The 2022 IPMI Conference & Expo was an amazing opportunity to bring together parking, transportation, and mobility professionals from all over the globe to learn about how the industry has changed in recent years and how we can move forward. The ParkEngage team had an amazing time connecting with colleagues and friends and making new connections. 

We also enjoyed discussing all of the ways the industry has changed in recent years and how recent innovations and events are transforming how parking and mobility will be managed and experienced in the coming years. Check out just a few of the IPMI 2022 takeaways we came home with last week. 

• Data is key. Owners and operators are increasingly grasping the value of not only obtaining data from their operation, but evaluating this information to understand customer patterns, financial strength, and more. There are increasingly sophisticated solutions developed in recent years to not only gather this information, but assist organizations in making decisions to improve their operations and bottom lines.
• Technology Should Be Flexible. Every organization is unique, with completely different needs, objectives, and resources. Technology is no longer one size fits all, and solution providers need to be able to conform and customize their products to an extent to meet the individual needs of their customers. For instance pay-as-you-go, limited investment in equipment, and providing choices from customized to app-free options allows organizations to effectively serve their customers the way they need.
• COVID Changed Everything. We already knew that. But it’s become evermore clear as we continue to get back to a sense of normal. The now likely long-term or permanent work from home arrangements have made a previously unfathomable impact on permit parking, parking demand, curb spaces, and more and owners, operators, and solution-providers must work together to understand the needs of the “new consumer”.
• Paid Parking May Soon Be Unrecognizable. Paid parking had already transformed significantly in recent years moving from traditional meter payments to mobile payments. But already so many new payment options may soon be possible for parking. From RFID systems, to Venmo, or even bitcoin, these new payment solutions we’ve heard so much about in other areas of our lives may reach parking before we know it. 
• Support the Frontline. Frontline employees are facing greater challenges than ever before. From learning to navigate so many new technologies, to meeting increasingly high customer expectations, it’s important to provide them with the training and resources they need to do their jobs effectively and support the patrons they serve.
• Customer Expectations Have Shifted. Parkers today now have so many tools and resources to find the parking facilities that best meet their specific needs, from location to price to amenities. Now more than ever it’s important for organizations and solution providers to understand the changing expectations of their patrons and provide incentives to keep them coming back over and over again.

Thanks again to everyone who stopped by to chat with us. We’ll see you next year in Fort Worth!