Car Park Costs – how much did you say??
Occasionally, people inquire as to the costs involved in building a car park. This is not an easy question to answer as there are many variables to consider — Is it at-grade or multi-storey, CBD or regional, number of bays, which state and city?….I rest my case! Fortunately, there are excellent resources available for a […]
7 tips to prepare your retail car park for the Christmas challenge
Many shopping centres have already put in place COVID-19 safety measures for the festive season; but what about car parks? Cristina Lynn of ptc. shares her tips on how retail landlords can set a positive tone right from the start, promote customer satisfaction and reduce traffic congestion. 1. Click and collect Many shopping centres have […]
How much parking is enough?
An article about Union Station in Washington, DC caught our attention this week. We are so used to hearing about complaints of the lack of parking in developments that it is surprising to see the opposite reaction. The Station was designed in 1908 and is in need of an upgrade to meet current accessibility standards […]
Are drive-in cinemas making a comeback?
In a world where social distancing rules are in place, drive-in cinemas seem to be a good solution for cultural life to resurge whilst keeping everyone safe. Last week, Darwin Airport announced that its short stay car park will be transformed into a drive-in cinema on the 26th and 27th of June. The event will […]
Parking – present and future
Special Report: Managing the impact of covid-19 on your car park performance Our team has been proactively thinking about how landlords can deal with impacts on car park performance as a result of recent lockdowns. Since mid-March, we have been keeping track of changes taking place in Australia and abroad, collecting relevant information and undertaking […]
Repurposing and future-proofing car parks
One of the hot topics over recent times is the future-proofing of car parks. The idea that future demand for parking is going to decrease in the face of technology advancements is leading the property sector to consider what to do with all the parking built in the past and how to prepare new developments […]
Andrew Morse speaks about parking facilities standards at the next AITPM Event
ptc. has a long relationship with AS 2890 (the Australian Standards for parking facilities) since it was co-authored by George Burton, our senior car park designer (now retired). Partner Andrew Morse is on the committee reviewing and updating the standards and will be one of the presenters of the NSW | AS 2890 Series Technical […]
Nepean Hospital new multi-storey car park
The Nepean Hospital in the Blue Mountains is undergoing a $1 billion redevelopment divided in two stages. As part of Stage 1, a multi-storey car park was built and a 14-storey clinical tower is currently under construction. Stage 2 is at the planning phase. ptc. has been engaged by NSW Health Infrastructure (HI) and other […]
The hospital parking paradigm
As part of their election campaign, the Conservative Party in the UK is proposing to provide free hospital parking for a range of people including disabled drivers and passengers, frequent outpatients, gravely ill patients, visitors to relatives in hospital for extended periods and staff on night shifts who cannot use public transport. According to The […]
MLC School, Burwood – redesigning the pick-up and drop-off scheme
Background MLC School is a Uniting Church independent girls’ school. Founded in 1886, the school has been a pioneer in girls’ education by valuing academic and co-curricular activities equally and has a tradition of academic excellence. Located approximately 12 kilometres west of Sydney CBD in Burwood, MLC serves 1,200 students from pre-kindergarten to Year 12. […]
What makes a great commuter car park
The Federal Government plans to invest $500m in commuter car parks across Australia. As we have posted in the past, the first step is to understand if a commuter car park is the best alternative for each location. Assuming that this is the case the next step is to ensure that the facilities will serve […]
Car sharing in residential developments
The availability of car sharing services in or near residential developments provides an alternative for residents who are willing to forego the cost of paying for a parking space if they do not own a car. A change in car ownership creates the opportunity for developers to reduce the car park space per unit ratio […]
The focus needs to be on the parking garage
“I would like to first focus on the parking garage”: this is our favourite line uttered by Rebel Wilson in “Isn’t it Romantic”, in which she explains her idea for a hotel project. As expected, everyone in the meeting looks surprised by her choice; after all, car parks are often treated as “out of sight […]
Casuarina Square case study – Retail car park optimisation
Located at 14km north of Darwin city centre, Casuarina Square is the largest shopping centre in the Northern Territory. The GPT Group (GPT) have owned and managed the centre since it was built in 1973. Four major redevelopments have been undertaken since that time. Home to over 200 stores, Casuarina Square is the number one…...
Airport Commercial Development & Management Course
Cristina Lynn, ptc.‘s managing partner, is one of the speakers at the Airport Commercial Development & Management Course organised by CPI. The course aims to provide attendees with the capability of optimising the airport’s commercial performance. Cristina’s presentation will focus on the role of ground transport at airports, covering aspects such as revenue generation, customer […]
Can commuter car parks reduce congestion?
