Year: 2008

Remember the article about suspending the street cleaning rules in Brooklyn for a couple of months this summer so signs could be changed. The locals

  And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of heavenly hosts, praising God and saying…. The apostle Luke tells the tale of the

From Marketing Guru Jon Ward… My 5 yr old Hooper has been extremely excited this year about Santa’s arrival.  For the past four days, he’s

‘Twas the night before Christmas And all through the fray Santa soon discovered that Someone booted his sleigh   With a sack full of presents

Boy is it hard to get “up” for work. I know I have a lot to do with the February Deadline looming and articles to

Parking Assessments == these are charges the city levies against businesses to cover the costs of providing parking in downtown areas. The city justifies the

My buddy John Hammerschlag from Chicago is wintering in Spain, and says he just might stay there based on what’s happening to parking in the

Took a stroll around the neighborhood with my neighbor this morning. He’s in some kind of financial business. Of course the conversation got around to

The city of Milwaukee has a bit of a problem. Seems they have some vacant lots owned by the city that are located near major

I have been following the city of Seattle and its moving to a type of free market rate setting for parking charges. The emerald city

The problem with talking about Chicago Politics is that corruption is so pervasive that’s its almost impossible not to think about it and connect graft

No, not those three little words. With all the doom and gloom we are hearing constantly about everything from the weather to Wall Street Ponzi

Let’ s see if I understand this. The city of Myrtle Beach is a vacation destination and during the summer, they charge visitors to park

Parking fees are on the rise – fines are being raised, fees to remove boots are going up. Fair Enough. Ok what about charging a

  I have been honored to have been picked up by another blogger, Paul Foer, and his Annapolis Capital Punishment blog. Turns out my comments

The current difficulty in the bond markets is causing much frustration in cities who are trying to get parking construction moving. Fully designed and approved

The Toronto Parking Authority and its union are at loggerheads over a new contract. And the local press is helping out. Read the article here.

This has always amazed me. diplomats, with their “immunity” roll roughshod over local governments by ignoring the local laws, particularly those in parking. I am

I am awarding the Baghdad by the Bay award this month to Annapolis, MD, for its amazing depth of understanding of parking and the free

I have heard from a number of sources that are within the City of Chicago and close to this deal. Let's review the bidding: The

The same consortium that leased the four Grant Park Garages from the city of Chicago has, it seems, successfully bid $1.16 billion for the City's

I was sitting at a traffic signal this morning at 7:30AM. I had gone out for breakfast. It was Thanksgiving and the streets were empty.

FAPD Sales Manager Bob Kane called a few minutes ago to let me know about some changes the revenue control giant is making in its

I have been musing about this problem for some time. Chicago leased out its on street parking operation for what, half a billion, and is

Last week I wrote on San Francisco’s attempt at controlling parking through a sorta Shoupista market based program. Read that post here. I lunched with

Here’s an article on the Economy. It’s from CNN and suspect out of the blocks. The headline says that consumer confidence rebounds, up from 38

I guess it takes a while to get a parking permit in the outlying stations on Chicago’s Metra. In some cases six years. Read about

Sometimes the best analysis is done by someone else. Kevin O’Neill at parkspace.com was quoted this month in Parking Magazine. It’s the best, most complete,

I was reading my second/third favorite magazine the other day and caught an article by Charlie Munn on Off Airport Parking. In his normal journeyman

The city and county of San Francisco is going to begin market based pricing in on street parking next spring. Read all about it here.

Here is another article about a city (Cutler Bay, FL) that is considering requiring security camera’s in local garages. Once again, the government is trying

See, journalism can do its job. Here's a case in point. The city of Albany, NY, has a looming parking scandal. Seems the police department,

The Cleveland Plain Dealer reports that the city is looking into requiring parking operators to keep attendants on site even when the facility is full

It has begun – It’s not even Thanksgiving yet but businesses world wide are pleading with local city councils to offer “free parking” to entice

I got this from reader Mark: “City staff does not know if the nearly 50 percent drop in parking ticket revenue, the biggest moneymaker for

We hear about the money here in the Gulf. And sure, there’s tons of it. When we see pictures of Tiger Woods hitting a golf

As I fly back to London from Abu Dhabi, I have the map on the TV screen at my seat. It reads like the nightly

Sorry, I’ve had a tad of internet trouble here in the gulf. I have been attending the First Middle East Parking Symposium (and speaking) held

Got this comment from correspondent Mark:   Next time someone starts calls you a parking “nazi” or starts ranting about how making them pay for

I’m sure most of you who have read Parking Blog over the past years know that my political views tilt a bit to the right

  Hollywood, FL, is planning to remove its parking meters. Why? The usual reason – they want to support downtown merchants. Reader Mark says it

The City of San Francisco is the first current recipient of the latent Bagdad by the Bay award for parking foolishness. The Citation is based

From my “if you build it they will come” file. Port Huron, MI, is removing parking meters in its downtown business and entertainment district to

The city of Athens, OH is musing as to why parking revenues in its garage are down. Is it because of theft (parking meters with

I was reviewing my “yahoo” list of stories about parking issues around the world and one thing again jumped out at me. Just as I

Are these people nuts — For the few who don't know, Orthodox Jews don't do mechanical things on the Sabbath (use dishwashers, drive cars, use

I know, I know — I'm hammering this home. Gasoline prices and down again, Under $3 a gallon for the first time in a year.

