Parking Meters Company Posts Profit While City's Bank is Low. Chicago - The City of Chicago has just $2.7 million in the bank as it closes the books on its 2009 budget. That’s 10 times the $200,000 it had in the bank at the end of 2008.The Civic Federation says a city the size of Chicago should have a cash reserve of at least $200 million. The city may be hurting for cash, but the parking meters it leased out are hauling in the cash. For the full article from My Fox Chicago.com click here

Parking bargain lures efficient vehicles. Newbury Street, of all places, now offers the best parking deal in town, 25 cents an hour. But there is a catch: You have to ride a scooter or motorcycle to fit in the parking space. Newbury Street, of all places, now offers the best parking deal in town, 25 cents an hour. But there is a catch: You have to ride a scooter or motorcycle to fit in the parking space. For the full article from the Boston.com click here

Parking Attendant Resigns. CORPUS CHRISTI- A parking attendant who was indicted last week on bribery charges has resigned from the police department. A statement from the Corpus Christi Police Department says 43 year old Rosa Bazan resigned on Friday in lieu of giving a statement to the department's professional standards division. 53 year old Josephine Key was also indicted last week on bribery charges. For the full article from the Kristv.com click here

Parking Attendant Marks 50 Years on the Job. BEDFORD COUNTY -- Bob Hammer started parking cars at the Bedford County Fairgrounds when he was 20 years old, 50 years later he is still doing the job he enjoys.  He works 13 hours a day for 7 days and keeps smiling."I enjoy parking cars.  I really like the people that is what I enjoy," says Hammer. Fair Board President John Holbert says "It is a pleasure to have good people who are dedicated for so many years." For the full article from We are CentralPA.com
Click here

Keep parking authority independent. At the direction of Miami Mayor Tomás Regalado, the Miami Parking Authority has recently explored various means of monetizing the city's parking assets -- essentially borrowing against future profits from parking operations for several decades to come in order to gain immediate cash to replenish the city's reserve. MPA worked closely with its financial consultants and City Manager Carlos Migoya to craft a plan that would add about $100 million to city coffers within 60-90 days, while pledging the city's assets for the shortest amount of time possible. When the plan was presented to the mayor at the MPA's July 7 board meeting, he said that he wanted to ``walk hand in hand'' with the MPA and proceed in a fully transparent manner. Now, in an abrupt change, the mayor plans to introduce a proposed referendum to alter the city charter and transfer control of all parking authority assets to the City Commission. This issue is scheduled to be addressed at Thursday's special commission meeting. For the full article from the Miami Herald.com click here

LaBella: More parking tickets paid since start of boot program. UTICA — Placing boots on the cars of delinquent parking ticket holders has tripled the amount of fines collected in the city, primarily by inspiring others to avoid the same fate, Public Safety Commissioner Daniel LaBella said. As of Tuesday, the city had collected $38,825 in parking fines since the boot program started June 24. An average of only $12,500 was collected in other years during the same time period, LaBella said.
About $4,000 of the amount collected this year came directly from drivers whose vehicles were affected by the program. The rest of the increase is a result of making drivers “more conscious” of the consequences. For the full article from the Uticaod.com click here
 

Pols but breaks on bill that would protect scofflaws from getting towed. Tough luck, scofflaws.
Just hours after the Daily News revealed that a bill heading for Gov. Paterson's desk would bar cities from towing cars for unpaid parking tickets, a fix was in the works. The bill, which easily passed both houses several weeks ago, was designed to protect people in financial distress by preventing creditors from seizing some homes, wedding rings and cars. For the full article from the NYDailynews.com click here
 

Bloomberg Slams Bill Protecting Parking Scofflaws. A new bill soon to land on Governor Paterson's desk would allow drivers who've blown off their parking fines to park in city streets without fear of being towed. It's sponsored by none other than State Senator and Manhattan Attorney General hopeful Eric Schneiderman, who has been criticized himself for being a lousy backseat driver. For the full article from the Gothamist click here

Roadshow: 'Hands' display at airport parking garage draws praise, scorn. I just want to add my vote to those who LOVE the hands display covering the new parking garage at the San Jose airport. They took my breath away the first time I saw them. To me they signify the open hearts and open minds of the people of Santa Clara Valley. For the full article from the Mercury News.com click here

