The National Cooperative Purchasing Alliance (NCPA) has named Passport, the nation’s leading mobile payment provider for parking and transit, as a preferred mobile payments partner for participating agencies. The national government purchasing cooperative works to reduce the cost of goods and services by leveraging the purchasing power of public agencies in all 50 states. In related news, the free PassportParking app has been recently introduced in several cities
and universities:
Breckenridge, CO — Along with its transition from free to paid parking in the downtown core, the town has introduced the app to its 1,417 on and off-street parking spaces.
Dayton, OH — The app is available in 4,000 parking spaces across 19 off-street lot locations in the city.
Portland, OR — The company teamed with Unified Parking Partners to launch its service at the operator’s 23 lot locations in the city.
Raleigh, NC – A four-month pilot program, started late last year, makes the app available at on-street parking locations in the Hillsborough Street area where signage is displayed.
Chicago Ridge, IL – The village has introduced the app at its Metra commuter daily parking locations.
University of Delaware – The app has been launched at three kiosk parking locations on its Newark campus, with one more soon to come.
University of Alaska Anchorage – The app is available at all 5,000 metered parking spaces on its campus.
Toronto-based Honk Mobile has partnered with MasterCard to let its users pay more easily with MasterPass. The global digital payment service is designed to simplify online and in-app payments on “connected” devices. It stores all payment information, including credit, debit and prepaid card details from both MasterCard and other payment networks; shipping and loyalty information; and payment preferences in one convenient, secure place.
Colorado State University (CSU), Fort Collins, has been recognized as the Innovative Parking Organization of the Year by the National Parking Association (NPA). The award is presented each year to an organization that demonstrates cutting-edge expertise, “smart city” innovation, and advancement of technology in the parking industry. CSU was recognized for its pioneering approach to promoting sustainability through its parking program, as well as the introduction of a groundbreaking parking guidance program utilizing industry-leading Indect technology.
The Hartford (CT) Parking Authority (HPA) has hired Parkeon Inc. to retrofit 258 aging on-street, parking-payment kiosks, HartfordBusiness.com reports. CEO Eric Boone said the HPA retained the New Jersey-based company after extensively evaluating its current and potential new meter systems. In related news, Radnor Township, PA, has rolled out its new parking payment system, Whoosh! from Parkeon. The app lets parkers pay from their mobile devices and get reminders that their parking time is expiring, and allows for the remote extension of parking time.
The Parking Services Office at Toronto-area Sheridan College has implemented the Automated Issuance Management System (AIMS) from EDC Corp. to offer a comprehensive mobile parking management solution to its students, employees, and visitors. The integration of AIMS Mobile and Honk Mobile (pay-by-phone), as well as RTB Safe Traffic (pay-by-plate), lets the college’s parking enforcement view all information related to registered license plates in real-time.
Barcelona-based Circontrol, a leading electric vehicle-charging solutions manufacturer, has reorganized into two independent divisions: CirPark, dedicated to mobility and efficiency in carparks; and CirCarLife, to manufacture EV-charging stations. This change, the company said, aims to offer more innovative products, adapted to the needs of the market by providing the divisions with a more specialized staff.
Alex Franco has joined the Skidata Sales and Business Development Team in Central Florida. He brings seven years of PARC experience to his role. With its many theme parks, airports and hotels, the region is no stranger to the need for parking, event access, and loyalty products and services. Skidata said it “looks forward to continue being a part of the successful update and expansion of parking facilities throughout the region.”
Tiffany Yu has joined NuPark as Director of Marketing, responsible for leading, implementing and driving its creative direction and communications strategy. “I am excited to join an organization like NuPark,” she said. ”Its approach is a serious game-changer driven by its customers’ word of mouth and will push the boundaries of the industry norm.” Yu had been Marketing Specialist for Scheidt & Bachmann, overseeing all marketing processes for the U.S. subsidiary
ADVAM and IDeaS Revenue Solutions have formed a partnership designed to enable their clients to leverage the former’s AltitudeReservation platform and the latter’s carpark revenue management solution “to maximize revenue through next-generation analytics and proven price optimization technology.”
Parking BOXX has announced that its payment technology has been certified by Moneris Solutions for unattended tap and debit transactions. This means customers will be able to pay for parking at company paystations using Apple Pay, Android Pay and other tap-payment applications. “We are excited to be the first parking technology company to bring this to the industry,” said Renee Smith, President and CTO. “Tap represents the future of electronic payment because of the security and convenience it offers.”
IPsens LLC, a parking software solution company, has teamed with Current, powered by GE, as part of its “partner ecosystem.” The digital startup was created to help commercial and industrial customers optimize energy use and drive operational efficiency. IPsens has provided enterprise-level parking management infrastructures for 41 years.
Parkopedia has been renewed as the parking services provider to Volvo Car Group, offering premium parking service in Europe, North and South America, the Middle East and Asia. The service includes dynamic space availability, in-car payments and other features, which will support parking services delivered by the group. In related news, General Motors and IBM will bring the power of OnStar and IBM Watson, respectively, to create OnStar Go, the auto industry’s first “cognitive mobility” platform, and Parkopedia will become one of the first brands on it, providing parking data and payment services.
Guillermo Leiva, President of Operations for Pango USA, has announced the release of its 4.0 mobile app in North America, as well as a new corporate image. “The new app, combined with the new corporate image, allows for an integrated look and feel between the apps and the new customer-friendly designed website, all leading to a positive customer interaction,” Leiva said.
