Oxford “Scramble” Circus
Courtesy of TreeHugger, we found this interesting article on the redesign of the pedestrian crossing at Oxford Circus in London, one of the busiest street crossings in the city. Modeled on the Japanese ‘scramble crossing’ design, as used in Shibuya station in central Toyko, the new design allows pedestrians thirty seconds to cross the intersection […]
Parking World magazine – October issue
The October issue of Parking World magazine is now out, and focuses on Airport Parking and Technology. There are a few mentions of PCI in this month’s issue, including the announcement of Kathy Ross’ appointment to PCI, and Cristina Lynn’s article about Sydney’s traffic challenge in the future, called Traffic Congestion – Sydney’s Paradigm Paralysis. […]
Middle East Parking Conference
PCI will be participating at the Second Middle East Parking Conference to be held in Abu Dhabi between 9 and 11 November 2009. The three day event will be action packed, with high calibre presentations from such industry representatives as Timothy Haahs, Barbara Chance, Mary Smith, Peter Guest and a whole lot more. The three […]
Sydney’s traffic solutions?
With Sydney’s population forecast to reach 10 million by 2050, drastic measures with regard to urban and transportation planning are likely to be required for the city to be able to cope with the demands placed on its services and infrastructure. The Sydney Morning Herald has been championing this cause of late, setting up independent […]
Traffic Congestion – Sydney’s Paradigm Paralysis
On returning from my overseas trip in July of this year I came across an article published in the (sydney) magazine entitled “I have a dream” which explored four different experts’ points of view regarding the state of our city: where did we go wrong and where do we go from here? This was quite […]
Melbourne developers push for reduced residential parking requirements
The City of Melbourne is currently considering a proposed amendment to the residential parking requirements for new developments in some central Melbourne districts. Under the proposed amendments, new apartment buildings constructed in these areas will not be required to provide any minimum number of parking spaces per dwelling. The Australian Financial Review reported on October […]
House of Cars
A brilliant exhibition is to be housed at the National Building Museum in Washington DC: House of Cars: Innovation and the Parking Garage. The exhibition will be open between October 17, 2009 and July 11, 2010. Taken from the National Building Museum website: “Cars. We imagine them always in motion, but they spend most of […]
2009 Australasian Airports Landside Transport Conference – Townsville QLD
From the desk of Cristina Lynn, Managing Partner of PCI: I have just returned from a very informative and pleasant couple of days in Townsville (isn’t this a tautology?) where I attended the third AALTC held at the Mercure Inn. The event was hosted by Madonna Simmons and her team at Townsville Airport and facilitated […]
Tsunami in American Samoa hits car park
Amazing footage released last week of the tsunami that hit American Samoa, captured via a car park’s Closed Circuit Television camera. View on youtube here.
Finding new solutions to renting out parking space
We have come across several articles recently regarding techniques that people are adopting to source alternative car parking options, or find new customers for their existing assets. The Sunday Telegraph published an article recently about renting out vacant property space, both for storage and parking. The article, “Cash in your spare space”, reports that returns […]
Adelaide proposes electric-charging meters
Adelaide Lord Mayor Michael Harbison is jumping on the electric powered car bandwagon, proposing electric recharge meters across the city’s CBD. Whilst there are only seven electric cars currently registered in Adelaide, he believes the introduction of the recharge facilities will see a jump in ownership levels. Electric car owners will also have access to […]
East vs West
Waverley Council, in Sydney’s East, and home to iconic Sydney landmark Bondi Beach, have recently increased their parking fees by more than 10%, to $5 per hour. Bondi shop owners are fearful that the increased fees will have a negative impact on their trade. Waverley’s mayor, Sally Betts, was reported as having demanded that ‘people […]
Davis Langdon Consumer Sentiment Report, September 2009
Davis Langton has just released their September update to their consumer sentiment report, monitoring consumer sentiment and attitudes in the construction industry. Their last update, published in May, reported that they felt that attitudes had begun to turn the corner, indicating that the construction industry had potentially turned the corner out of the recession. View […]
The pick of parking architecture, Vol 1: Marina City, Chicago (1962)
We have used photos of this car park in our website and other marketing material for a while now so we thought it worthwhile to give you some information and details regarding the car park and the development that it belongs to. The complex, dating back to the early 60’s, is called Marina City and […]
One good way to reduce demand for parking?
We came across an opinion piece on September 3 from The Australian columnist Bernard Salt, pointing out several examples of what he refers to as ‘Design triumphs over application’, where designers seem more concerned with the “look” of a space than the use of that space. We quote from his article: Carparks with tight turning […]
Dubai launches robotic car park
A commercial building near Ibn Battuta Mall in Dubai opened a 765-lot computerised multi-storied car park on August 12. Motorists drive into slots inside a parking bay, much like an automatic car wash. TV screens, voice prompts and grooves in the ground guide the driver into a proper fit. After clearing a checklist, the driver […]
Number plate scanning used for good?