I got this from a reader: I was issued a handicapped parking citation at an employee parking lot in Florida.Yes, there is a handicapped sign

We peruse the C-Park L list from time to time and this little tidbit popped up. One of the parking and transportation managers for a

Got this From Wade… Distributors across the country merge to create a pool of knowledge and education, creating a new, fresh look on parking While

Your blog is consistently informative and enjoyable – I have feedback on this one.  I have experienced ticket payments being made in pennies a few times

You’ve seen them at trade shows with huge booths, you’ve seen them in the Main Stream Media, and you’ve seen stories in Parking Today. This

I ran in to Steve Haralambiew from Data Park at the PAA in Australia. He was there supporting one of his various companies. I have

A retired fellow in Santa Cruz brought 30,000 pennies in to the parking office to pay $300 worth of tickets and they were refused. He

FYI – Although we may see a reduction in construction here in the US, Australia is booming. I was told that in Perth alone, there

I had dinner the other night with a fellow from Perth who ran an 800 car garage in the West Coast Australian City. He was

Sorry bout the hiatus from the blog – the Australian trip to launch Parking World and attend and speak at the Parking Association of Australia

I think more work is done in the bar and at dinner than on the show floor or in the seminars (where yours truly will

Fit for Purpose… I was having breakfast with a buddy here in Melbourne (I’m “down under” attending the Australian Parking Association meet). We were discussing

It’s a great country. I spent the weekend visiting my buddies at the Canadian Parking Association. Unfortunately due to scheduling problems I was unable to

It’s time to panic…The market is down a thousand points, people in the financial business are jumping out of windows, banks are failing right and

Baylor University hired CEG to do a study on campus parking. One recommendation was to charge faculty and staff for parking. This created an uproar

Fights Break Out After Celine Dion Concert Fans say the Celine Dion concert was wonderful, but it was after the show where crowds got unruly

In November’s PT we are featuring Consultants. I asked a group of revenue control equipment manufacturers what they thought of consultants and got an earfull.

The senior member of the parking consultants is turning 90 this February, but its not slowing him down. Larry Donoghue and I were chatting today

A few weeks ago I wrote this: It think it goes deeper than that. The Brits are trained from birth that the “nanny state” will

Its easier just to read if for yourself… A Bellevue woman allegedly tried selling a prescription drug in order to be able to pay for

A hairdresser in Columbia SC has a problem. Seems the parents picking up kids at a school nearby are parking in his lot and causing

I read about downtowns like this one in Evansville, IN? just tick me off. gadzooks, they built a mall on the outskirts of town and,

The City council of Broomfield, CO showed political courage this week by first voting against the expansion of a parking area at a local church,

The Road and Transportation Department of Dubai is turning off parking charges for the Ed Al Fatr holidays this week. It will be interesting to

The IPI has selected Shawn Conrad as its new executive director. IPI Chairman Doug Holmes made the announcement yesterday. Conrad comes to the organization after

During the upheaval in Wall Street and the government rushing in the “save” everyone here’s some news you won’t get anywhere else – Gas prices

I commented in an earlier post about a parking direction system that has been installed at a local shopping center and how well it works.

The city of Wilmington (NC) is considering removing its parking enforcement during periods when major events are taking place in its downtown area. These events

Crime is down, at least in LA – however gangs still rule some neighborhoods and incidents like this one in Chicago do happen. People in

The Ethicist By RANDY COHEN – The New York Times …My wife parked in a public garage and lost her parking ticket. Had we gone

A system of sensors monitoring on street parking has been installed as a test in Ft. Worth, Tx. Some citizens are upset because amongst other

There is no other way to say it — the NPA show is great. Marty Stein and his crew have knocked it out of the

I went to lunch yesterday at Century City here in LA. The "Westfield" shopping center is newly refurbished and great. So is the parking. I

Is this week in Las Vegas and all parking eyes are focused on Marty Stein’s extravaganza. I understand that folks from south Texas may be

We are always being asked about the "Industry Standard."  Whether its for the number of lost tickets, the average loss ratio in off street parking,

I received some sage input from a local yesterday. It seems THEY consider Brazil a third world country. Even though its economy is a powerhouse,

Of course I knew it all along… Back in 2006 I awarded the coveted "City by the  Bay" award to the city of Jacksonville for

I’m I’m in Sao Paulo attending the Transpoquip Event, well actually exhibiting and speaking but who’s counting…This is being organized by Sebas van de Ahe.

I’m in a bit of a confusing conversation with a friend about parking facilities and their cost and the true cost of parking. I won’t

A columnist in US New and World Report is reporting that they are in the throes of doing away with charge parking at UK hospitals.

I’m getting articles back from our copy editor for the October Issue. This one caught my eye. I thought you might like a sample…  

I’m on a tear here.  I just got back from an errand and was listening to the news on the radio. Here’s the quote from

I was just editing an article we are running in the October PT by Lanier Parking’s Mark Morris. It relates to how customers are greeted

The San Diego Union reviewed nearly two and a half a million parking tickets issued in the Southern California city and found some interesting facts.1.

I heard they charged $80 to park in the lot nearest the stadium where Barack Obama gave his acceptance speech. WOW. I wonder how may

To educate the public.  Courts in the City fo Asbury Park, NJ, have been flooded with parking tickets as the new Pay by Space equipment

When the school decides to build some new classrooms, a research center, or a dorm on a parking lot, they often don’t consider the problem

Folks riding the Metro in Toronto are going to have to pay to park in outlying stations.  Its about time. Giving "free" parking to one

A St Johns Newfoundland shopping center is concerned that people are parking their cars on their lot and putting for sale signs on them and

The local city leaders in Invercargill, NZ, are calling their parking enforcement officers Parking Nazis. Read about it here. This has caused so much pressure

I have been following the folly of the city of Escondido. They want to introduce on street parking restrictions in their neighborhoods. Seems a lot

The City of Niagara Falls, NY, has a problem. They have a large garage and its losing money, but the privately held garage across the

I thought this might be of interest, particularly to owners and operators:   Aberdeen today announced the availability of a new benchmark report on “PCI