Integrated multi-modal trip planner
Public and private organisations are all out there in the race to provide a seamless customer experience. In the transportation environment, including the parking industry, this has resulted in the development of numerous apps. Currently, drivers can use parking apps to plan their trip ahead and find available parking spaces. However, often these solutions are […]
Share Your Parking Spot
The sharing economy is all around us and is disrupting industries especially by addressing specific consumer’s needs in a more convenient way than the traditional players. Even the parking industry isn’t escaping from it. Last week another parking share app was launched in Australia, more specifically in Coogee and Bondi Beaches. According to Dynamic Business, […]
Booking Parking Spaces Online
Online shopping is part of contemporary life. We are as used to buying products as to booking hotels, plane tickets and restaurant tables. For some time now we can also book parking spaces not only in airports but in city centres as well; apps and websites allow us to compare offers and to choose in […]
Adoption of Pay-by-Phone Systems
An analysis of pay-by-phone systems in the USA shows the potential in on-street parking. According to Smarking, the adoption of mobile parking payment apps can vary due to location and demographics. However, public policies can be developed to ensure the success of pay-by-phone systems in unfavourable scenarios. The location can impact usage. Areas near hospitals, […]
Can Sydney develop its own digital traffic plan?
The world is embracing digital transformation with gusto and speed. Smart cities around the globe are reshaping and rebuilding themselves for the better and creating a more liveable and safe environment for residents. But for some reason Sydney is lagging behind. According to a recent report released by the Committee for Sydney, as reported in […]
Will driverless cars survive the test?
On 8th November, media and key industry personnel were exposed to the first demonstration of driverless cars in Adelaide. The SMH reported a ride in a driverless car was seamless. The feeling was the same – smooth, safe and structured. According to the reporter Adam Carey, the car cruised leisurely along the highway at […]
The impact of driverless cars on our cities
As we posted in last week’s Wayfinding Forum, auto companies are now striving beyond the development of self-parking cars. They are building self-DRIVING cars. Whilst the technology has advanced rapidly in recent years, public acceptance and understanding is still in its infancy. This week, an interesting perspective was offered by The New York Times. The […]
Driving and parking – where have the people gone?
We’re told there would be fewer accidents and traffic snarls, and time spent looking for parking could be spent doing…..well, anything else. Thanks to Volvo, the fully automated, driverless car is now closer than ever. But are we ready for it? Volvo will become the first car manufacturer in the world to release a self-parking […]
Parking technology – the alternative option?
We often comment on Wayfinding Forum about the development of technology in our industry and how it is apparently streamlining the way we live. The previous article is a case in point. Subscribers may also recall articles we have written on fully automated parking garages, folding cars, underground bike parking and car park guidance systems […]
Parking meter technology is not always convenient
Every week we read about new car parking technology being unveiled somewhere in the world. This week, The New York Times published about the latest smart phone application being trialled in the Bronx, using real time updates to direct drivers to available parking spaces. The technology also allows for motorists to pay for parking with […]
Pango Arrives in Phoenix and New York
The next wave of mobile phone based parking technology is being rolled out across two of America’s most populated cities, New York and Phoenix. Pango, an Israel based company, claims to be the world’s first provider of pay by mobile phone parking solutions, developing the technology to give consumers a convenient and easy way to […]
Paying for parking by Etag is a reality (in Santiago!)
