Florida Parking and Transportation Association (FPTA)

THE MISSION

The mission of the Florida Parking and Transportation Association is to promote and represent the parking and transportation industry in the State of Florida. The organization is committed to enhancing the professional image of parking and transportation, and also serves as a unifying force in promoting state and local legislation.

Through fostering partnerships with individuals and organizations involved in the parking industry, FPTA is dedicated to keeping members informed about current parking and transportation issues while continually opening new lines of communication to all members.

HISTORY

The Association has indeed made many strides over the past thirty years. FPA was established in 1979 by a small group of parking professionals from Orlando, Tampa, and Miami. The group of parking professionals met on parking issues and decided that a professional organization in parking would be beneficial throughout the state.

With the growth in Florida and Technology on the horizon, they formed the Florida Parking Association. The First Conference was held in Lake Buena Vista on the outskirts of Orlando in 1980 with an attendance of less than 20, with no vendor participation. Dan Brame from the City of Orlando was the residing president from 1980 to 1981 with Art Brawn from Miami Parking Systems taking the leadership role in 1981. The conference was held in the same location at the Dutch Inn in Lake Buena Vista with growing attendance. As word continued to spread the association continued to grow and moved the annual meeting to the Hyatt Regency in Tampa.

During those years, FPA partnered with IPI and NPA to provide relevant training programs such as the prestigious Certified Administrator of Public Parking. In addition, FPA started an annual education conference in 2006 in various locations throughout the state to target the front-line employees who don’t have the opportunity to attend the annual conference and trade show.

In 2016, the members voted to change the name of the organization to the Florida Parking and Transportation Association to better reflect who we are today as an organization and to reflect the partnership that exists between the parking and transportation industries. FPTA has seen tremendous growth from those early years with increased vendor participation and growth in membership. Today FPTA has over 200 members and growing with conference attendee participation reaching the 300 mark with as many as 60 vendors demonstrating a wide range of products at the trade show