Recently, PCI published information about new number plate recognition technology (called autoChalk) currently being trialed in Australia for parking enforcement, in an article called Drive-By Chalkings. The Age on September 5 reported on the use of such technology for crime detection and prevention, where cars are scanned daily, using software capable of reading characters on […]
Safety not negotiable
The New Zealand Parking Association’s 26th Annual Conference is being held from September 29 – October 2 in Christchurch, with a theme this year of ‘Safety Not Negotiable’. Keynote speakers will focus on health and safety within the workforce, dealing with difficult customers, safety through technology, coping with personal appraisals and the general wellbeing of […]
Around and around they go
Can reduced parking availability actually increase emissions as people drive around and around looking for that elusive parking space? Cristina Lynn was asked to comment this week on the Green Building Council of Australia’s statement that reducing the number of car parking spaces will be one means by which buildings can earn a ‘green’ rating […]
Parking spaces are ‘created’ by £10 tariff
The article, ‘Parking spaces are ‘created’ by £10 tariff’, proves the point – put prices up, and parking spaces are created! In this case, it’s a slightly different scenario – we have a hospital with free parking, but such a demand for parking that available spaces are almost impossible to find. By introducing a £10 tariff to […]
Get out of your car
A ‘hot topic’ in the parking industry, especially in the application of planning principles and theories to the pricing of urban parking, is the ‘make parking more expensive’ argument. Refer to our recent blog posts, San Francisco City Parking Report, and Head out of the sand please, Mosman residents! Coined ‘Out of the car thinking’, […]
Sydney Parking 2029
With forecast strong population growth, Sydney’s unenviable claim as one of the most expensive cities in the world in which to park looks set to dramatically worsen over the next two decades. It may be overreacting, but the Sydney Morning Herald recently published “The Big Squeeze”, labeling the issue a ‘Parking Crisis’ and predicting that […]
Melbourne Car Park sells for $38m
The car park at 522 Flinders Lane in Melbourne has recently been sold by ISPT for $38 million to a local private buyer. We understand that the car park comprises around 1200 spaces and therefore this would indicate a price per bay of just over $30,000. Knight Frank agent Clinton Baxter said that new apartment […]
Cash for clunkers
The US Senate recently passed a ‘Cash for Clunkers’ program, allowing owners of old, emission-heavy vehicles, to receive up to USD$4500 when they trade them in for new, fuel efficient vehicles. Environmental website TreeHugger, in an article entitled Cash for Clunkers Passes – Auto Industry Saved? Blue Skies Ahead? explores the issue both from the perspective […]
Mirvac calls it a day on car park management
Mirvac has announced that it is in the process of disbanding the car park management side of its business, reports The Australian. According to the article, it is in the process of signing over nine of its larger car parks to Wilson Parking, and handing the management of two of its shopping centre car parks, […]
Parking officer survey reveals rising rate of abuse and assaults
We recently published a post about parking rangers, titled ‘The People vs The Parking Police’, which explored some of the consumer frustrations with parking police. On Tuesday (July 28), a report was published by the United Services Union exposing the other viewpoint – that of the parking rangers. The report, ‘Moving on for Safety’, publishes […]
San Francisco City Parking Report
The San Francisco County Transportation Authority recently presented a report with in-depth recommendations and strategies for managing on and off-street parking, congestion and zoning districts across the city. The Transportation Authority clearly embraced market principles for pricing in accordance with demand for space so that parking, particularly in commercial districts and spillover neighborhoods, is best […]
Car park ads three times less effective than shopping centre ads?
A report published by the Survey Sampling Institute research firm, on behalf of outdoor advertising company Eye, called Mall ads more effective, has found that ads placed in shopping centres were considerably more effective than those placed in car parks. They found the shopping centre ads to be three times more memorable, four times more […]
Pedestrian casualties in rush to bag a car park
Brisbane’s Courier Mail explores the increasing incidence of pedestrians being struck by drivers in busy car parks, desperate to beat other motorists to available parking bays. Compensation lawyers are getting in on the act too, and AAMI reports that as many as 70% of drivers have had bad experiences in shopping centre car parks, from damage […]
Drive-by chalkings
For anyone who currently takes the parking risk on a regular basis – watch out! A new drive-by spy camera, which electronically scans the position of parked cars is being trialed in Australia. Mounted to a vehicle driven by a parking ranger, it scans parked cars at two separate intervals, noting the colour, shape, size […]