Parking World

Scam-A-Lot

Technology provides convenience. But we often forget that technology also exposes vulnerabilities that we never had to think about in the traditional parking business model. A recent parking-related scam uncovers one major challenge of automated parking technologies.

In November, a scam was uncovered relating to Auckland's Downtown parking lot. The media speculates that thieves hacked into the car park's automated credit card payment system and used cardholder data
to replicate cards and make unauthorized charges. More than 100,000 credit cards are expected to be reissued.

The PCI Security Standards Council, which is made up of the world's largest credit card companies, has developed the PCI DSS standards to direct merchants on how to protect cardholder data. Although these standards are popular in the US, they are only recently becoming adopted internationally. This recent occurrence proves just how important these standards may be to the international parking community.

I have been trying to find out whether Auckland's Downtown car park, which is owned and operated by the Auckland City Council, was compliant with PCI DSS. But both the Auckland City Council and its acquiring bank, Westpac New Zealand, have said they cannot comment on this while the incident is still under investigation. Until we hear more information from these organizations, I am tempted to assume that there was no PCI DSS compliance with the Downtown car park's automated credit card payment system.

Dale Clements, Group Manager Parking, Transport, Auckland City Council, says they are looking at options for updating the card acceptance systems across all car parks. Hopefully, the Auckland City Council is looking for a new system that is compliant with the latest PCI DSS guidelines.

Our industry has grown into a multi-billion dollar market, and parking payment kiosks can contain as much valuable financial information as an ATM. The Auckland incident is a sobering reminder that security of cardholder data must be a top priority for any car park owner or operator.

Pete Goldin

Technology (1)

I got a Sat Nav for Christmas, accompanied by mutterings about "at least we won't waste so much time getting lost if you have this". Like any true Male I took it out of the box switched it on and pressed all the buttons to see what would happen (instruction books are for sissies). Two hours later, having decided I really didn't want to be guided in Spanish I finally relented and got out the book and set it up properly. They really are clever little devils; they can tell where I am within a few feet and with this particular model get me to anywhere in Europe. The downside is that they are incredibly data hungry. Yesterday I drove about 40 miles to visit a nearby town with the gizmo switched on. 3 months ago there had been a major road improvement underway on the motorway with a 50 mph limit through the works. It's finished and gone but still in the GPS database so for about 10 miles the bloody thing screamed at me to slow down as I drove a perfectly clear road at 70. On balance I think it will help but I can see many frustrations ahead.

Technology (2)

Is anyone ever taught how to use a computer? A zillion years ago I did a three day course on using an IBM mainframe. That's it, everything else I have picked up as I have gone along. This leads to a few problems; I can just about manage the basic Microsoft packages but anything to do with hardware or operating systems and I am screwed. Therefore when my PC went belly up I called on Techno Man who diagnosed the problem (mainly me) spent half the night here and got it sorted for a very modest fee. Everything was OK up to about a week ago when Microsoft updated the Operating System which knocked out the Graphics Card settings. Techno Man talked me through the problem and I sort of got it fixed but it wasn't quite right. No problems UGG the older daughter's beloved was due and he works in IT, he will sort it. Two hours later he had deleted the operating system and after a lot of faffing about and scowls from my daughter (at me, she wasn't the centre of attention), he managed to get it back more or less to where he started. Techno Man is due tomorrow. Otherwise is anyone ever taught how to use a computer?

Snow in the UK

We have a moderate climate and we are not really used to snow and ice anymore, not is the South of England anyway. So the heavy snow and freezing weather over the last few days has caused a lot of problems. Monday night Basingstoke in Hampshire gridlocked and 2,000 cars were abandoned (which of course screwed up any chance of snow ploughs and gritters getting round). Just down the road a few miles, in Winchester, the ancient capital of England, much the same thing happened. Some sensible drivers who realised that the road was blocked, rather than abandon their cars in the road drove them off the road into the car park of the Roebuck Inn, thus keeping the road clear for the plough. Next morning when they came back they had been wheel clamped and had to pay to get their car back. A spokesperson for the clamp company Cobra Security, far from accepting that these drivers had behaved responsibly for the common good, said "they should have left them at the side of the road".

Penny Wise Pound Foolish

As the saying goes. I visited Camberley in Surrey today (Saturday), a nice town with the pre-Christmas shopping frenzy going full speed ahead. There is an old multi-storey which is reaching the end of its life but is still way better than the other two car parks, one barely a year old, that couldn't be much worse and could only be improved with a bulldozer. Therefore the "old lady" is far and away the most popular site. Problem is that it snowed, (does that in December again, something to do with global warming) and so the top deck and ramps are covered with snow and ice. Rather than send out a team to sweep and grit the deck the Council closed it. This meant that they had a guy in the car park directing drivers away from this deck and several more dealing with the irate queuing drivers and, no, I don't think anyone thought to reset the counters to show when the car park was full. End result: save a few bucks on clearing the deck; probably spend more on the staff to manage the resultant chaos, lose perhaps 20% of the best car park in town on the busiest day of the year, lose hundreds in revenues and piss off the local retailers and shoppers. Brilliant!

