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Industry News

May, 2017

Michael J. Nichols has been named President of Next Parking, a Chicago-based company specializing in the investment in and management of parking facilities across the U.S. His promotion, from Executive Vice President, was announced by Andrew Hochberg, CEO of Next Parking, an affiliate of Skokie, IL-based Next Realty. “Mike’s contributions over nearly a decade have been instrumental in making Next Parking a strong, industry-leading business,” Hochberg said. “It is appropriate to reward his accomplishments as he works to further advance the operations and market share of Next Parking.” Nichols, who has nearly 25 years of experience in the industry, joined the company in 2008 to execute parking acquisitions, manage its portfolio and perform parking consulting. Under his leadership, the company has implemented cash control procedures, audit systems and new technology to parking locations to enhance financial returns and customer service.


Towne Park has appointed Bryan DeCort as Senior Vice President of the Southern Group and Corporate Marketing, and Anthony Brown as Senior Vice President of Human Resources. “At a time when Towne Park is growing quickly, we are pleased to welcome Bryan and Anthony to our team,” said President and CEO Chuck Heskett. “Each has an incredible record of results and the leadership expertise and strategic industry background we need as we continue to expand and evolve. ... [Their] abilities to launch new marketing initiatives, partner across groups to execute strategies, and lead the integration of valuable talent into our team will significantly strengthen Towne Park.”


The City of Madison, WI, has awarded HUB Parking Technology the contract to install and implement a new and updated PARC system with enhanced technology and functionality. “We are excited to continue our business relationship with the city — a valued customer since 2006 — and to be a part of the progression and growth of its parking operation,” the company said. Thirty-six lanes of equipment, including lane entry/exit stations and fee computers for both transient and contract parkers, will be spread among six parking facilities throughout Madison, along with 22 cash and credit card pay-on-foot paystations. The system will also include a coding station for mass validations, VoIP intercom, and peripheral barcode scanners to accommodate validations for special events and promotional opportunities.


Skidata Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Skidata AG has successfully integrated with Odyssey PCS from CBORD on the campus of Miami University in Oxford, OH. Linkology U.S.A., a long-time Skidata distributor, implemented the integration. This allows for existing ID cards to be used to enter and exit parking garages, as well as for payment. Communication between its Parking.Logic software and the CBORD system is real-time, enabling authorization of validity and funds. In related news, Skidata Inc. also has implemented the 3M Asset Refreshment Program, installed by its distributor Consolidated Parking Equipment, at 444 Brickell Garage in Miami, FL. It includes 3C Payment EMV on one pay-in-lane terminal, integration with one PowerPad exit cashier, and first-generation FAPD pay-on-foot. Alex Oliva, President of Consolidated Parking, said, “This is a great opportunity to transition customers from the legacy [3M/Federal APD] equipment to a more modern and up-to-date Skidata solution. It allows my customers to be PCI-compliant once again, as well as giving them options to upgrade in the future.”


Inrix Inc. has expanded its parking reservations capabilities by bringing together availability, reservations and payments, for both on-street and off-street parking, into a seamless in-car navigation experience. The Inrix Parking Reserve & Pay platform gives drivers even more options for reserving parking. It currently includes street parking information in more than 40 cities worldwide, and a garage and lot parking database with more than 31 million spaces in nearly 100,000 locations spanning 4,500 cities in 65 countries. The platform now includes reservations from SpotHero, the leading U.S. off-street parking reservation service; and Parking Panda, the leading reservation service in Canada and event parking provider in the U.S.; and is expanding on existing capabilities from Parkmobile, ParkU and PayByPhone. “Inrix is equipping drivers with the most comprehensive and dynamic ‘connected’ car services, including the ability to find, reserve, pay and drive to a parking spot,” said Alex Israel, VP and General Manager of Parking at Inrix. “Our collaboration with SpotHero and Parking Panda will expand our end-to-end ‘smart’ parking solution in the car and allow us to further tap into the $20 billion off-street parking reservation market.”


Walker Parking Consultants is providing structural engineering and functional design consulting for a 2,000-space, 6-level environmentally friendly facility scheduled to open in 2018 at Nashville International Airport. The state-of-the-art Parking and Transportation Center is being constructed, as the first phase of a seven-year upgrade, to address record-setting growth at the airport. Sustainability features include EV charging stations, a rooftop canopy to capture up to 20,000 gallons of rainwater for irrigation purposes, a partial “green” wall with planter boxes, an automated parking guidance system, and rooftop solar panels to help power parking and airport operations.  


