CAR PARKING
Seattle, and Tokyo (four countries). In Australia
respondents also identified Perth, Melbourne
and Sydney as being progressive about parking.
facilities,” he said. These messages certainly
resounded loud and clear in the responses of the
Australian survey.
Sustainability an industry focus
While decision-makers’ attitudes toward
parking appear to be positively shifting around
the world, most respondents feel that more
collaboration is needed, particularly between
parking professionals, urban planners, and local
government officials. This was most strongly
voiced in the Scandinavian countries, but at least
half of those polled in Australia, Britain, and
Canada agreed. In Australia, local government,
planners and architects emerged as the three
groups in most need of increased collaboration
with parking professionals.
Along with technological improvements, the
parking industry has been revolutionised by
a heightened environmental awareness, with
parking professionals assuming active roles in
fostering sustainability in their communities.
Sustainability proves to be a broadly-shared
global concern, with most respondents saying
the greatest environment benefit comes from
on- and off-street guidance systems that enable
drivers to find parking faster, reducing carbon
emissions. Coming in a close second is energyefficient lighting, seen as one of the top three
priorities for a majority of countries, particularly
Germany (85 percent) and Brazil (72 percent). The
third leading trend of encouraging alternative
travel through bike storage, car and bike share,
and access to mass transit, is clearly seen as
a priority in Norway (70 percent), followed by
Britain, Australia, Ireland, Brazil, and the US.
“This is the first time parking associations around
the world have collaborated to identify industry
trends, and it is clear that we share many of
the same challenges and opportunities,” says
Shawn Conrad, CAE, executive director of
the US-based International Parking Institute
(IPI), the world’s largest parking association.
“Despite our many common issues, we see some
interesting differences in countries’ priorities and
circumstances, and I believe we will be able to
learn much from each other.”
President of the Parking Association of Australia,
Larry Schneider, attended the Summit in Dublin
and reinforced the strong collaboration that exists
in the parking industry globally whilst highlighting
what his association sees as imperatives.
”Australia continues to integrate technology and
enhance sustainability throughout its parking
operations whilst continuing to be innovative
and address the needs of those that use parking
According to Conrad, the survey results point
to the need to tap parking expertise earlier in
the urban planning process to avoid later issues
with economic development, transportation flow,
congestion, and design.
Societal Factors: Can smart parking solutions
ease traffic congestion?
It is estimated that about a third of the traffic
in any city consists of people driving around
looking for parking spaces, and 11 of the 13
countries surveyed listed traffic congestion as
one of the most significant societal influences on
parking. (Australia, Canada, and the US viewed
traffic congestion as the leading influence,
followed by Brazil, Britain and Germany). Onethird of those surveyed believe that parking’s
greatest future challenge will be dealing with
this scarcity of space and resources and rising
mobility costs in urban areas.
Other societal influences on parking varied by
region. They included economic pressures on
retailers (listed first by Brazil, Britain, Ireland, and
Spain), increased fuel prices (listed first by Spain
and second or third by six other countries), the
focus on environment and sustainability, and the
desire for more liveable, walkable communities
(both of which were rated most highly by all three
Scandinavian countries, followed by Canada,
Govlink Issue 2 2013
25
Germany, and the United States).
Only Brazil cited a shortage of
qualified employees that was
affecting parking.
The Global Parking Survey is not a
statistically projectable study, but
it’s a valuable snapshot and the
beginning of knowledge-building
and future collaborative projects
among parking professionals
around the world.
Parking Association Chief
Executive embraces new direction
On another note the recently
appointed Chief Executive of the
Parking Association of Australia,
Lorraine Duffy, has launched the
strategic directi