Parking lots have a lot to do with economic recovery. Really.
That’s the message an estimated 1,600 people will share in Denver during the International Parking Institute’s annual conference Sunday through May 20.
With the recession shrinking city budgets that rely on sales-tax revenues, the institute’s 1,500 members are getting attention for what they can do to get more shoppers and diners in and out of busy parking spots and, in the process, spending money.
The industry generates an estimated $26 billion to $28 billion a year in parking revenues, up from more than $12.5 billion in 1990, according to the parking institute.
“When you’re talking about economic stimulus, especially in downtown, or an amusement park, or a hospital setting, they bring a lot to the conversation,” said Shawn Conrad, executive director of the Fredericksburg, Va.-based institute.
For instance, rail stations may need more spots for commuters to leave their cars as mass transit gets a boost from federal-stimulus money. Colleges whose students now include workers looking for new job skills are seeing more demand for parking.
The industry hasn’t escaped the slump. People don’t drive or go out as often. When they do, they’ll look harder for cheap parking.
“We have to be really concerned with pricing, being sensitive in that area,” said Scott Bauman, manager of parking management at the Colorado Convention Center, which is hosting the conference. It costs $10 per space in the center’s 1,000-spot garage for eight hours.
This year’s convention will include sessions on collecting fees by phone, credit cards and online; managing congestion; and awards for garages that aren’t eyesores. And there will be tours of local parking facilities.
It all comes a little more than 50 years after a Denver symphony violinist and high school shop teacher, Frank Marugg, invented the tire-clamping Denver Boot for parking scofflaws.
Denver-based Clancy Systems International Inc., which markets the device, sells about 1,000 Boots each year.
