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APMS—Who Should Be Involved?

In ITS projects, the stakeholder groups and their interests must be identified early in the process. In the case of parking management, this notion holds especially true as there are many direct stakeholders who would not necessarily be included in deployments of other types of ITS technologies.

In parking management applications, project planners must consider the point of view of each stakeholder group, including private sector concerns and neighborhood issues. In most advanced parking management systems, there will be many stakeholder groups, such as attraction operators, parking operators (public and private), parking patrons, departments of transportation (city, county, state, and Federal), Councils of Government, utility providers, historical preservation groups, and neighborhood boards.

Typical interests of the first three stakeholder groups—attraction operators, parking operators, and parking patrons—are outlined below within the context of CBD, airport, and transit park-and-ride applications.

Forming the Stakeholder Group

Most localities and regions actively address parking issues within their cooperative governmental structures ranging from neighborhood participation in city-run parking forums to jurisdiction representation in Councils of Government (COGs). COGs often form special committees that address parking issues. These committees define parking problems, investigate parking management solutions, and estimate parking management benefits and costs. Within these governmental groups are many stakeholders, including those who represent public agencies, components of the private business sector, and citizens of the community or region. Parking is becoming an increasingly important aspect of transportation planning.

Stakeholder group membership depends on the individual jurisdiction—its governmental organization, the division of responsibilities for parking operations and maintenance, jurisdiction membership in regional COGs, and participation of Citizen Action Committees (CACs). Table 1 lists the agencies and groups that may be included in an APMS project and identifies the roles each may have in the planning, installation, operations, and maintenance of advanced parking management systems.

Table 1. Potential Stakeholders and Roles
Stakeholder Responsibility
State Department of Transportation
  • Integrate APMS project into regional initiatives and larger statewide ITS architectures
City or County Planning Departments
  • Seek Federal and state Congestion Management and Air Quality (CMAQ) funds
  • Coordinate growth and development plans
City or County Transportation or Public Works Department
  • Champion the project
  • Coordinate with local transportation planning efforts including transit development
  • Seek Federal and state transportation and transit improvement funds
City or County Police Departments
  • Support the APMS project, seeking reduction in uniformed police services to enforce illegal parking and/or control intersections in close proximity to major attractions
Councils of Government
  • Coordinate with other jurisdictions within the participating region identifying interoperability issues and resource sharing opportunities
Citizen Action Committees
  • Support the APMS project, seeking improved neighborhood environments
  • Help promote public awareness
City or County Architectural Control Boards
  • Review signage plans to ensure consistency and fit within the architectural and visual environment
Utility Companies
  • Provide information on the availability of power sources and advise on restrictions to power access
Communications Companies
  • Provide information on the availability of fiber optic, T-1, and twisted copper wire communications media
  • Advise on restrictions to communications access
Privately Owned Parking Vendors
  • Provide the information and linkages required to develop large-scale public and private facility networks

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