Automation

Believe it or not, back in the 1930s parking garages were equipped with lifts which allowed cars to be parked in stacks. Based on hydraulics, ramps and the need for parking lot and garage owners to get more bang for their buck, these garages were quite popular. Times change and old ideas fade only to reemerge generations later complete with technological improvements.

One flaw parking garages of the 1930s endured was that ramps and people take up space. When cars are able to drive themselves, and when technology is capable of transporting cars seamlessly across spaces where humans fear to tread, then stacking cars becomes far more practical. Companies from Boulder to Brooklyn are employing laser scanners, plasma screens, sensors and mirrors to rapidly determine a vehicle’s dimensions, place it in the correct position and then transport it, via robotic dollies, into a tight space.

Pods and Tunnels

What works above ground can work below ground. Underground garages are nothing new, but they can be utilized to their full potential when the automated systems outlined above are put into place below ground. But why stop there? Elon Musk, famous for his tunnels, envisions an urban street where drivers pull into a spot, exit the vehicle and then watch while the vehicle descends into an enormous automated, underground network of spaces. These elevators, or pods, will manage vehicles and facilitate a quick and accurate return, once the owner is done taking a hyperloop train to San Francisco.

It may seem far-off, but once Musk obtains permits and the tech conforms to regulations, the parking problem in Los Angeles could be eradicated.

Multi-Purpose Space

Suburban planners are in a conundrum over vacant shopping malls. When Elon Musk’s underground parking network becomes a reality, urban planners might be faced with a surplus of empty garages or parking lots. While vacant malls are transforming into trampoline gyms, laser tag arenas and warehouses, parking lots and garages in the center of urban areas are being transformed into hybrid entertainment/parking spaces. Rooftop bars are finding space atop parking garages, where clients park and walk up to take in the view and a beverage. Art galleries, theater spaces, and music venues are also taking advantage of former parking spaces.

User Experience

Parking garages are rarely depicted as pleasant locations. From crime thrillers to political espionage, those dark empty places are the perfect setting for a chase or clandestine meeting. If you aren’t that kind of user, then the parking garage experience isn’t exactly tailored for you. Planners and designers are working on that.

Reinvented parking garages and lots are now home to solar panel canopies, porous asphalt that filters runoff into underlying soils, high-tech lifts and shiny exteriors. The user likely will never have to go inside those car storage units. Simply slip your vehicle into a clean pod, collect a receipt or a coin, then place the card or token into a machine which will initiate the process of returning your pod, and vehicle, back to you. No tipping. No questionable valet. No walking across dimly lit concrete paths and no confusing, twisty, exits.

If you are interested in learning more about the future of parking, or if you simply need to find a space, then please contact us.

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Quick Definition of Sharing Economy

Those who are reading this, likely, are already familiar with what this term means, yet the majority of Americans and the world isn’t. Even those of us who are familiar with the term are still trying to understand exactly what it means. This is only natural considering this is such a broad term that, really, doesn’t even describe this entrepreneurial movement very well.

The sharing economy is, mostly, a profitable economy, rather than a place where people are simply sharing from some altruistic idealism. Yet, there’s a definite community-based, peer-to-peer interaction being facilitated, which democratizes business and brings opportunities to regular people. The opportunities being created are limited only by a lack of innovative ideas; in other words, the definition of the sharing economy is being created as we speak.

Impact of the Sharing Economy Already

We learn how impactful the sharing economy has been already in an article on VenturaBeat.com, called: “The Sharing Economy has Created 17 billion-dollar Companies (and 10 Unicorns)”, written on June 4, 2015 by John Koetsier. According to the article:

“There are now 17 billion-dollar companies with 60,000 employees and $15 billion in funding in the sharing or collaborative economy…”

These companies include names most of us know, such as: eBay, Airbnb, Uber, Etsy, Chegg, Lending Club, and more. Sharing economy companies are in all different industries, yet are making their impact the most in: transportation, finances, goods, and space (Airbnb, etc.). The article points out that most of these companies started in rough economic times and reached their high level of success within only 4 years time.

The success of these sharing economy companies is impressive, especially, considering all the peer-to-peer users who are also making money from these platforms. They may employee 60k people directly, yet there are millions more who make a full-time living through these peer-to-peer platforms. The scope of impact just these leading companies alone are making is massive, especially, considering all the people and businesses that benefit from their use (manufacturers, professional services, delivery, parking garages, software companies, etc.).

The Future of Innovation in Business

The future of business will be shaped by technology, with cloud and mobile computing technologies leading the charge. It’s also clear that the younger generations will be the ones creating and developing the majority of this innovation in business. Presently, the U.S. and the world is in a state of technological transformation; statistics show the contrast clearly of who understands and is involved in this emerging sharing economy.

According to a Bloomberg article called: “These Charts Show How the Sharing Economy is Different”, written on June 15th, 2015 by Jennifer Rossa and Anne Riley:

“…39 percent of sharing-economy workers are ages 18-24, well above the 12 percent of U.S. workforce at large. Include workers aged 25-34, and the figure jumps to 68 percent of the sharing economy, vs. just over a third of all U.S. workers.”

