Brisbane park‘n’ride woes
The City of Brisbane seems to be having a few issues with its Park‘n’Ride system. We recently posted an article on the introduction of paid parking at the Westfield Chermside mall, a move by Westfield to stop commuters from using their facilities as a free park and ride car park. The result was an overflow […]
1111 Lincoln Road Miami continues to impress
This month’s Parking Professional magazine, published by the International Parking Institute, includes a four-page spread on the groundbreaking parking garage at 1111 Lincoln Road, Miami. From our perspective, we are impressed at the way the garage is commanding the attention of the artistic elite in Miami, as a venue for weddings and as an art […]
Parking Today interviews university parking professionals
Following our post two weeks ago interviewing parking professional Barbara Chance on automated car parks, this week Parking Today magazine have published a summation of an interview with two parking professionals from the University of Texas, Austin, exploring the issues facing university campus parking. The two interviewees are Bob Harkins, Associate VP for Campus Safety […]
An interview with Dr Barbara Chance on automated car parks
Following on from the World Parking Symposium at the end of June 2011, Cristina Lynn, Parking & Traffic Consultants Managing Partner, made a detour to Philadelphia to meet up with Dr. Barbara Chance of Chance Management Advisors. You would have met Barbara at the PAA’s biennial convention and exhibition held in Sydney in November 2010. […]
New Los Angeles variable parking rates plan gets approval
Los Angeles has now followed San Francisco’s lead and has approved a pilot program that will adjust the cost of parking based on demand at various times throughout the day and the duration that motorists stay within each parking space. The program, called ExpressPark™, will use sensors and other technology to monitor around 6,000 sidewalk […]
The future of the LA meter plan?
Following from our previous post, the LA Times Cartoonist Ted Rall has provided his projection of what the future of the dynamic pricing system could have in store. The full cartoon is published below, or you can view on the LA Times site here. Thank you to Donald Shoup for sending this to us this […]
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 […]
Post-Carmageddon lessons
The Los Angeles Times published an opinion piece this week following Carmageddon, opening with a line that we think is great: ‘Now that we’ve finished freaking out about the weekend closure of 10 miles of the 405 Freeway, can we do something about the fact that it’s Carmageddon every single day in West Los Angeles?’ […]
Los Angeles ‘carmageddon’ a non event
Last weekend, the closure of one of Los Angeles’ busiest freeways, the Interstate 405, was predicted to cause traffic jams of epic proportions. The partial demolition of a bridge requiring the freeway’s closure saw the authorities warning Los Angeles residents that driving over the weekend could lead to a significant congestion effect, with vehicles backing […]
New York to create a pedestrian wayfinding system
This week, New York City’s Department of Transportation announced that they were planning to add signage to the streets to help pedestrians navigate the city more easily. The wayfinding system will provide clear signs that tell people their location, how long it takes to walk to key locations and gives a map of the area. […]
TED: Bill Ford discusses a future beyond traffic gridlock
We came across a TED Talk this week by Bill Ford, great-grandson of Henry Ford, who has spent over 30 years working for the Ford Motor Company. He recently delivered a speech at TED which discussed both his concerns about the impact of cars on the environment, as well as what, for him, is a […]
Bicycle usage: increasing in Australia and US but declining in China
Research released by IBISWorld estimates that the Australian bicycle industry will grow by 17 per cent over the next five years, starting with the sale of 1.2 million bikes this year. The average cost of each bicycle is $927. Of all Australian cities, Canberra has the highest percentage of regular riders, with 13 per cent […]
Enforcing New York City’s bike lane laws
Further to the previous article, increased usage of bicycles in New York City has resulted in the New York Police Department now stepping up enforcement of the rules and regulations governing the use of bicycles and the lanes throughout the city. We came across this video this week which highlights some of the challenges that […]
Parking & Traffic Consultants once again at the World Parking Symposium
Cristina Lynn, our Managing Partner, will be attending her third World Parking Symposium which this year is being held in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Canada between 26 – 29 June. The World Parking Symposium’s title is: “Why does Parking & Transportation Matter? The Future of Service Delivery in the 21st Century” and will address selected issues in urban […]
Traffic management inspiration from New York
This week, we came across a demonstration of how one particular New York intersection is both dysfunctional and more than a little dangerous. For his master’s thesis at the School of Visual Arts in New York City, Ron Gabriel created a campaign called 3-Way Street to examine how “pedestrians jaywalking, cyclists running red lights and […]
The importance of the Car Parking Professional
The International Parking Institute (IPI) debuted a two-minute animated video called Parking Matters at the annual Conference and Expo held in Pittsburgh, USA, last week. The video is aimed at promoting the parking profession by connecting with new audiences unfamiliar with the industry. It’s a great overview of the contribution made by the large number […]
