New York City has scrapped a controversial plan to privatise its street-parking management system. The concept was designed to help ease the financial position of the city by generating a steady revenue stream under a leasing arrangement with the private sector, according to the Wall Street Journal.

However opposition to the plan was strong, citing a similar move by Chicago in 2008 which reportedly resulted in a four-fold increase in parking levies and a deal which saw the city short-changed by an under-valued contract agreement.

According to BizJournals.com, there is also concern stemming from the Chicago case study about confusing enforcement policies regarding handicapped spaces as well as road closures during public events.

While other US cities such as Cincinnati have decided to move ahead with their own version of the plan, in the face of the public outcry, NYC’s Department of Transportation has instead decided to proceed with a “meter-modernization” strategy making their own collection strategy more efficient.

However New York’s privatisation plan is not dead and buried, with a spokeswoman for the mayor saying, "in order to proceed with this venture, a private operator would have to demonstrate that they could significantly improve on the city's financial and operational performance."

The site of the Springfield railway station due to open this year.

A new rail link south west of Brisbane, spanning The Darra to Springfield will reportedly deliver a major capacity upgrade for the Western Corridor's transport needs. The project is on track to be delivered by Queensland’s transport Minister on or ahead of time in 2013. However concerns linger about a “massive” car park shortage, according to QT.com.au.

Public transport advocacy group Rail Back on Track spokesman Robert Dow said that the proposed 100 spaces were not enough considering the poor bus feeder services. He has said this would add pressure to traffic and commuter congestion at nearby train stations.

This has led to reports that a private car park operator may be engaged to create a parking station accommodating up to 1000 cars. Local ALP Member, Jo-Ann Miller has said that the claims had stemmed from her constituents, however the office of the LNP’s Minister for Transport denies that any proposals from private companies had been received.

The spokesperson from Mr Emerson’s office said the department was currently in discussions with Springfield Land Corporation and Ipswich City Council to find a solution for commuters. 

Canberra’s “Parliamentary Triangle” is a ceremonial precinct of the ACT, including Parliament House, accommodating thousands of the country’s public servants. However, it does not have enough car parks, according to the Public Service Union (CPSU), and the problem is worsening.

The CPSU says that car parks in the precinct are being closed without any consultation and that Commonwealth workers are slowly being squeezed by successive closures.

Union officials have said that the lack of available parking in the precinct was exacerbated by its lack of transport infrastructure, leaving public servants reliant on their cars for every routine trip.

A petition, signed by 2000 public servants will be presented to the federal member for Canberra, Gai Brodtmann, calling for more transparency when car park closures are being planned, according to the Canberra Times. The petition is also calling for a plan for parking and public transport in the Parliamentary Zone, developed by the Intergovernmental Committee on Parking, which the National Capital Authority chairs.

The union's deputy national president, Alistair Waters is heading up the campaign.

How do you solve a 60,000 commuter per hour traffic problem in Mumbai? Turn it into a competition and have the best and brightest solve the congestion for you.

That is what BMW Guggenheim Lab and Mumbai Environmental Social Network have done at the Kala Nagar Junction, the meeting place of five main traffic arteries (including one of the most dangerous highways in Mumbai) in a city with a population of almost 20 million.

Students and professionals were called on to consider solutions that not only resolved the traffic problems, but also produced public spaces and safe pedestrian routes, according to an article on Architecture Daily.

Among the six winning designs many included the development of green spaces and broadened medians, allowing for greater community use and acting as a natural separator for traffic and pedestrians. Another important element incorporated merging lanes rather than perpendicular intersections reducing the reliance on traffic signals.

Three winners were selected from the professional category, two from the student category and one was a people’s choice that was decided by community votes and visitors to the Guggenheim Design Lab website.

Mayuri Sisodia and Kalpit Ashir submitted a proposal with car parking available under the proposed flyover bridge, whereas students from Team DYPCA cleverly utilised the same area as a covering for commercial spaces and community infrastructure.

Public transportation hubs and dedicated bus lanes were features of the Sweta Parab and Hrishikesh More submission.

Both the people’s choice project by Vedika Tulsiyan, Jaynish Shah, and Karan Sancheti and Andres Perez and his team decided that cycling tracks and walking paths were the key to curtailing congestion, while Radhika Mathur proposed signal free traffic flow for smoother commutes.

Thanks to our consultant Mihira Bodaragama for alerting us to this story!

Can you think of any Australian intersection nightmares which could be resolved by a similar strategy? Please send us your suggestions!

In November, we reported that the cost of property prices for car parks in Hong Kong was going through the roof, following the introduction of measures from the government to cool the cost of property prices.

Car parking spaces are now selling for more than some homes, with AU$276,000 being paid for a space in November; another sold for US$385,000 in March. According to the Sydney Morning Herald, two spaces in the commercial district were recently offered $US640,000 per space.

Home prices have nearly doubled since early 2009, driven largely by wealthy buyers from mainland China. A typical 55-square-metre apartment now costs about $US577,000, with prices soaring into the millions in parts of Hong Kong Island, the city's commercial and financial centre.

Last year the government introduced curbs aimed at property speculators. Starting in late October, a 15 per cent stamp duty was levied on sales to non-permanent Hong Kong residents. A tax of 20 per cent was imposed on properties resold within six months of purchase, according to the LA Times. 

2013 appears to be a big year for ‘driver assist’ technology,

Audi has presented its self-parking technology, allowing drivers to press a button and summon their car. This would require building technology into parking structures, according to Detroit News. Audi was the first US automaker to earn a permit to test autonomous vehicles on the roads and the second company overall, behind Google.

Mercedes, meanwhile, is claiming that they will have a self-driving car available by the end of this year. The car will initially be able to handle low-speed manoeuvres, parking, and queuing in stop-and-go situations; but will eventually move into fully autonomous driving, capable of handling highway speeds.

The biggest barrier for the self-driving cars is road authorities, which have not allowed the use of self-driven cars on the roads except for testing purposes. In Australia, Victorian road safety authorities support the concept as a way to cut accidents, but authorities elsewhere have thrown up a roadblock.

The Sydney Morning Herald reports that Transport for NSW has labelled the technology ''a major risk to road users'', but New South Wales Roads Minister Duncan Gay joined his Victorian counterpart in supporting the technology, if motorists could quickly regain control of the vehicle.

Lauchlan McIntosh, chairman of the Australasian New Car Assessment Program, said Australian Design Rules had been rewritten to allow the use of autonomous emergency braking and that the Department of Infrastructure and Transport must revise its requirements to allow the high-tech cars on public roads.