Wes Guckert, President & CEO, The Traffic Group
With at least four parking spaces for every car in the U.S., totaling 150 billion square feet of real estate, the commercial real estate industry needs to begin planning for this driverless car game changer now.
Baltimore, Maryland (PRWEB) April 24, 2017
Wes Guckert, PTP, President & CEO of The Traffic Group, Inc. (TTG) -- one of the nation’s leading traffic engineering and transportation planning firms -- will be logging in the miles during the coming week as featured speaker at three of North America’s top industry conferences.
Guckert will be discussing the impact of driverless vehicles at:
- ULI Toronto: On Monday, April 24, Guckert will be a featured presenter at the Urban Land Institute (ULI) Toronto Symposium. ULI Toronto’s Electric Cities Symposium convenes experts internationally to address the most current real estate topics at the intersection of mobility, placemaking, and technology.
- ULI Washington, D.C.: On Tuesday, April 25, Guckert will be a panelist, discussing the real estate, land use, and parking implications of autonomous vehicles, at the ULI Washington Real Estate Trends Annual Conference. Other panelists include Harry Lightsey, Executive Director, General Motors Emerging Technologies Policy Group, and Revathi Greenwood, Americas Head of Investment Research, CBRE Americas Research.
- NAIOP National Forums Symposium 2017: On Wednesday, April 26, Guckert will keynote the NAIOP Symposium in Palm Springs, California, where prominent industry professionals from across North America will gather to share best practices and identify how to capitalize on potential business opportunities. Celebrating its 50th anniversary, NAIOP is a commercial real estate association. Guckert will discuss self-driving cars and rapid vehicle automation. With at least four parking spaces for every car in the U.S., totaling 150 billion square feet of real estate, he will discuss how the commercial real estate industry needs to begin planning for this game changer now.
Guckert predicts there will be 50% fewer cars on the road as a result of driverless vehicles. This also means that there will be a reduced need for parking. His presentation will highlight an example of a 1 million square foot retail center equipped with 5,000 parking spaces. Reducing parking by 50% – or 2,500 spaces – would save 30 acres of land. This scenario will likely occur all across the country once driverless vehicles begin appearing on U.S. roadways.
With more than 40 years industry experience, Guckert is a recognized and well-respected expert in the fields of traffic engineering and transportation planning. Guckert has played a major role in nearly 8,000 projects spanning throughout the United States, as well as internationally.
In addition to Guckert’s technical expertise, he is often asked to serve as an expert witness, testifying before County and Municipal Boards and Planning Commissions on traffic engineering and transportation planning issues.
A Fellow with the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE), Guckert is a frequent speaker on the topic of driverless cars and their coming impact on commercial real estate and urban areas. Guckert is a member of the Texas A&M Transportation Technology Advisory Council, whose purpose is to advise Texas A&M Engineering on automated transportation research; RELLIS Campus development for transportation technology research and testing; and Texas A&M Campus Transportation Technology Initiative deployment. He is also Immediate Past Chair of the Urban Land Institute’s (ULI) Public Development Infrastructure Council (PDIC).
In addition to keynoting the upcoming NAIOP conference, Guckert has presented on the topic of driverless cars at Harvard University; the International Council of Shopping Center’s (ICSC) RECon; Intelligent Transportation Society’s (ITS) ITS America; ITE’s Annual Meeting; and the National Parking Association’s (NPA) Convention & Expo. He has also presented at multiple national and international ULI events.
About The Traffic Group, Inc.
Established in 1985, The Traffic Group, Inc. (TTG) is a veteran-owned traffic engineering and transportation planning specialty firm headquartered in Baltimore County, Maryland.
Through use of sophisticated technology and the in-house experience of more than 70 industry professionals, TTG offers services that help determine road improvements, signal and sign location, lighting plans, land usage, public facility and capacity issues, and security measures. With over 3,000 pieces of traffic data collection equipment, The Traffic Group has the largest inventory of such equipment in the U.S. and conducts more than 100,000 counts for clients annually.
For more information about The Traffic Group, visit the company’s website at http://www.trafficgroup.com or follow them on Twitter @TheTrafficGrp.