New Online Car Park Reservation System
July 16, 2008
A dream has now become true also at Berlin-Schönefeld: Going by car to the airport, no stress of looking for a parking lot, a beneficial price, and a short distance to the departure terminal.
Like for the airline companies, where by booking in time you automatically get a chance for a fair-priced ticket, you will now have a possibility to use a beneficial car park in close vicinity to the terminal, by early reservation / booking.
On 1st July 2008, the online car park reservation system has commenced its start-up on the website of Berlins airports, in cooperation with APCOA.
The passenger can now comfortably book a parking lot via Internet on the car parks P1 and P6 as well as in the multi-storey car park P4 of the airport Berlin-Schönefeld and pay in advance. Reservation systems have been used by Scheidt & Bachmann also on other airports like Stuttgart Airport (Germany), Boston Logan Airport (USA) etc. but this new reservation system is more strictly dividing functioning and free design capacity. It is embedded in the own homepage.
Straightforward in dependence on the reservation time and advance booking time, a discount computer integrated in the system guarantees a fair price to the final customer.
During paying in the online portal by credit card, ec/Maestro card or by the PayPal method, the passenger also selects his access medium (credit card or ec/Maestro card). Entry and exit are performed without the ticket by the access medium selected. Paying at the automatic pay station is omitted because the customer gets the voucher on the parking fee posted by E-mail, thanks to the reservation system. All relevant information details such as parking time, parking lot, etc. are derived from the reservation confirmation. The availability of a free parking lot will be ensured by the reservation allotment integrated in the parking system. This is the reason that it may happen that the car park gets the occupation status Full although there might be vacant parking lot. These vacant lots are provided for the reservations.
This shows that early reservation has benefits only: fair prices, attractive offers, no stress of car park search, and a guaranteed vacant parking lot. All of these functions are available to the operator, without any further manual adaptation or acceptance of reservations by phone or fax.
What is the technical method to realize online reservation? By selection of the reservation period, a request is directed to the server of the parking system at the Airport Berlin-Schönefeld, where the basic tariff stored in the system is determined. For every parking period desired, it is possible to leave a certain discount product, which depending on contingency and in consideration of the reservation period, the time of reservation and number of reservations of the customer determines the individual tariff. This reservation system is a platform for car park booking at all locations connected. A special feature of this online system is the freedom of web design. Via the SOAP server interface, the reservation system has been integrated directly into the customers own web site. As there are no other windows opening in the browser, the functioning capacities of advertising banners will be maintained. This reservation feature can be perfectly integrated into the web sites of cooperating partners, as e.g. travel agencies. Additional special conditions can be awarded to these partners via the discount module.
In the back end, the management of the online payment portals is also supplemented by the administration of all reservation master data, as well as all reservations existing in the system. Apart from this, the allotment can be controlled on-site, and the difference counting integrated in the system regularly considers all reservations left in the system, via the dynamic parking lot control. By means of the contingency control it can be determined how many parking lots shall be reserved for future reservations. Thereby limited temporary campaigns to utilize free capacities can be planned and performed via the discount module.
Source: http://www.parking-net.com
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Yerevan: Facing Lack of Subway Car Parking
July 16, 2008
Today in a discussion session conducted in the Municipality of Yerevan the President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan was also present. According to the officials the problem number one in our city is the lack of subway car parking even in the central part of the city, reported the press service of the President’s Administration.
During the discussion the president said that the main problem is that cars are parking in wrong territories and places and not the points that there are too many cars in our city. “We should work on this rather seriously and find some solutions,” said the president.
According to the information and public relations department of the Municipality, the director of Italian “Renko” company Giovanni Rubini was also present at the discussion. He said that the representative of Italian Company in Armenia is “Armenian PPP” and as soon as they are authorized to conduct the project they will start constructing sub way car parking first in the squares of Aznavour and Saxarov and then expand the project.
The President said that the construction of those subway car parking is very important to make simple the traffic in Armenia.
Source: http://www.panorama.am
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London’s priciest car park ‘charges £43 for six hours’
July 16, 2008
Parking in the capital’s most expensive car park will set you back £43 for a six-hour stay, a London newspaper said Monday.
The multi-storey car park on Pavilion Road in Knightsbridge has been named London’s costliest by the Evening Standard. Located walking distance from luxury department store Harrods, the NCP-run facility charges drivers £7.20 an hour.
The paper said the highest hourly rate could be found at the NCP in Berners Street, Bloomsbury, which charges £8 per hour but a mere £33 for six hours.
The survey found that people driving into the capital for a day of shopping are better off parking at the Masterpark on Oxford Street where charges are £5 an hour or £24.50 for six hours.
AA president Edmund King told the Evening Standard the charges were “mind-boggling”, adding that they keep many shoppers out of central London.
Bargain hunters unwilling to walk, cycle or take the Tube or bus, should head for the City of London area car parks, the paper said, with parking at Spitalfields and Smithfield Market a steal at £2 an hour.