Castries, the capital city of Saint Lucia — one of the eastern Caribbean Windward Islands and part of the Lesser Antilles — seats the sovereign country’s Head of Government, the House of Parliament and the hub of commercial activity. Also best-known for its natural deep-water harbor, Castries is set to begin installing parking terminals across the city as part of a new initiative by the Castries Constituencies Council (CCC). The new Metric Group parking terminals are solar-powered, accept both coin and banknotes, and have a color user-interface screen. The CCC’s deploying this type of terminals is in keeping, it says, with the island’s energy-transition strategy of becoming renewable-energy dependent. Speaking at the CCC’s 50th anniversary party earlier this year, Mayor Peterson Francis said, “We will introduce ‘clamping’ for illegal parking, carparks along the John Compton Highway, and parking meters in the city. ... It also will be beautified and redeveloped in partnership with our government, and a series of improvements to the city’s infrastructures will begin. ...”


Park Assist has been awarded its first parking guidance project with the Shopping Centre Company Espana (SCCE) at Plaza Rio in center-city Madrid. It will have 180 high-end premium shops, recreational facilities, and 1,500 parking spaces. The company’s M4 “smart” sensors with dual cameras will be located above the driving lane to monitor a pair of spaces on each side. SCCE, a prominent shopping center developer in Europe, has nine in Spain, four in Italy, and fourteen in France and Belgium.


T2 Systems, a provider of the industry’s most comprehensive suite of parking solutions, has named Phil DiPietro as its new Chief Technology Officer. He will lead T2’s technology development and strategic direction. “As CTO, I’m eager to help ensure that our technology teams are aligned with our business strategies,” he said. “Continuous improvement is crucial for technology companies. T2 has an impressive portfolio, and I’m excited to join the team. We’re going to continue our focus on product improvement and making our processes more efficient and effective so we can best serve our customers.” With more than 20 years of experience leading cross-functional teams, DiPietro joins T2 from NCR Corp.


The City of Westminster, an Inner London borough, has selected Cleverciti Systems as part of its new taxi rank parking management system. Thirty-two of the company’s lamppost sensors have been installed at busy taxi ranks in the city. The sensors detect occupancy and provide taxi drivers with real-time rank availability using the ParkRight app, developed by Parkopedia for the city. This will provide taxi drivers with up-to-date, live information on parking bay usage to help them make informed decisions on where to rank up, helping to reduce their circling time, improving the utilization of the rank network and reducing over-ranking.


ZipBy North America has launched ZipBy Canada, and welcomed a new Vice President of Canadian Operations, Dale Fraser.  He comes to the company with more than 20 years’ experience in the parking industry. Fraser also has served on the Canadian Parking Association Board of Directors for more than 10 years.  Contact him at (403) 874-6288 or via email at dale.fraser@zipby.ca. For more information, go to 
www.zipby.ca. 


Candace B. Hollingsworth, the Mayor of Hyattsville, MD, recently welcomed the launch of a free smartphone app designed to make parking easier for city residents and visitors. PassportParking, the industry’s most advanced user-friendly parking payment app, is now available at all metered locations so that users can easily park, pay and be on their way. “We are excited to bring pay-by-phone parking technology to the city,” Hollingsworth said. “It is important to us that we continue to meet the parking needs of our residents, visitors and local businesses.” The app is powered by global parking technology leader Passport, which developed the parking apps for cities such as Boston, Toronto, Chicago and Detroit.


ParkCloud, adding to its extensive list of Italian cities (totaling 24), now includes Matera, in southern Italy, in its directory. Offering spaces at a carpark suitable for parking in the city center and at the train station, the company said it is further cementing itself as the leading provider of parking reservations in the country. Matera, known as “la Città Sotterranea” (the Subterranean City), is considered one of the oldest inhabited cities in the world. From The Sassi – the ancient town – to stunning monasteries and churches, the city is very popular with tourists, and has been declared Italian host of the European Capital of Culture for 2019.


Quercus Technologies reports a good start for 2017. New projects around the world are deploying its license plate recognition units, it says, and many upcoming projects are on the horizon. Using the company’s SmartLPR Access NA units, the Providence Place shopping mall in Rhode Island has upgraded its parking facilities in a modernization plan that required an investment of up to $20 million. The new garages include high-tech features meant to help drivers get in and out of the facilities more easily.


Watry Design has honored two staff members. Genaro Morales, AIA, a licensed architect in three states, has more than 30 years of experience in the industry. He has led or contributed to more than 150 parking and design projects. In addition to delivering projects to satisfied clients, Genaro’s projects, such as the Vallejo Station Parking Structure and the Long Beach Airport Parking Structure, have received recognition from the International Parking Institute and other associations.


Genaro Morales, AIA, a licensed architect in 3 states, has over 30 years of experience in the industry. He has led or contributed to over 150 parking and design projects. In addition to delivering projects to satisfied clients, Genaro’s projects, such as the Vallejo Station Parking Structure and the Long Beach Airport Parking Structure, have received recognition from the International Parking Institute and other associations.



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