Park life Get connected Kelvin Reynolds on plugging in to the wealth of knowledge made available by your BPA membership tory telling was my theme last month. How timely, with the release of the governments A Plan for Drivers and a major car park fire at Luton Airport. The press had a field day. Rhetoric and speculation abound. Neither is appropriate. We must wait for the facts to emerge and respond accordingly. October also saw the launch of our new EV Connect Interest Group. It aims to establish a cohort of members, segmented from the Parking Technology Group, who are associated with the electric vehicle (EV) sector. Its important to ensure that these members are properly represented at BPA Council. Scott Gow is the groups elected representative, having been elected as a Parking Technology representative prior to segmentation. This post will be up for election again in 2025. S 40 The EV Connect group will discuss, develop, and distribute best practice across the parking community. It will be connected to all relevant stakeholders, such as the Office of Public Safety and Standards, the Office for Zero Emission Vehicles, and Energy Savings Trust. The group brings together members from the EV sector with those who are interested to know what is happening in the world of EV transition, and how they can and should become involved. Its crucial that local authority and commercial operator members engage since they are already busy getting connected, deploying EV charging infrastructure. In the Transport Technology Forum (Smarter Parking Group) which the BPA operates on behalf of the Department for Transport we are developing best practices to ensure effective, efficient use of public resources and funding in the deployment of EV charging infrastructure. Built to last In November, our Parking Structures Group is leading the conversation about the changing requirements for car parks as vehicle design and development evolves. We are connected to the Institute of Structural Engineers, which earlier this year published a new Car Park Design guide, and there is much to commend it.* We are connected to government and others in the development of new and improved building regulations for both fire safety and structural safety. The need is driven (excuse the pun) by the fact that todays average vehicle is heavier and wider than most car parks were designed for. Vehicles are manufactured using new materials and the risks have changed. Importantly, we are not suggesting that the risk is worse... its just different. Our car parks are intrinsically safe from the outset. We believe that every parking structure needs to have a Life-Care Plan and I advocate using the opportunity of EV charging infrastructure installation to include a structural analysis of the car park too.** This should ensure they are safe and sound for everyone who uses them. We are connected to the Alliance for Parking Data Standards, which enables interoperability of parking payment systems across the world, and we are now working on the integration with payments for EV charging. Join the conversations: its your Association, make sure you are connected. *For details and a BPA member discount, see bit.ly/PNOct22SE ** See the BPAs online Resource Library. Kelvin Reynolds BPA chief technical services officer and company secretary kelvin.r@britishparking. co.uk