Parking space squatting
An article published in the SMH recently explored what they considered a new phenomenon: parking space ‘squatting’, whereby drivers returning to their cars will sit in the vehicle to use their phones to talk, text or email. On the one hand, it’s upsetting the normal ‘order’ of things – with the driver expected to vacate […]
Melbourne Airport’s Southern Precinct project
The Southern Precinct project and expansion of Melbourne’s Tullamarine Airport is part of a proposed program of investment by Melbourne Airport over the next five years. The expansion project is budgeted to cost in excess of A$1 billion. According to MICEBTN magazine, Stage 1 of the project is focused on the area south of the […]
Melbourne Airport’s Southern Precinct project
The Southern Precinct project and expansion of Melbourne’s Tullamarine Airport is part of a proposed program of investment by Melbourne Airport over the next five years. The expansion project is budgeted to cost in excess of A$1 billion. According to MICEBTN magazine, Stage 1 of the project is focused on the area south of the […]
US town residents to build an off airport parking facility
Residents of Decatur in Indianapolis, US, have received approval to open a paid parking lot near the local airport, with revenues going to the community rather than the airport authority. The private group of residents were successful in defeating strong opposition from the mayor’s office and the airport who claimed that parking is not the […]
Melbourne Airport opens new ‘Ring & Ride’ area
Melbourne Airport has introduced a new ‘Ring and Ride’ waiting area in its long term car park, where drivers can wait for arriving passengers to phone to say that they are ready to be picked up from the airport’s terminal. According to the Australian Business Traveller, Airport CEO Chris Woodruff explained that the Ring & […]
Brisbane park‘n’ride woes
The City of Brisbane seems to be having a few issues with its Park‘n’Ride system. We recently posted an article on the introduction of paid parking at the Westfield Chermside mall, a move by Westfield to stop commuters from using their facilities as a free park and ride car park. The result was an overflow […]
Parking news review 2011
Another year, another summary. In what has become an annual tradition, we try and distil the key news and trends from the Wayfinding Forum blog. It’s no easy job, with just under 200 posts published every year… Parking rates and sentiment In 2011, Australian parking rates and the construction industry sentiment were inversely proportional. Sydney […]
Melbourne Airport outlines growth plans
Melbourne Airport has announced plans to build a $300 million passenger terminal and improve freeway access. A new terminal, Terminal Four, will be built to the south of the existing T3 building. The redevelopment will include a new multi-level car park, widened roads, new baggage facilities and several extra plane gates. The new terminal will […]
Argentinian airports and Brazilian parking
The First National Airports Congress, “Airport Show Argentina”, has drawn to a close, with Parking & Traffic Consultants’ Managing Partner Cristina Lynn one of the speakers at the inaugural show. Over 800 registrants were presided over by the Argentine Transport Secretary and the Tourism Minister, and included representatives from all major Argentine airlines, government bodies […]
Heathrow airport pods are now in motion
According to BAA’s Commercial Press office, the pod system consists of 21 low energy, battery powered, driverless, zero emission vehicles capable of carrying four passengers and their luggage along a dedicated 3.8km guide way. The pods will carry 500,000 passengers each year, giving them a smooth and virtually silent five minute ride. The journey is […]
Meanwhile on the Gold Coast
At the risk of sounding like all we do at Parking & Traffic Consultants is attend conferences, Kelvin Worthington will be presenting a paper at next week’s Campus Parking Workshop organised by the Parking Association of Australia on the topic of Public Private Partnerships (PPP) as they apply to hospitals and universities. He is presenting […]
Australian Parking Convention 2012
The Parking Association of Australia has announced the 13th Australian Parking Convention to be held once again at the Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre, on November 11 – 13, 2012. The program will be designed to appeal to a broad range of individuals working within the parking industry, as well as providing a number of […]
Perth airport introduces Park & Wait short-term facility
Perth airport has introduced a new Park & Wait facility in a bid to discourage illegal parking by the main entrance to the domestic terminal. According to The West Australian, despite all short-term car parks at the airport being free for the first 10 minutes, approximately 63,000 motorists are illegally parking around the precinct waiting […]
Australian airport regulations once again in focus
Australian Airports are again in conflict with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), with the incoming ACCC chairman making a speech singling out the airports as a particular focus of attention. Press reports from SMH.com.au quote Rod Sims, the ACCC chairman, as proposing greater regulation over the services provided by the privately owned airports, […]
Airport car parking prices and performance
According to a recently released Productivity Commission draft report, Australia’s five major airports have been found not to be misusing their market power in setting car parking and land access rates. The report, entitled ‘Economic Regulation of Airport Services’, differed from the findings of the report into airport parking prices by the Australian Competition and […]
Pods from the car park at Heathrow Airport
