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President's Message
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Greetings SWPA Member,
As an organization, we have entered 2008 with much enthusiasm and a strong desire to continue our commitment of maintaining SWPA as a premier parking organization committed to training and educating our members. We have more members involved than ever before and continue to talk to parking professionals about the benefits of our organization. As President of SWPA I will do everything I possibly can to support our Board of Directors and membership to continue the organization's mission and goals.
Each year, newly elected members fill vacancies on the board left behind by some of the most committed members who have made this organization what it is today. I would like to welcome our newest board members Michelle Guajardo from Central New Mexico Community College, Michelle Horton from the University of Nevada Reno, and Cherie Hudson from Arizona State University. Stepping into the role of Vice President this year after a long stint as Treasurer is Gabe Mendez. We urge anyone with a desire to become active either on a committee or as a future board member, or in any other capacity, to contact us.
In February, Gabe Mendez and I had the opportunity to attend the IPI Regional Organizational Workshop. It was enlightening to see how much support IPI has for our organization and the day's meeting was very worthwhile. Two major accomplishments came from the session. The first item was the proposal for the regional associations to have a spotlight article in the Parking Professional periodically and a smaller space to advertise our upcoming events. We believe this will help individuals understand the benefits of belonging to a regional group and also lead to further educational notification. The second item came from a proposal by Casey Jones and Josh Kavanagh from the Northwest Parking Association, and myself, to gain support of IPI with matching scholarship funds to enhance the scholarship programs currently in place by many of the associations. This proposal was met with approval and was considered a great success for our members.
There are a number of upcoming events that are listed later in the newsletter and I urge anyone that can possibly attend to please consider doing so. These events provide great networking opportunities and the ability to see technology that could make a major difference in your operations.
As for the newsletter, there will be a summer issue and two fall issues closer to the regional conference. We are always looking for informative articles about the parking advancements of our members so never hesitate to send anything you feel would be a benefit others.
Again, I am pleased to be a part of SWPA and look forward to a rewarding year working with all of our current and future members.
Tad
Tad McDowell
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Parking In The News
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Seeking Space for Cars at Grand Canyon
PHOENIX (AP) – The National Park Service wants to add hundreds of parking spots in developed areas at Grand Canyon National Park, hoping to ease traffic at the park's popular South Rim, officials said Friday.
About 4.4 million people visit the South Rim each year, yet the park has only 1,200 parking spaces available each day, park officials said. Many visitors carve out their own spots along roadsides and cut through the forest on their way to the canyon edge.
On busy days, there are "300 or 400 cars parked along the roadside with a stream of traffic in pedestrians trying to use the road itself as a walkway," said Steve Martin, the superintendent of Grand Canyon National Park. The National Park Service is exploring strategies to change the traffic system. Officials will ask for public comment in March.
Plans being considered would clear trees to make room for parking lots, expand bicycle access to the retail area at the South Rim known as Grand Canyon Village and offer shuttle bus service to a popular canyon viewing spot known as Mather Point.
'Green' parking permit planned
UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND - Next semester, students who normally would have paid hundreds of dollars for a campus parking permit could see reduced prices - if they own an environment-friendly car, that is.
Students who own a car that gets 37 or more miles to the gallon will have the option of purchasing a green parking permit, which will cost two-thirds the price of the regular permit for both commuter students and campus residents, said David Allen, director of Transportation Services. Allen said although the price of permits is going up 4 percent for the 2008-2009 school year, the increase is not related to the discount given for the green permit.
Next year, a commuter permit will cost $213, making the green permit about $142 for commuters, while a resident permit will be $412 or about $275 with the same discount applied. The initiative, which is paired with DOTS' emphasis on carpooling, is meant to push commuter students toward being more environmentally sustainable.
SWPA Photo Caption Contest Winner
The winner of this month's SWPA Photo Caption Contest is:
Michael Harlow - Amano McGann, Inc.
Winning Caption:
“These Hybrid slippers get me movin'!”
NEW PHOTO CAPTION CONTEST PICTURE
Be sure to visit the SWPA website
(http://www.southwestparking.org/)
to enter the next photo caption contest. |
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SWPA Member News
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As many of you may know, Jim Sayre (2007 President of SWPA) has accepted the position of Associate Director of Parking and Transportation Services at the University of Iowa. While a student at Northern Arizona University, Jim started his career in parking as a Shuttle driver. From there he moved to an enforcement officer. Obviously he impressed the NAU staff because after graduation they offered him a full-time position. From there Jim has progressed through his career while working for Arizona State University, and Arizona State University West.
Jim stated that he and his wife have been lifelong residents of Arizona but had been talking about living somewhere with more than two seasons. Iowa should definitely give Jim and his wife a nice dose of four seasons. Jim stated that even though he is moving he definitely plans on staying involved in SWPA. He plans "to do what he can to help out."