An interesting article published on The Conversation discusses the government’s Commuter Car Park Fund, a $500 million, ten-year package to facilitate commuters from suburbs and regions to drive to the nearest railway station with the objective of removing cars from the roads. The key question asked by the authors with regard to this package […]
Australian shoppers want more parking
When it comes to consumer preferences regarding bricks and mortar retail, Australian shoppers are interested in being offered more parking spaces than more dining options. This is one of the findings of the study conducted by UBS with 14,175 consumers in 14 countries to understand consumer behaviour in regards to physical retail, as reported by […]
The future of valet parking
Automated parking garages have been in the market for a while and are promoted as an efficient way to maximise space and service for customers. Technology advances have now allowed the industry to go further and develop a valet parking robot. The robot, codenamed Stan, is going to be tested at Gatwick Airport in London […]
ptc. works with HI to achieve the new Forensic Medicine and Coroners Court Complex
NSW Health Infrastructure completed the new Forensic Medicine and Coroners Complex in early December. The $91.5 million development, located at Lidcombe, replaces the facility at Glebe, where the coronial and forensic medicine services have been provided for more than 40 years. The new complex delivers additional court rooms for the NSW Coroners Court and expanded […]
Complementary land uses for shopping centres
A first of its kind in Australia, Macquarie Leasing recently unveiled a multi-brand car-buying retail experience at Hornsby Westfield. The store, named MotoMe, was designed based on the identification of consumers’ preferences, such as a desire to reduce time spent visiting multiple dealerships and ease of comparison between brands. Currently, Fiat and Alfa Romeo are […]
Leisure Venues and the Parking Experience
Large diversified leisure venues, including casinos and clubs, aim to deliver a complete hospitality experience. A lot of work and investment goes into delivering the right experience for customers, but if you consider most hospitality venues, the experience starts at the front door, with little thought given to the “parking experience”. There are some notable…...
Parking surplus in Melbourne
It is said that the best car park is the one you don’t have to build. With that in mind, one key question to be asked when planning a new development should be: what is the forecasted parking demand and the existing supply in the vicinity of the site? Parking spaces have a significant impact […]
Why we don’t need electric vehicle chargers in car parks
Introduction Electric vehicles (EVs) still represent a small portion of cars on the road in Australia. However, after one year when sales decreased EV sales are on the rise again and, as consumer trends related to sustainability and concern with the environment continue to grow (coupled with changes in regulation), EV might eventually…...
News from Berlin
Article by Cristina Lynn I have just returned from the 11th World Parking Symposium held in Berlin in late June. Two days of presentations were capped off by a tour of various facilities in Berlin including a city car park, the car park serving the main Berlin train station and a technology park where…...
Would you like data with that?
Introduction “Data” has become one of those words that has acquired a range of new flavours, notwithstanding it has existed for decades (late 1940s in fact). Type the word into Google and you get 1.74 billion results!! Does anybody remember “data processing”? That thing that computers did whereby you inserted a series of…...
NSW Health Infrastructure engages ptc. on a state-wide agreement
ptc. was recently awarded by NSW Health Infrastructure (HI) with a traffic and parking consultancy contract as part of HI’s Sustainable Hospital Car Park Investment Program (SHCPIP): a state-wide model for procuring, funding and management of new hospital car parks. Over the last six years, we have provided services to numerous NSW hospitals (see […]
Presentation; Is the mall dead?
The title of Cristina Lynn’s presentation at the 2018 World Parking Symposium (WPS) was “Is the mall dead?” and addressed the issues and challenges that bricks and mortar retail centres are facing in the light of the push from online retailers and how the two can continue to thrive side by side as two parts…...
A Smarter Town Centre
Andrew Morse, Partner and Senior Traffic Engineer, will be presenting the case study “A Smarter Town Centre – Wollongong City Integrated Parking Guidance System” at the 2018 AITPM National Conference in Perth. Our team, led by Grant McLean, Senior Consultant, designed an integrated Parking Guidance System (PGS) combining 10 car parks within the CBD with […]
An urban farm in a basement car park
Last week our team visited the car park under the EY building (200 George St, Sydney) but this wasn’t a regular site inspection to observe traffic flow issues or to verify the car park occupancy rates. We were there to learn about Cultivate, a pop-up urban farm initiative by Mirvac and Farmwall. In the face […]
Royal Randwick Racecourse case study
Car park design from pre-DA through construction to operation The Australian Turf Club (ATC) is currently completing the construction of a standalone, multi-storey car park for 600 cars within Royal Randwick Racecourse for use by members during race carnivals and other events. Concept stage and approval process ptc. was engaged during the concept stage, which…...