Member News and other interesting links

Congratulations to TPTA Treasurer and board member, Jacob Gonzalez, P.E. on his recent move.

As a parking professional, I've been thinking about autonomous vehicles and the changes we will see in the industry. I'm sure you are too - Jarrod Fresquez with ParkHub, and also a TPTA Communications Committee member, wrote a blog series on the subject.

Here's a quick guide to mobile payments by Consumer Reports.

Interesting read on parking pricing by the Cato Institute.

Do you have anything you would like to share on the blog - send it to us! Have a great weekend!

Maria Irshad, MPA, CAPP

Join or renew your TPTA membership today!

Did you get our email? Time to renew your TPTA membership!

Join before December 31, 2016 and be entered into a drawing to win one of two full scholarship conference packages to the 2017 IPI Conference & Expo in New Orleans. Includes conference registration, airfare and hotel to a limited amount.

Take part in our membership drive - refer a colleague or friend and if they join, you receive a $50 discount on your conference fee (Limit one discount per member).

If these aren't reason enough to join - here are a few more:

1. Learn. Roundtables and a robust conference can give insight on industry trends.
2. Job opportunities. Check out our job listings and don't forget to network at TPTA events.
3. Leadership experience. Work on a TPTA committee or run a board position - this is your organization. Help develop TPTA while honing your own leadership skills.

Don't wait, join now!

Maria Irshad, MPA, CAPP

Your weekly parking links

We know we have some awesome members out there - deadline for IPI Annual Awards is November 18, 2016. Let us know if you win!

Updates at Walter P Moore - congratulations to Brian Lozano.

Read Winpark's Nichole Crossland's blog post for Parking Matters.

ParkHouston will receive $3.2 million in federal funding to help parkers find parking.

What are your thoughts on a parking tax?

Washington DC kicks off a demand-based parking pricing pilot.

Have any links or stories you would like to share? Send it to us today!

If you haven't already, register for the Winter Roundtable!

Check out this 2016 conference video!

We are looking forward to seeing all of you in Fort Worth for the 2017 Annual Conference & Tradeshow.

As the host committee gets geared up and ready to go, we thought it would be a good time to reminisce about the 2016 Conference in College Station.

Aggies sure can put on a good show! Thanks to the uber-talented Jane Wilcox for putting the video together.

Parking News

Thanks to the International Parking Institute for helping us get word out about TPTA's new website!

One of our goals in setting up a blog was to provide news to our members, but also provide a platform for you to share your news. If you have a story to share, contact us! In the meantime, here are a few interesting links.

Congrats to our friends at Texas A&M Transportation Services on the opening of a new garage!

Will parking management be a $5 billion market? Yes, you read that right - the parking management market may be worth $5 billion by 2021, according to ITS International.

The City of Amarillo is on track to complete a downtown parking garage. Meters will be deployed on the curb to complement the garage.

This guy really loves his car.

What's your parking history?

Nobody plans to be in parking. Kathleen Laney wrote about this in August - and it's something that we all talk about. It's always my first question when I meet someone new at parking events.

I was part of an internal re-org and let's just say it was not what I expected. After two weeks of moping, I decided that I had to leave OR I had to make it work. Being unhappy at work was not an option. So I googled parking and it captured my curiosity. The rest, as they say, is history.

So, what's your parking history?

Summit, NJ tackles the last mile challenge

Did you read this? You should. Summit, NJ partnered with Uber to solve the last mile challenge.

Kevin Costner's character in Field of Dreams wanted to build a ball field. If you build it, they will come.

Summit, NJ seems to be batting back at more parking by promoting ride-share as a type of public transit. They believe that if you build it, they will come. So don't build it - well, at least for parking.

What do you think?

Summit Mayor Nora Radest talks about the City of Summit's new partnership with Uber

DFW Roundtable Recap

A huge thank you to Dean Ahmad, TPTA President, and the DFW team for hosting the most recent TPTA roundtable on September 28.  DFW shared their success story of employee engagement. They provided examples of programs and committees that have been put in place at DFW that empower employees and stress the importance of their overall well-being (professionally and personally).  While I can’t speak for everyone who attended, I know that I left DFW with a laundry list of ideas on how to improve employee engagement for my team. Pumpkin carving contest, anyone?

What goes better with employee engagement than customer service? The roundtable was a great reminder of how these two topics go hand in hand. The fundamentals of customer service don’t change, but getting creative in stressing the importance can be a challenge. Frontline employees tend to take a beating from customers and employee engagement is great way to offset potential negative impacts. It also reinforces the importance of their contribution to the team. Within our industry its normal to see most parking peeps talking shop with a smile plastered on their face.  It’s these same smiles that make for a more bearable conversation while issuing a citation or towing a vehicle.

Nicole Chinea, CAPP
Regional Vice-President
Winpark

Read All About It

While I'm pretty proficient at Facebook (please like us!) and Twitter (please follow us!) - this is going to be my first foray into blogging. So bear with me.

In this high-tech world - information is fast and furious. While our newsletter was a solid soldier and provided plenty of good reading material - we want to communicate with you more frequently.

Send us your accomplishments and your organization's success stories so that we can post and share with our membership. Your stories can help a colleague address an issue or spark an idea in another organization.

And, if you are interested in contributing as a blogger - we welcome you. Like. Seriously.

Because you have to have a sense of humor to work in this industry - I leave you with a parking pic. Imagine how many spaces we could put in a lot if everyone drove a tiny car! I wonder if drivers of tiny cars are also interested in tiny homes. Those FASCINATE me. But enough about me! We want to hear from you, so send us those stories, tpta@texasparking.org.

Happy parking, my friends!

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Maria Irshad, MPA, CAPP

Congratulations to Reginald Randolph!

Our heartfelt congratulations go out Reginald Randolph, with Houston First, for receiving the 2016 Innovator of the Year award at the National Parking Association Annual Conference in Atlanta, Georgia.  We are so proud of you!

Why IPI?

The International Parking Institute's Membership Committee would like to share their video on the inherent value of being a member of IPI.  

Members share their stories about why being part of the IPI community has helped them learn, solve problems, advance their parking careers, and develop lifelong friendships in this engaging 2.5 minute video. Learn more about IPI, the largest and leading association of parking professionals: http://www.parking.org/

New Job Postings

TPTA has posted 2 new job postings.   Check our Job Posting page.

• Director of Transportation Services - Texas State University
• Assistant Director of Parking and Transportation - The University of Texas at Arlington