Everyone at the Southwest Parking Association wishes Jim well in his new venture and appreciates all of his service and dedication to the parking industry and SWPA. We look forward to continuing to work with Jim on SWPA related events and activities and for his continued involvement in SWPA. Jim, best of luck to you with your new opportunity at the University of Iowa and enjoy all four season.
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Conferences and Event Information
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2008 SWPA 7th Annual Conference and Trade Show
September 22 - 26 at the AZ Golf Resort in Mesa, AZ
The Toledo Ticket Company & Pictoform - Presidential Partners
Hotel Reservation Information - For Hotel Reservations and information, please call 1-800-528-8282 or
1-480-832-3202. When making your reservations, be sure to reference the 2008 Southwest Parking Association (SWPA) Conference.
Room rates: Deluxe Room ($110 + tax); One-Bedroom Suite ($130 + tax): Premium One-Bedroom Suite ($170 + tax) all single occupancy and $15 + tax for additional adult.
For additional conference information, please contact contact Gabe Mendez at (480)
890-2613, or at gabe@downtownmesa.com.
2nd Annual Scholarship Fund Golf Classic
American Valet - Title Sponsor
Guardian Traffic Systems - Platinum Premier
Please contact contact Gabe Mendez at (480) 890-2613, or at gabe@downtownmesa.com.
Spring Front Line Staff Training Seminar
Parking Today Magazine - Title Sponsor
IPI International Conference
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BECOMING GREENER: Creating a Sustainable Future 2008, IPI's Conference & Expo is the largest conference of its kind, featuring four full days of intense technical and educational programming, in addition to the over 200 exhibiting companies available on the trade show floor. |
For the World Travelers in SWPA
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Technology Update/Vendor News
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Parking Meter Company Creates New Business Model
with Wi-Fi
Photo Violation Technologies deploys a Cisco Wireless Solution to offer cities new revenues and services.
Business Challenge
Photo Violation Technologies Corp. makes life easier for anyone who has ever had to feed a parking meter, or any city that has had to maintain one. The Canadian company's Photo-Violation-Meter is a "smart" parking meter that allows drivers to pay with cash, credit card, debit card, or with a cell phone. The meters even include a grace period for drivers who over park by a few minutes. But if a driver fails to pay the parking fee, the meter takes a photograph of the car's license plate. Then, the meter wirelessly sends the photo to the municipal agency that maintains violations. Company officials have proven that the high-tech meters bring in five times the revenue of traditional parking meters, both because the technology makes it easier for drivers to pay, and because it is easier to catch those drivers who do not pay. When Photo Violation launched trials of the meters in early 2007, the company was using a cellular network for the wireless transmission of license plate photos. But company officials discovered several problems. The first problem was speed: with the General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) cellular technology, the meters took several seconds to connect to the central office. Secondly, Photo Violation officials noticed transmission problems when several meters tried to connect to the network at once, a common occurrence during peak parking hours. Finally the company was unhappy with the level of customer service that its cellular carrier provided, not to mention the hefty monthly service bill. "It was difficult to work with the carriers, in addition to being expensive," says Fred Mitschele, CEO of Photo Technologies. "We thought there must be a better way. We wanted to be in control of our own network. So we started to investigate other wireless technologies."
Photo Violation was planning a large deployment in the city of Niagara Falls, New York, a popular, high-traffic tourist destination. The team knew that the company needed a centrally controlled solution that would work well in an outdoor environment. Following a brief investigation, the team decided that the company would benefit from an outdoor wireless solution that utilized Wi-Fi technology.
With the help of a Cisco sales and engineering team, Photo Violation created a service that offers free Wi-Fi Internet access to any wireless device within 300 feet of a PhotoViolationMeter. And just like that, a parking meter company also became a wireless Internet service provider.
"We created a service called WiCity™ to provide free wireless Internet access to the city," Mitschele says.
Business Results
In creating WiCity™, Mitschele reasoned that free Wi-Fi access would give municipalities an added incentive to invest in the wireless parking meters. In fact, the reverse also proved true: the wireless parking meters gave municipalities a good reason to consider offering free Wi-Fi. For the past several years, many cities have considered offering free Wi-Fi Internet access as a civic service, but have hesitated because there was no clear financial benefit. With WiCity and the Cisco network, Photo Violation offers cities both a civic service and a revenue stream.
Not only can Niagara Falls vastly increase its revenue from parking fees, but the city has also gained a reputation as a tech-savvy host. Visitors can now get free Internet access from their hotel rooms. The city plans to expand the two-square-mile trial into a city-wide deployment. Photo Violation and city officials are discussing plans to offer additional municipal services on the wireless outdoor access points, such as in-vehicle, IP-based video surveillance or wireless meter reading.
To read the whole case study go to |
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