Parking is on a journey

British Parking Association chair Nigel Williams has a positive vision

The coronavirus pandemic has stalled economic activity and upended communities around the globe. These are extraordinarily difficult times, but I am proud to say that our BPA community has come together (virtually) and is finding ways to cope with this unprecedented situation.

I would particularly like to thank our talented staff team, who have gone to extraordinary lengths to overcome significant obstacles and maintain service to our members.

Our sustained investment in membership support, our strong financial reserves, and the culture of continuous innovation we have developed over the last five years means that we face this global crisis from a position of relative strength.

2019-20 was another excellent year for our association with a continued focus on our key activities: member engagement; information management; auditing and compliance; technology, innovation and research; data standards; and the Positive Parking Agenda.

The association has always been eager to transform perceptions of parking. And whilst the media paint a general picture of dissatisfaction, we commissioned a ground-breaking piece of research revealing what the public really think to provide deeper insights that will help our members improve the parking experience, change public attitudes and bust some commonly held myths.

Our association’s staff and members are recognised as thought leaders who are helping to shape the future of the parking and mobility sectors. We are working with local and national government and other key stakeholders across a whole range of projects to create a smarter, cleaner, safer and more accessible transport network with parking and kerbside management as core elements.

The Alliance for Parking Data Standards (APDS) and the Department for Transport’s TRO-Discovery initiative are helping to facilitate sustainable multi-modal travel and provide real-time digital information to inform parking and transport decisions before, and during, any journey.

Nigel Williams is chair of the BPA Board