Parking Tech – Are We Losing Touch?
December 1, 2020
by Wade Roberts, Manager of Parking Services Public Building Authority, City of Knoxville and Knox County
Technology in the world continues to race ahead at an incredible pace. Parking technology is making leaps and bounds in today’s market. Parking apps, gateless systems, sensors with endless and varied data, and innovative products pour into the market with new advances each week. The ability to control parking equipment with the touch of a phone or a few strokes of a keyboard permeate the parking magazine ads and sales pitches from nearly all major parking suppliers. There seems to be one important thing lost in the equation - the need for human interaction.
As COVID-19 reared its ugly head in March, it became glaringly obvious that we would not be able to continue with cashiers in the booth as the city of Knoxville began to lockdown in response to the virus. As the manager of parking services for the Public Building Authority, I had previously planned for a transition from booth attendants to full automation anyway by adding automated equipment, so I was excited to test full automation in the garages. Traffic downtown was virtually non-existent and with the booth attendants at home, we very successfully operated at full automation for 1 ½ months with very little issue.
When people began to work and visit downtown once again in May, I was fully prepared to continue operating at full automation with a slight possibility of needing to staff booths only during peak traffic times in the evenings. I proposed the cost of labor we would save all while thinking of just how much easier my job would be without the daily hassle of employees and the issues they bring with them. We created the new schedule and presented it happily. My joy was immediately squashed when I was told we would go back to the past schedule of twelve-hour per day operations with booth attendants in every garage. The reason? The city administration likes people in the booths. They say everyone likes to see people in the garage. I was shocked. We would save so much money though! Why would they really want to do this? I was missing the point.
People want and need other people. People are value adds. Louis V. Gerstner Jr. wisely said, “No machine can replace the human spark: spirit, compassion, love, and understanding.” I was looking at numbers. The city representatives, on the other hand, were looking at people - the value that people offer with relationships, ideas, interactions, or sometimes simply showing a warm, friendly face to those visiting downtown.
On Veterans Day this year, our parking department lost someone very close to us from a stroke very unexpectedly. He was our parking equipment repair technician, and he had developed a close relationship with me and the majority of my parking staff over the past five years. I did not realize how connected he was to each booth attendant, how influential he was, or just how much my staff and I appreciated all he did and how he treated us until he was suddenly gone. I spoke with booth attendants and other staff individually about his passing and each told me such powerful stories of things he had done, positive words he had spoken, and other encouragements he had given them over the years. He was a good man, and I was not even able to thank him for his service in the military on Veterans Day since he had passed away just that morning.
I then realized just how important the people are in our daily lives. Relationships are priceless. People create memories. Machines cannot. I understand machines and technology are necessary in today’s world. I embrace technology and welcome its advances, but I will never again underestimate the need for personal human interaction. Just as Charles Dickens said, “Electric communication will never be a substitute for the face of someone who with their soul encourages another person to be brave and true.” As we sail deeper into our technology and app-driven world, let us not forget about our most valuable and irreplaceable assets – people.
