We received so great responses to the March/April 2026 question that we wanted to share them all! Click here to see the responses listed in Parking & Mobility magazine, and then read on for more great thoughts!
What is the most impactful step parking and mobility professionals can take today to move cleaner and smarter toward a more sustainable future?
@Adam Jones, Vice President, Bedrock
Sustainability starts with efficiency. Parking and mobility professionals can make an immediate impact by optimizing existing assets through better utilization, pricing, and shared-use strategies rather than building more. The cleanest parking space is often the one you don’t have to build.
@Christina Jones, PTMP, Transportation Services Management Analyst, City of Iowa City, IO
Parking and mobility professionals can make an impactful step toward sustainability by transitioning traditional parking assets into mobility hubs that support EV charging, micro-mobility, and last-mile delivery services and connections. This not only facilitates long-term financial sustainability by diversifying revenue streams, but it simultaneously decreases the carbon emissions associated with SOV trips and encourages a change in commuting behaviors that supports environmental sustainability.
@Margot Zuckerman, Director, Strategy and Growth, Automotus
The most impactful step parking and mobility professionals can take today toward a more sustainable future is to start planning for it now. Innovative leaders won’t waste time planning—solutions to accommodate the rise of micromobility, ride share, and autonomous vehicles must be implemented today, not down the road (pun intended). Savvy leaders are also treating the curb and parking as dynamic, not fixed, infrastructure. By developing systems where curb rules and pricing can adjust to real demand, resident needs, and climate-positive policies—over the course of a day or a decade—cities can reduce emissions and stay ahead of changing conditions.
@Shakesha Holmes, Parking and Mobility Consultant, Walker Consultants
The fastest path to sustainability is fixing the curb and treating parking as a managed public asset—not a free amenity. Data-informed enforcement and pricing reduce cruising, employee space hoarding, double parking, and idle time, all major contributors to urban emissions and declining business access. When parking professionals shift enforcement from revenue protection to outcomes like turnover, access, and emissions reduction, measurable environmental and economic benefits follow almost immediately.
@Troy Richter, PTMP, Director of Parking Services, University of Wisconsin-La Crosse
The most impactful step that university parking and transportation staff can take to move towards a more sustainable future is to boldly encourage and incentivize the use of mass transit, carpools, walking, and biking. Lead by example and make sustainability visible. Publicize alternative transportation at freshman and employee orientations. Secure public support from campus leadership. Partner with your local municipalities to expand and improve options for getting to campus. It may sound simple, but reducing the number of cars driving to campus is the most effective way to create a cleaner, smarter, and more sustainable future.
@Katherine Beaty, PTMP, President/CEO, Beaty Solutions
Stop measuring “full garages or lots” as success and start measuring the circulation eliminated. The most impactful step is pricing and managing parking to reduce the cruising loop, because that’s the emissions source that parking professionals directly control every day.
@Jade Neville, Marketing Manager, Trellint
The most impactful step is integrating every part of the parking operation into one connected ecosystem—linking permits, payments, enforcement, and collections data. When these systems talk to each other, operators eliminate duplication, reduce wasted resources, and cut emissions by streamlining processes. Connectivity drives efficiency, transparency, and smarter mobility.
@Scot Saliani, Director of Operations, Above All Pressure Cleaning
Prioritizing proactive, eco-friendly maintenance of parking infrastructure through regular high-efficiency pressure washing. Removal of oils, salts, bird droppings, rust stains, and other debris extends structural lifespans. This prevents corrosion that leads to expensive repairs and the carbon footprint of reconstruction. Modern pressure-washing methods minimize runoff pollution, protect waterways, and boost ESG scores by reducing environmental impact, enhancing safety and health, and supporting governance through sustainable operations. Cleaner, safer, longer-lasting garages and infrastructure may be the most impactful step we can take today.
@Benjamin Sands, Manager – Parking Planning and Operations, WGI, Inc.
The most impactful step parking and mobility professionals can take today is to adopt an active, data-driven, performance-based approach to managing parking and transportation assets—whether public or private. By continuously monitoring KPIs and dynamically adjusting pricing, policies, and operational strategies, as well as implementing the most appropriate new technologies, parking and transportation operations can align resources with real-time demand and community context. For-profit operations benefit by optimizing asset utilization and revenue while supporting sustainability goals through smarter allocation and cleaner mobility options. Ultimately, parking and transportation services should operate as supportive resources—not obstacles—designed to complement and elevate the overall experience for the people and places they serve.
