2020 Parking Tech & Innovation Survey Results: Tech More Important Than Ever, & Most Companies Aren't Up to the Challenge.

City Tech Collaborative and the National Parking Association conducted a first-of-its-kind survey on parking technology to identify challenges, barriers, and pathways to smart, profitable innovation. CEOs and other C-suite executives contributed most of the survey responses. There was a near-even split among parking owners and operators, technology providers and consultants, and companies that play multiple roles. The responses help clarify a complex landscape of parking technology innovation, and key survey findings can help guide future tech and innovation investments.

Of survey respondents, 98% agreed that technology is critical to the industry’s future; 96% believed that companies that make the best use of tech will outperform their competition. Nearly all respondents, 91%, indicated that COVID-19 has increased the need for technology and innovation.

Despite that stated need, only 31% of respondents felt that most parking companies have the right technical and financial expertise to make sound, forward-looking technology investments. Not a single respondent agreed strongly with that sentiment.

The survey asked respondents to rate potential barriers to tech adoption. New tech’s incompatibility with existing systems topped the barrier list, followed closely by lack of staff experience and technical expertise. Funding for capital expenditure (capex) was the most often cited “major
barrier,” though not all participants saw capex as an obstacle. Surprisingly, a lack of proven solutions and insufficient return on investment sit lower on the barrier list. This suggests that profitable opportunities may go unrealized due to integration, training, and financing constraints.

Respondents also scored 10 specific parking innovations in terms of their relevance to the respondent’s business and level of familiarity with the underlying technology. Results highlight two waves of parking tech innovation:

• Wave 1 technologies include web presence, electronic payments, sensors, and analytics that are quickly becoming table stakes for leading parking facilities.
• Wave 2 technologies include emerging solutions related to electric vehicle charging, gateless access, digital mapping, advanced connectivity, and data processing. These are less known, and their applications are less certain than Wave 1 tech, but these innovations could nonetheless determine tomorrow’s winners and losers.

In the face of new tech, limited resources, and an uncertain future, savvy industry leaders turn to partnerships and strategic alliances to seize opportunities while managing risk.

Only 1 in 3 respondents believes strongly that his or her own company has the right partnerships in-place to navigate today’s parking technology landscape. Multiple responses lamented that stiff competition strangles collaboration despite compelling positive opportunities. Others said industry fragmentation was hindering data standardization. Still others highlighted widespread potential for gated, step-by-step technology adoption to manage costs while driving top-line growth and bottom-line benefit.

This year has confronted the parking industry with compounded challenges, and many companies are deeply focused on the management of day-to-day operations.

Nonetheless, the Parking Technology & Innovation Survey offers clear-headed optimism that technology adoption—informed by mutually beneficial partnerships—can help weather current crises and deliver future dividends.

Read the full article in the December 2020 issue of Parking , a National Parking Association publication.

Click here to download the complete survey results.

About City Tech Collaborative (City Tech): City Tech is an urban solutions accelerator that tackles problems too big for any single sector or organization to solve alone. City Tech’s work uses IoT sensing networks, advanced analytics, and urban design to create scalable, market ready solutions. Current initiatives address advanced mobility, healthy cities, connected infrastructure, and emerging growth opportunities. City Tech was born and raised in Chicago, and every city is a potential partner. Visit www.CityTech.org and follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn.

About National Parking Association (NPA): The National Parking Association provides training, certification, and access to leading edge parking technology across the private and public sectors. Founded in 1951, NPA represents over 100,000 parking professionals in more than 2,500 commercial operations and public organizations. NPA is a 501(c)(6) nonprofit trade association, based in Washington, D.C. Visit us at www.WeAreParking .orgor email Info@WeAreParking.org.

About the Millennium Gateway Innovation Lab: The Millennium Gateway Innovation Lab is a groundbreaking partnership to shape the future of the parking industry and urban mobility. As a consortium of asset owners, parking and mobility operators, technology providers, policymakers, and other thought leaders, Lab participants work to integrate parking more fully into urban transportation systems, develop tech-enabled solutions for smart infrastructure management, and cultivate value-added services and space uses. The Lab is part of the Advanced Mobility Initiative at City Tech Collaborative , an urban solutions accelerator that tackles problems too big for any single sector or organization to solve alone. Founding members and strategic partners of the Millennium Gateway Innovation Lab include Millennium Garages , SP+ , Arrive , the National Parking Association , the International Parking & Mobility Institute , and the City of Chicago. Learn more at www.CityTech.org/Parking-Innovation.