India is the world’s second most populous nation and traffic on the streets of Mumbai reflects this. In fact, the number of cars in Mumbai has increased by 51% in the last six years, meaning not only is pollution and congestion on the rise, but the fight for parking spaces is too.

As a result, Mumbai’s BMC (The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation) is attacking traffic and parking management head-on with measures aimed at alleviating the growing problems.

The Times of India is reporting a series of initiatives to curb the issue, including a scheme where local residents will need a permit to park vehicles on one side of the road adjacent to their homes. This will be to the exclusion of all other vehicles. Over time, barcodes will be introduced to assist police enforcement.

But that’s not all. To increase the city’s capacity, the BMC has approved dozens of public parking lot proposals creating space for up to 30,000 more vehicles. The BMC will investigate models from abroad to better manage peak times, charging for parking depending on the demand in that area at a particular time of the day

Finally, and probably most controversially, the state transport commissioner is pushing for vehicle registrations to be blocked if an owner does not have sufficient parking space available at their residence.

Of course all of these measures may have some impact on the parking struggles faced by the community, however enforcement and a strict adherence to the new regulations may only be the tip of the iceberg as one of the world’s largest cities grows and develops at a rate of knots.

A former parking lot manager at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington DC has pleaded guilty to his involvement in a conspiracy to steal more than $1 million in visitors' parking fees.

For just over three years, Abeselom Hailemariam was the manager at the 2,000-vehicle parking lot servicing the renowned museum precinct. He was responsible for supervising parking-booth attendants and accounting for revenue.

Prosecutors have alleged that under Mr Hailemariam’s supervision, attendants would keep visitors' parking fees and conceal the thefts by failing to hand out serialised parking tickets and by unplugging the electronic vehicle counters in the booths.

The conspiracy involved the attendants paying Mr Hailemariam a share of the stolen revenues amounting to almost $1.4 million. Having  pleaded guilty to a charge of conspiracy to commit theft of public money, he is scheduled to be sentenced in July, facing a maximum penalty of five years in prison.

According to the Washington Post Mr Hailemariam was arrested at Dulles International Airport where he was returning from Ethiopia after five months residing there.

Two former parking-booth attendees who were part of the conspiracy have already pleaded guilty to their roles in the thefts and have been handed sentences of between 2 and 3 years.

Toronto’s transport authority Metrolinx has big plans to solve their city’s congestion troubles, but the question remains, how are they going to pay for an ambitious list of proposed investments?

To better engage the community and help inform policy decisions, the authority has released an online interactive simulation where the public can select the projects they would like built and decide what revenue tools to pay for them. It’s called The Big Move. The revenue raising options include increased road, fuel and sales taxes, an increase in transit fares and a car parking levy.

However, according to The Toronto Star, City Mayor Rob Ford has dismissed a report delivered this week recommending that Council support the various tax hikes, saying that his constituents simply can’t afford it. Mr Ford believes the revenue can be achieved through cost cutting and bureaucratic efficiencies.

City Councillor and Toronto Transit Commission Chair Karen Stintz said that whilst she didn’t agree with all of the recommendations, she conceded the projects needed to be funded. However, Cr Stintz cautioned against using the parking levy as a tool, remarking that the impact on commercial centres and small businesses may not be not fully understood and could be detrimental to economic growth.

Metrolinx will release its final recommendations for funding tools on May 27. It says the region needs $2 billion annually to fund transit expansion.

Namibia’s capital Windhoek is close to finalising a futuristic transport master plan, focusing on safety, aesthetic and environmental concerns, as well as traffic efficiency by integrating the road network of the capital, including surrounding regions and the international airport.

The Sustainable Urban Transport Master Plan is a collaborative effort between the City of Windhoek and the Namibian Government, and is being conducted with the assistance of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development.

The plan is expected to produce a clear and realistic vision for the development of a sustainable urban transport system for the next 20 years. According to the city's website, within twenty years Windhoek would have to cater for the mobility needs of close to one million people.

A key condition of the plan is to ensure developers wishing to set up businesses in the CBD would need to make provision for parking spaces for both employees and the general public.

The master plan has been sent to the city's management for consideration, and it is expected that a final draft plan would be ready by the end of May.

Every week we read about new car parking technology being unveiled somewhere in the world.

This week, The New York Times published about the latest smart phone application being trialled in the Bronx, using real time updates to direct drivers to available parking spaces. The technology also allows for motorists to pay for parking with their mobile phones on the spot and refill their meter remotely.

Iowa’s technological ‘advance’ is to allow motorists to pay with their credit card. It’s not rocket science, but it is progress for that particular state.

These advances are supposedly intended to make our lives more convenient and our cities more efficient. However, there are downsides to these innovations, for drivers at least.

As mentioned in Travis Okulski’s piece this week, new parking meter technology could eventually make parking enforcement officers obsolete. One particular company is manufacturing parking meters with photo imaging and sensory elements, intelligent enough to read licence plates and detect when a space has been vacated (or not). These meters are so ‘clever’ they take a picture of your plates if you overstay your welcome, and almost as a courtesy, the meters can give you the option to pay your fine on the spot. This may be decidedly inconvenient for those of us who occasionally risk the wrath of the parking officer.

To top things off, even if you see someone pull out of a spot and they still have time on the meter, the meter will reset to before you are able to receive any benefit – a further source of revenue for local councils.

As we all know, technology has its benefits, just be careful what you wish for!

According to a recent survey of selected cities conducted by the Economist, Shanghai is the most expensive in the world to own and drive a car, and Sydney isn’t far behind due to relatively high purchase costs.

