Women in Parking lands in Australia
Cristina Lynn, Vice President of PAA at WIP Launch Event At a recent PAA event in Sydney, PTC Managing Partner and Treasurer of the Parking Association of Australia, Cristina Lynn, launched the Australian chapter of Women In Parking. Australia is the first outpost of the US association by the same name, and members will enjoy […]
Sydney bike lanes to absorb some parking spaces
Not everyone will be happy with the NSW government’s new City Centre Access Strategy, and that is expected when dealing with complex transport issues, multiple stakeholders, and the fixed infrastructure in a city the size of Sydney. The Sydney Morning Herald reports this week that planned expansion of bike lanes will be particularly detrimental to […]
Sydney car park sells for $8.05 Million
A short and sweet article in The Australian appeared this week regarding the sale of the car park at One Dixon Street, Chinatown by Hyperion Properties to a Singapore buyer. The 93-space car park sold for just over $8 million, which puts it at approximately $80,500 per bay. Interestingly, this same property traded in 2007 […]
Driverless trains are headed for Sydney
The NSW budget handed down last week delivered significantly on transport, with over $6 billion pledged towards infrastructure projects. Along with the light rail project previously mentioned on Wayfinding Forum, heavy rail was the big winner with funding confirmed along the north-west corridor of Sydney. The NSW Government describes The North West Rail Link as […]
Opal expands to Sydney’s rail network
The NSW Government will extend the trial of its Opal smartcard ticketing system to some of Sydney’s trains from the end of this week. The trial, which has previously been introduced on two of Sydney’s ferry routes, will now include train stations on the City Circle and Bondi Junction lines. The rollout brings Sydney closer […]
Can road pricing really improve urban productivity
The Grattan Institute has this month released a report entitled, Productive Cities: Opportunity in a changing economy offering solutions to help increase economic productivity and efficiency in Australian cities. The report analyses housing, income and transport data in Australia’s four largest cities to show that while highly paid and qualified workers are living close to city […]
Plans to ease weekend congestion in Sydney
Earlier this week the Sydney Morning Herald reported on the State Government’s imminent plans to extend clearways on Sydney’s most congested roads to include weekends. The report tells us that there are up to 200,000 more cars on Sydney’s roads on Saturday mornings when compared with weekday mornings, and less people are using public transport. This […]
Brisbane to Melbourne high-speed rail, but at what cost?
Phase two of the Federal Government’s study to construct high-speed rail (HSR) spanning from Brisbane to Melbourne via Sydney and Canberra was released this week to a lukewarm reception. The ambitious infrastructure plan would be the largest investment of any national project, eclipsing the NBN many times over. The HSR network, comprising over 1,700 kms […]
George Street makeover a step closer
Both the State Government and the City of Sydney agree that light rail from Circular Quay to the city’s east along George Street will be a great thing for Sydney. The vision is for an integrated transport network able to move large groups of commuters quickly and effectively around the CBD and out to major […]
National Cycling Strategy to make roads safer for cyclists
A report released late last year by Austroads entitled Cycling on Higher Speed Roads will dovetail into the agency’s National Cycling Strategy 2011-2016. Leon Patterson, National Director Infrastructure Management for the IPWEA says the report provides options for public works professionals to consider when seeking ways to accommodate bicycles on Australian roads. The latest report is only […]
Sydney Convention centre to be upgraded
The NSW Premier Barry O’Farrell announced last month plans to refurbish the convention, exhibition and entertainment precinct in Darling Harbour. The upgrade will see the area boast Australia’s largest convention and exhibition facilities, Sydney’s largest red carpet entertainment venue and a hotel complex of up to 900 rooms. A new urban neighbourhood in Haymarket will […]
Parking and Traffic Consultants – 2012 year in review
2012 has been another eventful year for PTC. Many new clients joined the prestigious names in our portfolio, including Perth Airport, Health Infrastructure, Adelaide University and Leichhardt Council. Many other previous clients engaged us to do new work. Just to give you an idea, during the year we worked for these airports: Adelaide, Gold Coast, […]
Sydney light rail project to be green lit
The first stage of the extension of Sydney’s light rail appears to be moving ahead, with the staged construction of a line from the University of NSW in Randwick to the CBD expected to be announced this week. NSW Premier Barry O’Farrell will announce that work will start at the university and go to Central […]
Sydney’s rush hour traffic grinds to a halt
The release last week of the Auditor-General’s performance report into peak hour travel on Sydney’s major roads revealed that traffic is getting slower in the afternoon. However, the report says that there has been a minor improvement in travel times in the city’s morning peak hour. According to the Sydney Morning Herald, the average afternoon […]
A year of ‘Parking and Traffic’ blogs in review
Feel like the year has passed you by too? If you’ve been too busy to stay on top of the parking and traffic industry news every week – never fear! Here is our annual round-up of the highs and lows, and headline-making stories from 2012. Parking and policy in Australia This year saw Parking & […]