Announcement expected about Hoboken parking garage. HOBOKEN -- A source said this morning that an announcement was expected early this week about a decision by the city of Hoboken as to where it will put its new parking garage, in anticipation of selling the land on which the old one sits to a developer this August. One source said that a joint press release will be issued with another town that will participate, but this could not be confirmed by press time. For the full article from the Hudson Reporterclick here

Reserved Parking (Thanks to the ADA). Today is the twentieth anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, which is the landmark legislation that prohibits discrimination against individuals with disabilities in regard to employment, housing, education, public services, and public accommodations. When it was signed into law by President George H. W. Bush on July 26, 1990, the ADA was the most comprehensive civil rights legislation passed by Congress since the 1964 Civil Rights Act. It was hailed by supporters and became a life changer for the nation’s estimated forty three million Americans with disabilities. For the full article from the Easy Stand Blog click here

Los Angeles helping homeless with safe parking program. The Los Angeles homeless who live in cars, campers and recreational vehicles are getting help in finding a safe overnight parking spot. The city plans to recruit an agency to operated a safe overnight parking program that will also steer the homeless to social services. The program mirrors Santa Barbara and Eugene, Ore., efforts.  For the full article from the SCPR.org/news click here
 

High-tech parking meters premiere in S.F. San Francisco -- The parking revolution begins today in San Francisco. The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency will roll out the first large-scale test of SFpark in the Hayes Valley neighborhood just west of City Hall with the installation of 190 high-tech meters, part of a two-year experiment to find out how pricing affects drivers' parking choices in commercial corridors. The goal of the $24.75 million pilot project, backed with nearly $20 million in federal funding, is to prevent cars from circling the block looking for parking and to reduce congestion and air pollution. For the full article from the SF Gate click here

Pittsburgh sale of parking rights gives buyers lots of options. Higher parking rates wouldn't be the only revenue source available to the bidder that wins a 50-year lease of Pittsburgh parking garages and meters. The controversial lease proposal, released June 30 and to be reissued with revisions this week, would allow the leaseholder to sell advertising space in garages and on meters. The lease also would allow ads to be printed on parking garage tickets or dispensed from the pay boxes likely to replace meters on some blocks. For the full article from the Post-gazette.com click here

Authority, city looking to improve downtown parking with monitors and boots. Pottsville council and the city parking authority are looking into innovative ways to improve parking in the downtown area. They include planting sensors at 50 parking meters and 50 one-hour parking spaces and giving repeat offenders the "boot," according to Amy S. Burkhart, executive director of the Pottsville Area Development Corp. and city Administrator Thomas A. Palamar. Both are efforts to control parking in the city's downtown area. For the full article from the Republican Herald.com click here

Parking Posse. The latest class of the City Disabled Services Office’s “Parking Posse” graduated July 9. The group is made up of volunteers who are authorized to issue citations to people who park unlawfully in spaces designated for use by disabled people. Last year the posse issued more than 2,500 citations and 70 percent of each $250 fine collected supports programs and services for disabled citizens in Duval County. For the full article from the Daily Record click here

Pittsburgh sale of parking rights gives buyers lots of options. Higher parking rates wouldn't be the only revenue source available to the bidder that wins a 50-year lease of Pittsburgh parking garages and meters.The controversial lease proposal, released June 30 and to be reissued with revisions this week, would allow the leaseholder to sell advertising space in garages and on meters. The lease also would allow ads to be printed on parking garage tickets or dispensed from the pay boxes likely to replace meters on some blocks. For the full article from the Post-gazette.com click here

New parking amenity program offers security escort, vehicle help. Beginning July 27, those using downtown parking lots and ramps can get a free security escort or help with vehicle problems. The new Parking Amenity Program is available to those with monthly parking permits and other visitors using city-owned parking facilities, including all surface lots and the Third Avenue, Fourth Avenue, Ground Transportation Center and Five Seasons parkades. For the full article from the gazetteonline.com click here

D.C. real estate, parking-lot magnate Dominic F. 'Nick' Antonelli Jr. dies at 88. Dominic F. "Nick" Antonelli Jr. grew up so poor that he survived at times on nothing but cornflakes and water. After dropping out of high school, he made a living as a carhop in a parking lot across from the plush Mayflower hotel in downtown Washington. He lived in a boarding house nearby, where he spent Saturdays ridding his room of bugs and rats with the careful use of kerosene. For the full article from the Washington Post click here

