Debate continues over high-rise Barangaroo developments
In contrast to the residential sprawl of Sydney’s west, the development of Sydney’s urban precinct Barangaroo is only going up and up. Last week, developers Lend Lease released the plans for the first of three giant office towers for the East Darling Harbour development, known as ‘C4’. According to developers, C4 will be the ‘greenest business address in the […]
It’s not an art installation
Last week, a SAAB parked in a Darlington parking station was the innocent party in a parking mishap. According to the Sydney Morning Herald, it had been simply sitting there, parked, minding its own vehicular business, when it was accidentally rammed by a learner driver in a Toyota Camry, sending it through the boundary brick […]
Australian Parking Convention day one photo gallery
With day one of the Australian Parking Convention 2010 complete, Parking Consultants have sourced some photographs of the event and activities of day one. In the below slideshow, you can see several of the keynote speakers from day one, the opening address from Larry Schneider, the presentation of the Awards For Excellence at the Convention […]
Drivers ‘spend a year looking for spaces’
A UK survey released this week claims that drivers lose a year of their lives searching for a parking space – the equivalent of more than six days a year circling streets and car parks looking for a spot. Based on a motorists’ driving ‘life’ of around 50 years, the lost time adds up to […]
The fairness of parking fines
For those of our readers unfamiliar with the work of APC keynote speaker Donald Shoup, he published this week an article in the Los Angeles Times entitled ‘Parking-fine fairness’. The article talks about a proposed ‘graduated’ system of parking fines – charting higher fines for repeated parking offenses. Shoup states that most cities use 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 […]
Understanding more about electric cars
The approaching Australian Parking Convention will address, amongst other topics, issues relating to the advent of the electric motor vehicle and its repercussions for car park owners, operators and drivers in general. Dr. Andrew Simpson of Curtin University’s Sustainability Policy Institute will make a presentation titled “Planning for Renewable Electric Transport”. The title of the […]
Parking Consultants employs Traffic Engineer Andrew Morse
As part of our long-term growth strategy, we are pleased to announce that we have engaged a qualified and experienced traffic engineer. Andrew Morse is a qualified Traffic Engineer and is a member of the Australian Institute of Traffic Planning & Management (AITPM). He will be leading the traffic planning division of Parking Consultants, drawing […]
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 […]
Congestion charging back on the agenda
This week, the NSW State Opposition has called for uniform congestion tolling on roads, with per-kilometre charging as the basis of a ‘fairer deal’ for motorists. The leader of the Nationals and opposition spokesman on roads, Andrew Stoner, believes that the current system (all toll roads operating independently) is limiting the ability to develop a […]
Will hands free video help reduce parking officer abuse?
Following our recent blog post in regards to the ongoing and increasing violence, aggression and abuse towards parking officers in Australia (see our post ‘Parking rangers continue to be the targets of abuse’), one council has taken further action to try and combat the growing problem. The City of Holdfast Bay in Adelaide, South Australia, […]
Parking Convention Update – register to win a prize!
With the 2010 Australian Parking Convention fast approaching (only 38 days to go!), the APC has published additional information about the conference. The Convention website contains a detailed program, with abstracts on the following presentations: Barbara J. Chance: Is the meter running out on people in parking? Michael Julian: How to manage security in car […]
Cheap parking phone application
Another phone application has recently launched: ‘Cheap Parking’ is designed specifically as an independent car park comparison app for Australia, New Zealand and Singapore. It covers all private operators including Secure Parking, Wilson Parking, Interpark and Grimes, as well as council, shopping centre, hotel and hospital car parks. The app allows you, the user, to factor […]
Shoup vs O’Toole on the market for (free) parking
Throughout September, we have been following a (very public) discussion between Donald Shoup and Randal O’Toole (a Cato Institute Senior Fellow working on urban growth, public land, and transportation issues, read full bio here). The discussion started when O’Toole responded to an article in the New York Times, penned by Tyler Cowan, which explained some […]
Why simple design is often complex
Parking World magazine has recently published an article penned by George Burton, Parking Consultant International’s design guru. The article, called ‘Why simple design is often complex’, explores the path a design process usually takes in order to arrive at a desirable product and to present an overview of the relevant factors that influence the process […]
Launch of ‘Reinventing Parking’ blog
Singapore-based academic Paul Barter (Assistant Professor of LKY School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore), has launched in the past two weeks a new parking resource – a blog called ‘Reinventing Parking’. Paul has been running a blog on the wider topic of ‘Urban Transport’ for some time now, but as his interest and […]
