ParkMobile, LLC, recently announced the appointment of two new executives to its leadership team. James Bain joins the company as Senior Vice President of Strategic and Corporate Development. In this role, Bain will focus on building and expanding partnership across the industry. Brad Goldman takes on the role of Vice President of Analytics and Insights. Goldman will focus on leveraging the data from ParkMobile›s over 60 million annual transactions to provide actionable insights for clients and do deeper analysis into key market trends. In addition, the ParkMobile team is continuing to enhance its Sales and Account Management organization under the leadership of David Hoyt, Senior Vice President of Sales and Account Management. David Holler has been promoted to Vice President of Sales and Brooke Feldman to Director of Account Management. Andrew Harman joins the company as Vice President of Sales and will be responsible for expanding the footprint of the ParkMobile reservations platform. Zachary Cook joins ParkMobile as Regional Sales Manager.
Inugo has announced that their frictionless parking technology will be used in ABM’s eighteen downtown lots in downtown San Diego to improve customer experience and speed of payment. Inugo is leading the parking industry with new frictionless technologies based on Bluetooth™, LTE™ and GPS wireless technologies. For ungated surface parking lots, Inugo’s advanced geo-fencing technology creates a virtual boundary so that drivers who enter the boundary can start a parking session with the touch of a button on the Inugo mobile app. The user’s credit card will be charged when the parking session has ended. “We are excited that ABM has chosen Inugo for frictionless parking in San Diego” said Sam Barclay, CEO “Our unique technology offers ABM the ability to easily manage their sites from a single cloud-based portal, significantly reducing operational costs. Users love that they can find parking, park easily and pay when they are done without needing to line up and pay manually at a pay machine.”
MobileNOW!, highlighted key considerations for mobile payment and the future of meterless parking during Complus Data Innovation’s recent Lunch ‘N Learn event for New York municipalities. Lee Whittemore, MobileNOW! VP Operations, was a guest speaker at the event and introduced unique mobile payment benefits as cities move further toward cost containment, customer convenience and mobility, sustainability and on street beautification. The company also announced that it is going live in Baton Rouge, Louisiana on-street parking managed by Parking Management Company (PMC). PMC is a national world-class valet and parking management provider whose growth and success is primarily attributed to delivering a first-class customer experience. MobileNOW! initially partnered with PMC in Oklahoma City’s Bricktown Chiaf Lot for pay-by-plate spaces and flexible e-permit options. The company also announced that Jon Ziglar, CEO of ParkMobile, the leader in smart parking and mobility solutions, received the EY Entrepreneur of The Year® 2018 Award for the Southeast region. The award recognizes entrepreneurs who excel in areas such as innovation, disruption, financial performance and personal commitment to their businesses and communities. “I am honored to accept this award on behalf of the entire ParkMobile team,” said Ziglar. “This a true validation of our vision for smart mobility and our success in delivering innovation to the market. Today, over 350 municipalities and thousands of private garages, venues and airports have adopted the ParkMobile platform.”
The City of Pittsburgh has partnered with the Ford Motor Company to create a challenge to its community. The challenge is this: help the City of Pittsburgh crowdsource ideas and solutions to solve the problems of the future. Specifically, the future of mobility, automation, and sustainability. It’s called the “City of Tomorrow” challenge. People and companies from the Pittsburgh area are encouraged to discuss policy and ideas, and eventually issue proposals to be voted upon by the community. The winner of the voting stage will receive up to $100,000 to fulfill their idea, and then assistance in piloting the program in the city of Pittsburgh in November. MeterFeeder, based in Braddock, PA – a suburb of Pittsburgh, plans on entering their patent-pending Pay By Vehicle software into the competition, as it could revolutionize the way that parking payments are handled, and will be a necessity to the success of autonomous vehicles in Pittsburgh.
Installation has begun on a new automated self-service pay system for the Colorado Division of Parks & Wildlife, announced Flowbird Group, the name of recently merged parking and transit leaders, Parkeon and Cale. Flowbird’s Parkeon Strada self-service pay stations are being added at Colorado state parks that will augment or replace the existing system requiring customers to place their cash in envelopes when staff aren’t available to sell park passes. “We are extremely pleased to have been chosen as the preferred system supplier for this exciting project,” said Benoit Reliquet, President of Flowbird North America, “Now that they are able to offer onsite credit card payments at more Parks Sites, we anticipate an increase in compliance and revenue for Colorado State Parks.
New Flyer of America Inc. (“New Flyer”), the U.S. subsidiary of NFI Group Inc., formerly called New Flyer Industries Inc. (“NFI Group”), the largest transit bus and motor coach manufacturer and parts distributor in North America, today announced that the Metropolitan Council of Minneapolis has awarded a new contract for eight heavy-duty, sixty-foot Xcelsior CHARGE™ battery-electric transit buses (or 16 equivalent units). The purchase of the charging technology and Minnesota-built buses is supported by a $1.75 million grant from the Federal Transit Administration (“FTA”).