Delta Scientific, the leading manufacturer of counter-terrorist vehicle control systems, hosted more than 200 government officials and security professionals at demonstrations late last year, at Regions Field Stadium in Birmingham, AL, of its wide line of anti-terrorism vehicle barriers, bollards, crash-rated gates and other equipment, including new products.
When transporting 500 million bottles of soft drinks per year, ensuring that only authorized vehicles and drivers get access to the site is a real challenge. This was the case for San Pellegrino. The Italian company chose the Nedap solution for secure vehicle access to its factory sites. Installation of its long-range vehicle identification solution was by Microntel, with ADP. In related news, at the Australian headquarters of a leading global discount supermarket chain, quality is of paramount importance. That’s why its required parking guidance system had to meet the highest criteria. Sensit by Nedap was chosen for its high accuracy and quick network. Implementation was by Holman Engineering. Additionally, the MOOV system from Nedap has been honored by Detektor International magazine, receiving the Innovative Achievement Award in the Access Control category during an official ceremony at the Sectech show in November. MOOV is the world’s first access control system specifically designed for vehicle entrances in cities, corporate estates and other parking facilities. The award recognizes innovative products that contribute to the advancement of the security industry.
Jacob Gonzalez, PE, has been named Managing Principal of the Mid-South Region for Walker Parking Consultants. In addition to managing its Houston office, he will oversee Walker projects throughout Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Mississippi and Arkansas. Gonzalez was named one of the industry’s “most influential professionals under the age of 40” by ENR Texas & Louisiana magazine, and recognized as a Top 10 Structural Engineer by Civil + Structural Engineering magazine.
TagMaster North America, the leading provider of long-range, high-performance RFID systems for automatic vehicle identification, has announced that its embedded standalone access control solution now integrates with the permit management and enforcement Flex system from T2 Systems. This integration enabled the University of Washington, Seattle to create a truly unified parking management platform.
The Midtown Miami CDD has awarded Lanier Parking, a Citizens Parking company, the contract to manage parking for the 56-acre community development district, which includes three large self-park garages and valet parking for Midtown Miami shops. The company also will provide project management services for the technological makeover that the CDD has planned for the facilities, which includes new parking equipment and a state-of-the-art parking guidance system. In related news, its sister company, Park One of Florida, has been selected to provide premium valet services for the CDD’s residential towers Midtown 2 and Midtown 4.
Austin-based parking technology company Klever Logic has received an additional $3 million in funding, co-led by serial entrepreneurs and angel investors Sam Goodner and Dan Sharplin. The company said the funds would go toward key executive hires, scaling sales and marketing, streamlining operations, and a brand evolution. Key hires include Sharplin, joining as Chairman, Founder and former CEO of Site Controls; Goodner, as President, Founder and former CEO of Catapult Systems; Emily Lynch, as VP of Marketing, formerly with Catapult; and Wes Viscombe, as VP of Operations; formerly with Site Controls.
Manchester City Council in the UK has confirmed a two-year contract extension with NSL, who enforce parking restrictions on behalf of the Council.“NSL has shown the benefits of insight and foresight in helping to ensure they enforce as effectively and efficiently as possible,” says Chris Aylward, Account Director for NSL. “The positive impact of a progressive approach to enforcement has prompted the two-year contract extension.” The contract announcement will see NSL take responsibility for managing the Council’s vehicle removal pound. The company will also be building on the success of a number of new on-street enforcement initiatives, including more responsive deployment of Civil Enforcement Officers (CEOs) on foot patrols, as well as mobile patrols on bicycles and in vehicles.
Tammy Halvorson recently joined OmniPark as its Strategic Sales Manager for the Western U.S. and Canada. Previously Tammy was the Regional Sales Manager at T2 Systems were she represented the PARCS and VCS product lines. Prior to working for T2 Systems, Tammy spent 22 years at Diamond Parking. She started as a valet in their Spokane locations and progressed over the years to Regional Vice President overseeing operations in Utah, Oregon and Southern Idaho. Tammy’s past experience will bring great value to OmniPark’s customers and strategic partners. The company also announced is offering PermitPoint. PermitPoint is an online customer self-service portal for monthly permit purchasing, account management, and renewal. OmniPark software uses real-time data transfer between handhelds and OmniPark servers. PermitPoint provides an online, mobile friendly, portal that allows customers to purchase permits via a branded webpage. OmniPark’s Backoffice Software is the transformative engine that aggregates data from our products (and others) into actionable intelligence.
McCain Inc. announced that it has been purchased by Austrian-based traffic technology group, SWARCO. The deal to acquire the California-based company at an undisclosed amount closed on August 31, 2016. McCain – a long-time industry leader in the U.S. market for urban advanced traffic control equipment including traffic controllers, cabinets, signals, signs, and software – will retain its distinct brand and culture. McCain founder and CEO Jeffrey L. McCain is pleased with the prospect the deal presents for McCain’s brand legacy and team members. “As a global leader in road safety and traffic management solutions with similar values and a family-owned culture akin to McCain’s, SWARCO is the perfect choice to continue McCain’s tradition of outstanding customer service, industry-leading technology solutions, and world-class manufacturing. Being part of the SWARCO Group will offer McCain team members, customers, and distribution partners continuity as well as new opportunities for shared growth and success.”