Year: 2012

At this most blessed and magical time of year, I think a bit about the secularization of our lives. The jolly “Merry Christmas” has been

I had a new experience Saturday, R and I went out for dinner and a movie. Sound routine? Well the difference is that this time,

I have been following with some interest a lawsuit against a parking company in Florida. Seems they were accused of falsifying insurance invoices and billed

I can never remember which comes first when you write the date that way, the month or the day.  So I looked it up and

I parked in Battery Garage in lower Manhattan last Wednesday. Its two blocks from Ground Zero, a block from the Hudson River and around the

To reprise a story we’ve been following here for a couple of years but I had never actually seen the garages. I took a tour

Its referred to as ueee pueee — or Indiana University Purdue University, Indianapolis.  The two largest universities in Indiana have a shared campus in the

I had a few free minutes in lower Manhattan last Thursday and decided to go to Ground Zero — the 911 Memorial. The place is

You think you know what a data center looks like — Its a large room with a raised floor and windows.  You can see the

Well maybe not.  According to Mark, the feds have and RFQ out in Seattle for one parking space for one year. It has to be

Toronto has a grace period for parking citations.  If the citation is written within 10 minutes of the meter expiring, it can be voided. Read

At least in large metropolitan areas with high rise valet garages.  An attendant was killed in an accident this week in Manhattan.  The story is

Here’s the deal — a woman in Chicago’s boyfriend bought a car and put it in her name. She didn’t realize the car was in

What an incredible year.  We actually survived the election, which seemed to go on forever. For half of us, our guy didn’t win, for the

Check out Kevin Warwood’s blog today on a issue that has intrigued me for years. The story is this — a town in central New

I published this post in PT last month and got this response: You invited our comments and said you will try to print them.  Here’s

We think of Abraham Lincoln as a man of of great words and deeds. He is held up as a paragon. He freed the slaves

The parking association of Australia hosted a number of international visitors including speakers Zhu Hao from China, George Hazel from Scotland, Dave Hill and Sandra

Women in Parking, a group that began two years ago in Pittsburgh and has grown in the US upwards of 100 members will see itself

I’m in Sydney, Australia, for the bi-annual Parking Association of Australia convention. They really know how to treat their delegates. Those from overseas were provided

This article basically says that people whose cars were trapped in a couple of garages run by Central Parking in Manhattan were charged for the

Its starting — city governments think they are helping merchants and being ‘nice’ by giving free parking on streets in shopping areas. The problem is

Quickpay’s irrepressible Barney Pell was interviewed in “Fast Company.”  You can read the interview here. We have an interview with him in the December issue

From Australia — Yes, these folks deal primarily in off street enforcement on private property, but the idea is the same.  What do you want,

I spoke to some circuit board designers this morning and asked them what you should do if your PARCS system was under water.  They noted

I spoke at length with a friend in parking from New York City last night.  It had taken him a few days to get back

Toyota has pulled the plug on its all electric car, the IQ. It will not produce the car. The Quote from Toyota:  “The current capabilities

Its November First and in cities across the snow belt, winter parking rules are going into effect.  Some say that there can be no on

I just find this strange. Massport, the entity that runs Boston’s Logan Airport, is offering rebates to parkers who were trapped with cancelled flights because

Obviously when natural disasters hit, parking is affected. Here are a couple of pix courtesy of readers from the East Coast.  First from Cape May,

I hate it when people send me things to do Friday afternoon. What they have done is put off working all week, and then on

I had lunch yesterday with Frank Ching who runs the parking for the City of Santa Monica. He was bubbling all over about a policy

Exhibitor Space for the Parking Industry Exhibition 2013 is over half gone and many of the best locations are taken, comments Carol Robins, sales manager

Two news releases hit my inbox this AM: From CreditCall CreditCall expands its US team with the appointment of Dave Witts as President of US

With that line, Don Shoup sums up a major issue concerning both on and off street parking. Writing in the Los Angeles Times, the Professor

I was talking to the thirty something Chad Reed, new head of 3M Federal APD —  and I began to wonder, wonder about our industry

The NPA convention in Florida closed yesterday with 815 attendees according to NPA Prez Christine Banning. If you want to know what you missed, check

The show is small and crisp. Christine Banning has a number of good speakers who will give the NPA members some excellent information. The chap

I was telling someone the other day, someone in the know, about PT’s on line eMagazine and they told me they had never heard of

This week heralds the NPA Convention in Hollywood, FL. Carol and I will be there and hopefully will be able to post a few notes

This weekend in LA has been an Endeavour. The earth orbiter has moved at a blazing pace of 2MPH from LAX to its final dock

There’s an article out today about EV’s and Batteries. WAIT!!!  All of you who are ready to pillory me for destroying polar bears and killing

I have been browsing in Linkedin Parking Groups (There are over 20) and found Parking It Here — A prolific blog by New Zealander Kevin

Booths for the Parking Industry Exhibition to be held in Chicago Next March 10-13 are Selling Fast. Sales Manager Carol Robins tells me that choice

Twenty Five years ago Mark Curtis had a idea for an invention. He took it to a friend and they formed a company. Pacific Cascade

I’m traveling this week and flew into Portland International Airport.  I was pleasantly surprised. This small second tier airport is stunning.  It is easy navigate,

Standard Parking Corporation, one of the nation’s leading providers of parking management, ground transportation and other ancillary services, today announced that it has closed its

According to Standard Parking, they expect to close on their deal with Central tomorrow. There hasn’t been a lot of talk bout this ‘merger’ since

My quarterly screed about emails is upon you.  I invite your comments. 1. Forwarded emails. OK — I really don’t despise forwarded emails. Cute kittens

I caught this column in over at hospitality net. The chap is a ‘hotel doctor.” I guess this is like a “concierge doctor” – you

Standard Parking said today that it had received Department of Justice approval for its purchase of Central Parking. The new giant company will have to

Fall is in the air — you can ‘feel’ the change in seasons.  Trees are turning, maybe a sweater in the evening, that unique crisp

OK — I got slammed a bit over my comments about egalitarianism and planners who want to put us into what they consider appropriate living

The Space Shuttle Endeavor landed at LAX on its last fight this afternoon around 1 PM Pacific Time. Here are some shots.  The 747 with

Egalitarianism is a trend of thought that favors equality among living entities. Egalitarian doctrines maintain that all humans are equal in fundamental worth or social

Today, Wednesday September 19th, is “Talk like a Pirate Day.”  You didn’t know?  Shame on you.  The day even has a web site. Go here.