New staff is joining Nelson/Nygaard: Matt Smith joins its Boston office. Matt has more than 13 years of experience in transportation and urban planning, working closely with municipalities, state and regional agencies, and private-sector clients. James McGrath joins its Portland office. James has more than 15 years of experience in the planning, design, and construction of projects serving the public realm, including light rail, bus rapid transit, streetcar corridors, active transportation, and complete streets. James works beyond the bounds of traditional planning and design. Jimi Mitchell joins its Los Angeles office. Jimi has more than 12 years of experience in transit and transportation planning and traffic operations, with a focus on corridor and regional planning. Plus there have been two promotions to Principal: James Gamez, working out of its Seattle office, was recently promoted to Principal. James has more than 13 years of experience in transit service planning. He specializes in performance evaluation, needs assessment, system design. Phil Olmstead, working out of its Portland office, was recently promoted to Principal. Phil has more than 10 years of diverse experience in parking and transportation demand management, transportation funding, transit planning, and pedestrian and bicycle facility development for the non-profit, public, and private sectors.
European online parking reservation leader, ParkCloud, has extended its presence across the Greek market by announcing the addition of Thessaloniki Airport and Kavala Airport to its extensive online network. Thanks to the recent collaboration, passengers flying from Greece’s third largest airport – Thessaloniki Airport (SKG) – will now be able to reserve their parking through ParkCloud across a number of the airport’s parking products. For the added convenience of passengers, each car park is CCTV operated, open 24 hours and conveniently situated just a short walk from the terminal building.
In addition, passengers flying from Kavala Airport (KVA) – gateway to some of Greece’s most important archaeological landmarks – will now be able to reserve a parking spot at the airport’s P1 car park through ParkCloud’s global database.
Passport announces the expansion of ParkAlbany, the parking application that allows parkers to pay for their parking through their smartphones. The ParkAlbany app first launched in 2017 but was limited to the downtown area on State Street, between Eagle Street and Broadway. The Albany Parking Authority has since expanded the app’s services citywide. In addition to paying for parking through the app, Albany residents and visitors can now conveniently monitor their parking sessions, view payment history and receive email receipts. Residents and visitors of Grand Rapids can take ahold of how they spend time around the city with a new on-street parking payment app, Motu, developed by Passport. Inside the app, a few quick taps on the user’s smartphone. Plus the University of Illinois announces the launch of MobileMeter, a mobile pay parking application powered by Passport, the global leader of mobile payments for parking and transit. The MobileMeter app has been greatly successful in the City of Urbana and the City of Champaign. It was adopted by the University of Illinois for a seamless experience throughout the college community and is available in more than 2,100 spaces across campus. The University of Illinois joins a growing number of Big Ten universities powered by Passport including the University of Michigan, Michigan State University, University of Iowa, Purdue University and the University of Nebraska.
The City of Ferndale, Mich., announces the launch of a new end-to-end parking solution with Passport. The new system includes ParkFerndale, a modern mobile parking application that allows drivers to pay for their parking through their smartphones, a citation management platform and permit options for residents of Ferndale. The system will streamline the city’s parking operations providing more accuracy and convenience to both the city and drivers, integrating both the mobile pay, permits and citation management systems together on the same platform.
T2 Systems introduces Luke® Cosmo, a slender multi-space pay station designed specifically for on-street parking in cities of all sizes. Luke Cosmo is the newest addition to T2’s industry-leading Luke® collection of multi-space pay stations. Luke Cosmo—short for ‘cosmopolitan’—features the shallowest parking cabinet available in the market today, contributing to a friendly street environment and optimal pedestrian traffic flow. “We’re very proud and excited to unveil Luke Cosmo. It’s built using our same best-in-class Luke technology, but is designed specifically with cities and communities in mind,” said Adam Blake, CEO of T2.
AppyParking has announced two new heavyweight hirings to continue to bolster its global position as a leading smart city curbside management platform, which enables drivers of today and connected vehicles of tomorrow to interact freely with the curb. The two key players joining are Ben Boutcher-West and Minesh Naran. Ben Boucher-West previously worked at Bosch’s Global Mobility Team in London where he was Automotive Lead for Surface Mobility Solutions. Minesh Naran will join as Head of Sales. He previously worked at Buchanan Computing Ltd as Head of Sales for Transport and Highways.
Nora Lighting has posted a comprehensive new Exit and Emergency Lighting brochure online for easy reference. The 32-page catalog (available as a PDF) presents a detailed overview of Nora’s extensive product line with more than 60 exit and emergency models for indoor and outdoor use. Nora fixtures are designed to provide the safest egress in all situations and include a wide variety of wall and ceiling models, plus emergency recessed downlights. Incandescent emergency lights are listed, along with efficient LED exit signs and self-illuminating units with no metal or electrical parts. Architectural models feature brush finished faces to complement commercial interiors. www.noralighting.com
The New Jersey of Borough of Jim Thorpe is excited to announce that 77 new Solar-powered StradaPAL pay stations have been installed and are ready to use on Broadway, Hazard Square and Susquehanna Street. Patrons can pay with coin, cash, credit card of through the “Whoosh” mobile phone application. According to police Chief Joe Schatz, all necessary training has been completed and everything is in place to begin using Flowbird’s Parkeon StradaPAL solar-powered kiosks, which will replace the borough’s old coin-operated meters. Butts Ticket Company, a Flowbird Group partner, installed seven StradaPAL machines throughout Broadway, Hazard Square and Susquehanna Street in late April, however, they have been covered up as the borough makes the transition.