Session Presentations

Case Study for a Fully Electronic Permit and Enforcement System — A Multiple Partner & Technology Approach 

Dave Harkness, Manager of Parking, City of Surrey
Marc Postlethwaite, Director, Sales and Operations, Concord Parking

When the City of Surrey built its new LEED-standard City Hall in 2014 it told staff to “bring the issuance, management, and enforcement of parking permits into the New Millennium”. The resulting award-winning system was delivered through a non-traditional approach that brought together seven separate technology providers. Integrating various payment, registration, and License Plate Recognition technologies, the “e-permit” system virtually eliminated paper processes and any physical access credentials. It also shifted account management to a “self-managed” approach, resulting in significantly reduced administration.  Presenters will describe lessons learned along the way and answer the question “can this work for you?”


Effective Snow Removal Strategies

Chris Davis, Associate, Read Jones Christoffersen Ltd.

PRESENTATION LINK 

Parking stalls can be made unusable in the winter due to snowfall. The winter months bring huge volumes of snow to regions of our country which load the parking structure and obstruct vehicles. The availability of the top decks of outdoor parkades in Canada is greatly affected for significant periods of the year by how efficiently snow can be managed.  This presentation will consider the implications to owners and to parkade designers, outline common methods to manage the problem and discuss options for either the storage or for the timely removal of snow. It will be valuable to owners, planners, operators and designers.


UBC’s Alternative Perspective to Using Single Space Sensors

Brian Jones, Director, Parking and Access Services, The University of British Columbia
Tim Flanagan, Founding Principal, Sentry Controls Systems

PRESENTATION LINK 

Parking sensors have attracted a great deal of attention in recent years primarily because of interest in communicating near real-time availability and to better promote parking turnover.  The University of British Columbia has a number of locations where proximity parking, rapid turnover and enforcement were problematic. Essentially “How do you set up and monitor pick up and drop off locations in a physically and fiscally constrained environment?”  Selective installation of stall sensors provides a solution to this challenge that is non-traditional but highly effective, using technology to enforce problematic and previously abused parking on campus.


Parkade Maintenance and Asset Management Planning 

Andrew J. Vidor, Parking Consultant, Walker Parking Consultants

PRESENTATION LINK 

As with any infrastructure component, your parkade requires maintenance. In this discussion you’ll learn about the maintenance requirements along with the routine repairs that should be expected over the life time of the facility.  You’ll also learn why not completing the routine maintenance will lead to far more expensive repairs in the future.

Equally important in maintaining your parkade is the development of an asset management plan.  Asset management planning is an important component of your parking operation that, if overlooked, can have major financial impact during repairs.  Lastly, once your asset management plan has been developed, implementation of the plan is required.  This discussion will identify software tools available that can help you efficiently manage the asset.


Joint Venture Parking Projects

Reachel Knight, Planning & Development Coordinator, Calgary Parking Authority
Kimberly Gole, Project Analyst, Calgary Parking Authority

PRESENTATION LINK 

This case study will review how the Calgary Parking Authority has developed an evaluation process to determine if redevelopment of a particular site is viable, including the review of the parcel size, development market within the surrounding area and the expected rate of return on the construction of structured parking.  Under existing conditions some of these criteria may not warrant redevelopment.  This presentation will provide various solutions to these issues, as well as discuss pre-development tasks associated with negotiating a joint venture project and lessons learned through the negotiation process.


Green Garage Certification and the Transformation of Parking

Paul Wessel, Executive Director, Green Parking Council

PRESENTATION LINK 

Forbes explains: “The Green Parking Council’s (GPC) Green Garage Certification is the only global rating system that defines and recognizes sustainable practices in parking structure management, programming, design, and technology.”  It concludes “The GPC’s Green Garage Certification is an important development for the parking industry… and the certification from GPC could have the same result on the parking industry that LEED has had on buildings.”  The new CEO of the US Green Building Council, Mahesh Ramanujam, adds “Sustainability in parking is integral to building a greener future, not only structurally, but also by shaping transportation networks that support more livable, walkable communities.”  Hear from the Green Parking Council how Impark, Brookfield, and others are using Green Garage Certification to deliver high-performance, 21st-century parking.


Creating Sustainability with Electric Vehicles (EV’s)

Kent Rathwell, President & Founder, Sun Country Highway Ltd.

PRESENTATION LINK 

The Sun Country Community is passionately driving sustainability with its disruptive and innovative solutions.  Electric vehicles and renewable energies are emerging markets and technologies that are transforming transportation infrastructure.  Industry leaders are demonstrating what’s possible … boosting EV adoption and sales, expanding EV travel and reaping the benefits that come with being an early adopter.  Green initiatives are more than just responsible choices – they make good business sense. This session will demonstrate what’s possible and what is leading the way for businesses and communities to be economically, socially and environmentally sustainable.


We’re Making Parking Easier: City of Victoria Parking Services

Brad Dellebuur, Acting Assistant Director, Transportation and Parking Services, City of Victoria
Michelle Harris, Strategic Planning and Communications Advisor, City of Victoria

PRESENTATION LINK 

Learn how the City of Victoria took one of its biggest reputational and customer service functions, “pay parking”, and turned it into something that people “like” on Facebook! This case study takes an insightful look at how the City’s review of its Parking Services and public engagement on the matter resulted in a range of improvements to its parking operations and communications, and how it started to change the narrative about parking in the Capital City.


