Mrs. Taylor’s essay was selected for the award because she captured the essence of frequently encountered issues that may be exacerbated by circumstances. Her proposed solution builds upon existing technologies to improve usability and convenience. Mrs. Taylor stated, “I answered based on what would make these experiences easier for me as a mother with my two girls on a time crunch.”

“The pain points in this essay are frequently encountered by vehicle drivers. The proposed solution elegantly provides a value-add to the driver as well as the parking operator.” said Renee Smith, Parking BOXX’s CTO, “This concept is well-aligned with Parking BOXX’s integration strategy.”

This marks the fourth year that Parking BOXX has offered the international scholarship. To apply, students submit an essay of 500-words that focuses on identifying a problem related to parking and outlining their solution. The $1,000 scholarship is awarded to a student who presents the most innovative, yet practical solution for making parking more user-friendly, efficient, or otherwise enhanced. Students must be enrolled, or due to be enrolled, in a program at an accredited graduate school, university or college, vocational school, technical school, or community college.

In 2020, over 470 applications were received, which is more than a 50% increase over the prior year’s submissions. Students proposed a variety of solutions: from parking robots to garage design improvements, to shared vehicles or the elimination of vehicles altogether. This year, there was a notable focus on addressing the expense of educational parking as well as the stress that parking causes students.

The scholarship program initially launched in 2017 to foster creativity and problem-solving from the point of view of the student, who is typically a younger demographic with fresh and unique perspective. As the need for innovative solutions in parking continues, Parking BOXX wishes to support an emerging class of solution-oriented professionals.

Parking BOXX would like to thank all of this year’s applicants for their creative and thought provoking essays. We were pleased by the overwhelming global response. The Parking Solutions Scholarship is now open for 2021!