Arrive Mobility: Driving Innovation in the Parking Business

In October 2021, Todd Tucker, senior vice-president of Market Development and general counsel for Arrive Mobility Inc. (Arrive), a Chicago-based provider of last-mile mobility solutions, met with Beth Diaz, innovation director for Sapphire Parking (Sapphire). Sapphire, a parking company based in Seattle, Washington, was struggling to remain in business due to the changing needs of modern society and a shift to a work-from-home culture. While Tucker believed he could generate better business opportunities for garage owners like Sapphire through technology, after his meeting with Diaz, he realized that gaining buy-in from Sapphire’s operational leaders would be an uphill battle. Technology could be confusing, and technological inertia existed. Tucker’s challenge was to convince Diaz’s field team to try new methods for monetizing Sapphire’s parking spaces while bringing the business into a more modern mindset.

This case study highlights the growing importance and role of parking facilities as modern-day logistical hubs. It examines the financial, managerial, and entrepreneurial challenges of introducing new technology-driven strategies to a business (in this case, parking garage properties). Experiential results show that the best decisions come from a clear understanding and proper execution of the technology on the part of both customers and service providers. Understanding customer requirements and expectations is paramount.<br><br>After working through the case and assignment questions, students will be able to do the following:<ul><li>Explain the emerging issues and challenges in the parking garage industry.</li><li>Understand why the parking business is categorized as a perishable goods business.</li><li>Apprehend new and innovative ways of using parking garages to bring operational efficiencies.</li><li>Understand how low-tech parking garages have evolved into modern-day logistics hubs by developing digital platforms, which add value to their business.</li><li>Identify the advantages and disadvantages of adding e-commerce options to traditional brick-and-mortar revenue channels.</li><li>Distinguish technological inertia and how a business leader might explain new technologies to customers to increase their adoption.</li></ul>

• parking garage
• technology
• logistics
• perishable goods
• operational efficiency
• digital platforms
• e-commerce