Car Charging Group, Inc. Signs Agreement With Laz Parking to Provide Electric Vehicle Charging Stations at Their Parking Facilities. MIAMI BEACH, Fla., July 23, 2010 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Car Charging Group Inc., (OTCBB:CCGI - News) today announced it has partnered with national parking company, LAZ Parking NY/NJ, LLC, to provide charging stations for electric vehicles at LAZ Parking locations throughout the New York and New Jersey metropolitan areas. This partnership is an effort to support the potential need for electric vehicle charging stations nationwide to satisfy the plans of automobile manufacturers such as Tesla Motors, the Renault and Nissan alliance, General Motors, Ford and others lining up to offer consumers a choice of electric vehicles available in dealer showrooms during 2010. For the full article from the Yahoo finance.com click here

Parking Deal Can't Go Wrong Says Thomas Long. City court clerk ready to go to city council to push for parking auhority and crack down on parking tickets. For the full article from News 3 Channel click here

Parking charges: Standard charges for parking. WOULD like to highlight the high charges we have to pay for parking our cars in the open car parking lots in Kuala Lumpur.  On July 15, the car parks in Jalan Ampang and Yap Kwan Seng raised their parking charges to RM6. They started with RM3, then went up to RM5, and now they are charging RM6 per entry. Surely, reducing the subsidies has no effect on these car park operators. In Jalan Masjid India, they started charging RM7 in January. Who is allowing these ridiculous charges? For the full article from the New Straits Times click here

Parking machines cause confusion. City officials put up extra signs to help people understand new parking lot payment system. David Goldstone was in a rush to pay for his parking last week in Sausalito. His wife and baby were waiting for him in their car. And the visitor couldn’t figure out how to operate the city’s new machines. “It’s frustrating,” he said, and compared it to similarly puzzling machines in Oakland. For the full article from the Marin Scope click here

Parking garage flap dogs South Miami. South Miami taxpayers could be on the hook for more than $11 million if federal regulators decide the city misled investors about bonds used to finance a parking garage. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is looking into whether the city's agreement with developer Mark Richman to operate the South Miami Municipal Garage renders the bonds, which the city sold to investors as tax-exempt, taxable. If the SEC concludes that the bonds should be taxable, the city could be forced to immediately repay all the money borrowed, plus fines, said City Attorney Laurence Feingold, who told commissioners about the investigation at Tuesday's commission meeting.  For the full article from the South Miami News click here
 

3 councilmen assail Pittsburgh mayor's proposed parking lease. Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl's proposed lease of parking meters will send the hourly rates soaring above those in similar-sized cities, without solving the city's pension problems, three councilmen said today. For the full article from the Post-gazette.com click here

Skidata®, Inc. hires David Garner as a Senior Support Engineer SKIDATA, Inc. is expandng its Service Department with the welcome addition of Mr. David Garner as a Senior Service Engineer. William Herman, Service Manager at SKIDATA says, "We’re all looking forward to working with Dave Garner and taking advantage of the 10+ years of field experience he brings to our Technical Support Department.  He has already proven a very valuable and versatile addition to our team.”Educated at South Dade Senior High and in the Navy’s Electricity and Electronics Division, Dave has earned the Washington State EL06 Limited Energy Electrician’s license. His field support experience includes 11 years with Protection Technologies (PTI), ranging from installing and servicing CCTV, access control, security, and parking and revenue control equipment. Primarily, his focus was with parking equipment installations for Federal APD and SKIDATA products. Some of the projects which he was responsible for are the Spokane International Airport, Pike Place Market, and recently some troubleshooting at the Edmonton International Airport.To this date, Dave’s proudest professional achievement is Project Management service for the Parking Division of PTI. While working with PTI, he oversaw all aspects of installation and service for Parking and Revenue Control equipment.
  