Friday (Sept 21) is PARK (ing) Day. Its the day when activists across the globe take over on street parking spaces and turn them into

From Tom over at the Parking Smart discussion group on LinkedIn: The Parking Officer’s Funeral As the coffin was being lowered into the ground at

A baby was born in the parking lot of the Loudon NH Nascar race course over the weekend. A woman and her boyfriend tried to

The city of Foxboro, MA has passed a law that people can’t sell their front yards to park cars around the Foxboro Stadium, where the

We embrace technology. Research and innovation have given us everything we need to run our parking operations. But are we better off?  In some ways,

I will probably be pummeled for this but I am taken aback by the fact that the parking industry, at least the public sector, is

For the past five years I have been hearing rumblings about the theories of Don Shoup.  For those of you living under a basket, they

I received the release below from the IPI on the passing of Jim Hunnicutt.  I didn’t know Jim well. I ran into him at various

Current Central Parking CEO James Marcum to Leave Company Following Post-Merger Transition Period CHICAGO, Sept. 7, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Standard Parking Corporation (Nasdaq:STAN), one

Gabby Douglas, winner of the woman’s gymnastics all-around at the London Olympics upon receiving her gold medal, gave all the glory to God. Immediately, at

I had heard about a campaign for a ‘parking bill of rights’ in Atlanta and figured that the locals would be out for blood, demanding

I know this is self serving, but there you go… The Organizer of the Parking Industry Exhibition 2013 is notifying by email all manufacturing and

The City of Santa Monica has settled a lawsuit that pointed out that the city had not been following the legal requirements based on a

My buddy Tom Wunk has left his position at Scheidt and Bachmann. For those that know Tom, you are aware that throughout his career both

We have a two page article in this month’s PT about SF Park — it is an opinion piece and I take the program to

The contractor responsible for St. Louis’ parking meters was involved in a series of scams, paying three ghost employees and the blackmailer who found out

A few years back I started a major discussion over issuing warnings vs slamming every violation with a citation, no matter what.  Here’s what I

I have to say I’m tempted.  Here’s the story. A particular residential street in Pasadena has been covered with parking tickets because it has a

Not!  I don’t know of a place on the planet where removing parking meters (or parking charges) has increased local business. Let’s see — I

This happened in Oxford, England, but frankly it could have been anywhere.  In an effort to increase revenues, the local council started charging in five

Seems that a woman has sued the city of Santa Monica for $1.7 billion because she claims that radiation from the parking meters have given

The City of Los Angeles is in the process of removing parking requirements for businesses in certain areas within the city. Read all about it

Its impossible to read a new post at Paul Barter’s Reinventing Parking without finding a pearl that should be repeated.  His latest here is a

OK — We seem to have a bit of a tiff brewing — After my last comment below it seems Rufus and Brandy want to

If you didn’t pop for the extra few bucks for the lug nut blockers on the boots you bought for your enforcement operations thinking that

It’s my town and I believe it.  LA is screwed up about everything else, why not this. They collect money from parking lots, but they

From time to time I strike a nerve. I seem to have done so with my post on hotel parking in Houston — I dammed

I have been thinking a lot about the benefits technology brings to managing parking facilities and had begun to wonder if the job of running

I”m back from a short trip to Texas and have a couple of observations on air travel. First, what the hell gives flight crews the

Or is it. A throwaway comment by a colleague on the phone this morning got me thinking. Are cities, universities, and commercial parking operations simply

The 2012 edition of the People and Products in Parking Directory is at the Printers and is also up at our web site. Click on

Casey Jones over at the Parking Matters Blog brings up a good point. The Feds are investing a few million in transportation research. It is

Probably three of the most politically incorrect words in the language. When someone says “I don’t care” we immediately assume they are dunderheads or at

Paul Barter over at Reinventing Parking has collected a group of links (including four to your humble servant’s comments about SFPark) that bring a baker’s

That’s the headline on a two page article in this weekend’s Wall Street Journal. It boils down to the fact that retailers, and others, are

Try as they might, its hard to put a good face on the electric car business.  The problem is the cost of the car.  $40K

Marketing Guru Seth Grogan says it all: Who let this guy in the building? Are you letting other people talk to your customers? At the

Brandy Stanley has done an excellent job of educating the local press in Las Vegas.  Check out this article in the local paper.  The money

I have been reading a book on management called “The Oz Principle.” Its been around for a decade but is not out of style. The

I have commented on SFPark before so much of this won’t be news. However, I did receive some comments on the blog post (go here)

Here’s the article, I will attempt to parse it. Seems there are many more people wanting to park near the Connecticut stations for the trains

I can’t improve on the article sent in by Mark — so here it is: Calling himself a proponent of equal rights, the mayor of

The Wizards at Unparalleled Parking Blog have done it again. Now they have done an financial analysis on the Ohio State PPP deal which I

IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776 The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America hen in the Course of human events it becomes necessary