During our recent visit to the South American capital, we were able to witness the operation of a payment by e-tag in a large shopping centre car park. The system has been recently installed and the owner is expecting that use will increase very fast from a currently low 2% to around 40% of transactions. […]
Parking and Traffic Consultants – 2012 year in review
2012 has been another eventful year for PTC. Many new clients joined the prestigious names in our portfolio, including Perth Airport, Health Infrastructure, Adelaide University and Leichhardt Council. Many other previous clients engaged us to do new work. Just to give you an idea, during the year we worked for these airports: Adelaide, Gold Coast, […]
A year of ‘Parking and Traffic’ blogs in review
Feel like the year has passed you by too? If you’ve been too busy to stay on top of the parking and traffic industry news every week – never fear! Here is our annual round-up of the highs and lows, and headline-making stories from 2012. Parking and policy in Australia This year saw Parking & […]
Sydney’s smartcard technology already behind the times
With the roll out of Sydney’s new ticketing system, the Opal card, starting on December 7, some transport experts are claiming that the system is “old technology”, already being replaced around the world. According to the Sydney Morning Herald, one analyst claims that the Opal card is 10 years too late, due to the rise […]
13th Australian Parking Convention is a resounding success
Following in the steps of the November 2010 Convention, the Parking Association of Australia held its 13th event at the Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre earlier this week. The event was characterised by a high level of local and international speakers that had the delegates particularly riveted to their seats. The exhibiton, in Hall 6 […]
Smart paint lights your way on the highway
The Netherlands is introducing a form of ‘smart highway’, featuring glow-in-the-dark tarmac and dynamic paint that warns drivers of weather conditions. The roads will include interactive lighting and an induction priority lane for electric vehicles, with the aim of using light, energy and road signs that automatically adapt to varying traffic conditions. The design and concept […]
Nissan previews a self-driving car
Hot on the heels of Google’s driverless car, Nissan last week debuted its own self-driving and parking car at the Ceatec exhibition in Japan. According to an article on Nissan’s website, the advanced functions on the car are controlled from a smartphone. When the driver gets to his destination, rather than looking for a parking […]
Smarter parking meters for “human cities”
An article published by social scientist Thomas Erickson compares his experience of parking in two cities. In one, overstaying the allotted time on his meter led to a ‘courtesy ticket’ with no charge as a warning. In another city, a 3 minute lapse led to a $42 ticket, with no reprieve for first offenders. In […]
London installs in-street parking sensors
Westminster City Council, in central London, is set to become the first to use in-ground sensor technology to detect whether a car is parked in the space. According to UK’s Telegraph, the three month trial will be run across a number of streets, with plans to roll out the technology to the rest of the West […]
Ford develops Traffic Jam Assist technology
Ford has announced that it is developing “Traffic Jam Assist”, an intelligent driving feature that employs technology from the already-available active Park Assist, Adaptive Cruise Control, Lane-Keeping Aid and the PowerShift transmission to enable a vehicle to automatically keep pace with other vehicles on the road, using radar and on-board camera technology. It also provides […]
Pango mobile parking service launches in US
The Israeli-founded app “Pango”, designed to help with city parking and cruising, has launched in the US, together with their first so-called ‘smart garage’ in New York. Once users install the app and create their account using their license plate number and credit car details, they are able to search for participating parking stations. On […]
New York explores private deal for parking meters
New York City is exploring the possibility of privatising the running of its 39,000 parking meters, currently researching mistakes made by other cities and exploring potential bidders. According to the Wall Street Journal, NYC officials are motivated in part by a belief that a private company could help alleviate some of the well-known frustrations of […]
Russian newspaper uses social shaming to stop bad park
An online Russian newspaper ‘The Village’ has launched an app and a media campaign designed to try and stop illegal and inconsiderate parking. Using the app on a mobile phone, the public take photos of the parking offenders, capturing photos of the car and the number plates. Image recognition technology then reads the number plates […]
Washington DC approves plan to expand ‘performance parking’
A council committee in Washington DC has approved a plan to allow city officials to manage the demand for parking spaces by adjusting parking prices, taking inspiration from San Francisco’s SFpark program. Under the plan, city officials would be able to adjust parking meter rates, length and times of operations, parking fines and residential parking […]
Pre-booking parking at airports
We came across an interesting article which explores the pre-booked parking phenomenon and why it is commonplace in the UK – accounting for around 20% of airport parking – but almost non-existent around the rest of the world. The article’s author, Chris Wortley, asserts that the practice came about from two factors: high prices at […]
Music video with amazing intersection animations
Thanks to Andrew Morse, our resident Senior Traffic Engineer, we came across this fantastic music clip, called ‘Got More’, by a band called Eskmo. It’s a stunning animation totally created from footage filmed at a New York intersection. We highly recommend watching through as the animation becomes ever more Escher-like.
Mercedes pushing digital innovation
We have come across two technological innovations this week from auto manufacturer Mercedes that are pushing the boundaries in parking and driving. The first sees the integration of Apple’s voice recognition technology (called ‘Siri’) into their vehicles, allowing users to access their iPhone and applications through voice commands. According to Discovery.com, the system will transfer […]
Pay by phone may now become a reality
The NSW government has recently changed legislation for on-street parking, paving the way for the introduction of ‘phone parking’. After registering their details with a third party operator, drivers would then either use a smartphone application or call a toll-free number to send their car registration details to the system, advising of their arrival in […]
Townsville parking officers to wear recorders
Council officers in Townsville are being equipped with small recording devices to give them additional support in dealing with angry motorists. The devices are being worn on the outside of the shirts of the officers, and are able to capture both voice and image recordings. The tool is being used mainly for collecting evidence, with […]