On Friday, May 16, the Long Island Section of the American Planning Association New York Metro Chapter is hosting the annual Arthur Kunz Memorial Scholarship Breakfast. This year’s event will kick off the Section’s 2014 program series with a panel discussion on “How to pay for: Parking & Transportation Improvements”. The event will be moderated by Jean Celender, mayor of Great Neck Plaza, with guest speakers: Gerard Giosa of Level G. Associates, a parking consultation firm; Scott Howell,  Senior Planning Analyst for Parking with the LIRR; and Larry McAuliffe of the New York Metropolitan Transportation Council.

The Tri-State Transportation Campaign is eager to see the panel take a holistic approach to the conversation, branching out from a focus on car-centric parking policies and instead discussing safe access for biking and pedestrian connections in and around existing parking. This panel will provide a unique opportunity to discuss how the high demand for both parking and transit-oriented development around LIRR stations and downtowns necessitates strategies for managing parking demand – such as shuttle service, incentivizing carpooling or simply creating safe cycling and walking infrastructure that mitigates demands on parking capacity. In the face of dwindling government support for financing transportation infrastructure, some Long Island towns are already beginning to work to find new means of managing the parking that supports local businesses, while also recognizing the need for both more walkable communities as well as a larger, more comprehensive long-term financing strategy. Given these considerations, this event is sure to generate some very compelling ideas.

For registration and sponsorship information for the Arthur Kunz Memorial Scholarship Breakfast, please visit http://apalongisland.org/.