What?

Park(ing) Day is around the corner, and the International Parking Institute is getting in on the fun. The annual worldwide experiment transforms on-street parking spaces into pop-up parks—just for one day. Dreamed up by San Francisco art group Rebar, the event challenges the public to reimagine metered parking spots as mini parks. In the past, we've seen lawn games, coffee bars, yoga studios and other creative activities.

Parksmart is the world’s only rating system designed to advance sustainable mobility through smarter parking structure design and operation. Developed by industry experts, Parksmart offers a roadmap for new and existing parking facilities to use innovative, solutions-oriented strategies. Points are awarded to parking structures for forward-thinking and sustainable practices in three categories: management, programs and technology structure design.

Parksmart is the world’s only rating system designed to advance sustainable mobility through smarter parking structure design and operation. Developed by industry experts, Parksmart offers a roadmap for new and existing parking facilities to use innovative, solutions-oriented strategies. Points are awarded to parking structures for forward-thinking and sustainable practices in three categories: management, programs and technology structure design.

Parksmart is the world’s only rating system designed to advance sustainable mobility through smarter parking structure design and operation. Developed by industry experts, Parksmart offers a road map for new and existing parking facilities to use innovative, solutions-oriented strategies. Points are awarded to parking structures for forward-thinking and sustainable practices in three categories: management, programs and technology structure design.

Attend the International Parking Institute’s (IPI) upcoming Parksmart Advisor Training in Anaheim, California, on Sept. 27 to become a Parksmart Advisor! Parking and sustainability consultants, parking operators, garage owners and property managers interested in extending their range of expertise should attend.

IPI Parksmart Advisor Training

When: Sept. 27, 2016, 8:00 a.m.–5:30 p.m.

Parksmart is the world’s only rating system designed to advance sustainable mobility through smarter parking structure design and operation. Developed by industry experts, Parksmart offers a roadmap for new and existing parking facilities to use innovative, solutions-oriented strategies. Points are awarded to parking structures for forward-thinking and sustainable practices in three categories: management, programs and technology structure design.

Parksmart is the world’s only rating system designed to advance sustainable mobility through smarter parking structure design and operation. Developed by industry experts, Parksmart offers a roadmap for new and existing parking facilities to use innovative, solutions-oriented strategies. Points are awarded to parking structures for forward-thinking and sustainable practices in three categories: management, programs and technology structure design.

This 2011 article was originally published by The New York Times. Read the original article.

For her wedding over the weekend, Nina Johnson had worked through a predictable checklist of locations in town: hotel ballrooms, restaurant halls and catering outfits. In the end, though, she opted for the most glamorous, upscale and stylish setting she could find—a parking garage.

“When we saw it, we were in total awe,” said Ms. Johnson, 26, an art gallery director. “It’s breathtaking.”

Researchers contend that more people will move into cities in the coming years, raising the question of how our transportation systems will manage the rising populations. Approximately 70 percent of the world's population will live in a city by 2050, and "the majority of urban mobility systems simply can’t cope," according to Wilhelm Lerner, Partner for Strategy and Organization at Arthur D. Little (ADL). 

It’s clear we need to figure out better ways to get around cities, suburbs and rural areas. It’s clear that we’re going to live in a poly-fuel, multimodal future—and that means we’ll get around in a lot of different ways, using lot of different fuels. Finally, it’s clear that electric vehicles are a growing part of the future.

President Bill Destler of Rochester Institute of Technology made a case for why electric vehicles are good to drive, charge and park: