Parking World

"Arming" Parking Enforcement Officers

Perhaps Jolyon would like to comment on this one, but there seems to be some conversation about having officers carry batons or pepper spray to protect themselves from abusive citizens who resent being given a citation. Read about the issue in Sydney, NSW, here.

It appears that there has been a flood of incidents, with up to a quarter of the officers reporting physical assaults, and most reporting verbal abuse. The city is against "arming" the officers, and it appears the individual parking "rangers" are against the new equipment, but the union has suggested it.

I'm at a loss as to what to think. On one hand, giving officers a baton or spray moves their duties to an entire new level, but on the other, no one should have to put up with physical abuse. I know there are liability issues by the hundreds. What to do?

I would think that perhaps having radio contact with the police would be a solution. If the officer sees the situation beginning to get out of hand, they could call the police and have the person arrested. If the word got out that abusing a parking officer could get you a find and a night in the pokey, perhaps the number of incidents would drop. Often the possibility of a negative result to one's actions have a tempering affect.

JVH

TV Tickets

According to a recent article on SecurityPark.net, last years change which permitted parking tickets to be issued from CCV footage is causing a few headaches for England’s local authorities. It seems they may not have the personnel to keep up with the added workload of this type of enforcement. 

According to the Royal Auto Club, of Britain's 25m cars, just 1m are on the move and 24m are parked at any time. Across England and Wales, the number of parking tickets handed out to motorists is approaching 8m annually - equivalent to one for every three cars. In the London, the number of penalty notices has jumped by 45% in four years to 5.9m. 

Of course most of these are notices are placed on the vehicle, but it takes only a small percentage of these to be written from CCTV to create a logistical burden. For each offence noted, there must be a vehicle owner search, someone must verify the details match those of the reported vehicle, then the notice must be printed, folded, inserted and posted. No simple process, even if parts of it can be automated. 

With so many Councils under financial pressure to increase revenue so that they can maintain expected services, it appears the political beasts are pushing their administrations to make the most of this source. And this is where the problems start.

You can read the article here.

JP

Bundling of Parking Costs in Abu Dhabi

So, folks in Abu Dhabi are up in arms that after paying nearly US$700,000 for a condo, they have to pay an additional US$41,000 for a parking space. The article is written in a way most favorable to the poor downtrodden buyer. Read it here.

What the developer is doing is separating the cost of the parking from the cost of the house. This enables people who don't have a car to be able to purchase the house without paying for the parking. It also means that most likely the individual units will be less expensive since there will probably be less than one or two spaces per unit, thus making the construction costs lower. Lower costs, lower price. If you own a car, most likely a very expensive car, why not pay to park it, rather than having the parking costs bundled into the cost of the unit.

Seem to make perfect sense to me.

JVH

90% are Never Written

When I spoke before the On Street Enforcement Association in Australia the Q and A session was more interesting that the speech (If you can believe that.)

One of the officers, having sat patiently through my “Shoupista” talk, raised his hand when the discussion moved to enforcement, without which, nothing works.

“Let’s tell the truth,” he said, “ninety percent of all citations are never written.” You could have heard a pin drop. Of course he was right.

Only about 10 percent of the people who violate the parking rules and regulations ever get caught. I used myself as an example. I know that when I scoff at putting a quarter in the meter or park in a “resident’s only” space, my chances of getting a ticket are about 1 in 10.  Proof? Only my personal, non scientific experience.

This week I had lunch with Don Shoup at UCLA and he showed me a graph which was the result of a test done by the City of Los Angeles on Hollywood Boulevard. They were testing in street monitors that collected length of stay statistics.

The entire graph was the total amount of parking available in the test area. The bottom about 25% was green – that depicted space that was legitimately taken by car’s that were parked legally. The top about 25% was blank, space not taken by cars. The middle 50% showed space that was taken by cars parked illegally.

Two thirds of the cars parked on Hollywood Boulevard were parked illegally; it certainly says something about enforcement. Let’s face it. Those people knew absolutely their risk in getting a ticket was nil.

Before you ask, my guess is that the monitoring system simply tracked length of stay and those that stayed longer than legally possible were considered illegally parked. I don’t know whether or not these monitors were connected to the meters. It makes little difference for the purpose of this blog.

