Year: 2018

A year or so ago I commented on an article that posited that a high end BMW actually created the same or less pollution than

There are, at last count, 328 million people in the US. Keep that number in mind.(Third most populous country on earth.) We are told by

At this time of year we are supposed to write stories about the future. I can do that. It’s easy. I can say whatever I

This blog was first published exactly a year ago. I can’t improve on it. As we head into the New Year, we are supposed to

It never hurts to be reminded that our personal experience can strongly affect our opinion of new ideas. The other day, UK Correspondent Peter Guest

For some reason, this has been a difficult message to write. I mentioned earlier that I am having trouble getting into the Christmas Spirit. Then

OK, the expo was over. Paul had survived. When he returned to his desk, he knew the first thing his boss would ask was “was

I have noticed that the number of Christmas Cards we have received is way, way down. I suspect that this is because written correspondence in

When one refers to a Unicorn today, its not a mythical horse, but a high tech startup that is now worth over a $billion. It

I can’t seem to get away from this number: 30%. That’s what everyone thinks the number of people cruising for parking on any given moment

What follows is a shameless plug for PIE — Read it, there’s some good stuff there. JVH Los Angeles, CA – December 11, 2018 –

I spent last week traveling to Dubai to speak at Gulf Traffic, a trade event covering parking and traffic and focused on the Middle East,

Paul didn’t realize it, but he wanted an event that stressed WIIFM, that’s “What’s In It For Me.” He wanted an event tailor made for

What Paul needed was a trade show where he could meet people like him and talk about the problems he was facing. It needed to

As Paul thought about the trade events the next day, he realized that what he really liked about the shows was the exhibit hall. It

The stop for a drink last night was eye opening, but it also added one more problem to his life. A blazing headache. The hour

This little story is from Julianne over at Flowbird. It can happen to all of us, and perhaps her response to the attendant could go

Paul awoke worrying about everything, his job, his family, his income, his life in general. OMG the pressure was intense. His boss was looking over

My friend Carla Green over at Clarity Designworks sent this thoughtful missif today. I felt it needed a wider view. Thanks Carla: When I ask

Its Thanksgiving and time to think about things we can be thankful for. One can quickly list friends, family, good health, and the ease of

The World Resource Institute is hawking a blog that is bemoaning the fact that urban sprawl exists and therefore an individual’s carbon footprint is larger

I was surprised when the woman in charge of “Smart Cities” for Los Angeles told me that she couldn’t get the parking department to return

The term “Mobility” has suddenly become the buzzword of the day in our industry. One manager tells me that if she talks about “parking” eyes

Like leaves turning color, parking organizations meet during Autumn. Parking Today has attended a number of these events and will continue to do so. We

I was chatting with a friend the other day and commented that Parking Today was attempting to bring more international stories about parking to its

I read recently that the Feds are considering dropping the requirement that businesses report their status (earnings, etc) quarterly. This request was made by some

Today we celebrate Veterans Day, formerly Armistice Day, the day the War to End all Wars, WW 1, drew to a close. We remember those

Have you Voted? There is still time. It seems there is a huge interest in this election and if my precinct is any example, it

“Mobility” is a buzz word. In Australia it refers to assisting those who are mobility challenged (handicapped). Here we think of it as moving people

Back in Early October, I wrote a piece poo pooing disruption in our industry. At the Temecula Group, some took exception. It may have to

And then we have to go in and clean up the mess. We had a lot of discussions at this year’s Temecula Parking Group about

I have been asked what made this NPA event so special.  My answer is twofold, welcoming and engagement. First of all, every level of the

I have been thinking about the keynote speech we all heard at the NPA confab yesterday. Frankly if you have heard a couple of these,

The 2018 National Parking Association Conference and Expo is underway and Caesars Palace in Las Vegas and I have to say without reservation it is

The next few days are busy for Parking Today Media. Astrid, Eric, Peter, Jordan and I are heading for the Temecula Group. Next week Astrid,

Cities across the fruited plain are rebelling against electric scooters. Although safety may be an issue, the one that seems to stick in most city’s

A garage manager who is paid over $100,000 a year, has been fined $16,000 for stealing $10,000 worth of parking from the city of Los

The economy is booming, companies are growing, unemployment is at historic lows. What could be the downside? Simple. There are tens of thousands of good

I’m always excited when I hear about a new company appearing on the scene. I received a head up call from Charley DeBow that he

What a great headline – Astrid found it over at Forbes and posted on parknews.biz. It’s written by a lawyer who posits its not the

Our cousins in the UK have similar problems with central cities dying and folks heading to shopping centers and Amazon on line. See “Our schizophrenic

    First, let’s decide what “disruption” really means. I like this definition from Wikipedia: In business, a disruptive innovation is an innovation that creates

I just got back from Costco. It is surrounded by acres of free parking. When I arrived I drove to a far corner of the

Some apartment dwellers in East Orange, NJ, have a parking problem, at least from their point of view. They are reaping the result of separating

The other day I want to the grocery store and bought a bottle Carnivore wine. A modest little red but we like it. When I

Wow, so many things wrong with that headline, and I haven’t even gotten to the story in the LA Times. You can read the entire

Last week I visited my doctor for a scheduled check up. The receptionist asked me if I wanted a flu shot. I said yes. The

Kenzie Coulson, who runs the parking and transportation operations for the city of Park City, Utah, had an interesting discussion with Astrid at the SWAPTA

An opinion piece in the New York Times (you can follow the link at parknews.biz) calls for a citywide 35% tax (up from 18% in

I have just received the final looksee at PT October before it heads to the printer. My wonderful team outdid themselves this month. The theme

