A report prepared by the New Zealand Transport Agency has recommended that the government investigate changing the fringe benefit tax to include employer-subsidised parking.

The proposed additional tax is being considered to address concerns that employees are undermining attempts to ‘encourage more efficient commuting behaviour’. According to Stuff.co.nz, more than half of the country’s workforce is estimated to have access to free parking provided by their employer.

The report has calculated the value for the potential tax benefits in $675million annually, based on the value of car parking in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch at around $2,700 per employee.

The NZTA report also recommends that the government explore introducing variable fringe benefit tax rates for company cars based on their size and greenhouse gas emissions.

The Southern Precinct project and expansion of Melbourne’s Tullamarine Airport is part of a proposed program of investment by Melbourne Airport over the next five years. The expansion project is budgeted to cost in excess of A$1 billion.

According to MICEBTN magazine, Stage 1 of the project is focused on the area south of the existing T3 terminal and around the T4 terminal, and includes the phased development of:

• A new domestic terminal facility designed to cater for up to 20 million passengers per annum and an ultimate area of 35,000 square metres;
• 35 additional aircraft parking aprons and taxi lanes to accommodate future growth;
• Two new multi‐level structures for ground transport services, additional car parking spaces and access to other services such as taxis, shuttle buses and public transport and upgrading the airport road network to provide access to the new terminal precinct and also to support the future growth of Melbourne Airport over the next 30 to 40 years.

Stage One of the Southern Precinct project has an estimated cost of up to A$300 million, and is planned to commence in October 2012, with the new terminal open for operation by July 2014.

A new apartment block in Miami has elevators to take residents directly to their units whilst they are sitting in their cars.

The $560 million tower is a collaboration between Germany-based Porsche Design Group and a local developer, Gil Dezer. According to the Miami Herald, after the resident pulls over and switches off the engine, a robotic arm that works much like an automatic plank will scoop up the car and put it into the elevator. Once at the desired floor, the same robotic arm will park the car, leaving the resident nearly at his front door.

The glass elevators will give residents and their guests unparalleled views of the city or the ocean during their high-speed ride, expected to last 45 to 90 seconds. Residents will be able to see their cars from their living rooms.

The 57-story luxury tower will have 132 units. Smaller units will be allocated two parking spaces and larger ones will have four, with 284 robotic parking spaces in total, serviced by three elevators.

A recent post on the DC Streets Blog examined the economic effects of cycling, and specifically exploring the notion that an investment in cycling infrastructure generally will limit car parking.

The article quotes a few numbers, statistics and pieces of information around the economic benefits of the bicycle over the car. We’ve summarised some of the key points of the article below:

-        One car parking space can fit 12 parked bicycles.

-        Cyclists tend to shop closer to home more often – as car drivers are more likely to head to the suburbs or big shopping malls. According to researchers, only 16 per cent of household car expenses (expenditure when utilising the car) stay within the local community. 

-        Cyclists have an additional $6,000 to $8,776 available for spending that would have otherwise been spent on car registration, petrol and maintenance.

On top of the economic benefits listed above, there are a number of programs being implemented in the US that have seen significant boosts to the income of local businesses through encouraging cycling. Two highly successful examples of programs include:

-        Long Beach’s citywide bike discount program – where customers get better prices if they arrive by bike.

-        ‘Open Streets’ – closed to motorised traffic – has seen 73 per cent of visitors spend money in a restaurant or store on the route, and 68 per cent became aware of a restaurant or store that was new to them, according to research conducted by Washington University in St. Louis.

We did find it very interesting to see the cycling debate framed as an economic one, and the study provides useful statistics and case studies for those involved in planning or in considering the merits of promoting alternative forms of transportation. 

Thanks to Andrew Morse, our resident Senior Traffic Engineer, we came across this fantastic music clip, called ‘Got More’, by a band called Eskmo. It’s a stunning animation totally created from footage filmed at a New York intersection. We highly recommend watching through as the animation becomes ever more Escher-like.

The NSW government has recently changed legislation for on-street parking, paving the way for the introduction of ‘phone parking’.

After registering their details with a third party operator, drivers would then either use a smartphone application or call a toll-free number to send their car registration details to the system, advising of their arrival in the space. The “meter” is then stopped again by the driver on return, and the parking fees billed to their credit card. The system alerts the driver by text message 15 minutes before their paid parking time expires.

According to Fairfax Media, the NSW Roads Minister, Duncan Gay, said the change has been agreed to by Roads and Maritime Services, with the phone parking to complement existing payment methods.

The system should prove popular with local councils as it will reduce the costs of parking meter maintenance. Proponents of the technology claim that it benefits drivers by removing the risk of overpaying the meter, and reducing the risk of overstaying. 

Perth’s bike boom has led to the proposal from the state government to provide a cycling facility featuring showers, lockers and parking for 500 bikes in the Perth CBD.

The ten-year bicycle network plan, released by Transport Minister Troy Buswell, proposes to spend up to $10million in expanding existing bike paths and creating new paths within a 15 kilometre radius of the city. According to WA Today, the plan is in response to a five-fold increase in the number of people cycling to work or for leisure in Perth: about 300,000 cyclists per month take to the roads and cycle paths across the city.

Among the 12 recommendations of the Government Plan is a proposal for a high-quality 'end-of-trip' terminus to provide parking for 500 bikes, showers and locker facilities which would operate on a fee-for-service basis. The government has suggested a feasibility study be carried out, and suggested the facility could be created by converting existing space within a multi-storey car park.

Meanwhile, the City of Perth is working on its own cycling plan, which will be released in June.

The full plan can be viewed on the WA Transport site here. 

Volvo has recently announced a world first in the introduction of a new safety technology it calls Pedestrian Detection.

According to ZDNet, it's part of Volvo's IntelliSafe system that, in the first instance, will brake sharply if someone steps in the way. If the car goes on to hit someone, an external airbag on the bonnet inflates to cushion the blow.

The external airbags will be part of the Volvo V40, which already has a number of handy features, like helping drivers stay in their lane, park assist capability to help drivers with reverse parking, and Driver Alert Control to warn when the driver is getting tired.

The only drawback with the external airbags is that they only work effectively at speeds up to 35km/h. However if it prevents injuries for pedestrians, it’s definitely worthwhile technology!

Below are videos showing the operation of the external airbags, and a second video on the Pedestrian Detection technology in general.

We have come across two technological innovations this week from auto manufacturer Mercedes that are pushing the boundaries in parking and driving.

The first sees the integration of Apple’s voice recognition technology (called ‘Siri’) into their vehicles, allowing users to access their iPhone and applications through voice commands. According to Discovery.com, the system will transfer the phone’s screen to the car's system screen so that drivers can listen to music, update social networks statuses and send texts.

The second innovation is called ‘Mercedes TweetFleet’, and sees a fleet of cars that include a new feature, alerting you when there is a car parking space free as you drive past. To make people aware of the new feature, they developed a smart campaign that featured a fleet of cars that tweeted when they came in proximity of a free car space. View more on this video below. 

The City of Sydney released its ‘Connecting the City’ Transport Strategy document this week. It includes a wide compilation of figures and statistics associated with traffic and transport movements in and around the city.