What this shows is that the city of Los Angeles is losing a whopping big number when it comes to 1) monies placed in meters and 2) citation revenue. It would seem to me that stationing a dozen enforcement officers in this 8 block area would return the investment many fold.

This doesn’t mention the “cruising” issue. Just think if all those spaces that were filled illegally were opened up how many people cruising around looking for convenient parking in front of the Chinese Theater or the Pantages would be off the street and many a traffic jam would be eliminated.

Ninety Percent aren’t written. Think back on your personal experience. How many times have you “run in” to the dry cleaners or Starbucks and not put any money in the meter? How many times have you come back to your car and seen that little red flag in the meter window? How many times have you parked in the “residential parking zone” in a neighborhood and not taken the time to go back to your car with the guest permit? Then think about the number of parking tickets you got last year. Gee, maybe it’s more than 90 percent.

JVH

Whoops….He Took $5 million a year

I received this from four different correspondents. I print it without comment.

Outside the Bristol Zoo, in England , there is a parking lot for 150 cars and 8 coaches, or buses.   It was manned by a very pleasant attendant with a ticket machine charging cars £1 (about $1.40) and coaches £5 (about $7). This parking attendant worked there solid for all of 25 years.

Then, one day, he just didn't turn up for work.

"Oh well", said Bristol Zoo Management - "we'd better phone up the City Council and get them to send a new parking attendant..."

"Err ... no", said the Council, "that parking lot is your responsibility."

"Err ... no", said Bristol Zoo Management, "the attendant was employed by the City Council, wasn't he?"

"Err ... NO!" insisted the Council.

Sitting in his villa somewhere on the coast of  Spain , is a bloke who had been taking the parking lot fees, estimated at £400 (about $560) per day at Bristol Zoo for the last 25 years. Assuming 7 days a week, this amounts to just over £3.6 million ($5 million)!  / [FYI - that works out to $200,000/year -- all bottom line income, with no taxes or costs-of-goods-sold (except for his chair, umbrella and ticket machine)

And no one even knows his name.

Oh Oh, Enter “Dark Reading:” Parking Meters: The Next Big Hack?

I've never heard of it, but it's real. There is a web site and a trade show devoted solely to hacking into computer systems and finding ways to prevent it. The site is called "Dark Reading." The trade show is the "Black Hat USA" conference.

These groups are looking into the security of and hacking into on street parking equipment. You can read all about it here.

I love the headline: Parking Meters: The Next Big Hack?

I quote from the article and Security Researcher Joe Grand:

"Why parking meters? It's a combination of everything, software, hardware, network connectivity and it's a physical real application used all over the world. They're taken for granted. It's just a big metal box in the ground where you shove your money into it, get your parking and you walk away." Grand added that most parking meter users don't think about the financial risks and the social implications of the parking meters if there was to be security breach against them.

In 2003, San Francisco replaced 23,000 mechanical meters with new smart parking meters at a cost of $35 million. Grand noted that other major cities in the US and around the world have also adopted a new generation of smart parking meters. These meters provide smart card capabilities, can take credit cards in some cases, have display screens and are usually networked.

From a security point of view, there are multiple angles to examine on a parking meter. With smart card meters where there are cards that are loaded with dollar values, those cards could potentially be reset or reloaded. Some meters also take credit cards and that information might be stored on the meter where an attacker could potentially grab the information.

In some cities, the meters are connected by wireless networks while in other cases they can be accessed by way of an infrared wireless device. Grand noted that meters could potentially be reset to give free parking – or on the other side to expire parking for a valid spot. Smart meters also often have LCD screens which Grand commented could hypothetically be used by a hacker to transmit messages.

So you wonder. Do our manufacturers have all this in mind when they write the software that runs the parking systems?

Think about it – Someone who hacked into a parking system could change the rates, make parking free at all times, copy the numbers off credit cards, put their own messages on the displays, add money to debit cards, or cause all types of mischief. These security hackers try to break into systems and then, I assume, sell their knowledge to the manufacturers to show them how to prevent it from happening.

