For the National Parking Association, its 65th annual Convention and Expo in September in Atlanta presented several opportunities to recognize members of the organization. The election results for NPA leaders also were announced.
2016 NPA Innovation Award Winners
Individuals, Companies and Facilities Saluted
“The NPA Innovation Awards recognize companies and individuals who demonstrate the highest professionalism and parking best practices, while using leadership and state-of-the-art technology to improve safety, sustainability and bottom-line results,” said NPA president Christine Banning, CAE.
The 2016 NPA Innovation Award winners are:
• Innovator of the Year: Reginald Randolph, General Manager, Houston First Corp. (Houston)
Reginald Randolph oversees Houston’s Theater District Parking Garage, serving more than 2 million customers each year. Having worked with Houston First Corp. for 25 years, he manages the 3,400-space garage that serves nine performing arts venues, as well as office workers.
To best serve customers, Randolph led a fully integrated, organization-wide technology upgrade to enhance the parker experience and increase operation efficiency. He also instituted a PARC system upgrade to a cloud-based structure, which has improved ingress times and streamlined operations.
He spearheaded the installation of the Indect parking guidance system. Additionally, his idea to install 95 two-way cameras in the garage allows customers to interface with parking staff at the touch of a button. A customizable matrix signage and wayfinding system further supports parking guidance, and a barcode system simplifies parking validation for customers and employees alike.
• Innovative Organization of the Year: Colorado State University, (Fort Collins)
Colorado State University (CSU) has been experiencing rapid growth in its student and faculty population. With the increased number of people visiting the campus each day, more buildings have been constructed, creating less available parking.
To address this issue, the university — including Doug Mayhew, CPP, CAPP, Associate Director of Parking and Transportation Services — sought sustainable solutions to decrease congestion and increase efficiency for 1,750 daily parkers.
In 2010, CSU opened its first parking structure. The 878-space Lake Street Parking Garage was designated LEED Gold. In 2013, its Parking and Transportation Services changed its business model from a displayed permit and meter payment model to a virtual one. It integrated license plate recognition technology, online permit purchasing and pay-by-plate multi-space paystations.
Under its “Reinventing the Wheel” campaign, CSU partnered with ZipCar and emphasized alternative transportation to reduce traffic congestion. It also installed Indect’s guidance system to increase parking efficiency and further reduce carbon dioxide emissions.
In 2016, CSU incorporated a mobile payment app to its meter program, and opened the new South College Garage with a parking guidance system.
• Innovative Facility of the Year: Automated Garage,
City of West Hollywood (CA)
The City of West Hollywood, CA, has built the first fully automated, municipally run parking structure on the West Coast. The 200-space automated structure replaced a 68-space surface lot next to City Hall. The automated garage incorporated a Skidata PARC system.
The West Hollywood automated garage has enhanced parking for city visitors and staff as it provides a valet-like experience without the costs and risks of valet parking. Using a computerized parking storage and retrieval system, the garage has provided a dense configuration of parking spaces on a smaller footprint than a traditional garage.
The compact nature of the project allowed the city to create a 4,000-square-foot community plaza between City Hall and the garage.
The parking structure includes a rooftop photovoltaic system that powers the garage. Other sustainable features include the use of composite wood panels made from recycled plastic grocery bags and milk jugs. Additionally, emissions are reduced due to the lack of drivers searching for an available space.
• Innovative Sustainability Project of the Year: Pomona College Parking Structure by Watry Design (Claremont, CA)
Pomona College officials determined that they could reclaim 4 acres of open space and pedestrian walkways by moving to structured parking. Watry Design created a parking structure into the sloping campus and integrated a new campus entrance road.
The 608-stall garage project, led by Watry’s Francisco Navarro, Senior Project Manager and BIM Associate Director, provides sustainable parking for more than 1,600 campus users and a rooftop lacrosse field, which reduces the “heat island” effect. Energy-efficient lighting, a solar canopy and a fully automated lighting system offset energy use by the garage.
Bioswales filter storm water, and an open design allows for natural ventilation. The facility employs EV charging stations, preferred parking for carpool and energy-efficient vehicles, and covered bike parking.
Pedestrians access the field using walkways and have a direct connection from campus. A bus stop is within 100 yards of the facility.
Through this project, the college reclaimed 4 acres of open space, decreased energy usage by 20%, and saved 50,000 gallons of water per week.
2016 NPA Top Volunteer Leaders
Yu of S&B and Phillips of Alliant Take Honors
Each year, the NPA recognizes top volunteer leaders who have made invaluable contributions to the association through their dedicated service and support. This year, the NPA named Tiffany Yu, Marketing Specialist at Scheidt & Bachmann, as Volunteer of the Year. Kathy Phillips, CPP, SVP of Alliant Insurance Service, was recognized as Chair of the Year.
Yu has been an active volunteer with the NPA and has taken a lead on the “40 Under 40” program, encouraging more parking professionals to apply and get involved in the association.
“A champion of NPA membership and the value of NPA, she has become a tremendous ambassador for the organization and exemplifies the younger generation of proactive leaders in parking,” said NPA President Banning.
Phillips, immediate past chair of the Certification Advisory Board (CAB), continues to actively contribute to it. “The long-term leader contributes her contacts, insights, support and management expertise to lead committees critical to NPA’s value for membership,” Banning said.
“An outstanding leader supporting the parking industry, we appreciate her leading the NPA Education Committee,” Banning added. “She rallies members from multiple sectors to provide insights that have shaped the direction of NPA education.”
2016 NPA Board Officers, Members
Lazowski Named Chair; Judge Is Chair-Elect
The NPA also announced the election of new board officers, as well as seven new board members, parking industry leaders, to its board of directors. In addition, four current board members moved into officer positions.
Elected board officers for two-year terms were:
• Board Chair, Alan Lazowski, Chairman & CEO of Laz Parking (Hartford, CT)
• Chair-Elect, Nicolle Judge, President of SkyPark
(San Francisco)
• Vice-Chair, Robert Zurisky, President of Parkway Corp. (Philadelphia)
• Treasurer, David Damus, CEO of System Property Development Co. (Pasadena, CA)
• Secretary, Frank Ching, CPP, Director of Parking Management at LA County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Los Angeles)
• Immediate Past Chair, Mark Muglich, retired, ABM Parking Service (Cleveland)
Newly elected NPA board members are:
Marc Baumann, CEO of SP+ (Chicago)
• Jeff Becker, VP of Amano McGann (Minneapolis)
• Bijan Eghtedari, President of Citizens Holdings (Atlanta)
• Alex Israel, GM and VP of Parking at Inrix (Seattle)
• Meredith McLaurin, Finance & Operations Manager of McLaurin Parking (Raleigh, N.C.)
• Robert Pohrer, President of St. Louis (MO) Parking Co.
• John Roy, CPP, CIO at MVP (Parking) REIT (San Diego)
