New Los Angeles variable parking rates plan gets approval
Los Angeles has now followed San Francisco’s lead and has approved a pilot program that will adjust the cost of parking based on demand at various times throughout the day and the duration that motorists stay within each parking space. The program, called ExpressPark™, will use sensors and other technology to monitor around 6,000 sidewalk […]
Barcelona’s bike sharing program health benefits
Last week, we published excerpts from an article written by Chris Rissel, Professor of Public Health at University of Sydney, about the Melbourne bike sharing scheme. One of Rissel’s arguments was that the low uptake of the bike sharing schemes in Australia was in part due to the mandatory helmet laws, going on to suggest […]
How’s this for a value add service
While recently working on a project in Broken Hill one of our consultants, Kelvin Worthington, spotted this great example of a value add service. While getting your car washed you can have your pooch washed at the same time!
Victoria reviews car parking planning provisions
Victoria’s Department of Planning and Community Development (DPCD) has established the Car Parking Advisory Committee 2011 to review proposed changes to car parking provisions in the Victorian Planning Provisions and planning schemes. According to the Property Council of Australia, the proposed changes made by the DPCD are based on the recommendations of a final report […]
Are helmet laws reducing Melbourne’s bike share usage?
We recently published an article entitled ‘Why is Melbourne’s bike sharing scheme underperforming’, which explored a range of possible reasons as to why the sharing scheme is seeing underutilisation and lower than projected rider numbers. One of the reasons suggested was the compulsory helmet laws. An article published on The Conversation on August 9 by […]
Canberra electric vehicle charging network rolls out
The construction of Australia’s first full service electric vehicle charging network is underway in Canberra, which is currently operating on a limited scale but due to offer a full service from the second quarter of next year. According to the Australian Financial Review, the nation’s capital has been targeted because the city’s households have a […]
WA local councils’ parking revenues
An analysis of parking fine data collected from 15 councils in Western Australia has shown that some of them are reaping nearly twice as much as originally forecast, with significant variations in laws between local government areas. According to The West Australian, more than 225,000 parking fines were issued in the past financial year in […]
Melbourne trials pay-by-phone technology in Carlton
The City of Melbourne will be trialling pay-by-phone technology in the Carlton area, allowing customers to pay using their mobile phones at on-street metered spaces. This is another step in the project announced earlier this year by the City of Melbourne to employ modern technologies to more effectively manage its on-street parking bays and improve […]
Post-Carmageddon lessons
The Los Angeles Times published an opinion piece this week following Carmageddon, opening with a line that we think is great: ‘Now that we’ve finished freaking out about the weekend closure of 10 miles of the 405 Freeway, can we do something about the fact that it’s Carmageddon every single day in West Los Angeles?’ […]
Christchurch’s retail restoration post-earthquake
Christchurch’s rebuilding process is underway, with one retail hub, the Palms shopping centre, announcing a September 8 re-opening date. Following the smaller earthquake on June 13, further damage has been done to the centre and more remedial work has been required, including re-checking the car park and the centre columns, flooring and plastering repairs, travelator […]
Colliers North America car parking rates survey 2011
Colliers have just released their North America statistics from their car parking rates survey. As a whole, parking rates did not increase or registered little change over the past twelve months, reflecting the uneven nature of the economic recovery. This is across both daily and monthly parking rates, although daily rates saw a modest increase […]
Electric vehicles face challenges despite infrastructure roll out
A report released by the Boston Consulting Group questions the ‘dominance’ of the electric vehicle era, arguing that internal combustion engines will continue to improve enough to cut CO2 emissions and enable automakers to hit their 2020 emission targets. Whilst they acknowledge that automakers will need to improve across a number of areas, including vehicle […]
Car park challenge game
We thought we would finish this week’s blog with a little bit of fun. Australian road insurance company NRMA has released a ‘car park challenge’ game for budding iPhone finger parkers. Interestingly, if you scrape or crash your car whilst parking, the damage that you do to you car is able to be estimated, pulling […]
Europe moves towards reducing cars in cities
Cristina Lynn, Parking & Traffic Consultants’ Managing Partner, is currently attending the World Parking Symposium in Canada, presenting a research paper on ‘How do Australian cities manage parking?’ Her research and presentation is in part based on a comparison with research developed by the Institute of Transportation and Development Policy in New York. You can […]
Colliers global parking rate survey 2011
Following the release of the North American parking rates two weeks ago, Colliers this week released their global parking rates survey results. Melbourne has now overtaken Sydney as the world’s third most expensive place to park based on daily rates, at US$69.53 ($64.23) a day, while Sydney was fourth at US$67.42. Only Copenhagen and Oslo […]
Parking & Traffic Consultants once again at the World Parking Symposium
Cristina Lynn, our Managing Partner, will be attending her third World Parking Symposium which this year is being held in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Canada between 26 – 29 June. The World Parking Symposium’s title is: “Why does Parking & Transportation Matter? The Future of Service Delivery in the 21st Century” and will address selected issues in urban […]
Traffic management inspiration from New York
This week, we came across a demonstration of how one particular New York intersection is both dysfunctional and more than a little dangerous. For his master’s thesis at the School of Visual Arts in New York City, Ron Gabriel created a campaign called 3-Way Street to examine how “pedestrians jaywalking, cyclists running red lights and […]
Why is Melbourne’s bike sharing scheme underperforming?