I used to work in that part of the industry. My old boss always told me that security in computers was illusionary. "The minute you think you have something that is completely secure," he would say, "Is the moment you think you are smarter than everyone else. And of course that's never true."

Soylent,,,,er,,,,Green?

Sainsbury's Supermarket in Glouchester in the UK has installed a peizo electric system in its parking garage so cars driving over the equpment actually generate enough electricity to run the store's checkout counters. If you are interested in the technology, read about it here. They have drawings and everything.

I think this is great. The store is also using cold air from the freezers to cool the store and is designed so huge windows light the place during the day and they can cut back on light. Plus they are capturing rainwater and heating it with solar panels for warming the building.

One wag commented that with all the eco friendly equipment in the store, they might try offering "Soylent" in the deli section. We understand that the "Green" variety is most popular.

(For those of you under 45 the movie Soylent Green starred Charlton Heston, Leigh Taylor-Young, Chuck Conners, Joseph Cotton, Brock Peters, Paula Kelly and Edward G. Robinson. Oh, yes, Dick Van Patten is in it as an usher. Go rent it and watch while eating some pistachio ice cream or lime jello. Ymmmmm. Then you will understand the reference.)

Sainsbury's Supermarket in Glouchester in the UK has installed a peizo electric system in its parking garage so cars driving over the equpment actually generate enough electricity to run the store's checkout counters. If you are interested in the technology, read about it here. They have drawings and everything.

I think this is great. The store is also using cold air from the freezers to cool the store and is designed so huge windows light the place during the day and they can cut back on light. Plus they are capturing rainwater and heating it with solar panels for warming the building.

One wag commented that with all the eco friendly equipment in the store, they might try offering "Soylent" in the deli section. We understand that the "Green" variety is most popular.

(For those of you under 45 the movie Soylent Green starred Charlton Heston, Leigh Taylor-Young, Chuck Conners, Joseph Cotton, Brock Peters, Paula Kelly and Edward G. Robinson. Oh, yes, Dick Van Patten is in it as an usher. Go rent it and watch while eating some pistachio ice cream or lime jello. Ymmmmm. Then you will understand the reference.)

Parking and Costco

I have just read a super summary of why parking requirements set by government is destroying the urban landscape. Check it out here. It's basically Shoup 101 as seen through the eyes of a consulting firm with the author living in New Zealand. Here's the synopsis from the Toronto Sun:

Cities forcing developers to provide parking seems innocuous. It's not. The rules stimulate urban sprawl, encourage excessive use of cars, create inequitable social outcomes, reduce housing affordability, and suppress economic development.

Wiping parking regulations from municipal planning codes across Canada is arguably the most urgent policy reform municipalities can make.

In the middle of the last century, transport engineers thought providing parking would ensure drivers looking for spaces did not create undue congestion and delay other road users.

Parking regulations are politically palatable because they improve driver convenience by including the cost of parking in the overall cost of development.

But parking is not free; the cost is merely hidden.

Today, 90% of private vehicle trips in North America end in a "free" parking space. But that valuable urban land the space uses isn't free.

Developers who build banquet halls in Richmond, B.C., for example, are required to provide up to four square metres of parking for every metre of rentable banquet space. So everyone pays more for banquet space. The cost of parking can be substantial. The Toronto Parking Authority estimated the cost of providing a single parking space could be up to $40,000. U.S. researchers estimated parking subsidies are several times the price of gas used by cars.

The most insidious characteristic is the way the rules mold the urban landscape into a gigantic parking lot. By taking up land, parking spots reduce density and make car travel more appealing, which leads to -- surprise, surprise -- greater demand for parking. Parking rules actually add to congestion.

The effect of minimum-parking regulations varies depending upon income. A low-income earner is likely to spend a larger portion of their money on basic goods and services that build in the cost of parking. Supermarkets, for example, recoup the cost of parking in their grocery prices. Low-income earners are more likely to carpool, use public transit, walk or cycle, so they are less likely to benefit from the parking they are forced to subsidize. The cost of higher density housing is inflated by parking regulations, too.

