Macquarie pulls out of parking operations in the US
Macquarie Infrastructure Company announced that its airport parking business, Parking Corporation of America Airports (“PCAA”), has entered into an asset purchase agreement with Bainbridge ZKS – Corinthian Holdings, LLC. The sale of the assets is the first step in a bankruptcy court-led sale. Bainbridge KZS – Corinthian Holdings, LLC look set to acquire $111.5 million […]
A philosopher’s point of view
A guest article from the desk of PCI’s Managing Partner Cristina Lynn. During the Christmas break I was browsing in a bookshop and came across a small book titled “A week at the Airport – A Heathrow Diary” written by the controversial philosopher Alain de Botton. Having spent a significant part of my working days […]
How much does it cost to build a car park around the world?
Davis Langdon has published the twelfth edition of its Blue Book, a comprehensive document covering a wide range of topics related to the property and construction industry including the very important issue of sustainability in new and refurbished buildings. We found in it an interesting comparative table showing the cost of building multi storey car […]
Airport “mobile phone waiting lots”
The Age recently published an article drawing attention to an innovation being introduced at US airports: the mobile phone waiting lot. Since 2004, an increasing number of US airports have incorporated a free of charge area where family and friends picking up arriving passengers can wait in the relative safety and comfort of their cars. […]
Middle East Parking Conference videos
Parking World magazine have now published the first three of several video interviews captured during the Middle East Parking Conference held in Abu Dhabi last month. Declan Ryan, CEO of Database Consultants, Australia, spoke on vehicle detection technology, focusing on the quality of the information into a working practice in a city development. Tim Haahs […]
Congestion tax?
The recommendations of a taskforce established to close the ‘pay gap’ between New Zealand and Australia’s productivity levels by 2025 were published in New Zealand this week (our source is from the NZ Herald).The ‘2025 Taskforce’, headed by Don Brash, provided a range of recommendations on income tax, student loans and superannuation. Interestingly, it also […]
How did car parks come about? See the House of Cars exhibition
Currently underway in the National Building Museum in Washington, the ‘House of Cars’ exhibition is gathering positive press from the industry. As read in the National Parking Association’s website (presenting sponsor of the event): House of Cars is the first exhibition of its kind to explore parking garages and the parking industry. It presents the history […]
Parking ‘Black Friday’
As thanksgiving approaches in the US, parking operators are bracing for ‘Black Friday’ – one of the busiest parking days of the year. As shoppers venture out to do their holiday shopping, filling their vehicles with turkey and holiday festive stuffings, and families fly around the country to reunite with loved ones, airport and shopping […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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?). […]
Cash for clunkers
The US Senate recently passed a ‘Cash for Clunkers’ program, allowing owners of old, emission-heavy vehicles, to receive up to USD$4500 when they trade them in for new, fuel efficient vehicles. Environmental website TreeHugger, in an article entitled Cash for Clunkers Passes – Auto Industry Saved? Blue Skies Ahead? explores the issue both from the perspective […]
Mirvac calls it a day on car park management
Mirvac has announced that it is in the process of disbanding the car park management side of its business, reports The Australian. According to the article, it is in the process of signing over nine of its larger car parks to Wilson Parking, and handing the management of two of its shopping centre car parks, […]
Didn’t plan for this…
We came across an interesting article in the Canberra Times this week about the most planned of all Australian cities, Canberra. Architects and sustainability experts are concerned about the increasing rate of urban sprawl in the city, especially in the northern suburbs, and the impact on the city’s future. “But the more that planning and […]