Barbara Chance – a worthy parking consultant
In more news from Pittsburgh, the IPI recognized three parking professionals who have made outstanding contributions to the profession. Parking Consultant Dr. Barbara Chance and University of California/Irvine’s Ronald Fleming shared the Parking Professional of the Year award. You will no doubt remember that Barbara was one of the speakers at the Australian Parking Association’s […]
Interesting trends revealed by Parking Industry Survey
Also released at the IPI Conference were the results of the 2011 “Emerging Trends in Parking” survey of its members to examine the evolution of the car parking industry. The survey revealed that while parking professionals are finding increased pressure to boost parking revenue, significant trends centre on demand for sustainable parking solutions and advances […]
Green power and electric vehicle charging stations
Whilst we have commented on the benefits of electric vehicles on the Wayfinding Forum for some time, recent studies are muddying the waters as to the effectiveness of the technology. Car maker Audi has examined the energy output of the entire chain of powering the vehicles – from power station to the car’s emissions – […]
Americans are working to feed their cars
Cycling enthusiast James Schwartz published an article recently on the cost of owning a car in America. According to his findings on the average rates of car ownership, when compared to the median household income, the average employee needs to work around 2.9 hours every day, just to pay for their car. In addition to […]
Mobile technology: changing the way drivers look for parking spaces
The recent emergence of location-based applications servicing the parking industry is having a significant (and very fast) impact on how drivers seek for available parking spaces and how owners/operators of those spaces monitor usage, provide information on their location to the public and, in some cases, enforce the regulations governing their use. With the largest […]
Google’s newest engine has no driver
Following our previous post, it seems that perhaps Google might have the answer, with the development of technology for cars that can be driven safely without human intervention – allowing the occupants to send text messages and use their mobile phones whilst behind the wheel. The search giant is currently lobbying for legislation that would […]
San Francisco switches to demand-based parking fees
The implementation of demand-based parking fees (on city streets and public parking garages), which is an integral part of the SFpark project in San Francisco, is starting on April 21. Sensors installed at each parking space will track where parking is available in real time and uploaded to signs and smartphone applications. According to the […]
The vertical bike hanger
New York architects Manifesto Architecture have developed a concept design for bike parking, an issue which is growing in line with the popularity of bicycle commuting. The Bike Hanger can stack bicycles vertically, along the usually bare building walls along laneways. Bike Hanger was designed and shortlisted for the 2010 Seoul Cycle Design Competition, which […]
“Best of Green” awards for cars and transportation
This week, TreeHugger published their ‘Best of Green’ awards for the cars and transportation category. Whilst we won’t run through each of the winners, we’d like to share those that especially inspired us: Best electric car on the market:Nissan LEAF. The LEAF won the award because it’s a mass-produced family-friendly electric car which sells at […]
National Parking Association launches parking industry Peer Networks
Last week, the US based National Parking Association (NPA) officially launched an industry program called Peer Networks, an international series of peer topic and trend discussions on leading parking and transportation industry issues. The Peer Networks have been created to provide an opportunity for parking and transportation professionals to build industry connections, learn best practices […]
The car parking mobile revolution continues
Following our article last week on the explosion of mobile technology and applications designed to assist with finding parking spaces (see ‘Parking mobile technology takes off’ here), we came across yet another development in the USA. We find this one particularly interesting, as it uses information (freely released by Baltimore City officials on the internet) […]
New York’s bike lanes generate heated debate
New York’s current bicycle lane installation program is receiving a significant amount of press. A post to the New Yorker blog by economist writer John Cassidy provides the drivers’ perspective: ‘when the city introduces a bike lane on a given street, it removes dozens of parking places’. His concern is that that elimination of on […]
Parking mobile technology takes off
This week we have come across three new mobile phone applications, all designed to assist with parking in some form or another. Help2Park is an Android smart phone app that allows users to locate nearby parking stations. The user can set the radius within which to search from their current location, and they receive a […]
Parking Sensors may be coming to Melbourne’s Moreland Council
Melbourne’s Moreland Council is considering a proposal to install electronic sensors in nearly 4,000 parking bays. The technology, designed to increase the turnover of cars, sends an alert to parking officers if a car has overstayed its time in a parking spot. However, critics of the scheme claim that turnover of the spaces is already […]