And here comes the Parking Revolution!

Television New Zealand missed the point here with this news item.  Its not that the car park has sensors or there are no barriers or its a Pay by Phone car park site alone, no this is the first 'dynamically priced' car park in NZ.

Now most people wont understand what that means but they need to because this means you are now only ever going to pay for parking, exactly what it is worth!  No more over-priced or under-priced parking, just parking charged at the correct value.  Wow.

Dynamic pricing in parking means that the price will move with the demand, that is, if the car park is empty, the price will drop and if the car park is full, the price will rise.

I said this was a revolution.  How is this a revolution I hear you ask?  Well, in two ways it is a huge change in the parking industry and the consumers need to note this.

One, all organisations that don't use this method of charging will be found out.  They will be identified as lazy or just not caring enough about the user to amend the prices to actually what the parking, on that day, in that location, is worth.  Those that act like a monopoly will be forced eventually to change or hey will suffer ridicule from the public.

Two, the public will not have parking to use as its subject of folly any more.  The emotion that most people attach to parking will be removed.  The emotion is attached to parking because some organisations that manage parking have mis-managed the pricing of it.  Ask yourself, if an organisation just adds CPI (inflation index) to a price, is there really competition here, are we as consumers really getting the best price and is the inflation adjustment related to anything other than revenue gathering?

In a fully functioning market where consumers get the best price related to what they want to buy, that is low prices if they want a slap up job or the best price for the best widget, parking in some quarters has been a fixed price, one price for all and unrelated to the value you get for the time in that car park   No wonder everyone has been emotional about parking.  Amend the price to relate it to demand, like almost every thing we buy in the world today, from petrol to broccoli, and people will understand why they are paying the price they do, and that will remove the emotion.  We may not like the price but we will understand it and who doesn't like to get  a bargain, especially in parking.

And here comes the revolution.


Read the Story and Watch the Video Here.

Is it time to review parking fines????

Parking commuters swoop - Is it time to review the parking fines????

            

Residents of Freemans Bay and Ponsonby in Auckland are struggling with commuters who circle waiting for residents to drop their children off at school and nab their car parks, then put on their running shoes and jog to work.  They may get a $12 parking fine, but that is a good trade off when parking in Auckland can cost more than $12.  Is it time to review the level of parking fines so they become a deterrent?

Read more here .......

Frog Opens High Tech Car Park ...

Palmerston North has become home to what may be the world’s most high-tech carpark, where the amount drivers pay depends on how many spaces are available.

The 33-space carpark in the city’s Church Street has been kitted out with solar-powered sensors by local parking technology firm Frogparking that can tell which parks are occupied. Drivers pay for parking through their smartphone.

Frogparking has been providing ticketless parking systems to Palmerston North for a few years, but director Don Sandbrook said the new system was its most advanced yet, with cheaper parking if there were lots of spaces available and higher prices if they were nearly all taken. The tariff ranges from 50 cents to $2 an hour.

Regular patrons can use a GPS-enabled windscreen tag that will automatically bill their credit card, but there is no cash option.

Sandbrook said there was plenty of on-street parking nearby for “little old ladies” who found the technology complicated. “If you don’t have a smartphone, we don’t want you to park in the carpark.”

He believed everyone would be paying for all parking by smartphone within 10 years. “There will be no other way.”

Drivers pay only for the time they are parked and local retailers can send codes to customers’ smartphones that entitle them to have their parking fees refunded if they take up shopping offers.

A local cafe, Cafe Moxies, has been the first to do that, but three other retailers are offering parkers in-store discounts.

Sandbrook said Palmerston North could become the “world’s innovation hub” for the parking industry and help cities around the world revive their retail centres.

- © Fairfax NZ News

Read Article Here ...........

Parking Nation Tradeshow & Exhibition- CALL FOR ABSTRACTS – Last Minute Reminder!

CALL FOR ABSTRACTS – Last Minute Reminder!

Parking friends,

The Parking Nation Exhibition’s CALL FOR ABSTRACTS is about to close.

On behalf of Parking Nation Exhibition 2014 (PNX14) team, we would like to invite you to submit abstracts for oral presentation at PNX14 to be held at the Chateau-on-the-Park Hotel, Riccarton, Christchurch on 27-29 May 2014.

Parking Nation will be attended by all of those in parking in councils & municipalities, commercial operators, airports, hospitals, universities and campuses, property, agents, service contractors, parking equipment, technology, hotels, transport & traffic engineers and planners, parking consultants, enforcement, mobile phone technology suppliers, design & construction, lighting suppliers, printing, tender contractors and retail & mall operators.

TOPICS

The following topics are some of the themes that will be addressed at PNX14. However other relevant topic subjects may be put forward by presenters:

• License Plate Technology
• Lighting & LED Technology
• Electric Vehicle in a modern parking world
• Sensor Technology & guidance systems
• Smart Cities – data integration
• Tech camp
• Successful parking RFPs & Tenders
• And more

 The closing date for abstract submissions is Friday, 7^th March 2014.

PREPARING YOUR ABSTRACT

• Abstracts must not exceed 300 words, excluding title, authors and institutions. The abstract should include the essential technical qualities of the paper. No acknowledgements or references are required with the abstract. 
• Abstracts may include a simple table or figure.
• Must include a succinct overview of the intent and purpose of the oral or poster presentation.
• No specific abstract format is required.  The key requirement is to give the organising team a clear understanding of what would be presented.
• Prior experience in speaking should be noted.

To submit your abstract, please go to www.parkingnation.co.nz and go to the link to attach the Abstract.

Please circulate this information as widely as possible and encourage your colleagues to submit abstracts for PNX14.

If you have any queries on the above, please do not hesitate to contact us.

You just have to get your Parking Enforcement right or we all look like Plonkers!

A 47-YEAR-OLD woman is warning other motorists using Burton’s Queen’s Hospital’s controversial parking system to keep their receipts with them – after managing to get her fine quashed.  

Kay Tomlinson, of Sunnyside, Newhall refused to pay the £70 fine she received for parking in the hospital last month because she said she had paid the correct amount to park.

She was only fined after Parking Eye claimed she input her registration details incorrectly – which she denies. Despite paying the correct amount she was still fined.

Article Here

Well readers, I have finally gotten rid of my Internet Explorer 8 and now have Google Chrome.  This means I can now add to the Blog without all of the issues I have had over the last few months and start to write regularly again.  Watch this space.