Sydney’s bike lane network set to be completed
NSW Premier Barry O’Farrell’s push to take control of Sydney’s CBD transport may see the completion of the network of bike lanes. The committee set up by the government to take control of the city’s transport planning has endorsed the completion of the bike lane network by May next year. The committee gave new impetus […]
Sydney’s smartcard technology already behind the times
With the roll out of Sydney’s new ticketing system, the Opal card, starting on December 7, some transport experts are claiming that the system is “old technology”, already being replaced around the world. According to the Sydney Morning Herald, one analyst claims that the Opal card is 10 years too late, due to the rise […]
Sydney public transport mapping
Mapping of Sydney’s public transport network has revealed that huge pockets of the city are disadvantaged when it comes to convenient and frequent transport services. According to ABC News, a community group called the Sydney Alliance has commissioned maps revealing the proximity and frequency of public transport services throughout greater Sydney. Key findings of the […]
Light rail is people’s choice for George Street
A forum at Sydney’s Town Hall on Monday night has endorsed plans for a light rail line down George Street (see our previous post about this here). The forum, attended by around 700 people including business owners and general public, tackled two competing plans before the O’Farrell government: a tram line versus an underground bus […]
13th Australian Parking Convention is a resounding success
Following in the steps of the November 2010 Convention, the Parking Association of Australia held its 13th event at the Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre earlier this week. The event was characterised by a high level of local and international speakers that had the delegates particularly riveted to their seats. The exhibiton, in Hall 6 […]
Free 15-minute parking in Sydney CBD
The newly elected council of the City of Sydney is considering introducing 15 minutes free parking throughout the CBD. The first meeting of the council voted unanimously to conduct a feasibility study on the idea. According to the Sydney Morning Herald, parking allocation, charging and restrictions were the subject of debate between many of the […]
NSW’s proposed Opal ticketing system
Sydney residents can expect the first release of an electronic ticketing system at the end of 2012 as a part of the NSW Transport Master plan and a commitment in the NSW Budget, released in June. The ticketing system, called Opal, will be rolled out on Sydney’s ferries by the end of this year, before […]
Parking and Traffic Consultants – on the move!
A message from Parking & Traffic Consultants’ Managing Partner, Cristina Lynn. I am pleased to announce that we are moving to larger premises to accommodate the expanding number of consultants. As from 5th October 2012 our new details will be as follows: Suite 102, 506 Miller Street Cammeray NSW 2062 Telephone: 02-89 200 800 Fax: […]
Sydney Airport connects retail and parking to improve customer service
Sydney Airport has recently announced a car parking promotion designed to boost passenger traffic across a number of food, beverage and retail outlets in the terminal. According to a Moodie Report, the airport is offering two free cups of coffee, a copy of the Daily Telegraph from Newslink and a A$10 duty free voucher to […]
Gambling with one’s life on city roads
And it’s not just the developing countries that are having issues with too many cars on the roads. A letter to the Sydney Morning Herald recently highlighted the changes in Sydney’s traffic and drivers’ attitudes. The author, Nestor Lexa, used to ride a bicycle, but on noticing that car drivers were becoming more and more […]
NSW Government announces draft transport plan
On Tuesday this week, the NSW government announced the latest transport master plan, proposing four new motorways and another rail crossing under Sydney Harbour. The plan identifies four lead projects to complete the ‘missing links’ in Sydney’s motorway network: the M4 motorway extension between Strathfield in the inner west and the Port Botany–Sydney Airport precinct in […]
Sydney’s public transport infrastructure solutions
As Sydney’s population grows, so too has the demand for supporting infrastructure, particularly between the city and the suburbs. Two initiatives announced this week aim to try and address this demand through increased capacity. The NSW Transport Minister announced last week the return of double-decker buses to Sydney’s roads, as part of a trial to […]
Sydney’s CBD bike path debate continues
Whilst on the subject of bikes, according to a number of expert reports obtained by the Sydney Morning Herald, the controversial bicycle lanes in Sydney’s CBD have made little to no impact on the city’s general traffic congestion. The consensus amongst traffic experts is that congestion continues as no car traffic lanes have been removed […]
Cycle-tecture in urban landscapes
A guest post from our Senior Traffic Consultant, Andrew Morse. Will the bicycle influence our future streetscapes? It’s not such a strange question when considering how the car influenced not only our streets, but our architecture too. In fact, according to Dr Steven Fleming, Professor of Architecture at the University of Newcastle, there are architectural […]
Is charging for parking un-Australian?
We came across a great opinion piece on Crikey.com.au this week that explored the issue of paid parking being introduced into some of Brisbane’s largest shopping malls, generating significant debate and outcry in the Sunshine State (see our previous post here). According to the Secretary of the Shop Distributive and Allied Employees Association in Queensland, […]