notes from big ben ...

Here in the UK, one of the most intractable problems facing municipal parking managers is how to deal with the loading and servicing neáeds in

My friend Bob writes me letters, on paper, puts them in a stamped envelope and mails them; he doesn’t do electronic correspondence, apart from phones.

A short time ago, I wrote about the parking charge scheme in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. Officials there first started thinking about

S”ometimes I just don’t understand why people behave the way they do. It just seems that given there is a hard way and an easy

It’s the end of another summer, and we in the UK have reached the time when all the produce in the garden is ripening and

The British Parking Association (BPA) is celebrating its 40th anniversary.What started with a small number of people with a common interest in the business of

I believe that modern insurance started in Lloyds coffee house in London around 1690, when people involved in shipping got together to share the risk

Historically, the British National Health Service (NHS) did not charge for hospital parking, and numerically, it indeed is still true that most public hospitals in

Last month, I commented that March would be “show time,” with the PIE, Parkex, the British Parking Association (BPA) awards and Intertraffic Amsterdam 2010. So

I write these pearls of wisdom about a month before you see them, so apologies if the timeline is slightly out of whack. It’s the

Beware the “she dragon’ China has a demographic problem. Its one-child policy and traditional attitudes toward female children mean that a whole generation has grown

Don’t bite the hand that feeds you, goes the old saying. Yes, you should, says I; it keeps them on their feet. In a recent

JVH tells me I am a curmudgeon. This surprises me, first of all because I don’t think I am, and secondly, because I did not

JVH and I were at the Philippine parking conference in Manila recently, and he gave them a presentation on all things Shoup. After JVH came

I recently went to Beirut for the first time in seven years. It’s interesting to see the city and how things are moving forward. The

It’s the end of summer, and in the UK, we are pretty much still in silly season. Yesterday’s Times had a man whose prize pumpkin

It’s that time of year again, what journalists call the silly season, when people take off on vacation and “real” news stops. In the UK,

There is only one story here … and it has nothing to do with parking. Apologies for going off the subject, but this needs telling.

I live near Aldershot, UK, the HQ of the British Army. Over the 40 years of our civil war, security was tight and, most important,

Whitebeam is a type of tree, and a new sub-species was recently found in Devon, UK. The official registered name of this tree is “Sorbus

Diagonal parking isn’t very common here; it’s used more widely in Europe, and many advocate it as the easiest to use. The attached photo taken

I have just made a flying visit to Dubai, UAE, where it seems that conspicuous expenditure and ostentatious displays are a way of life. However,

It’s the beginning of a new year and traditionally a time for reflecting on the old year. Nothing to do with parking, but for many

Like our glorious leader, I went to Abu Dhabi, UAE, in November to attend the inaugural Middle East Parking Symposium. Unlike JVH, I stayed on

Local journalists in Kent, UK, are reporting shock-horror that Sevenoaks Council is employing two more parking wardens “despite” doubling the amount of money they made

Some time ago I told you that the Scottish Parliament and the Welsh Assembly had separately decided to meddle in parking charges at public hospitals

I have written many times about the “new” system of street parking we have in the UK. It’s loosely based on the Washington, DC, program:

A couple of weeks ago, I was in Cologne, Germany. The European Parking Association has a biennial awards program, and I am one of the

In the UK, we pay an annual fee to use our cars on the road. If you don’t use your car, you can declare it

A big thank-you to all who came to see me at the Parking Industry Exhibition. I think it went well; anyway, nobody threw anything. To

In a recent column, I told you about the “cunning plan” of the Scottish Assembly to cap hospital parking changes without thinking through the consequences.

It’s all my wife’s fault (she’s not in the room, so I can say this): There was a really good story in the news, but

Peter Guest will be speaking at the Parking Industry Exhibition in Chicago. His topic will be a discussion of arguably the largest parking system installation

Fast food has taken on a whole new meaning here in the UK. McDonald’s is upset that the free (as in pay for it some

In a recent Parking Today blog entry, JVH criticized UK authorities for ticketing vehicles that were loading and unloading. “This is patently absurd,” says our

First a complaint, in his blog our glorious leader referred to an article from India and commented on “the King’s English”. I realize that sometimes

Anyone who bothers to read this column will probably have noticed that I was President of the British Parking Association for a while. I am

There’s an old Yorkshire saying – “Thay’s all mad “cept thee and me, and I’m nowt too sure “bout thee” – that the following two

I am not making this up (1): I recently was given the translation of a new parking law in a country that shall remain nameless.

I’m still spending more time on planes than in my own bed, and right now I am sitting back in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates,

Another day, another dollar, and I am still splitting my time between “The Old Country” and Abu Dhabi, the “Land of Sand,” as we pursue

Things are pretty quiet here in Britain at the moment. No major exposés about dodging parking enforcement. No car parks falling down. No major new

Some of the good (or more correctly bad) citizens of Lewes in the South of England were not too happy when the local council introduced

I am just back from speaking at the first ever Iberian Parking Conference in Oporto, Portugal. The two-day event was jointly organized by the Portuguese

Many years ago, someone asked why the standard British army uniform included a red tunic. The answer from an old soldier was: “so it doesn’t

I just got back from PIE in Chicago, where JVH had invited me provided I gave a talk. It is always difficult to judge how

So JVH doesn’t like parking taxes because “it’s a tax on people using their cars” (PT’s Parking Blog). Where I come from, we call that

I had some interesting conversations at Intertraffic in Amsterdam, but I think the following two exchanges stand out as extreme examples of the salesman’s “art.”