The Price of Parking at Airports
Cristina Lynn recently attended the 2009 Australasian Airports Landside Transport Conference (AALTC) in Townsville, Queensland, where she spoke on the topic of airport parking charges. Her presentation explores the economics of parking at airports, both in Australia and internationally, with data and examples of how pricing should be determined as well as a global comparison […]
Cars being rude to pedestrians in New York City
New York City at the moment is undergoing an urban planning evolution project, called ‘livable streets’. However, just because there’s an evolution underway doesn’t mean that drivers have gotten the message. Cars blocking crosswalks, drivers failing to yield to pedestrians, unnecessary honking and a slew of other quality-of-walking violations are still a routine occurrence on […]
The people vs the parking police – part two
In Logan City (USA) a recent council decision to replace the on-street parking strips with park-strips (small strips of park and greenery to improve aesthetics) has resulted in… a lawsuit. Residents of the area argue that the City initiated the park-strip project too quickly, and feel that the actions are outside their authority, invoking the […]
Oxford “Scramble” Circus
Courtesy of TreeHugger, we found this interesting article on the redesign of the pedestrian crossing at Oxford Circus in London, one of the busiest street crossings in the city. Modeled on the Japanese ‘scramble crossing’ design, as used in Shibuya station in central Toyko, the new design allows pedestrians thirty seconds to cross the intersection […]
Toyota designs a font using a car
This is a great idea for our more arty followers out there. Toyota has teamed up with two typographers and a race car driver to develop a font using only a car! The font is called IQ – the pictures tell a great story, but if you really want to be blown away, view the […]
Parking World magazine – October issue
The October issue of Parking World magazine is now out, and focuses on Airport Parking and Technology. There are a few mentions of PCI in this month’s issue, including the announcement of Kathy Ross’ appointment to PCI, and Cristina Lynn’s article about Sydney’s traffic challenge in the future, called Traffic Congestion – Sydney’s Paradigm Paralysis. […]
Middle East Parking Conference
PCI will be participating at the Second Middle East Parking Conference to be held in Abu Dhabi between 9 and 11 November 2009. The three day event will be action packed, with high calibre presentations from such industry representatives as Timothy Haahs, Barbara Chance, Mary Smith, Peter Guest and a whole lot more. The three […]
Sydney’s traffic solutions?
With Sydney’s population forecast to reach 10 million by 2050, drastic measures with regard to urban and transportation planning are likely to be required for the city to be able to cope with the demands placed on its services and infrastructure. The Sydney Morning Herald has been championing this cause of late, setting up independent […]
Traffic Congestion – Sydney’s Paradigm Paralysis
On returning from my overseas trip in July of this year I came across an article published in the (sydney) magazine entitled “I have a dream” which explored four different experts’ points of view regarding the state of our city: where did we go wrong and where do we go from here? This was quite […]
Melbourne developers push for reduced residential parking requirements
The City of Melbourne is currently considering a proposed amendment to the residential parking requirements for new developments in some central Melbourne districts. Under the proposed amendments, new apartment buildings constructed in these areas will not be required to provide any minimum number of parking spaces per dwelling. The Australian Financial Review reported on October […]
House of Cars
A brilliant exhibition is to be housed at the National Building Museum in Washington DC: House of Cars: Innovation and the Parking Garage. The exhibition will be open between October 17, 2009 and July 11, 2010. Taken from the National Building Museum website: “Cars. We imagine them always in motion, but they spend most of […]
2009 Australasian Airports Landside Transport Conference – Townsville QLD
From the desk of Cristina Lynn, Managing Partner of PCI: I have just returned from a very informative and pleasant couple of days in Townsville (isn’t this a tautology?) where I attended the third AALTC held at the Mercure Inn. The event was hosted by Madonna Simmons and her team at Townsville Airport and facilitated […]
Tsunami in American Samoa hits car park
Amazing footage released last week of the tsunami that hit American Samoa, captured via a car park’s Closed Circuit Television camera. View on youtube here.