This is not quite the famous Big Mac Index where researchers can compare apples with apples (or burgers with burgers) so this comparison has stirred up debate amongst subscribers. One pointed out that the survey considers the cost of imported cars only. The graph would look distinctly different for Shanghai if locally manufactured vehicles, which are not subject to import tariffs and in fact attract government subsidies, were used. Moreover the survey does not factor the often exorbitant costs of obtaining licence plates just for the right to drive a car.

Cities with high permit rates, road taxes and licensing fees left off the survey include Singapore, and even our friends from Scandinavia. In Copenhagen for example, drivers pay 180% car tax on top of a 25% VAT. Oslo suffers in much the same way.

However, those included or not are ultimately unimportant. Of course the elephant in the room is relative CBD parking costs. One blogger has commented ”Living and working in the city of Chicago the cost of parking at home and the office could easily amount to more than the monthly payment on a new vehicle.”

Importantly, for some cities on-street parking is not an option due to competition for space or security concerns. Therefore the search for safe, economical and convenient parking solutions will always need to be part of the debate whether comparing international cities or making decisions of investment and development opportunities.

Let’s not get started on the relative costs of public transport, that’s for another day.

The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) has called for free parking for electric vehicles in an attempt to encourage UK drivers to switch to the more environmentally friendly mode of travel.

An article published by the Guardian this week, explains that the concept is similar to the existing blue badge scheme for disabled drivers. But the IPPR goes further than just advocating free parking. Other incentives such as reduced (or eliminated) road and bridge tolls, permission to drive in bus lanes and parking concessions in restricted zones will also be tabled in a report to be released later this month.

However it is this last point that has raised concerns with UK motoring lobby group, the AA. Their position is that allowing parking in restricted zones could in fact increase congestion and therefore emissions from other vehicles. The group did concede that cheaper parking charges would be a good idea (we are not sure if building owners’ or car park operators’ opinions were canvassed).

Similar schemes are being trialled around the world with China set to incentivise electric car ownership. Chinese newspaper, The Economic Observer reported this week that Beijing will introduce a series of new policies designed to accelerate uptake of electric cars including a 120,000 yuan subsidy and a way around the dreaded “licence plate lottery”.

It seems that the momentum for electric car sales will continue, yet as we have commented in number of previous posts on Wayfinding Forum, the biggest challenge for a successful future will be addressing the lack of charging stations, whether in Beijing, Melbourne or Chicago.

Transit Oriented Development (TOD) is not a new concept in urban planning.

DNAinfo.com has published a story about the latest mixed development taking advantage of local public transport hubs in Chicago. The Wicker Park building contains 99 residential units but only 15 car spaces, supposedly reserved for visitors only. Whilst ratios vary around the world, a requirement of 2 car spaces per dwelling is not uncommon.

However the trend towards residential and commercial development with minimal parking is also becoming more common. Curbed Chicago lists another six examples in that city.

So, whilst TODs would appear to be helping the fight against congestion and pollution in major cities, it is also becoming clear that if executed poorly, these developments can fail spectacularly.

Australia’s Tourism & Transport Forum (TTF) lauds the benefits of TODs but warns that “coordinated planning and delivery arrangements are essential to ensure transport not only responds to past and present use patterns but is an active contributor to the shaping of the urban form.”

An example of what Kaid Benfield has called an ‘epic fail’ of urban design can be seen in his article written for The Atlantic Cities about a TOD near Miami. The author says, “there’s lots of development around, just not near the station, unless you consider parking lots and garages to be development.” He continues to emphasise his point by stating, “The station is oriented to cars, not people.” If you need another example of a TOD’s failure to orient people with the transit they require, take a look at this article written about a development in St Louis.

But how do we ensure the goals of TODs are met? TTF tells us the answer lies in a working partnership between the government and the private sector. We can only agree and hope that such cooperation becomes reality.

Ever tried to squeeze into an impossible parking spot? We all have, but with the latest technology coming out of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) the impossible is becoming possible.

A BBC Business News report published this week has revealed the media lab at MIT has designed a ‘folding car’ which is being developed by a Spanish company for commercial use. The design allows for the vehicle´s length to be shrunk to a size approximately the width of a conventional car. In practical terms it will mean three folding cars will fit into a parking space designed for just one.

It´s being claimed that the highly maneuverable and sleek design will reduce traffic congestion, help cities to function better and triple car parking capacity in high-density areas. Did I mention it is an electric car, which is obviously a great result for the environment!

The concept is also being hailed as a potential success story for the burgeoning car-share industry, allowing more shared cars to be available at convenient locations, meaning greater access for customers which (it is hoped) may lead to reduced car ownership.

The question remains; are consumers ready for the technology, or more specifically a dramatic change in mindset?

Cristina Lynn attended the Parking Industry Exhibition held in Chicago earlier this month on behalf of the Parking Association of Australia.

The exhibition took place over three days showcasing a wide range of suppliers with many representatives from access control, parking guidance, ticket manufacturers, LED lighting and on-street technology. A very interesting group of speakers from universities, municipalities and consultants presented case study based situations that resonated with the delegates’ own issues and concerns.

An international panel of speakers comprising Sandra Smith (Canada), Kevin Warwood (New Zealand), Peter Guest (UK) and Cristina, discussed parking policy issues in our respective parts of the world.

A Women In Parking reception allowed for furthering discussions regarding a potential Australian Chapter of this organisation.

John Van Horne and his team from the magazine Parking Today did a great job in organizing this annual event and were everywhere the whole time ensuring it all went smoothly. There was nothing humble about this PIE!

On her way home Cristina stopped off in New York to review the work being done there by parking enforcement officers!