APC2010 Early Bird Deadline closes on Friday 3rd September
With the Australian Parking Conference approaching quickly (only 66 days to go!), a number of delegate and exhibitor opportunities are approaching their limits. The ‘Early Bird’ delegate ticket purchase deadline is this coming Friday September 3, saving $150 off a full delegate registration price and $100 off a day registration. To register now before this […]
Car park collapse in Wisconsin
A 30-foot concrete slab cracked off a parking garage in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on June 24, killing a 15 year old boy and injuring two people. Authorities claim that the parking deck was fuller than usual due to the start of a large music festival. Milwaukee County’s director of transportation and public works said an inspection […]
Parking permits priced on your car’s emissions
Since 2007, almost one third of London’s borough authorities (local councils) have introduced schemes that charge motorists up to three times more for a parking permit if they have a bigger-engined car. The CO2-based permits are just one of several means that the local councils are employing to manage car ownership, traffic, and reduce CO2 […]
Wireless parking in San Francisco
Last week’s post on wireless parking applications and technology generated an interesting response from our followers. Many examples led us back to San Francisco’s SFPark project (read our original post ‘San Francisco Parking Sensors’ here). The project is based on Donald Shoup’s theories of market-priced parking rates, with the rates being constantly adjusted to suit […]
More than half of British drivers don’t expect a red light
PCI’s UK correspondent, Kelvin Worthington, spied this week a somewhat alarming article in the Telegraph, stating that 52% of British drivers cannot see red traffic lights coming at signals at junctions and pedestrian crossings. The problem stems from the differing sequence of traffic lights. Whilst in Australia, the ‘amber’ (orange) light is used only before […]
Parking embraces new mobile technology
PCI has recently noticed the emergence of several new mobile, location-based and social media applications designed to benefit the car parker. In some cases, these applications are designed to manage the parking demand – such as the San Francisco smart parking system – giving users the option to use one’s mobile phone to add time to […]
Australian Parking Convention – only 128 days to go!
The Australian Parking Convention is fast approaching with the event, scheduled for November 7-9, shaping up to be the biggest event hosted by the Parking Association of Australia. The program of local and international speakers is almost finalised, with the Keynote Speaker none other than Professor Donald Shoup of UCLA, author of the best seller […]
Car sharing feedback and information
We recently posted our blog article on Car Sharing to a few LinkedIn discussion groups in order to obtain feedback on what is going on in other parts of the world in terms of car sharing. We received strong response and a lot of interesting information was provided by professionals in various parts of the […]
ACT Government is right to lift car parking fees
The Property Council of Australia has joined the debate in support of the planned increase in parking rates in Canberra, with its ACT Executive Director, Catherine Carter, claiming that the negative media attention about the level of car parking charges levied by the ACT Government is diverting attention from the real problems facing Canberra commuters […]
Canberra car park revenue tops $1m per month
A breakdown of car park revenues in Canberra has revealed that the total monthly revenue has topped $1m between July 2009 and February this year. Chief Minister Jon Stanhope claims that Canberra has “some of the best roads and cheapest parking in the country”. A planned increase of between $0.30 and $1.50 per day, designed […]
Car sharing is big business
Following on from our article posted last week on car sharing, we came across the news this week that US based car sharing operation Zipcar has just filed for a $75 million initial public offering. With a fleet of 7,000 vehicles, more than 400,000 members (who can rent the car by the hour or day), […]
Bondi Beach parking spot sale expected to set another record
Car park costs reach new levels across Australia’ blog post in March 2010 in which we noted that a single car space in North Bondi sold for $240,000, this weekend sees two more single space car parks go up for auction in Bondi. There are two spaces available, situated at the southern end of Bondi […]
Car sharing takes off in Australia
According to an article in the Australian Financial Review on June 1, several companies that offer car sharing and renting in Australia have seen the usage of car sharing services increase significantly in the past twelve months. Convenience and cost are the main driving factors for people joining car sharing companies, as well as consumers’ […]
Sydney’s first on-street charging station
The ABC reported this week on the installation of Sydney CBD’s first on-street charging station for electric cars. Whilst at this point it is just a trial for members of an electric car sharing company, data will be collected over the next three months to assess whether there is enough interest in the system to […]