Understanding more about electric cars
The approaching Australian Parking Convention will address, amongst other topics, issues relating to the advent of the electric motor vehicle and its repercussions for car park owners, operators and drivers in general. Dr. Andrew Simpson of Curtin University’s Sustainability Policy Institute will make a presentation titled “Planning for Renewable Electric Transport”. The title of the […]
Parking Consultants employs Traffic Engineer Andrew Morse
As part of our long-term growth strategy, we are pleased to announce that we have engaged a qualified and experienced traffic engineer. Andrew Morse is a qualified Traffic Engineer and is a member of the Australian Institute of Traffic Planning & Management (AITPM). He will be leading the traffic planning division of Parking Consultants, drawing […]
Congestion charging back on the agenda
This week, the NSW State Opposition has called for uniform congestion tolling on roads, with per-kilometre charging as the basis of a ‘fairer deal’ for motorists. The leader of the Nationals and opposition spokesman on roads, Andrew Stoner, believes that the current system (all toll roads operating independently) is limiting the ability to develop a […]
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 […]
Wollongong Council activates pro-rata parking fees
The Illawarra Mercury reported last week (Sept 14) that the Wollongong City Council has now implemented pro-rata parking fees for their on-street parking meters. Previously priced at a $2 flat fee, the meters now allow motorists to pay only for the time they intend to use, with parking being charged at $1 an hour (50c […]
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 […]
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 […]
NYC mayor wants massive bike-sharing program
Following the launch of London’s bike sharing scheme (see our post on Aug 5, Bike share scheme in London launched as pedal power grows), New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Transport Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan have put forward a proposal for a bike sharing program. With the number of people in New York commuting by bicycle […]
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 […]
Bike share scheme in London launched as pedal power grows
On Friday, July 30, London’s Mayor Boris Johnson launched a major cycle hire scheme, aiming to make the city greener ahead of the 2012 Olympics. A total of 5,000 bicycles are available from 315 docking stations across the capital, many of them near landmarks such as Buckingham Palace, the Houses of Parliament and the Tower […]
Australian cash for clunkers
For our readers who are outside of Australia, we are currently in the throes of the Federal election campaign. As part of the election campaign, the currently governing Labor Party has announced that, if re-elected, it will introduce a ‘cash for clunkers’ scheme. Owners of cars manufactured prior to January 1995 would be eligible to […]
Bike Park makes bicycle commuting easy
Bike Park is a new facility recently opened in the Melbourne CBD for storing bikes indoors. It offers a range of services to riders, including showers, lockers, fluffy towels, hair straighteners, ironing boards, fresh coffee, and even bike servicing. Riders can pay a casual (daily one-off) $10 fee to use the facilities; or become a […]
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. […]
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 […]
More than half of British drivers don’t expect a red light
PCI’s UK correspondent, Kelvin Worthington, spied this week a somewhat alarming article in the Telegraph, stating that 52% of British drivers cannot see red traffic lights coming at signals at junctions and pedestrian crossings. The problem stems from the differing sequence of traffic lights. Whilst in Australia, the ‘amber’ (orange) light is used only before […]
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 […]
Canberra car park revenue tops $1m per month
A breakdown of car park revenues in Canberra has revealed that the total monthly revenue has topped $1m between July 2009 and February this year. Chief Minister Jon Stanhope claims that Canberra has “some of the best roads and cheapest parking in the country”. A planned increase of between $0.30 and $1.50 per day, designed […]
Car sharing is big business
Following on from our article posted last week on car sharing, we came across the news this week that US based car sharing operation Zipcar has just filed for a $75 million initial public offering. With a fleet of 7,000 vehicles, more than 400,000 members (who can rent the car by the hour or day), […]
Research ranks Australian cities as best and worst to drive
In research undertaken between December 2009 and January 2010, Virgin Car Insurance analysed Australian capital cities and Regional Centres on a number of key criteria to determine a ranking system for the ‘friendliest’ cities to drive in. Key criteria differed slightly between capital cities and regional cities, but both included data such as the average […]
Bondi Beach parking spot sale expected to set another record
Car park costs reach new levels across Australia’ blog post in March 2010 in which we noted that a single car space in North Bondi sold for $240,000, this weekend sees two more single space car parks go up for auction in Bondi. There are two spaces available, situated at the southern end of Bondi […]
Car sharing takes off in Australia
According to an article in the Australian Financial Review on June 1, several companies that offer car sharing and renting in Australia have seen the usage of car sharing services increase significantly in the past twelve months. Convenience and cost are the main driving factors for people joining car sharing companies, as well as consumers’ […]
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 […]