After one year of operation, the Melbourne bike sharing scheme is running into trouble, with apparent underutilisation and rider numbers falling short of projections. A number of issues have been identified as possible reasons for the lack of enthusiasm – including awkward pick-up points, a wet summer, compulsory helmet laws (with riders being forced to […]
How many parking spaces are enough if your development is in Wynyard?
The developers of a new building at Sydney’s Wynyard station are clashing with the City of Sydney over parking requirements. According to an article published by the Daily Telegraph, the developers want 177 parking spaces for the 3,500 employee capacity building, claiming that the building needs that number of spaces to attract high-profile tenants. On […]
The importance of the Car Parking Professional
The International Parking Institute (IPI) debuted a two-minute animated video called Parking Matters at the annual Conference and Expo held in Pittsburgh, USA, last week. The video is aimed at promoting the parking profession by connecting with new audiences unfamiliar with the industry. It’s a great overview of the contribution made by the large number […]
Barbara Chance – a worthy parking consultant
In more news from Pittsburgh, the IPI recognized three parking professionals who have made outstanding contributions to the profession. Parking Consultant Dr. Barbara Chance and University of California/Irvine’s Ronald Fleming shared the Parking Professional of the Year award. You will no doubt remember that Barbara was one of the speakers at the Australian Parking Association’s […]
Interesting trends revealed by Parking Industry Survey
Also released at the IPI Conference were the results of the 2011 “Emerging Trends in Parking” survey of its members to examine the evolution of the car parking industry. The survey revealed that while parking professionals are finding increased pressure to boost parking revenue, significant trends centre on demand for sustainable parking solutions and advances […]
Green power and electric vehicle charging stations
Whilst we have commented on the benefits of electric vehicles on the Wayfinding Forum for some time, recent studies are muddying the waters as to the effectiveness of the technology. Car maker Audi has examined the energy output of the entire chain of powering the vehicles – from power station to the car’s emissions – […]
Sydney road congestion IS getting worse!
Australian Insurer NRMA has surveyed 1,100 businesses that run vehicle fleets in the city, finding that 80 per cent believe that congestion has worsened in the past year. In addition, 62 per cent of businesses surveyed believe that the roads themselves have worsened while 78 per cent believe that it is taking them longer to […]
Mobile technology: changing the way drivers look for parking spaces
The recent emergence of location-based applications servicing the parking industry is having a significant (and very fast) impact on how drivers seek for available parking spaces and how owners/operators of those spaces monitor usage, provide information on their location to the public and, in some cases, enforce the regulations governing their use. With the largest […]
Brisbane short term car parking costs on the rise
According to a report released this week by Queensland Insurance company RACQ, Brisbane’s short-term parking prices are now the second most expensive in Australia, after Sydney. The average cost across the car parks in the Sydney study area was $25.83 for 1 hour compared with $21.65 in Brisbane and $15.98 in Melbourne for the same […]
Honk For iPhone
The parking app business is booming at the moment, with the release of another great parking application for iPhones, called ‘Honk’. It includes a range of features to help with the management of the parking process – from a timer which can be set when parking, with minute by minute updates of remaining time on […]
San Francisco switches to demand-based parking fees
The implementation of demand-based parking fees (on city streets and public parking garages), which is an integral part of the SFpark project in San Francisco, is starting on April 21. Sensors installed at each parking space will track where parking is available in real time and uploaded to signs and smartphone applications. According to the […]
Davis Langdon’s Construction Sentiment Monitor update April 2011
The April release has seen the Sentiment Index drop by three points from the previous release in September 2010, down to an index score of 60. Key findings from this quarter’s Sentiment Monitor include: workload expectations dip into negative access to finance remains greatest obstacle tightening of competition Health and Civil & Resource sectors most […]
Do CBD tenants still want parking spaces?
According to an article published in last weekend’s Sydney Morning Herald, the demand for CBD car spaces is decreasing and being replaced by increased demand for shower facilities as more people either cycle to work, or take public transport. The article claims that this trend is putting pressure on developers to redesign the basement areas […]