Those awaiting the imminent death of parking might want to keep the champagne corked a bit longer.

Reading breathless media accounts, you might be tempted to throw on a black veil, light some candles and make sure the funeral director is on the speed dial. Swarmed by biting Ubers, overdosing on parking taxes, strangled by congestion pricing and, of course, trampled by the oncoming hordes of autonomous vehicles, the parking industry is surely doomed to death by a thousand cuts.

But sometimes “getting cut” is a good thing, no?

Parking may indeed be disappearing, but it is not dying. Rather, parking is becoming a transparent component of a seamless journey to and from the mobility consumer’s destination of choice.

Like a bodybuilder, parking is shedding some fat and adding some muscle, in this case MaaS – “Mobility-as-a-Service”.

Parking professionals are realizing that while managing parking is sometimes akin to being marooned on a desert island, building bridges can end the isolation.

MaaS is just such a bridge, continuing what we have termed in the past, the “vertical integration of the parking experience”. But perhaps we should now coin a new term, the “vertical integration of the mobility experience”.

Even as we remain concerned about the customer parking experience within our facilities, we should become more aware of the total mobility experience before customers arrive and after they leave.

While we rarely comment on commercial transactions in the parking industry, we do wish to draw attention to an important milepost in the evolution of parking from mobility miscreant to transportation teammate.

The strategic teaming of parking reservation booker SpotHero and journey planner Moovit will geometrically scale the ability of both entities to serve transportation consumers. Eliminating parking as a mobility pain point will provide more choice to consumers and better husband resources for parking professionals.

More about this news, here.

Yes, ride hailers, governmental regulations and AVs will change the nature of the parking industry. Those who don’t get toned up will get tuned out. In fact, these developments are not pain, but gain.

Watch for our upcoming article in October’s issue of PARKING magazine where we will feature other developments in parking and MaaS.

The H2H2H Foundation is a nonprofit organization committed to “sharing excellence in parking and mobility management”, which includes promoting best practices in the administration of sustainable parking and transportation facilities. We also advocate for transportation consumers and advance alternative mobility options, such as car sharing, bicycling, carpools and many others. You can learn more about our efforts and ways you can advance the cause of “mobility sustainability” at www.h2h2h.org.