18th EPA Congress 2017: Congress Program Now Available

The congress program for the 18th EPA Congress 2017 is defined: Top speakers from politics, science and industry present in Rotterdam, Netherlands, from 20 – 22 September 2017 innovations, applications and trends in the field of parking.

In focus are the following aspects:

• Decriminalizing and digitization of parking in public domain
• Use of parking data and privacy issues
• Electric vehicles: charging at parking facilities
• Impact of connected and autonomous vehicles on parking

How should we anticipate on the economic and technical developments: taking initiatives as an early adapter or should we wait and see for a moment to where it goes? "The upcoming EPA congress in Rotterdam is the opportunity to make up our minds (…)”, says Peter Martens, vice chairman of VEXPAN, the Platform for parking in the Netherlands.

Over 30 lectures consisting of a combination of plenary and parallel sessions, panel discussions, exhibitors’ Speakers corner and an attractive program are offered to the participants on the event.

High-class speakers present the latest research results

On the first congress day, participants may look forward to exciting keynotes such as the one presented by José Manuel Viegas, secretary general International Transport Forum at OECD, with the topic “Perspectives for parking going through the urban mobility radical transformation”; Erik Jonnaert, Secretary General of the European Automobile Manufacturers Association, on “Impact of automotive developments for the parking industry” and Pex Langenberg, Deputy Mayor Rotterdam, explaining “City Lounge” concept for sustainable urban development and mobility.

On the second congress day, four sessions will intensively focus on the topics “Parking today“, “Technology“, “Policy“ and “E-charching and parking“. The keynote speaker Guy Le Bras, general director at GART, will report on the role of local authorities in transport & parking policies in the French parking reform. Frank De Moor, CEO Q-Park, will be explaining in his contribution “A bright future for parking” despite all hypes concerning impact of autonomous vehicles. More than 10 more speakers from companies such as Goudappel Coffeng, INRIX und Parkopedia as well as from famous research institutes and universities will present their latest results and provide a deep insight to the countryspecific features.

The first two congress days will be accompanied by Gerrit Heijkoop, a well-known speaker and congress moderator in the Netherlands who ensures an interactive character of the congress lectures.

Also the last day of the event features interesting presentations and discussions – among others about collaboration of the automotive sector and parking sector on how to handle autonomous parking in car parks. The participants will learn about the technical and operational challenges related to the transition for today to a fully automated future. A panel with representatives from cities and technical suppliers on the role of “smart parking” in discussions about intelligent transport systems and “smart cities”.

EPA Awards ceremony

On the first day, a particular highlight of the conference is the highly considered EPA Award ceremony for excellent objects and concepts in the categories new constructions, renovations, on-street parking, innovation and marketing. 28 submitted applications from all over Europe will be proofed by the program committee personally. There will be one winner announced in each category. The favorites will be elected from the “shortlist” published at epacongress.eu.

The national host of the 18th EPA Congress 2017 is the Dutch Parking Association VEXPAN. Mesago Messe Frankfurt GmbH has been tasked to organize the 18th EPA Congress and Exhibition. The EPA Congress brings together participants from over 30 countries to discuss future developments and exchange experiences in the European parking industry. The parallel held EPA Exhibition covers the planning, construction and operating of parking areas. The congress program and more information on the registration are available at epacongress.eu. Congress participation authorize the visit of the parallel exhibition.

About EPA - European Parking Association 

The European Parking Association (EPA) is the umbrella organization of 22 European parking associations. It has been founded in 1983. The national member associations represent the parking branch consisting of private companies and public bodies running, operating and managing on- and off-street parking structures and services as well as the supplying industry that offers all related products and services concerned with parking. The EPA aims to facilitate the cooperation between the professional parking organizations of different European countries, the exchange and mutual support of professional experience among members and other relevant international bodies relating to parking and urban mobility. (europeanparking.eu)