 Driverless Vehicles – The End of Parking?

Arny Wise, B.Comm., M.Sc. MCIP President, PodCar Vehicle Systems Inc.Senior Associate, Canadian Automated Vehicles Centre of Excellence (CAVCOE)

PRESENTATION LINK 

It is a matter of “when,” not “if” autonomous vehicles (AVs) will be on our roads. In fact, the first generation of AVs is already with us. AVs will affect our infrastructure needs and cause us to reorganize where we live and work. They will bring great potential benefits but, as with any transformative technology, will also bring great disruptions in the process of their rollout. There is truth to the old adage of “follow the money”. When financial heavyweights like Google, Apple and Uber put their enormous resources behind self-driving cars for the mass market – pay attention.  Apple’s engineers describe cars as the “ultimate mobile device”.  A 2015 OECD report on urban mobility estimates that shared AV’s will remove 80% of parking needs over the next 10-15 years.Governments and the private sector, would be wise to start planning and preparing their business models for the arrival of AVs sooner, rather than later.


Managing Parking While Supply is Shrinking

JoAnn Woodhall, TDM Officer – TravelSmart, TransLink
Laurence Bayzand, MA, Director, Inter Campus Operations, BC Children’s Hospital and BC Women’s Hospital + Health Centre, Provincial Health Services Authority

PRESENTATION LINK 

Faced with losing 12% of on-site parking stalls, accessible to over 3,700 employees and copious daily patients and visitors, for at least a five year period – what would you do? Hear how Children’s and Women’s Health Centre of BC works with TravelSmart (TDM program from TransLink) to address the situation, and find out, is it working?


Making Sense of Some Parking Trends – Panel Discussions

A panel of industry experts will be on hand to provide briefs on a variety of moving targets in the parking industry, with plenty of time for participants to pose questions and learn more about the current state of parking in this open forum session.

 

Parking Operations Can Leverage Communications Using Mobile Payments

John Oglesby, Chief Executive Officer, MobileNOW! LLC

PRESENTATION LINK 

Mobile payment allows for new revenue streams, but that is just the tip of the iceberg. Mobile payment means superior customer insight and stellar customer service through a comprehensive communication plan. The gathering of “Big Data” has just as much value to the emerging players.  We will addresses how to leverage your mobile payment provider as customer relationship management (CRM) and identifies a series of best practices for communications with real-world application examples. Find out how the right mobile payment platform can become your most valuable communications asset.


The Challenges of Pay by Plate

Sergio Mastronardi, Co-founder and VP Engineering, GTechna

PRESENTATION LINK 

There are a multitude of reasons why customers can input an incorrect plate number. Automated systems do not necessarily possess the sensitivity or intelligence – inherent in humans – required to make an informed decision based on circumstance and rationale. Obtaining automation and increased productivity need not come at the cost of disgruntled customers. The unreliability and the uncertainty that this engenders could create a snowball effect and as vendors and operators we need to be careful. There are ways to address this before it becomes a major problem.


Best Practices for Getting Pay by Plate Up and Running 

Bill Franklin, President, Tannery Creek Systems

PRESENTATION LINK 

License plate recognition (LPR) technology has enabled a myriad of new applications in law, transport and parking enforcement such as locating stolen vehicles, tracking down scofflaws and the like. It’s used for toll highways and tolled routes into major cities such as London England and Highway 407 Express Toll Route in Toronto.

Now the use of LPR in paid parking is gaining momentum. This presentation will discuss best practices that make rolling out Pay by Plate successful and relatively pain free.

Topics include: overview of a typical PBL system; real time PBL versus post processing; factors that inhibit smooth PBL operation; planning for PBL; project planning, teams, system design, deployment, operations, policy and legal; vendors including pay stations, pay by phone, smart apps, carrier, enforcement; testing and verification; ramping up your clients, i.e. the parkers; managing politics, media, vendors; ongoing operations.


Thriving in the Parking Bubble

Chris Chettle, EVP and General Manager, T2 Systems Canada Inc.

PRESENTATION LINK 

The pace of technology is accelerating at a rapid rate both within and outside the parking industry. For municipalities, universities, parking operators and technology companies which exist within the parking industry bubble, this trend is causing uncertainty and opportunity. Establishing a business roadmap that capitalizes on technology trends and prepares us to address change leads to multiple benefits that include improving your operation and the parking experience of your customers. Find out about the important elements of this roadmap and how new solutions like the gateless garage are delivering on the promise of technology.


When Worlds Collide: Technology in Parking and Transit

Nathan Berry, RVP Sales, GoPassport

PRESENTATION LINK 

A buzzword over the past year has been “urban mobilization.”  It’s how you get from point A to point B. Cars, buses, light rails, taxis, bikes and even walking are urban mobilizers.  When traveling from point A to point B, each method of transportation can require a payment. A bus rider will pay the driver. A driver will pay the meter. While coins are traditional, the growth of credit cards, smartphones and tap payments are changing this. Technology today can allow for one to quickly and conveniently pay for parking or monthly transit fare with optional perks to create loyalty. Transit riders will pre-load a set amount, at a discount, resulting in a paperless ride. Parkers will spend longer shopping in a store knowing they can extend their time from anywhere. In this world of urban mobilization, your operation’s technology should provide a holistic and flexible solution that can change with you. Let’s talk about the bigger picture of urban mobility and how finding the right technology partner is much more important than a simple app for your parking meters.

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