State & Regional Spotlight
Pennsylvania Parking Association
Pennsylvania Parking Association
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For almost four decades,
2024 Spring Conference and Trade Show
Like so many people in the parking industry, many of our members come from backgrounds that are not parking related. I find that this provides our association with an amazing resource. The life and professional experiences that our members bring to the table is truly what makes our association special. PPA members come from private and public sectors, academia, law enforcement, financial planning, sales, and marketing just to name a few. We are currently preparing for our 2024 Spring Conference and Trade Show event which will be held April 16-18, 2024, in Hershey, Pennsylvania. The conference will include vendor displays, training sessions, executive roundtable events, a golf outing, networking, and social events. We encourage our neighboring state associations to plan on joining us at this conference. Our Board of Directors believes strongly in a cooperative effort among ours and other state associations, together we can accomplish so much more.
2024–2025 Board of Directors
Executive Directors
President
Matt Lohenitz
Vice President
Mark Vergenes
Secretary
John Morgan
Treasurer
Michelle Porter, CAPP
Board Directors
Jamie Groff
Nathan Matz
Melissa Morgan, CAPP
Steve Fernstrom
Brett Johnson
Industry Advocacy
Recently, PPA has engaged the services of Allegheny Strategic Partners (ASP), an advocacy group, to help with legislative efforts that will benefit the parking industry. In 2017 members of the PPA board worked with legislators to pass Senate Bill 736 which allows for certain municipalities, among other things, to adjudicate their own violations rather than rely upon the court system for that service. The process of moving that legislation forward on our own is what led us to engage our advocates. While we saw the benefits of having legislation specifically for parking authorities and enforcement entities, the process was long and arduous, and we had several failed attempts before we succeeded. Pennsylvania is not alone when it comes to uncollected parking fines and debt. Our first goal with our advocate is to pass legislation that allows Pennsylvania municipalities to suspend vehicle registrations for non-payment of parking fines. If we are successful in passing such legislation, it will pair nicely with SB 736 and assist municipalities in transitioning from criminal adjudication of parking to non-criminal adjudication, should they choose to do so.
Big News!
PPA is currently undergoing an exciting transformation to what will be The Parking and Transportation Association of Pennsylvania, or PTAP for short. The name change notwithstanding, the re-branding of our organization has been a long time coming. We will be unveiling a new mission statement, new website, new logo, and our goal is to have our first fully integrated parking and transportation conference in Spring 2025. We look forward to partnering with all entities of the Pennsylvania transportation industry and learning how we can all work together toward common goals.
There are exciting days ahead for the PPA – soon to be PTAP. I encourage all members of the state parking/transportation associations to take an active role in their organizations, whether it is as a board member or serving on one of the many committees that keep us moving forward! ◆
Matt Lohenitz is the Owner of LOHI Municipal Consulting, a member of the IPMI State & Regional Affiliate Committee, and President of the Pennsylvania Parking Association.
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Matt Lohenitzhttps://parking-mobility-magazine.org/author/matt-lohenitz/
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Matt Lohenitzhttps://parking-mobility-magazine.org/author/matt-lohenitz/
