top of page
Current Event.png

The Key to Parking Success:
Communication, Testing, and Lessons from ParkHouston

Leigh Thomas 

February 2025

In Episode 17 (“Navigating On-Street Parking: E-Commerce, Virtual Permits, and Customer Relations with ParkHouston’s Rami Arafat”), TPN's team interviewed Rami Arafat, who works in the parking industry in Houston, Texas. It was a fun episode to record, and my big takeaway was that communication is the key to successfully implementing any successful program. Rami and his dedicated team spent months relaying information to the citizens of Houston to prepare them for new parking procedures. They used various methods (pizza parlor town meetings, flyers, etc.) to connect with stakeholders and learned that 6 months of these communications was not enough for the big change.  

​

Referenced Article: 

https://homenewshere.com/middlesex_east/article_e2ca2b5a-a815-11ef-80ae-6f4864c8396e.html  

 

According to the referenced article, the leaders in Reading, Massachusetts, would benefit from buying Rami a coffee and learning from him, too. Reading, MA, has a population of about twenty-five thousand people and is located 16 miles north of central Boston (according to Yahoo!). The town spent time and resources making an informed decision to improve the parking situation at its two largest lots. However, according to Patrick Blais' article, they failed to prepare Reading's citizens for the change. Although the new paid parking rates were extremely low (first hour free, only $1 per hour for hours 2 and 3), the small business district begged officials to pause the program as their revenues plummeted. The program, designed to increase turnover near the business districts, failed miserably.   

 

While we have not spoken to anyone in Reading, our experience indicates that this type of parking change does not have a negative impact like the businesses experienced.  Almost always this type of downtown revenue loss tends to fall into two categories: (1) A failure to communicate, using all means possible to tell all the potential visitors that the change is coming and procedurally how it works or (2) a failure to follow the TPN goal of “test, test, and retest” before any new procedures are implemented.  We assume that the paid parking ordinances were designed to push employees out of the parking lots and increase visitor spaces. This would increase turnover, resulting in an increase in business revenue.  

 

Some of you may be familiar with Clyde's "Stories from the Road" episodes on our podcast. This article sparked two stories from the back of Clyde's memory. First, about 15 years ago, TPN witnessed a large parking facility near a shopping district invest in poor equipment and fail to communicate the new parking procedures with all of its customers. At that time, not everyone had a smartphone, and the new equipment required it, which left the majority of customers very confused and frustrated. If customers are frustrated by parking at their favorite shopping place, they will find a new place to shop! Business owners can blame paid parking, but the real issue is communication with and accessibility for customers.  

 

The second story concerns a metropolitan area that attempted to transition from single-space parking meters to digital multi-space meters in its on-street parking areas. Customers who needed to park on the street were overwhelmed by the new and unforeseen touch screen, lengthy procedures, complicated steps, and sun glare in the afternoons just to pay $1 at the multi-space meter and get some shopping done.   

Paid parking programs are implemented to increase control over a parking facility. Usually, cheap parking doesn't run customers away, but, as Clyde's stories illustrate, bad communication or confusing procedures do!  Is the real problem with the software, the equipment, and the signage?  Once a customer group needs to learn something new, communication has to increase. As we witness nationwide parking operations, we consistently see that people are smart enough to manage parking procedures, but those procedures must be simple, direct, and familiar!  

 

This week's conversations simmered into three helpful points to help you navigate transitions in your facility. First, identify the exact element you need to control in your garage. Second, determine how you are going to maintain control of that element. Finally, a plan should be created to communicate all required procedures with all customers, especially first-time customers.  

 

It seems surprising that communication is a great hindrance in this age of texting, video chats, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Facebook. We have more tools now to communicate, but we have little time or energy to do so in a meaningful way. Perhaps we can all improve on this front and cheer for the good people in Reading as they endeavor to increase the functionality of their business district.  

bottom of page