 

PHOENIX, Ariz—Ace Parking Management, Inc., one of North America’s largest privately-owned parking management companies, announces today that it has been selected as the Parking Operator for the City of Phoenix Parking Facilities.Brian Gansert, President of Operations and Keith Jones, Managing Principal for Ace Parking were onsite July 1st, 2010 when the operation was handed over.“Ace Parking is extremely proud and energized for the opportunity to partner with the City of Phoenix tomanage these large facilities,” said Jones. “I am confident that Ace Parking will provide outstanding customer experiences and the community of Phoenix and its visitors will see an immediate difference in operators. In addition to our industry leading auditing practices, our high level of customer service is what makes Ace Parking superior and what we’re most proud of.” The contract with the City of Phoenix and Ace Parking comes 10 years after the Parking Company first entered into the Phoenix market with the award of the Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport.“Additionally, having a larger presence in the greater Phoenix region will give Ace Parking more visibility”, Jones said. We hope to work with more facilities, building owners and property management groups that want to increase their parking revenues and run a more efficient parking operation.”Ace Parking plans to expand its operations in Phoenix in the coming years. “I am committed to growing Ace Parking’s operations in Phoenix am excited about having the chance to show what we bring to the table.” Ace Parking Management, Inc. (a California Corporation) was founded in 1950 and is one of the largest privately held parking companies in the country. Celebrating 60 years, Ace Parking continues to lead the industry with strict and attentive auditing procedures, superior levels of customer service and consistently increasing clients’ parking revenues. Headquartered in San Diego, Ace Parking manages over 450 locations throughout six states, servicing nearly 200,000 customers per day and generates revenues exceeding $369 million.

Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport selects SKIDATA: The Innovation Leader in Parking Management Systems Wins a Major Contract July 2010 – SKIDATA, an innovation leader in car access systems, will deploy a parking management solution for the third-busiest airport in the world, the Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. The contract provides for a turnkey solution for parking access management at the airport, including hardware, software and tools for administration. Implementation is scheduled for completion in 2013. The Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) International Airport’s current parking control system will be replaced by a SKIDATA solution to manage more than 40,000 parking spaces for air travelers and airport employees. SKIDATA was awarded the contract with the DFW Airport Board based on its experience in centrally-managed large-scale PARCS (Parking Access and Revenue Control Systems). SKIDATA has extended worldwide experience in large airport parking management as well as multi-site installations and is therefore the optimal partner for this project. Tom Rollo, President and CEO of SKIDATA, Inc., said “SKIDATA is thrilled to be part of the DFW team and to contribute to roll out such a technologically advanced strategic project. We’re ready to meet the challenge and deliver a solution tailored to meet the needs of DFW for the coming years.” Integrated solution: Greater efficiency, more convenience. SKIDATA will equip the Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport with a unified solution, providing hardware, software and tools for administration. Intelligent software solutions support airport management with functional planning options, thereby improving their efficiency. The system self-monitors, which frees employees from routine tasks and enables air travelers and airport staff to benefit from advanced technology. An Automatic Vehicle Identification (AVI) system will enable regular customers to access and exit parking areas smoothly and rapidly.  Extensive experience In 2000, SKIDATA, Inc. was established in New Jersey to promote and distribute SKIDATA's parking solutions in the US. The company's tenth anniversary in North America is marked by the launch of the parking management system for Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, SKIDATA's largest US project so far.  "We are investing extensively in the US," stated Charles Egli, CEO of SKIDATA AG, "and we are delighted to have won this project against stiff competition. We have implemented major airport projects all around the globe and today we are extremely pleased to have scored a success in what represents a high-potential market for our parking business." SKIDATA has deployed innovative parking solutions for the Munich, Zurich, Montreal, Abu Dhabi and Amsterdam airports, among many others.Armin J. Cruz, VP of Parking at DFW said, “Our success depends on reliability. We analyzed the SKIDATA technology used at the Munich Airport very closely and are confident that SKIDATA will provide us with the sophisticated solution we expect, one that meets our specific requirements." 
 

High Concrete Group has introduced EcoMix, a precast concrete mix   formulated to reduce carbon dioxide from conventional cement by at least 50%. The company says EcoMix allows architects and designers to improve key sustainable attributes of their buildings and lower the overall carbon footprint of their precast projects. Prior to EcoMix, typical High Concrete Group precast concrete contained about 10% Portland cement. The company targeted this ingredient for reduction as part of its High Green Initiative, a corporate effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 30% over five years.

Roger J. Becker, P.E., has been named Managing Director, Research & Development, of the Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute (PCI); he assumed his duties May 3. He comes to PCI from Spancrete Industries, a longtime PCI Producer Member, where he most recently was Vice President-Business Development. In his new position, among other duties, Becker will oversee the planning and management of all PCI research and development activities and support the PCI Research & Development Council. 