When I reread this blog piece, and with the urging of Astrid, I began to think about the people I was damning and realized that

When I hear “emerging technology” I think of the sun coming up first thing in the morning. Its dark, then the day gets brighter and

As you may remember, I have been railing against panic over autonomous vehicles for the past two years. The mainstream media has been calling me

According to “lonely planet” Reykjavik is “The world’s most northerly capital and combines colourful buildings, quirky, creative people, eye-popping design, wild nightlife and a capricious

My post above about using cell phones in teaching came from an aging wag (me) who admits to knowing nothing about the subject. I asked

I have discovered I am completely out of it when it comes to dealing with the young. I don’t mean 20 year olds although that

It’s like you are in a baby’s cradle, being slowly rocked back and forth, back and forth. You go to sleep quickly, but walking down

I’m travelling this week and next on a ship “In the Wake of the Vikings”. We started in Bergen, Norway, and are now in the

I met with a group than ran parking for a major university and gave a spiel on how easy it would be to sell the

I pulled together a presentation for a potential customer and was blown away at the many different tools Parking Today Media can offer our industry

Back in the day particularly in Manhattan, but in other places as well, parking was all about price and availability. If there was space, you

We held our mid year meeting this week and my staff joined us in a barbeque at chez Van Horn. Eric and I, for the

We can argue on Teddy Roosevelt’s tenure as President, but he could spin a great tale when he gave a speech. When he spoke to

According to the AAA, It’s cheaper to own, maintain, park, and insure a car than to take Uber or Lyft. A lot cheaper, like by

I read recently that the Feds are considering dropping the requirement that businesses report their status (earnings, etc) quarterly. This request was made by some

I would think that with all the brouhaha over technology in parking and pay by smart phone and parking reservation apps, that parking professionals would

I visited a high-tech parking operation yesterday. It had everything – reservations, license plate recognition, parking guidance, it was a carnival of parking technology. I

We published a news release today over at Parknews.biz from Keolis Canada about their Autonomous on-street shuttle. Seems there are 89 of these critters running

Are the bees back? We hear that the bee population is waxing and waning and the result could be catastrophic. I looked around my back

I have seen two stories come across the ‘net regarding autonomous vehicles. Both breathlessly claim that AV’s will be launched virtually any minute now, but

As my neighbor noted when we woke up to find a dozen “Bird” scooters roosting in his parkway, this issue doesn’t rank with world hunger

Don Shoup writes in his new book that separation of church and parking can be a fight. To wit:             Efficiency is not the only

Astrid posted on Parknews.biz an article about the City of Columbus. Access it here. Seems the capital of the Buckeye State is using funds received

Last week I stayed at a major hotel in Las Vegas. The rules are that hotel guests pay for parking but get in and out

Parking Today Media was in Las Vegas this week and attended a Southwest Parking and Transportation Association mixer hosted by Brandy Stanley. It was fun

I just finished reading an article about the value of curb space in cities and how in the future cities will be able to control

When I suggested to a group of municipal parking gurus that there was a program that could allow delivery companies to reserve curb time to

My comments from yesterday on AVs and carpools brought a couple of responses I felt deserved the light of day. Carpooling has been around for

Forbes Magazine was picked up in parknews.biz. Astrid featured an article about how autonomous vehicles won’t really solve the congestion and traffic issues of modern

Consider the problem. When pay by plate/space machines communicate with your office, they use the same communications systems as your cell phone (Verizon, ATT, T-Mobile,

Build something I can operate! Dammit! I had to go to the local courthouse (filing a DBA for all you wags out there) and parked

While perusing Parknews.biz I came across ‘Hofstadter’s Law.’ It seems self evident, but like the law of unintended consequences it is often ignored. It goes

Looking back on the previous blog, I’m reminded of an incident that took place back in the day when I was supervising sales people in

I have thought that a “thought leader” was an expert in some field and when they spoke, pearls of wisdom issued forth. Recently my cynicism

I read on Park News that “Experts” are telling us that autonomous vehicles, when they arrive on the scene, will constantly be in motion, moving

From time to time I am approached by companies and asked to spend an hour or so on the phone answering questions about our industry.

My lunch on Friday with Don Shoup and Mike Manville at UCLA was entertaining and thought provoking. I told them about my discussion with Frost

“Many people think parking is like sex, if you have to pay for it it’s just not right.” This quote from Donald Shoup’s new book,

OK, its an old joke, but if we think about what ObiWan and Co believed about the Force and just what Independence Day means to

World Cup I’m not following it but catch a bit every morning at the café when I have breakfast. Today the place was jammed by

This week the Wall Street Journal published a special eight page report on the “Future of Cities.” The lead article was about driverless cars the

In 1910, Theodore Roosevelt spoke on “Citizenship in a Republic” to the Sorbonne, in Paris. This is an excerpt from that speech: It is not

Independence Day falls on Wednesday next week. It’s a day when all the dogs go crazy, the citizens of our fair land celebrate with parades,

That headline has only a tangential relationship to this blog, but I hope it got your attention. When I was rereading the previous post about

I had a nice chat yesterday with David Straus, Executive Director of ACT, the Association for Commuter Transportation. According to its web site its an

Its Summer, and the mind turns to vacation. Heading out on the open road, seeing new sights, living the good life, letting the kids experience

Networking was the name of the game as Southland Printing sponsored music and cocktails for more than 500 attendees at the IPI show Tuesday evening.

I have been to two parking trade events so far this year, the IPI and PIE. I’ll tell you about the IPI in a minute,

Trade events bring together people from across the industry. Its a time to learn and acquire information. Today we met our friends at Parking Network

The largest media company in parking is heading out to the largest trade show in parking. It gives us the opportunity to see people face