National Parking Association Announces First Innovation Award Winners

Facilities, Companies, Individuals Recognized for Excellence, Innovation, and Best Practices in Parking

WASHINGTON, Oct. 17, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The National Parking Association (NPA) announced the winners of its first ever Innovation Awards at the Annual Awards Luncheon on Wednesday, October 16.

"We launched the Innovation Awards this year to recognize our member companies and individuals who deliver exceptional parking services to their clients while using state-of-the-art technology and sustainability practices to focus on bottom line results," said Christine Banning, CAE, NPA president.

The winners were recognized at NPA's 61^st Annual Convention & Expo being held this week in Hollywood, Fla. The 2012 NPA Innovation Award winners are:

• NPA Innovator of the Year: Darlene Bunton, Director of Parking Services, University of Cincinnati

Bunton helped her University manage master plan integration with parking; generate revenue to service debt; and consolidate parking assets from 31 to 20 structures; while maintaining 100 percent of revenue and reducing costs by 50 percent.

Her leadership, systems development, technology adoption and team training focusing on bottom line performance and parker experience helped the university develop a comprehensive parking services plan that revolutionized its parking operation.

Bunton's introduction of systemwide data management and technology upgrades transformed customer service, operations and overhead costs.

Bunton holds a bachelor's degree in economics and a master's degree, with a concentration in labor relations, from the University of Cincinnati.

• Innovative Organization of the Year: T2 Systems, Indianapolis, Ind., and its client, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas

As the sixth largest public university in the United States, the Texas A&M University-College Station campus includes 131 lots and five garages, with 85 lanes of PARCS equipment, 34,033 spaces and more than 60,000 annual citations.

Texas A&M's Transportation Services generates more than $28 million per year, including more than $20 million from parking. With a goal of managing every aspect of its vast parking operation with one application, Transportation Services developed a unified system to collect parking data across their entire operation and leverage it to more efficiently achieve their business goals.

T2 Systems, Inc. provided an open architecture foundation while university programmers customized its functionality, such as publishing real-time space availability in visitor parking to their website, or to a smartphone app.

Through sound financial planning and budgeting, Transportation Services obtained the necessary support for rate structures and initiatives to provide financial sustainability. This strategic planning, coupled with efficiencies gained using state-of-the-art technology, allows them to maintain competitive rates.

• Innovative Facility of the Year: The Wave Mixed-Use Parking Structure, Atlantic City, N.J., Timothy Haahs & Associates, Blue Bell, Pa., project architect and engineer

The Atlantic City Casino Reinvestment Development Authority (CRDA)'s 1180-space mixed-use parking facility, "The Wave," is part of a redevelopment initiative to revitalize the city's core and establish a more active and vibrant environment in the entertainment district.

Timothy Haahs & Associates, Inc. (TimHaahs) worked with the CRDA to plan and develop a mixed-use parking facility to support the growing parking needs of the area, as well as contribute additional retail space to serve the neighborhood. 

With 16,000 square feet of ground floor retail, as well as space for a parking office, this project has become an integral part of the CRDA's effort to transform the City into an investor-friendly resort destination, and has renewed the focus on Atlantic City as an economic engine for New Jersey.

• Innovative Sustainability Project of the Year: Canopy Airport Parking, Denver International Airport, Denver, Colorado, Propark, Hartford, Conn.

This 46-acre, 4,200-space cooperative project of Greenscape Capital and Propark was created as a practical demonstration of the environmentally responsible technologies that can be implemented in parking facilities. Canopy has achieved LEED® Gold certification, and features wind turbines, solar panels, geothermal energy, free electric vehicle charging and LED lighting.

The facility's low carbon footprint and 70 percent energy savings, compared to traditional new construction, enhances profit while being environmentally efficient.

Canopy has developed the "Building that Teaches" program where, in collaboration with the "Alliance for a Sustainable Colorado," the facility hosts field trips and teaching seminars that illustrate that premium service and price don't need to be compromised to implement sustainable building and management practices.

By open-source sharing information about the facility, Propark is able to attract cutting-edge technologies, measure, test and benchmark them and make the information available to the public.

About NPA: The National Parking Association is the nation's leading parking trade group advancing the interests of the private and public sector in parking technology, sustainable mobility, certification, advocacy, research and education. Founded in 1951, NPA has more than 800 member firms, 2,500 members and represents all facets of the parking industry. Online at www.npapark.org.

CONTACT: Lawrence McFadden, +1-202-296-4336, [email protected].

SOURCE National Parking Association