Complus Data Innovations (CDI) has helped Poughkeepsie, NY, increase the city’s parking ticket revenue significantly since implementing FastTrack, its industry-leading parking ticket management system, in July 2009. In just the first five months of 2010 alone, the city collected more parking ticket revenue than it had averaged annually. At this pace, full-year parking ticket revenue for 2010 is projected to increase more than 200%. Ticket issuance has remained fairly steady, with increased revenue due mainly to CDI collecting a higher percentage of both backlog violations and newly issued tickets, compared with the previous system.

TRMI Systems Integration was awarded the contract to provide a comprehensive electronic access system for six park areas on South Padre Island and the adjacent mainland in Cameron County, TX.  Using magnetic strip tickets and Sirit RF window stickers, the system will enable the county park system to automate and control RV and camping space reservations for all six properties.

AMAG Technology, a security management and digital video solution provider, has hired Todd Harrington for the newly created position of Federal Government Projects Manager.  He will work closely with the company’s federal government-focused integrators to help provide technical support to government end users and to drive projects to completion.  Harrington reports to Ray Payne, Vice President of Technical Services

More than 400 people gathered at the Union League in downtown Philadelphia on May 13 for a dynamic daylong conference that convened the private, public and community development sectors of the region’s real estate industry to promote investment opportunities and development strategies for revitalizing urban and suburban markets. Jim Zullo, CAPP, LEED AP, Vice President of TimHaahs & Associates, created a panel and served as moderator for a panel discussing “Developing and Revitalizing Around Density – People, Parking and Transit.” The session attracted an engaged audience eager to learn more about parking and transit.

A centuries-old lumber town, Stillwater, MN, has a thriving downtown, and is a regional tourist destination, especially during the summer.  Land is at a premium in the city built into the hillsides of the St. Croix River valley.  When Stillwater needed to expand its parking capacity, it chose Amano McGann to provide the right parking solution to fit the city’s operational requirements, as well as its budget and design constraints. The company, working closely with key officials, the police, community development groups and the city’s IT department, was able to create a customized automated parking solution to meet the city’s needs. 

With structural engineering and parking consulting services from Walter P Moore, the Southwest Parking Garage at the University of Florida has been chosen for a merit award in the 2010 International Parking Institute Awards for Excellence competition. The  six-level, 313,000-square-foot garage has spaces for 927 cars, with an attached two-story, 10,000-suare-foot transportation and parking services office building.  The design/build project, lead by Cummings Construction and PGAL Architects, was completed with a fast-track construction program using Building Information Modeling  technology.  LEED Platinum certification is being sought.

The International Parking Institute (IPI) 2010 Parking Professionals of the Year are Dennis Burns, CAPP, of  Kimley-Horn and Associates in Phoenix and David Hill, CAPP, of the Winnipeg (Canada) Parking Authority. The recognition took place in May at the 2010 IPI Conference & Expo in Las Vegas.  “We are honoring two of our most well-respected and dedicated parking professionals," said Shawn Conrad, CAE, the IPI’s Executive Director.

McMahon Associates, a full-service transportation engineering and planning firm, has announced that Casey A. Moore, P.E., was selected the recipient of this year’s Peter P. Quinn Leadership Award from the Greater Valley Forge Transportation Management Association (GVFTMA).   He was honored May 5 at the group’s annual meeting in King of Prussia, PA.  The firm’s Principal, Vice President and Mid-Atlantic Regional Manager, Moore has more than 20 years of experience in transportation engineering, design and planning -- 19 of them at McMahon. 

The American Shotcrete Association (ASA) is now accepting applications for Graduate Scholarships for the 2010-2011 academic year. The purpose of the ASA program is to identify, attract and assist outstanding graduate students pursuing careers in the field of concrete with a significant interest in the shotcrete process. One scholarship will be awarded to a graduate student attending an accredited college in the US and a second to one in Canada.  For more information, go to the
ASA website (www.shotcrete.org).

Standard Parking Corp., a leading provider of parking management, ground transportation and other ancillary services, announced first-quarter 2010 net income of $2.8 million, or $0.18 per share, an increase of 20% from $0.15 earnings per share for first-quarter 2009. The company also affirmed its 2010 full-year performance expectations for earnings per share in the range of $1.10 to  $1.20 and for free cash flow of between $20 million and $25 million. Standard Parking also announced that Michael J. Roberts was elected to its Board of Directors at the company’s annual shareholders meeting April 28. Roberts is a former longtime top executive  of McDonald's Corp.