator of Dubai International (DXB), the world’s busiest international airport, and Dubai World Central, has awarded a 10-year parking concession to Saudi-based National Parking Co. (Mawgif) to manage, operate and maintain all carparks at both airports. The agreement, which will see Mawgif deploy its state-of-the-art parking access control and payment technology, as well as airport employee parking management, includes a commitment to design and build a new 3,000-space multistory carpark at DXB’s Terminal 1.

The University of Delaware (UD) Perkins parking garage went gateless Jan. 2. As a result, instead of paying when exiting, hourly customers must pay as soon as they park. Permit holders can enter and exit freely with no need to swipe or tap their UD ID cards. Hourly customers can use one of six pay-by-plate kiosks on the first and second floors. As an alternative, the PassPort app can be used to pay for parking in the garage. In other news, the city of Cambridge, MA, has unveiled a new way for drivers to pay for metered parking. Visitors to Harvard Square, for example, can now use the Passport app at all of its metered spaces. The city joins other Massachusetts municipalities that have launched the service, including Salem, Acton, Springfield, Newburyport and Haverhill. Passport also powers the ParkBoston mobile pay app in Boston.

Ace Parking has announced an agreement with Inrix to provide real-time parking data for more than 400 U.S. locations. As an Inrix-certified parking data provider, Ace can ensure that leading automakers, transportation agencies and popular mobile apps have its most accurate and up-to-date information. “As a company focused on ... and delivering a ‘frictionless’ customer service experience, this partnership helps make parking easier for people,” said Keith B. Jones, Managing Principal of Ace Parking.

The town of Snowmass Village, CO, has completed installation of a NuPark Inc. digital parking enforcement and permitting platform using license plate recognition (LPR) technology. It previously used a physical parking permit program for its 13 paid surface lots, which provide more than 1,000 off-street spaces for commercial and residential use. “The parking challenges of a mountain resort are massive,” said Police Chief Brian Olson. “We were compelled to move away from our physical permit parking system and embrace the new virtual permit with LPR technology enforcement.” In other news, Michael Civitelli has joined NuPark as Senior National Sales Manager. He brings 23 years of industry experience to the LPR-based parking management solutions provider.

The official short- and long-term carparks of London City Airport are now available to book with ParkCloud, which says it is “very pleased to further its substantial network of airport carparks.” East of the city, the international airport is just a short distance from the Canary Wharf financial district.

The SP Plus Corp. Board of Directors has elected Karen M. Garrison as Non-Executive Chairman of the Board, effective Jan. 1. James A. Wilhelm, who retired as the company’s CEO on Dec. 31, 2014, after nearly 30 years with the organization, had transitioned into that role Jan. 1, 2015. His planned two-year tenure concluded Dec. 31, 2016, but he will remain a Director. Garrison has been a board member since the company’s initial public offering in June 2004.

 
Parkmobile LLC and the New York City Department of Transportation have partnered on a program that lets motorists pay for parking using their mobile phones at all 85,000-plus on-street metered spaces throughout the city. Motorists using the ParkNYC app can pay with their smartphones. They also can pay via the internet, including mobile web, at ParkNYC.org or by calling the toll-free number listed on the ParkNYC decals on the meters. The program is being rolled out in multiple phases throughout all the boroughs.

 
Parking BOXX announced today the establishment of the Parking BOXX Parking Solutions Scholarship. The $1,000 scholarship will be awarded to a student who presents the most innovative, yet practical parking solution. To be eligible, participants must be enrolled, or due to be enrolled, in a program at an accredited graduate school, university or college, vocational school, technical school, or community college. “We are impressed by the creativity and drive of students, and we are inspired by their energy,” said Renee Smith, President and CTO of Parking BOXX. “Technology is in the DNA of young people, and they have a unique outlook on parking that’s greatly influenced by technology. By offering this scholarship, we hope to encourage the next generation of parking leaders to use technology to improve the parking experience.”

Walker Parking Consultants announced that its Board of Directors has named Casey Wagner Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. A long-time Senior Vice President in Walker’s Houston office, in his new position Wagner oversees company-wide operations, including the production of design, consulting, and restoration services. Wagner also sits on Walker’s Board of Directors. In addition to Casey Wagner’s promotion, Walker’s Board has also named new vice presidents and principals in seven of the firm’s regional offices. They Include: Jim (Hakam) Dib, PE (Dubai, UAE)—promoted to Vice President for the UAE offices. He joined Walker in 2010 as Director of the Middle East and North Africa region. Rick Klein, PE (Ann Arbor, MI)—promoted to Vice President for the Michigan offices. Al Bustamante, PE (Houston)—named Principal in Walker’s Houston office. Dan Kupferman,CAPP (Boston)— named Principal and is the Director of Car Park Management Systems. Brad Navarro, PE (Elgin)— named Principal and is the Director of Operations for Walker’s two Illinois offices. Brian Preston, PE (Tampa)— named Principal and is the Director of Operations in Walker’s Tampa office. Steffen Turoff, AICP (Los Angeles)— named Principal and is the Department Head for Walker’s Consulting Resource Group.

parkbytext, one of Ireland’s leading mobile parking operators, recorded a 20% increase on 2015 transaction numbers to 602,000 transactions for customers parking by text, app, online or over the phone. When considering Visitor Parking and Virtual Permits issued, both of which accounts mainly for staff, residential, and student parking, total parking transactions in 2016 came to over 900,000, or over 2,450 parking transactions per day, an increase of 13% on 2015 figures. The biggest adopters to parkbytext is Irish Rail customers, with an average of 44% choosing to pay through parkbytext over traditional ‘pay and display’ machines. On average 22% of customers choose parkbytext as their preferred payment method, over traditional ‘pay and display’ machines, with 50% of parkbytext transactions originating from the app.  In regards to transaction numbers the busiest day of the year was Monday 12th December, with the busiest location being Luas Red Cow Park and Ride. The most popular duration with customers is for one day’s parking.

SP Plus Corporation a leading national provider of parking, ground transportation and related products and services to commercial, institutional and municipal clients throughout North America, announced that Seth H. Hollander has been elected to serve on its Board of Directors, effective January 12, 2017, until the next annual meeting of stockholders in May.Mr. Hollander’s election as director fills the vacancy left by Paul Halpern, who resigned from the Company’s Board of Directors on December 14, 2016. Prior to the merger between the Company and Central Parking, Mr. Hollander served as a director of Central Parking Corporation and its parent company from May 2007 through September 2012. He has served as a partner of Kohlberg & Co., LLC, a private investment firm, since January 2009, and as an associate from July 2001 through December 2008. He is currently a member of Kohlberg’s Investment Committee, and he is also a director of various privately held companies. He received his B.B.A. in 1999 from the University of Michigan.

 
Linkology, USA, a long-time SKIDATA distributor has just completed the implementation of the 3M Asset Refreshment Program at a large garage in Cincinnati, Ohio. The implementation was completed as a proof of concept to ensure full functionality as designed. With the success of the 3C Payment EMV installation on one Pay In Lane terminal and integration with one Power Pad, the site will begin preparing for the implementation of this solution across the entire facility which includes 18 PILs, 17 Power Pads, and 18 Columns. This is an exciting phase in the process of beginning to transition these sites using SKIDATA’s custom designed solutions. Toby Asbury, CEO of Linkology described his enthusiasm for this project, “This solution is of enormous value to our customers. SKIDATA’s proprietary technology gives our customers the unique option of continuing to operate automated facilities with Federal/3M equipment in a PCI compliant manner.