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 […]
What’s your opinion on the recently announced electric vehicle tax in VIC?
Excuse me! – this was Kasia’s (team leader at ptc.) reaction when she heard about the new electric vehicle (EV) tax to be introduced by the Victorian government. And it surely summarises our feelings about it. From 1st of July, Victorian EV owners will pay 2.5 cents per kilometre whilst hybrid vehicle owners, will pay […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
Mosman Council’s parking innovation journey
Mosman Council recently prepared a case study detailing its parking innovation journey. Since 2012, ptc. has been assisting the Council on various assignments including the development of their parking strategy, community engagement processes and advice on parking technology solutions. We are proud to see the development of parking in Mosman and happy to share their […]
UNSW Parking and Traffic Strategy
Background Established in 1949, UNSW Sydney is a leading research and teaching university in NSW, ranked as one of the world’s top 100 universities. The university places a unique focus on scientific, technological and professional disciplines. ptc. was engaged by UNSW to provide parking and traffic engineering advice regarding its main campus. The 38-hectare site…...
The case for congestion charging in Australia
A couple of weeks ago NSW Transport Minister Andrew Constance said: “there will be no congestion tax in Sydney”. At the same time, a report from the Grattan Institute documented the potential benefits of the adoption of this type of charge in Sydney and Melbourne. The Institute estimates that congestion pricing would decrease the number […]
Electric vehicles update: how do UK and Australia compare?
The number of new electric vehicle (EV) sales in London is increasing at a higher rate than in other parts of the UK. According to a Transport for London report, in 2018, 2.81% of sales in the city were EV whilst the UK average was 2.13%. Currently, EVs in London account for 20,600 private vehicles, […]
Melbourne Skyfarm – another example of repurposing car parks
This proposed development, Melbourne Skyfarm, will transform the 2,000 sqm rooftop area of the Siddeley St car park into an urban farm, adding greenery to Melbourne’s landscape. Moreover, Skyfarm aims to create awareness about urban farming, which can absorb heat, improving the temperature in city centres. These green islands can also benefit animal life by […]
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 […]
How do you feel about losing 5.7 days per year due to congestion?
Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane are amongst the 25 most congested cities in the world, according to Inrix 2018 Global Traffic Scorecard. On average, Australian drivers commuting on those cities lost 137.6 hours (or 5.7 days) in congestion last year[1]. If you drive to work, perhaps this can make you think of alternative ways to […]
Is driving to school becoming the norm?
To shed some light in the much-debated issue of school traffic, we gathered data from six schools we have worked at in the last couple of years (click on the image above to see the details). In most of the charts, you can see that at least half of the students arrive by car (blue […]
Supporting The Shepherd Centre
Our team of consultants recently prepared parking and traffic studies to accompany the Development Application of the new Shepherd Centre in Campbelltown. The proposed centre will include five therapy rooms with the capacity of conducting 20 one-on-one sessions per day. We are proud to support this worthwhile charity organisation. The Shepherd Centre assists children with […]
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 […]
“A Smarter City” is a winning presentation (and a great initiative by Wollongong Council)
We are pleased to announce that “A Smarter City – Wollongong City Integrated Parking Guidance System” was awarded the best presentation within the Traffic Engineering and Road Management stream at the 2018 AITPM Conference. We congratulate Andrew Morse, partner and Senior Traffic Engineer, who presented the case study at the conference and Grant Mclean, Senior…...
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…...
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…...
Park and ride trials in NSW
The NSW Government recently announced the Opal Park & Ride trial at the Ashfield commuter car park. In the same way as the trial occurring in Dee Why, the scheme is designed to offer free parking for users who combine private vehicle and public transport use in their commute. How that works is that commuters […]
Where are the cyclists and pedestrians?
According to 2016 Census data, only 1.1% and 3.9% of Australian commuters chose cycling and walking to work respectively. These active mode rates remained practically constant since the 2011 Census (1.2% and 4.2%). In other capital cities the percentage of commuters walking or cycling ranges from 3.8% (Perth) to 8.4% (Canberra). However, as reported by […]
Unique underground structure to fit Opera House’s design
That the Sydney Opera House has a unique design we all know, but are you familiar with its ‘doughnut-shaped’ double helix car park? According to ABC, the car park design is one-of-a-kind that can’t be found anywhere else in the world. Philip Pells and Neil Fimeri, two of the key people involved in the […]
Sydney Trains disruptions – poll results
Last week, we conducted a quick poll via Twitter and email to get a feel for the potential impacts of the train disruptions on commuters. We asked a simple question: Are you going to avoid public transport? We received 170 responses, 48 on Twitter and 122 via email. Compared to 2016 Census data regarding travel […]
Royal Randwick Racecourse Car Park
Our team is pleased to see the progress on construction of the Australian Turf Club’s new 580 bay multi-storey car park at Royal Randwick Racecourse. ptc. provided parking and traffic advice including the development of the car park design and the specification and tender for the access control and parking guidance systems to be […]
Sydney train strike – Are you going to avoid public transport?
We would like to know the effects of the upcoming disruptions to Sydney trains on commuters. Answer our poll on Twitter: The upcoming disruptions to Sydney Trains will affect many. Are you going to avoid public transport? #ptcSydneyTrainsPoll #SydneyTrains — Cristina Lynn (@Aus_Parqueen) January 24, 2018 Image credit: Sydney Trains
Cristina Lynn steps down from Parking Australia’s Board
For the past 10 years Cristina Lynn has been part of the executive committee and Board of Directors of Parking Australia (PA). She has actively taken part in the activities of the organisation, having completed 4 years as Treasurer, 3 years as Vice President and the last 3 years as President. Cristina contributed significantly to […]
White Paper; Electric vehicles in Australia
Introduction In Australia, electric vehicles (EVs) still represent a small component of new vehicle sales. In 2016 the EV market share of new vehicle sales was 1.12%, a 5% decrease in relation to 2015 primarily due to the 80% decrease in sales of battery electric vehicles (BEV). Despite some European countries leaping ahead with…...