Car park advertising firsts
We have recently come across two (self-claimed) ‘world firsts’ in car park advertising and media placements that may be of inspiration for car park owners or operators in an additional revenue stream for their businesses. The first is an advertising campaign in Sydney and Melbourne for car insurance client Allianz. The campaign has seen a […]
Sydney Tweed Cycle
The number of cyclists on Sydney roads is increasing every day, but this was taken to a new level on the morning of Sunday 30th July when over 150 dapper cyclists took to the CBD streets for the Sydney Tweed Cycle. The event was organised through the Sydney Cyclist website, following the success of similar […]
Proposed revised public transport model for Sydney
A report released by the Tourism Transport Forum has recommended that Sydney’s complex and unreliable public transport timetables should be scrapped and replaced by frequent peak-period bus, train and ferry services. According to the Daily Telegraph, the report recommends a major investment in technology to provide real-time information for commuters, with simple SMS texts and […]
Sydney car park to install solar panels on rooftop
Willoughby Council has announced plans to install the biggest council-owned solar farm on the rooftop of Chatswood’s Albert Avenue car park. The project, which will see 140 solar panels installed on the rooftop of the car park, is the first part of a three-year plan to build a 300-kilowatt energy system that will provide power […]
Sydney’s transport solution may lay underground
Over the past two weeks, we have discussed the new precinct of Barangaroo on the Wayfinding Forum, and the resulting affect of the increased commuter numbers on the infrastructure in Sydney’s CBD. One of the key concerns for the project is the commuter hub of Wynyard; with the existing train station due to reach capacity […]
Barangaroo – errata corrige
During the week, we were contacted by Lend Lease in regards to our blog post last week about Barangaroo, titled ‘Sydney’s Barangaroo precinct faces transportation challenges‘. As a result, we would like to take the time to publish several points conveyed to us by Lend Lease’s communications team in relation to our post. First of all, […]
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 […]
Sydney’s Barangaroo precinct faces transportation challenges
According to NSW’s Auditor-General, Peter Achterstraat, Sydney’s $6 billion Barangaroo development is at ‘considerable risk’, due to inadequate transport and lower-than-expected developer contributions. Wynyard Railway Station, which is expected to handle up to 63% of the commuters to the waterfront development is likely to reach capacity by 2017. The additional 14,300 predicted commuters won’t be […]
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 […]
Sydney car parking rates set to rise
Sydney City Council have released detailed income forecasts showing that on-street parking costs are set to increase from $6 to $7 per hour, delivering an additional $1.9 million next financial year, alongside plans to increase revenue from car parks by up to 30 per cent to $58.8 million in 10 years. According to a news […]
Federal Government launches first national urban policy
The Federal Government’s first national urban policy was launched yesterday by the Infrastructure and Transport Minister Mr. Albanese. The policy, called “Our Cities, Our Future” underlines the relationship between funding for projects with specific criteria relating to productivity and sustainability. The areas in which the Government intends to get involved in includes water, rail, urban […]
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 […]
Manly Council – great parking developments!
Manly Council (in Sydney’s Northern Beaches) announced last week plans to build a two storey car park underneath Manly Oval, as part of a plan to reduce the number of cars in the village area. The 800-space underground car park will allow Council to demolish two other at grade car parks with a combined capacity […]
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 […]
How much parking is enough?
Following the lead of Sydney and Melbourne Councils recently reducing the minimum parking requirements in both residential and commercial buildings, Wollongong City Council announced last week that they plan to reduce minimum parking requirements in the CBD by almost 20 per cent. The Illawarra Mercury reported that the first instalment of a three-stage review of […]
Virgin introduces kerbside check-in service
Another innovation launched by Virgin Blue (since renamed Virgin Australia) last week, brings a kerbside check-in service and valet parking for its business, premium economy and Gold Velocity passengers at Sydney Airport’s Terminal 2. Domestic passengers travelling without luggage now have their own entrance, check-in and security screening point that allows them to bypass the […]
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 […]
Sydney’s mayor says that the critics are wrong on cycle lanes
An article this week in the Sydney Morning Herald summarises a lecture delivered by the Lord Mayor at the University of NSW on Wednesday April 6th about the city’s cycle lanes, currently in construction along several key corridors to and through the CBD. She argues that NSW has been held back due to little interest in […]
No Parking Meters Party in NSW state elections
Speaking of elections, we noted the advent of a new party on the NSW State election ballot forms – the No Parking Meters Party. Our investigation into the party has shown that whilst they were originally conceived as a single-policy party, a ‘groundswell of support’ led them to put forward 18 candidates for the NSW […]
Research finds Adelaide to be car friendliest city, Sydney the least….