London’s Heathrow Airport has recently launched a commercial personal rapid transit system, with 22 electric autopilot pods now shuttling 800 passengers a day back and forth from parking lots to the British Airways terminal. Called ULTra, or Urban Light Transport, the pods are a self-driving, electric-powered pods which can carry four to six passengers plus […]
Virgin introduces kerbside check-in service
Another innovation launched by Virgin Blue (since renamed Virgin Australia) last week, brings a kerbside check-in service and valet parking for its business, premium economy and Gold Velocity passengers at Sydney Airport’s Terminal 2. Domestic passengers travelling without luggage now have their own entrance, check-in and security screening point that allows them to bypass the […]
ACCC report targets Australian airports
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s annual airport monitoring report was released last week again focusing on car parking fees. Sydney Airport commissioned two independent reports which put into question the methodology adopted by the regulator in reporting customer service levels. A Productivity Commission has been appointed to carry out an independent review of the […]
An environmentally advanced parking lot
A new parking lot constructed at Denver airport claims to be the most environmentally advanced open-air parking lot in North America. The parking lot includes 4,200-spaces and it incorporates virtually every green construction innovation available, including water-permeable pavement, contaminated water treatment, solar-electric energy, wind turbines, geothermal heating systems, state of-the-art LED lighting and electric vehicle […]
Parking Consultants: 2010 in review
2010 was an exciting year for us and, although it seems to have flown by, when we look at what we have achieved it looks like at least we were not idle! Working back, we close the year with a new name “Parking & Traffic Consultants” to reflect our additional service offering. As you may […]
From the blog: Parking news in 2010
Where did 2010 go? As we once again reach the end of another year, we take a few minutes to look back on the main events of the year that was. In 2010 we started recovering from the GFC, with the industry as a whole innovating and searching for new ways to deliver a more […]
Perth Airport set for $500m upgrade
A $500m program is being deployed at Perth Airport over the next three years to meet growth in demand, giving the airport new and expanded passenger terminals, expanded aircraft parking areas, and greater public access to the terminal. The resources boom in Western Australia has contributed to a 7.5 per cent increase in the 2009-10 […]
Car park is not ‘in the vicinity of’ for FBT purposes
In July this year we reported on a ruling from the ATO requiring Virgin Blue to pay additional Fringe Benefits Tax on a subsidised employee car park located 2km away from Melbourne Airport’s terminal. The car park was ruled to be ‘in the vicinity’ of the airport, and thus liable for additional tax. Read more […]
Where will the cars and the parking spaces go?
A guest post from PCI’s Managing Partner Cristina Lynn A couple of days after the conclusion of the 12th Australian Parking Convention, a lively debate took place at the Sydney Town Hall as part of the City Talks 2010 series. Hosted by the Lord Mayor Clover Moore, the talk on Thursday 11th November was titled […]
Dallas Fort Worth Airport – Parking Consultant recommendations
With the NPA’s survey showing that parking operations in the US, and particularly at airports, are reporting decreasing revenues, we thought that recently published recommendations of a parking consultant at Dallas Fort Worth Airport would be interesting to our readers. According to the Dallas News, the highlights of the consultant’s recommendations are: D/FW should launch […]
NPA Third Annual Parking Survey
The National Parking Association (USA) released their Third Annual Review of Parking Rates in North America this month. Key findings of this year’s study include: Parking facilities in and near airports were hit hardest, with 56 percent of on-airport and 44 percent of off-airport facilities reporting a decrease in 2009 revenues. Municipal operators and facilities […]
UK airport parking valet service offers more than just parking
We have come across several articles from the UK in the past week about airport valet parking services hiring out their customers’ cars to tourists and other users whilst overseas. Airport valet parking or ‘meet and greet’ services are becoming increasingly popular with UK customers, with companies picking up the car from the airport, parking […]
Australian Parking Convention starts in a few days!
The 2010 Australian Parking Convention is due to commence at the end of this week, and Parking Consultants would strongly encourage members of the parking community across Australia to attend and make the most of the global knowledge that will be shared at the event. Running from Sunday November 7 – Tuesday November 9, the […]
Paid parking to be introduced at Karratha Airport
The Pilbara Echo reported last week that Karratha Airport will soon be introducing paid parking. Recent upgrades to the car park will result in the airport offering over 1000 parking bays, with specific allocations for long term, short term, rental car bays, staff parking and an upgraded pick and drop off zone. Paid parking, which […]
Brisbane Airport car park to be transformed into art project
Brisbane Airport’s new Domestic Terminal short-term multi-level car park is to be converted into an eight level kinetic public art project. The project has engaged Urban Art Projects (the firm we recently reported on as having given Brisbane’s Albert Street Car Park a similar installation), who have in turn commissioned established American artist Ned Kahn. […]