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 […]
Traffic lights that think for themselves
The ways in which traffic signals handle oncoming vehicles is a complicated science, and how well engineers manage that science impacts on how much traffic congestion we experience while driving. A new patent on self-organising traffic signals, which aim to manage the flow of vehicles to minimise waiting at intersections by doing the ‘thinking’ for […]
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 […]
Card security breached in Queenstown
Last week, a number of credit card scams hit Queenstown (New Zealand), with the Man Street car park the focus of the breach of security. Customers who had used their credit cards for payments at the car park were phoned by their card companies and notified that fraudulent transactions had taken place later in the […]
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 […]
94% drive off after car park damage
A recent survey by Suncorp Insurance indicates that Australian car park etiquette is at an all-time low, with 38% of people surveyed reporting some form of damage to their car last year. In 94% of cases the culprit did not leave a note. The bad manners don’t just stop at hit and run, however, with […]
Port Macquarie parking meters consultation process
As the Port Macquarie on-street parking sensors project gets under way (see last week’s blog post, Port Macquarie sensor installation begins), we have been following the consultation process approach adopted by Port Macquarie Hastings Council. A significant number of opportunities and forums have been made available, both online and offline, for the public and the stakeholders […]
The bus system that runs over traffic in China
The above picture illustrates a concept drawing of a revolutionary bus system being proposed in China: the 3D Fast Bus. The giant hybrid bus/train straddles the street allowing cars to drive right underneath it – meaning it is not slowed down by traffic, and doesn’t contribute further to it. The bus is designed to run […]
Port Macquarie parking sensor installation begins
This week marks the start of the project by Port Macquarie – Hasting Council to install sensors within CBD parking spaces in Port Macquarie. The technology will be able to record how long a car has been parked, with notifications sent to a ranger when a car exceeds the permitted time limit – but with […]
1111 Lincoln Road, Miami
We have touched on the parking structure at 1111 Lincoln Road, Miami recently (see our blog post A call to arms to improve car park design here), but must admit, when we found out more about this car park during the week, our jaws dropped. The architects of the garage (Herzog & de Meuron) developed […]
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 lot solar ‘forests’
We recently posted a blog on a study that found that open car parking lots have a significant detrimental effect on the environment – including raising heat due to absorption into the concrete (which can raise temperatures by 2 to 3 degrees Celsius according to Indiana state climatologist Dev Niyogi), as well as contaminants from […]
Colliers Parking Rates Survey – North America
Global real estate firm Colliers has just released their North America Parking Rate Survey 2010. Midtown New York City has the region’s highest garage parking rates, according to Colliers: a median of $20 an hour, $40 a day and $538 a month. The survey includes central business districts in 44 U.S. urban areas and 12 […]
Highlights and comparisons of parking in Asian cities
Paul Barter, a Singapore-based academic researching urban transport policy, runs a blog and resource that PCI follows regularly, called ‘Reinventing Urban Transport’. He specialises in the urban cities of South East Asia in particular; and recently published a presentation summarising the results of an Asian Cities Parking Study, and key governing policies in these cities. […]
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 […]
Google launches app to help find parking
Just this week, Google has joined the parking app bandwagon by announcing that they are launching an application to help users find parking using location-based technology. We have already reported on location-based applications a couple of times over the past two weeks (see Parking embraces new parking technology and Other wireless parking applications). See also […]
Sydney public transportation use increases
Last week (June 28), the Sydney Morning Herald reported that despite increasing car ownership levels in Sydney, public transportation use was on the rise. The NSW Government’s annual household travel survey found that rail travel was up 3 per cent and bus travel up 2.5 per cent in 2008-09. Car trips fell by almost 1 […]
Other wireless parking applications
This week we have come across two other applications that our readers may be interested in. The first comes from The City of Eugene, in Oregon, US, where a small, free application called “Epark” was developed, which shows all available parking options, both on-street, and off-street, managed by the City administration. It provides information on […]
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 […]
Sydney Airport kiss and dash parking
On June 30th Sydney Airport announced the introduction of a 15 minute free parking period at the International Terminal. This is a really welcomed change at the airport, which has a reputation for high fees. Still, it seems that satisfying the media is an impossible task! According to the Sydney Morning Herald, the change in […]
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 […]
Parking and customer service?
A guest post by PCI Managing Partner Cristina Lynn A large number of publications come through our door on a daily basis. Keeping up with everything is not always easy, but one article really struck a chord so I requested permission to reproduce it in our blog. Titled “Compassionate Service Integral to Superior Parking Experience” […]
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 […]
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 […]
Parking on the small screen
‘Parking Wars’ is a documentary developed in the US about the Philadelphia Parking Authority. At last month’s IPI conference in Las Vegas , attendees were given a behind-the-scenes look at the show, how it came about, what to look for in subjects to follow and what have been the most interesting things they have learned […]
Man stole $290,000 from parking meters
A Melbourne man has admitted stealing almost $290,000 from City of Melbourne parking meters in 2007 and 2008. He obtained the cash while working for a company contracted to collect the council’s parking revenue, National Protective Services. Nine workers involved in the scam would immediately pocket small amounts of coins extracted from the meters, while […]