Finding new solutions to renting out parking space
We have come across several articles recently regarding techniques that people are adopting to source alternative car parking options, or find new customers for their existing assets. The Sunday Telegraph published an article recently about renting out vacant property space, both for storage and parking. The article, “Cash in your spare space”, reports that returns […]
Adelaide proposes electric-charging meters
Adelaide Lord Mayor Michael Harbison is jumping on the electric powered car bandwagon, proposing electric recharge meters across the city’s CBD. Whilst there are only seven electric cars currently registered in Adelaide, he believes the introduction of the recharge facilities will see a jump in ownership levels. Electric car owners will also have access to […]
It’s not an episode of play school
Whilst the above pictures could be mistaken as the new set for Play School, they represent a great example of the ‘new style’ of bright and friendly car park interior design, minus those dark, dangerous corners where one does not feel safe. The car park of the new terminal at Luxemburg Airport is an excellent […]
East vs West
Waverley Council, in Sydney’s East, and home to iconic Sydney landmark Bondi Beach, have recently increased their parking fees by more than 10%, to $5 per hour. Bondi shop owners are fearful that the increased fees will have a negative impact on their trade. Waverley’s mayor, Sally Betts, was reported as having demanded that ‘people […]
Davis Langdon Consumer Sentiment Report, September 2009
Davis Langton has just released their September update to their consumer sentiment report, monitoring consumer sentiment and attitudes in the construction industry. Their last update, published in May, reported that they felt that attitudes had begun to turn the corner, indicating that the construction industry had potentially turned the corner out of the recession. View […]
The pick of parking architecture, Vol 1: Marina City, Chicago (1962)
We have used photos of this car park in our website and other marketing material for a while now so we thought it worthwhile to give you some information and details regarding the car park and the development that it belongs to. The complex, dating back to the early 60’s, is called Marina City and […]
One good way to reduce demand for parking?
We came across an opinion piece on September 3 from The Australian columnist Bernard Salt, pointing out several examples of what he refers to as ‘Design triumphs over application’, where designers seem more concerned with the “look” of a space than the use of that space. We quote from his article: Carparks with tight turning […]
Dubai launches robotic car park
A commercial building near Ibn Battuta Mall in Dubai opened a 765-lot computerised multi-storied car park on August 12. Motorists drive into slots inside a parking bay, much like an automatic car wash. TV screens, voice prompts and grooves in the ground guide the driver into a proper fit. After clearing a checklist, the driver […]
Number plate scanning used for good?
Recently, PCI published information about new number plate recognition technology (called autoChalk) currently being trialed in Australia for parking enforcement, in an article called Drive-By Chalkings. The Age on September 5 reported on the use of such technology for crime detection and prevention, where cars are scanned daily, using software capable of reading characters on […]
Safety not negotiable
The New Zealand Parking Association’s 26th Annual Conference is being held from September 29 – October 2 in Christchurch, with a theme this year of ‘Safety Not Negotiable’. Keynote speakers will focus on health and safety within the workforce, dealing with difficult customers, safety through technology, coping with personal appraisals and the general wellbeing of […]
Around and around they go
Can reduced parking availability actually increase emissions as people drive around and around looking for that elusive parking space? Cristina Lynn was asked to comment this week on the Green Building Council of Australia’s statement that reducing the number of car parking spaces will be one means by which buildings can earn a ‘green’ rating […]
Parking spaces are ‘created’ by £10 tariff
The article, ‘Parking spaces are ‘created’ by £10 tariff’, proves the point – put prices up, and parking spaces are created! In this case, it’s a slightly different scenario – we have a hospital with free parking, but such a demand for parking that available spaces are almost impossible to find. By introducing a £10 tariff to […]
Get out of your car
A ‘hot topic’ in the parking industry, especially in the application of planning principles and theories to the pricing of urban parking, is the ‘make parking more expensive’ argument. Refer to our recent blog posts, San Francisco City Parking Report, and Head out of the sand please, Mosman residents! Coined ‘Out of the car thinking’, […]
Sydney Parking 2029
With forecast strong population growth, Sydney’s unenviable claim as one of the most expensive cities in the world in which to park looks set to dramatically worsen over the next two decades. It may be overreacting, but the Sydney Morning Herald recently published “The Big Squeeze”, labeling the issue a ‘Parking Crisis’ and predicting that […]
Like Twister for Godzilla!
A three month seafront celebration in Weston, UK, will see colour-coded car parks arranged according to vehicles’ colour. It’s part of the summer art festival on Weston’s Beach Lawns. Perhaps inspired by our previous blog post reporting on California’s Southwestern College in 1994, Finding your way made easier by colour? Beach Lawns becomes a colourful […]
Head out of the sand please, Mosman residents!
As letters continue to rain upon the Mosman Daily’s editor expressing rage over the introduction of parking meters, you could almost be forgiven for thinking that everything in Mosman is free. (For those of you who are not familiar with the latest developments in PCI’s home ground, view our recent blog post, A Metered Debate?). […]
Melbourne Car Park sells for $38m
The car park at 522 Flinders Lane in Melbourne has recently been sold by ISPT for $38 million to a local private buyer. We understand that the car park comprises around 1200 spaces and therefore this would indicate a price per bay of just over $30,000. Knight Frank agent Clinton Baxter said that new apartment […]