Research into Australia’s car friendliest cities released last week by Virgin Car Insurance has found that Adelaide has emerged as the best city in which to own a car. The research looked at a number of variables, such as the cost of car insurance, petrol prices, parking fines, theft and tolls. Adelaide leapfrogged Hobart, Darwin […]
Useful tips for reviewing Councils’ parking strategies
The recent volume and variety of articles appearing on the media locally and internationally with regards to parking management, parking strategies and revenue generation has caused us to stop and think about these important issues. On-street parking controls are often introduced by local councils to improve management of available spaces as a response to regular […]
Traffic Management Plan proposed for Parramatta Road
The NSW road lobby group presented a plan this week with the aim of turning Parramatta Road – one of Sydney’s most congested roads – into a public transport corridor. The plan, developed by the NRMA and one of Australia’s leading urban planners, Ed Blakely, wants to remove most of the traffic and put it […]
ACCC report targets Australian airports
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s annual airport monitoring report was released last week again focusing on car parking fees. Sydney Airport commissioned two independent reports which put into question the methodology adopted by the regulator in reporting customer service levels. A Productivity Commission has been appointed to carry out an independent review of the […]
A car park minus the cars
A new Federally-funded car park in Fisher Street, Cabramatta, in Sydney’s West, is top of the range – with electronic parking displays, well-lit, polished and coloured interiors, landscaped gardens, native hardwood exterior panelling, and a 200-panel solar system feeding into the electricity grid. However, according to a recent article in the Sydney Morning Herald, it […]
Car-dependent suburbs may be the slums of the future
A report released in the journal Australian Planner warns that our nation’s current transport and urban policies need a radical overhaul, with the prospect of increasing reliance on oil resulting in a spiralling trade deficit. One of the authors of the report, Peter Newman of Curtin University, said that: “Urban sprawl is finished. If we […]
Wollongong parking meters follow up
Following the installation of parking meters in Wollongong’s CBD in March 2010, Council experienced significant backlash from the community which resulted in the review of parking rates and pricing schemes, and the placement of the meters and parking zones in conjunction with community consultation. According to data provided by Council, and an interview with the […]
Urban planner Jan Gehl discusses Sydney’s potential
The City of Sydney recently hosted a series of ‘City Talks’ at the Sydney Town Hall, exploring how the city can become a better place to live in for all residents. This included a presentation by Janette Sadik-Khan, Commissioner of New York City’s Transport Department; as well as a panel discussion and debate on how […]
Westfield launches virtual shopping mall
Over the past few weeks the Australian media has been following closely over the past weeks the push from prominent goods retailers to lobby the government to ban tax-free online shopping in Australia, which has seen a significant public backlash against the retailers. This week, Westfield announced the launch of a new ‘virtual mall’, grouping its […]
Parking Consultants: 2010 in review
2010 was an exciting year for us and, although it seems to have flown by, when we look at what we have achieved it looks like at least we were not idle! Working back, we close the year with a new name “Parking & Traffic Consultants” to reflect our additional service offering. As you may […]
Criticism against Sydney Council’s car share program
We have recently focused on the emergence of Car Sharing, both in Australia and across the world, from a planning, development and parking perspective. For the most part, our coverage of car sharing programs has concentrated on the benefits of car sharing programs, and how the City of Sydney in particular has enthusiastically embraced them. […]