Our traffic division has really come into its own, generating a strong level of awareness among both our traditional parking clients as well as among architects, planners and engineers. We have confirmed the strategy that both arms of the business strongly complement each other to provide our clients with a unique proposition.

The quality and range of our consulting services have been significantly increased by the recent addition of Glenn Caldwell to the team. Glenn’s experience spans across 12 years including private sector operators, airport parking, consulting services and local government management. Glenn led the City of Sydney’s Parking Services Department for over 4 years and brings to the team a range of hands on expertise in such areas as on-street parking, car park Audits & Financial Performance, Data Analysis, Contract Management, Parking Meter Technology, Tenders, Pay Parking Implementation, Parking and Traffic Policy and Sustainability.

In late November Glenn presented a paper on EMV credit card payments to a Parking Association of Australia networking function which was the best attended event of the PAA in the whole of 2011. The topic of EMV is still in its infancy with regards to the implications of and responsibilities for operators of on and off-street parking facilities. To continue the process of information on this subject we are following up Glenn’s presentation (which can be viewed at our website) with a discussion forum where  feedback and input from equipment suppliers, credit card providers, banks and any other interested parties will be welcome. Comments may be posted on our News and Information page and we shall continue to deliver up-to-date information to all concerned.

This year has seen our consultants being involved in some exciting overseas projects. We were appointed by a shopping centre developer and operator based in Chile to assist with a project located in Bogotá (Colombia). Our involvement to date has related to the design of the car park component of the project for almost 3,000 vehicles. We are also working on a development just a stone’s throw from the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) which comprises two commercial towers and a 1600 bay underground car park. Our initial brief here is to provide a concept design for the car park layout in order to achieve the maximum yield of space with the minimum amount of excavation.

The map below shows the locations of the projects we were working on at the end of November. All these projects are serviced from our office in Sydney. By having all our consultants located in a single office we are able to ensure that the whole team is across every project we are working on and to provide their individual experience of other similar sites for the benefit of our clients wherever they may be located.

Our recent appointment to assist Perth Airport in their signage and way-finding project means that we can now say that we have assisted Australia’s 11 largest airports as well as a number of regional airports in a variety of projects!

Australian projects included a range of shopping centre developments (new and existing), local councils and commercial buildings. Our services have been sought by various consortia with regards to major PPP projects for the development of parking structures within hospitals. We have managed tenders for access control equipment, parking guidance systems and car park operations. Our independence from suppliers of equipment and services means that our clients can be assured of impartial advice to suit their specific requirements.

The Wayfinding Forum, our official blog, has seen significant growth this year with an increase of 25% in the subscriber base. As you can see from the graph below, the number of monthly views has more than trebled in the past year, now reaching over 5,000. This year, we published approximately 200 articles covering a wide range of topics relating to parking, traffic and transport in Australia and abroad.

We would like to thank our readers, who hail from all over the globe, for their support in 2011. During 2012 we plan to continue increasing the quality of our blog posts, ensuring they are relevant and up to date, sharing knowledge from our team of consultants. Our goal is to make the Wayfinding Forum the premier destination for parking and traffic news and information in Australia.

Our consultants were present at a number of national and international events during the year, in addition to Glenn’s presentation at the PAA networking function. Kelvin Worthington presented a paper on financial feasibilities for PPP car park projects at the Campus Parking Workshop organized by the PAA in November at the Gold Coast. Cristina Lynn made presentations at a number of international meetings including a talk on Parking Policy in Australia at the World Parking Symposium held in Niagara on the Lake in June.

In November Cristina was in Sao Paulo for an event organized by Parking World together with Abrapark (the Brazilian Parking Association) where she talked about Parking Management issues. In the same month Cristina was in Buenos Aires for Argentina’s first Airport Conference where she presented a paper on Airport car parks. All the presentations are available on our website at our blog post on Argentinian airports and Brazilian Parking.

All in all it was a good year for our company and we are confident of having made a positive and valuable contribution to our clients’ projects. Our objective is to continue to do this in the years to come.

We usually like to finish off with something a bit different or special and this year it has nothing to do with the festive season or with parking. However we hope that it will bring a smile to your faces and that you all have a wonderful Christmas and a prosperous new year.

With best wishes from the Parking & Traffic Consultants team,

Cristina Lynn