Because the cost of parking is built in to the cost of other goods, people are less likely to make use of alternatives to the drive-and-park lifestyle. Car pooling, public transit, telecommuting, car sharing and online shopping reduce the demand for parking, but consumers have no incentive to choose these options because the cost of parking is built in. One scholar called minimum-parking regulations a "disastrous substitute for millions of individual decisions ... about how much a parking space is worth."

The removal of minimum-parking regulations does not need to be sudden or disruptive. If parking rules changed today, Canada's urban areas would adapt slowly over years with new developments having only small impacts on the overall demand for parking. Cities would have to manage demand through the use of time-limits and ultimately prices.

If Canada's planners are committed to economic growth, sustainability and livable communities, they should first focus on making sure existing regulations do not surreptitiously undermine these urban objectives. It is time we realized parking is not free and instead implemented simple regulatory reforms that allow developers, businesses and consumers to manage their demand for parking in a more effective manner.

As I read through the original report one comment stood out. It mentioned that by having fewer parking spaces, even in smaller cities and towns, people would begin to change their habits and, for instance, make fewer trips to the store and stock up when they did go. This is sort of like leaving a pile of stuff at the bottom of the stairs and then carrying it up when you got a complete load rather than making numerous hikes up and down.

It occurred to me that Costco is a perfect laboratory to test this hypothesis. Out local Costco, in an area of Culver City near Venice and Marina Del Rey, is among the top ten grossing stores in the chain. It's always busy and if you don't get there when the store opens, its parking lot is always full. Although I find going to Costco is fun, just to look at all the "stuff" and revel at the quality of the meat and variety of wine, there is no way in hell I'm going to fight that parking lot simply to wander as I would at the mall.

Hence, R and I have a list and when we discover items we need that would be a good "Costco" buy rather than buying it at the "store" (toilet paper and vitamins for instance), we put them on the list. When the list is of a certain length. We get up early on Saturday, drive to the store, stake out a parking spot and get in line with the 300 or so others that are jockeying shopping carts waiting for the big red doors to roll up.

Our behavior has been altered by the lack of parking. Costco's sales aren't. This is a rocking store, among the top in the chain. They have limited parking, but it doesn't seem to hurt business. And we smart shoppers still buy the same amount we always would. However , dare we say it, the parking, or lack of it, has caused us to think more clearly about how we go about shopping.

Is this a horrific problem for our industry? Less parking means less need for parking services, right? I think not. Actually the need is in reverse. Costco doesn't have any controlled parking. It's chaos. They need a manager for parking. It would be great if there was a sign telling you how many spaces were available (technology). Some Costcos (in Mexico, for instance) charge for parking for non customers to prevent poaching. I have no clue how many spaces are poached but I bet its more than a few. How about parking reservations for peak times? I also know that at least 100 of those spaces are taken by employees, by design. Well, if they wanted they could find parking for their employees nearby and bus them in. All of these activities take management, technology – you know parking planning and services.

Fewer parking spaces means more work for the parking industry.

JVH

Even Here

I have been following a story about Orthodox Jews who are literally rioting in the streets over the city's decision to open a parking garage on the Sabbath. (During 'Shabbat,' as the day is known in Hebrew, ultra-Orthodox Jews are forbidden from working, driving, handling money or using electronic devices. )

Fair enough. I'm not certain that this warrants rock throwing and marches, but there you go. When I first read about this issue, it was in the Denver Rocky Mountain News. I was confused because I didn't think there was a large Orthodox population in Denver and merely scanned the article. It struck me that once again, the local government was being a tad heavy handed with a vocal minority population. Surely some accommodation could be worked out without resulting to violence, although many of the Orthodox folks I know can be pretty adamant.

Today I read another article about the ongoing issue, this time in the Middle Eastern Gulf News. Turns out the that this demonstration has been going on and off for three weeks. Gad Zooks, can't those Denver folks get their act together.

I read further and discovered that in fact, the problem wasn't in Denver at all, but in Jerusalem. Yes, it was the government of the old Capital of Israel that was walking all over the Orthodox. The garage was near the famous old city and it was feared that the open carpark would bring tourists and raise havoc during the Shabbast.

Ancient vs Modern in Israel.

JVH