US transit lanes changing to paid permit lanes

In and around Atlanta, a new scheme putting a price on convenience is being introduced as a way to manage traffic congestion. According to the New York Times, transit lanes are now able to be accessed by solitary motorists, on a user-pays model. In addition to the usual occupants (car pools of three or more, […]

Townsville introduces greater minimum parking requirements

Meanwhile, in Townsville, the City Council has won a battle with the State Government to force developers to allocate more car parking spaces for multi-unit developments. According to the Townsville Bulletin, the council has approved amendments to the city’s planning scheme to require new developments to provide two car spaces for units of two bedrooms […]

Should car sharing be required in developments?

Fairfax media published an article this week exploring the range of benefits that a car share scheme is able to provide to residents, developers and councils of a city. The car-sharing model is one that’s growing rapidly in many countries, and reflects a shift in the way that people are using their cars. In recent […]

Parking Pods make it into the vernacular

An interesting article in this weekend’s SMH talks about parking pods and other kinds of pods, following the introduction of parking sensors to the Lane Cove area on Sydney’s north shore. If you are interested in words and word play, we would encourage you to visit the author (David Astle) on his website here. 

Where’s my car?

On the topic of snow, we received this photo from our Senior Designer George Burton – it was taken in a town in the south of the Czech Republic. On February 6th it was a balmy 39.40C below zero! Click here to view the image in full size.

NYC tests parking sensors

The NYC Department of Transportation is piloting a program in the Bronx that uses in-ground sensors to monitor the location of available parking spaces. The pilot’s aim is to test how the sensors survive the harsh NYC winter, standing up to a variety of factors including snow plowing, daily street sweeping, underground utilities, electromagnetic interference […]

Melbourne underground car park street art preview

Here is an update on Melbourne’s underground street art project we wrote about recently, as the project has started to take shape. Around 90 artists from New York, Paris, Amsterdam and Melbourne came together to paint over 8,600 square feet of wall space over the 3 levels of Emerald House in South Melbourne. Reminds us […]

Beware of doctors driving SUV’s

We came across a great piece written by Kevin Warwood, from Christchurch City Council, who writes the “Parking It There” blog about his recent experience at a New Zealand Hospital: “I was walking along one of the main floors in the Helipad car park building at the very busy Auckland Hospital one Wednesday morning, when […]

What is ‘fair’ in the provision of parking?

Two weeks ago, the Boston Globe wrote an article about San Francisco’s SFPark, a pilot program of applying variable parking prices and putting Don Shoup’s market-based parking theories to trial. Whilst the article presents a good view of the program in general, the waters get very muddy when it introduces the concept of what it […]

How does mass transit entice users en mass?

We love examples of thinking that’s different and brings a new perspective to planning and transportation. We came across an article on Slate.com this week that discussed British consultant Charles Leadbeater’s matrix for re-thinking city design and management. Based on the psychologist Simon Baron-Choen’s work with Asperger’s patients, Leadbeater divided city transportation and management on […]

Dutch bicycle congestion

The Dutch are facing the consequences of their own cycling success, including congestion, lack of parking and infrastructure. In a country where bicycles outnumber people by 1.2 million, the Dutch have simply run out of space to accommodate the 5 million cyclists who take to the road every day.  In Amsterdam alone, 490,000 cyclists travel […]

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 […]

Technology breakthrough counters abuse of disabled parking

A New Zealand company has developed technology that will monitor and manage disabled parking, with the aim of putting to an end the misuse of disability parking permits. Instead of carrying a printed permit, disabled drivers would have an electronic tag in their car that can be read by sensors placed in the parking bays. […]

Darwin council increases parking fine revenue

Darwin City Council increased its revenue from fees and fines by around $500,000 year on year, according to the NTnews.com.au site. This included an increase in fines from $917,000 to $1,193,000, and an increase in fees from $3,597,000 to $4,042,000 from the previous year. The Lord Mayor Graeme Sawyer said that this could be attributed […]

Counting parking spots from above

We came across a really interesting study by two students at the University of Connecticut, who have analysed aerial photographs of a number of cities, figuring out the location of at-grade car parks and counting all the spaces. It’s interesting for two reasons. Firstly, they found that in some of the cities they analysed (New […]

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 […]

The next level in real-time traffic updates

A fleet of ‘probe’ vehicles has been developed as part of a system designed to monitor peak-hour traffic congestion, warning road users of delays in traffic. According to SMH.com.au, the vehicles, often hire cars, taxis or delivery vans, can relay their speed and location via satellite to a central hub that sends traffic warnings to […]

Are Consultants useless and a waste of money?

An article recently contributed to Parking Today by Andrew Hill caught our eye. The article was called ‘Consultants are… “Useless,” “A Waste of Money”’, and in it, Andrew asks about one of the greatest challenges that consultants face: responding to accusations of over-charging for services or under-delivering on common sense solutions. He goes on to […]

Cristina is on the move (again)…

The next couple of weeks will be very interesting for Cristina Lynn. She is bound for South America to attend a couple of challenging conferences. First stop is Brazil where a former organiser of the Intertraffic event in The Netherlands started a series of trade events in Sao Paulo, called TranspoQuip. This year, in addition […]

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 […]

Brisbane’s Westfield Chermside activates paid parking

Last week, Brisbane’s Westfield Chermside shopping centre activated its paid parking scheme, which provides three hours of free parking, $2 for parking between 3 and 3.5 hours; $3 for 4 hours, $6 for 5 hours, and a flat rate of $20 for 7 hours or more. Westfield first announced the paid parking measures in late […]

Madame Parking: Teresa Sapey

When in Bogota recently for a client meeting, Cristina Lynn came across a very interesting woman dubbed “Madame Parking” by a Spanish design magazine. Teresa Sapey is an architect and designer based in Madrid, Spain. Amongst a wide range of beautiful and innovative public and private works (including this stunning video of Madrid’s Christmas Lights […]

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 […]

1111 Lincoln Road Miami continues to impress

This month’s Parking Professional magazine, published by the International Parking Institute, includes a four-page spread on the groundbreaking parking garage at 1111 Lincoln Road, Miami. From our perspective, we are impressed at the way the garage is commanding the attention of the artistic elite in Miami, as a venue for weddings and as an art […]

Melbourne CBD park values continue to rise

Fairfax reported this week that the value of individual car park bays in the Melbourne CBD are now selling up to $100,000, due to population growth and Melbourne City Council’s discouragement of long-term commercial parking. According to data from Savills Australia, state-titled single car parking bays, such as the Paramount complex in Bourke Street, are […]

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 […]

An interview with Dr Barbara Chance on automated car parks

Following on from the World Parking Symposium at the end of June 2011, Cristina Lynn, Parking & Traffic Consultants Managing Partner, made a detour to Philadelphia to meet up with Dr. Barbara Chance of Chance Management Advisors. You would have met Barbara at the PAA’s biennial convention and exhibition held in Sydney in November 2010. […]

Canberra developers call for review of parking requirements

Following our recent post on the establishment of the Car Parking Advisory Committee to review changes to the car parking provisions (refer to our previous article here), Canberra is the latest Australian city to be reconsidering their minimum parking requirements.  Developers are offering lower priced residential units and less traffic congestion in return for fewer […]

Davis Langdon construction sentiment survey report

The latest results from Davis Langdon’s construction sentiment survey suggest that a strong resurgence in the property and construction industry is unlikely over the course of the next year; an effect that will likely be compounded by recent global market shocks adding to the sense of investor unease. Davis Langdon’s projections show sustainability ranked number […]


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