This shows us how the younger generations are dominating this emerging economy when it comes to the workforce, yet what about society at large? Well, the according to Pew Research Center, in an article called: “ Shared, Collaborative and On Demand: The New Digital Economy”, written on May 19, 2016 by Aaron Smith:

“Exposure to these shared and on-demand services begins to drop off rapidly starting at around age 45. Around one-third of those ages 18-44 have used four or more of these services, and relatively few in this age have no exposure at all to these services. By contrast, 44% of Americans age 50 and older…have not used any of these 11 platforms.”

There’s many interesting stats in this article, all validating the conclusion: the sharing economy is the future of innovation in business, because this is where the younger generations are putting their energy and focus.

Summary

Traditional methods of financing, starting a business, renting a space, traveling, recreating, and nearly every other function in society – are being changed as we speak. The sharing economy is defining this technological movement, steering it toward online peer-to-peer business and social interactions. Trying to define and explain the scope of this emerging force proves to be inadequate, because the nature of it is intrinsically indefinable.

Nevertheless, indicating factors and statistics show us that: the formation of a technological transformation in business and society is imminent, and younger generations and technology are leading the way toward innovation in business with what’s loosely called the “sharing economy”. How this benefits the startup entrepreneur or already established business, entirely, depends upon their adaptation to the changes.

ParqEx is part of this emerging sharing economy and understands how it can positively impact people and communities. Through the ParqEx App, peer-to-peer users have been able to make money off their parking spaces and find parking spaces for rent in 7 major metropolises across the U.S., including our home city of Chicago.

We know first hand how powerful the sharing economy is, and how it promises to be the future of innovation in business. If interested in learning more about how to benefit from ParqEx, please contact us today.

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BlipTrack Sensors Helping Road Engineers in Europe Create Better Traffic Flow

Blip Systems has attached sensors to city streets that allow for some interesting real-time analysis of traffic congestion patterns. The sensors are designed to pick up the presence of smart devices that drivers are carrying with them in their cars. The sensors accomplish this by obtaining the MAC addresses of smartphones via Bluetooth or WIFI as the drivers pass by. This data is then time-stamped and encrypted and sent to the Blip System server. From there, researchers can observe highly detailed, real-time traffic flow data. Every driver basically becomes a trackable pin on a map, and the road engineers can observe the congestion patterns of all the pins moving along the roads.

This has big implications for engineers who want to make more informed decisions about reducing traffic jams. As this article notes:

Road engineers analyze the collected data to help pinpoint the source of congestion. They then experiment with changes to infrastructure, such as the addition or removal of traffic lights at key intersections, in order to smooth traffic flow. The engineers watch the journey time data especially closely after they add a traffic light, Gilbert adds, to make sure it does not cause unexpectedly slow sections on the roads.

Will we soon see similar sensors on the streets of Chicago? If so, then hopefully our road engineers can become more effective in reducing traffic congestion and commute times.

Nimber: Sharing Economy Technology Comes to Personal Shipping

The sharing economy, which has taken advantage of our billions of mobile devices and vast connections to each other, to create the greatest bartering activity in the history of the world.

Our innovative sharing economy is now sweeping into the world of personal shipping.

Now, thanks to the company Nimber, people in the UK can help other people ship items. It’s absurdly simple, but so very brilliant–as explained on Nimber’s page: “Nimber is a community delivery service that matches people who need to send something with someone going that way, anyway. By working together as a community we can make shipping convenient, sustainable, and more personal.”

It gets better.

The price of shipping is determined not by Nimber but by the two parties who are agreeing to help one another. You post the item you want shipped on Nimber, and when a “bringer,” as Nimber calls them, sees your post and agrees to take your item with them when they go to that location, you work out a price with that person.

Such a service raises plenty of eyebrows and questions, of course. But it appears to be working, and Nimber adds this guarantee to their description of the app: “We insure every item up to 1000€. If something happens in transit we will either replace the item or repair it up to that amount. We’ve had very few claims to date, but we want you to rest assured.”

This is a UK-only app, but the implications are intriguing. Will Nimber, or an app similar to it, eventually come to Chicago? Once Nimber gets the bugs worked out by establishing its services in the UK, will it storm the US with an amazing new shipping option that will blow apart the FedEx, UPS, USPS world?

Time will tell.

You Don’t Have to Travel to the UK to Benefit From the Sharing Economy

While you might have to wait for that innovative shipping service to come to you, you don’t have to wait to benefit from the sharing economy in Chicago. The app ParqEx is a superb example of this kind of innovation. It locates privately owned parking spots in Chicago and uses ParqEx’s large network of users to allow you to reserve an ideal parking spot in advance. And when you reserve, you can be as specific as month, week, day, or hour.

Or you can use the app to rent out your parking space to someone else and gain an extra stream of income.

If you love technology innovation and the sharing economy as much as we do, contact us to learn more about Parqex.

The post How Technology Innovation is Changing Transportation and Shipping in 2016 appeared first on ParqEx.