December Parking Professional Spotlight

Know What You Don’t Know: Lessons from Richard Easley’s Journey 

A Chance Encounter with Wisdom 

I came across some articles written by Richard Easley in the IPMI magazine – one mentioned that he was retiring after 30-odd years, and I thought, “I’ll bet he has some wisdom to share.”  So, I emailed him, and, to my surprise, he emailed me back. Thus began our one-hour friendship.  

A Career Rooted in Transportation and Transformation 

Richard Easley, President of E-Squared Engineering (M.S. Engineering, UT), has 34 years of experience in Civil Engineering and has spent his career taking lead roles in international Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS), transit, tolling, traffic operations, parking, and freight, as well as serving at IPMI.   His parking contributions include smart parking technologies, mobility integration, electronic payment integration, and data-driven curbside management strategies.  Although Richard has earned numerous awards for his impactful work, as he nears retirement, his attention is not on recognition. Throughout our interview, I realized that Richard’s primary attention lies in sharing the value of diversity and emphasizing the connectedness of even the smallest things.  

From Dropout to Engineer:  The Power of Grit 

When he was a young man, Richard Easley knew he had to make a change – a college dropout, he knew his meat-packing plant, shoe salesman, and lifeguarding jobs did not offer him the future he saw for himself and his wife.   “How do I make some money?” he asked himself. After much evaluation, he decided, “I can do engineering.”   Following his big brother, he went to UT at El Paso for school. Little did he know that Pre-Calculus would kick his you-know-what. Four times he failed pre-calculus – four times! However, with help along the way and much grit and determination, Richard then competently graduated with a Bachelors and then Masters in Engineering at UT in Austin, turning down an opportunity to get his PhD and going to work in Washington D.C. instead. Working in a ground-breaking national initiative to develop and coordinate ITS (IVHS at that time) in the U.S., he never looked back. 

Building a Business to Fill a Gap 

A few years later, Richard noticed that there weren’t many people of color working in ITS (Intelligent Transportation Systems) and that state agencies had a DBE requirement (Disadvantaged Business Enterprise). He saw a need and decided to meet it by starting his own ITS company. He thought, “I know a lot of people - this business could hit the ground running!”  – but it did not. Funding, timing, and government requirements slowed everything down. He is forever grateful to his wife who was willing to sacrifice and support him through this challenging time.  

Doing What’s Needed, Not Just What You Know 

His determination and resilience kept him going – and again, recognizing a need, he was willing to change directions. He sums up his epiphany like this, “Hey, Richard, you’re looking for work and people are telling you what they need and you’re telling them what you do – how about you do what they need?”   So, he did. Lots of projects: transit, toll systems, parking, intermodal freight, container ships, and training. Soon, his reputation brought him work and hunting for it was mostly unnecessary.  

Seeing The Interconnectedness of Systems 

With such varied work, Richard became extremely well-connected. As he gained experience, he saw how interconnected the parking world is. The freight industry impacts the parking industry, which impacts the toll systems, which impacts transit, which impacts traffic operations, etc. He began to see the intended, as well as the unintended, consequences of the ‘improvements’ implemented in silo fashion. Even small things - which bring me to what I think is most important to Richard now.  

Smart Tech, Real Challenges 

Richard’s business has centered on smart technology, including facial recognition that streamlines identification processes, sensor faucets that reduce water usage, sensors that count passengers on buses, and bus stop pull cords that are difficult to reach, as well as smart cards and parking apps.  What do all these innovations have in common? They all involve processes that do not work for a segment of society. Facial recognition makes mistakes one thousand times more for women of color than for white men.  Sensor faucets require different (and often overlooked) calibrations for hands with darker skin. Transit funding depends on passenger counts, and due to mis-calibrated sensors that are incapable of ‘seeing’ dark skin and clothing, not all passengers are counted.  Older people stand up to reach for the bus stop pull cords and experience serious injuries from falling on the moving bus. These issues are real and have attainable solutions, but without personal awareness, it's challenging to recognize their importance and work towards addressing them. Richard wants to remind us to pay attention.  

Redefining “Best” Through Awareness 

He wants us to remember that hiring only the “best” (on paper) is not always sufficient for success. For our purposes, let’s define success as what works for the most people in the most situations possible. He gave the example of wanting the best doctor to treat him – one who had straight A’s in the best medical school – but this same doctor used an oxygen sensor that dangerously misread his oxygen levels because it was not calibrated for darker skin.   These ‘best’ doctors need awareness.  

Diversity as a Design Imperative 

Hiring a diverse group of people brings a range of experiences to the table. Testing sensors on a diverse group of people ensures deep and wide performance. Including people from different economic sectors brings broad and flexible operations. The parking industry has been willing to improve License Plate Recognition, so we know sensor calibration is possible.  Let us draw on the maturity of the parking industry and its success with technology to address problems that have yet to be solved.   

Final Words of Wisdom 

Richard’s parting advice is this: this entire world is interconnected - consider the needs of others in everything you do. Communicate and build systems with as many diverse people as possible for the benefit of all. “Always know that you don’t know what you don’t know. Be hungry to know and ask questions.”   

As for Richard, he is ready to move on from solving public transportation problems and he and his wife are embarking on a new adventure – trekking the globe – Portugal, Turkey, Greece, Spain, Vietnam, Indonesia, Ecuador, Japan, Argentina, Chile, and more – years ahead of building new interconnectedness with the world, one small village at a time. 

Bon Voyage, Richard!