@Brandy Stanley, VP, State & Local Market Development, FLASH Parking
Invest in digital parking technology that reduces idling time without negatively impacting customer experience. It’s easy to go all digital and then have problems, so being smart about it is really important.
@Brian Shaw, PTMP, Consultant, Kimley-Horn
Parking and mobility professionals should continue to embrace technological solutions to collecting revenue, monitoring utilization, and performing enforcement. Make use of license plate recognition, mobile and fixed camera to monitor payment and occupancy, and advocate for electronic ticketing. Also, review the ParkSmart guide and incorporate practices that fit your operations.
@Brooke Krieger, Regional Sales Director, Arrive
The most impactful step parking and mobility professionals can take today is to use data to actively manage demand, not simply accommodate it. Too often, sustainability efforts focus on adding new infrastructure, when the greatest gains come from optimizing what already exists. By treating pricing, curb access, and space allocation as dynamic tools rather than fixed assets, cities can reduce congestion, lower emissions, and encourage more sustainable travel behavior. Data-driven management also allows agencies to respond in real time to changing patterns, align parking policy with climate goals, and make smarter decisions that balance revenue, access, and environmental outcomes.
Cara Ann Murwyn, Marketing Manager, Barnacle
One of the most impactful steps parking and mobility professionals can take today is choosing solutions that reduce unnecessary vehicle movement, including minimizing the need for towing. Towing adds significant operating emissions, traffic disruption, and cost, while smarter, on-site enforcement and compliance tools help achieve the same goals more efficiently. By opting for technologies that keep vehicles where they are and streamline operations, organizations can make meaningful progress toward a cleaner, more sustainable future.
@Dan Roarty, Chief Digital Officer, FLASH Parking
Smart, integrated parking is the linchpin of modern mobility, essential for reducing congestion and enabling the next generation of electric and autonomous vehicles. The present and future states hinge on connected systems, data, access and integrations. The path is clear: closed systems protect individual market share, but open platforms build the market by inviting industry-wide collaboration on a standards-based infrastructure. We must stop competing in silos and unite, in the open, to build a truly sustainable future.
@Josh Mallernee, Business Services Supervisor (Retired), City of Asheville
The most impactful step parking and mobility professionals can take today is finding universal solutions that reduce the carbon footprint while maintaining the same level of service. By standardizing sustainable, low-energy infrastructure such as electric vehicle readiness, solar-powered parking technologies, and renewable energy in garages and lots, agencies can support cleaner mobility choices while reducing long-term overhead. Treating sustainability as core infrastructure allows parking and mobility systems to operate more efficiently, equitably, and responsibly over the long term.
@Kelsey Owens, VP, Account Management, IPS
The most impactful step parking and mobility professionals can take today is to harness integrated data and smart technology to optimize current systems before unnecessarily expanding infrastructure. By unifying parking, curb, and mobility data into actionable insights, parking professionals can reduce congestion, lower emissions in their cities, and support sustainable decision-making that advances operational efficiency and more innovative city planning.
Kory Young, Director of Sales, Automotus
The most impactful step parking and mobility professionals can take is to challenge conventional wisdom and take calculated risks to stay ahead of the curve. Curb use has changed dramatically in just the past five years, challenging legacy assumptions that were established in a world without micromobility, surging commercial deliveries, continuous pick-up/drop-off activity, and autonomous vehicles. Artificial Intelligence is accelerating that pace of change, and leaders who experiment and take risks now will shape the future rather than react to it.
@Perry Eggleston, PTMP, Senior Manager, Universities, Modii Inc.
The most impactful step is to be active in the industry associations. These groups stay on top of the latest innovations and processes.
@Robert Ferrin, PTMP, Senior Project Manager, Kimley-Horn
Develop quantifiable goals in coordination with agency decision and policy makers and integrate these goals into future work plans and budget requests for successful implementation.
@Stuart DeVust, Payments Product Manager, T2 Systems
The single most impactful step parking and mobility professionals can take today is to centralize, measure, and act on their data in near real time—and then use those insights to intentionally change behavior.