Parking in Paradise

Reporting from Honolulu, Hawaii, this week, I have come across an interesting choice of parking options. Some of the parking lots in Waikiki offer an option to pay per half hour (about $3 per 30 minutes) or the other option is to Pay-In-Advance, also called PIA, a flat rate of around $7. The PIA rate doesn't seem to be advertised -- it is written in small lettering at the car park entry. I have the impression it is meant for locals.

On my first attempt at parking in Waikiki, I was totally unaware that the PIA option existed -- because I didn't read the fine print posted on the attendant's booth, and I just grabbed a ticket and drove on through. After about 5 hours I was facing a $30 parking fee, but the friendly car park attendant let me slide. Possibly we were mistaken for locals because my wife is from the Pacific Rim.

I find this fee model interesting. It is not a natural reaction for the parking lot patron to examine the sign posted on the attendant's booth, which would only be visible after you take the ticket. So I would suggest that that patron would really have to be aware of this rate ahead of time. But how do they find out about it? The attendant could tell the customer about the PIA option, but the customer does not interact with the attendant until they exit the car park, and at that point it is too late. It seems to function as an unofficial and informal local discount which allows the tourists to pay full price.

The savings could be substantial if you are parking all day. How do you take advantage of the discount? All you have to do is ask.

Lady Parking

On October 24, 2009, I reported that Seoul, Korea was designating pink parking spaces specifically for women. China is going one step further – a Chinese shopping center recently announced the opening of an entire parking lot exclusively for women drivers.

The "Lady Parking" lot, located at the Wanxiang Tiancheng shopping center in Shijiazhuang, the capital city of Hebei Province, is scheduled to open in early 2010. To appeal to female patrons, the car park will be decorated with bright colors, such as pink and light purple, and cute cartoons.

Speaking of color, a report from the Global Times adds some off-color commentary, stating, "The lot offers wider parking spaces especially designed for female drivers, who tend to cause twice as many collisions in parking lots than in other places, according to insurance company data."

In a more subtle way, BBC quotes a Chinese official stating that the new lot will cater to women's "strong sense of color and different sense of distance."

These comments are referring to the fact that the parking spaces will be three feet wider than traditional parking spaces, because women are allegedly worse at parking than men, at least in China. The new car park also provides three lights in every parking space to improve visibility for female drivers. In case even more help is needed, specially-trained female parking guides will direct the drivers.

While I applaud the "lady's first" attitude, just as I did with regard to Seoul's women-friendly parking spaces, I will admit that I am uncomfortable with the conversation about women's parking skills -- a more difficult discussion in Western cultures. It seems to be politically incorrect, even if research claims to prove this point. But I have not figured out yet if the PC factor makes the Western position on this topic more or less advanced.

 

 

 

Lady Parking: Promotion or Evolution?

In my last blog, I covered the opening of a new women-only parking lot at a Chinese Mall. While I assumed this could be a trend or even a hint of societal evolution, a different viewpoint has been posed by Richard Zhou, Managing Director of Cytel in Shanghai and an expert on China's parking industry.

"I consider this as a marketing event of this particular developer to show they have something unique," Zhou suggests. "I don't think anybody will follow the suit. It will surely not become a trend."

This could be true, although it would sharply contrast Seoul Korea's similar recent move, a sincere attempt to make the city more women-friendly by designating women-only parking spaces in pink.

A clever marketing scheme, a fad ready to sweep across Asia, or the new front line for the battle of the sexes? Time will tell.

Who would have thought it?

I spent a lot of time working in Mumbai in the 1990's helping to develop the city's transportation system. My bit was to plan a Municipal Parking Agency to provide and manage parking services in the city, which was undergoing rapid car ownership and use growth. Everyone said it was a good idea but nothing has happened and surprise, surprise things aren't going too well.

The MMRDA, the state development authority has done a deal with a hotel developer to build an 850 space garage and just like an earlier venture the car park sits splendidly empty whilst the streets outside are jam packed with parkers. It's not rocket science; the streets are free and unregulated the car park charges. MMRDA has stamped its official foot and is "writing to building tenants" and "asking the Police to tow away illegally parked cars". It's never going to happen. The tenants will have no control over their staff and the Police have a city of 14million to deal with. This area might get attention for a week but that's about it.

The MMRDA paid me, per day, more than the average annual wage for the city. Why pay for the advice if you are not going to take it?

An interesting point for you operators out there, the 850 space car park has 33 people working in it!