Source: http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5i9Q36wTrSbBSwq9jMKc3iJQt1LQQ
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Driving into China’s parking mess
June 28, 2008
Eager for some fine food, Colin Lee, a public relations (PR) executive, recently went to a Vietnamese restaurant with friends. Their experience, however, got off to a horrible start when they could not find a place to park. “It always happens, no matter what I am doing! It is quite different from the situation abroad!” said Lee, who worked in numerous countries over the past decade. “Addressing the parking situation is crucial for the development of cities. I cannot bear the mess any more.” The problem of which Lee speaks is becoming a daily occurrance for virtually every motorist in China’s large and medium-sized cities. The conflict — the increasing number of cars versus the lack of parking places — is severe. But what can be done? Experts suggest parking in China must be industrialized; in other words, parking facilities must be constructed and operated by businesses. Due to improved living standards, falling vehicle prices and China’s bulging, “new white-collar” segment of the population, an increasing number of urban Chinese now own personal vehicles. National Bureau of Statistics figures indicate China’s output of automobiles will rank No 3 — behind the United States and Japan — in the world by next year. Output of automobiles in China is expected to exceed 10 million units by 2010. Many of China’s large cities are coping with parking-related issues. Statistics indicate there are nearly 2.02 million motor vehicles registered in Beijing, and that figure is expected to reach 5 million by 2008. Those figures do not take into account the number of vehicles in Beijing from other provinces, cities and counties. However, there are only public 600,000 parking places in downtown Beijing, indicates www.people.com.cn. The parking lot at Cuiwei shopping mall, for example, can accommodate a mere 100 vehicles. But during an average day, up to 1,000 vehicles might park in the lot, a manager of the mall said. In Southwest China’s Chongqing Municipality, there are more than 500,000 vehicles. The municipality, meanwhile, has a meager public 528 parking lots in sowntown, with a combined 38,000 parking spaces. In China’s developed cities, such as Beijing, Shenzhen and Shanghai, public parking places are sorely needed. The ratio of vehicles to the number of parking places is about 5:1, indicate China Heavy Machinery Association’s data. “City parking is an industry, not an administrative task of the government,” said Jia Xinguang, a senior analyst with the Beijing-based Automobile Industry Research Centre. As part of the public facilities in a city, parking should be combined with the city’s development and regulation, the expert said. “If a city wants to operate smoothly, it needs necessary facilities, which include parking facilities,” Jia added. At present, however, parking lot construction in China is managed by local governments’ communications departments. Every transportation department has its own administrative area, and that is preventing the industrialization of parking in China. However, the local governments still don’t pay enough attention to the issue. “The government often focuses on the dynamic transportation, or traffic rules, but ignore the static transportation, or parking” said Ren Bomiao, director of the China Heavy Machinery Association’s Parking Facility Committee. Many parking lots belong to certain property developments. That is not the case in developed countries, which have flourish, and systematic, parking industries. Experts note the problem will be compounded in future, especially as the population grows and the number of vehicles increases. If that happens, space will become limited in cities, but parking lots should not occupy residential areas and streets. Industrialization of parking is one possible solution, Jia said. “Developed countries and regions provide some very good examples.” Japan, which has one-tenth of China’s population, but only 4 per cent of China’s land area, has successfully dealt with its parking problem. “First, Japan included parking in city planning; second, parking has been industrialized; third, Japan has developed its own parking facility equipment,” Jia said. To achieve industrialization in parking, experts suggest three solutions: Improving relevant legislation, tougher administration and development of multiple-level, above ground parking facilities. In fact, municipal governments in China are taking steps to combine parking with their city infrastructure programmes. At present, many big cities in China have their own plans focusing on parking lot construction. In Guangzhou, capital of South China’s Guangdong Province, the city planning bureau of the local government has worked out a blueprint to set up 95 public parking lots next year. Those lots will have a combined 20,265 parking spaces. By 2010, Guangzhou will have built an additional 118 parking lots, with a combined 16,680 parking spaces. The three-dimensional equipment, or multiple-level, above parking garages, is supposed to be the first choice. Hangzhou’s planning bureau has planned its overall arrangement of parking lots in the city’s centre. According to the regulation, in Hangzhou, capital of East China’s Zhejiang Province, there will be 37 parking lots in the city’s centre by 2010. Beijing, by 2010, plans to solve its parking lot crisis. All legally registered motor vehicles will be required to have their own parking spaces. Market behaviour has freedom to operate, but it still requires government regulation, especially support from legislation, industry experts said. In Beijing, there are several existing rules regarding parking, such as the Regulations on the Administration of Motor Vehicles Parking on Streets, Regulations on the Administration of Public Parking of Vehicles in Beijing, Regulations on the Administration of Public Parking of Non-motor Vehicles in Beijing. Liu Xiaoming, deputy director of Beijing’s municipal committee of communications, was recently quoted by Beijing Times as saying to carry out the spirit of the Beijing Transportation Development Programme, the capital will enact the Beijing parking regulation this year. Moreover, projects that Beijing’s municipal government scheduled to amend this year include the provision on standards of construction of vehicles parking facilities, which was drafted by the municipal road administration. Experts suggest there is another problem: Parking fees. Beijing enacted a parking-fee standard in May. However, many parking lots still follow the former standard. Under the new standard, people must pay 1 yuan (12 US cents) per half hour to park — small vehicles only — within the Fourth Ring Road. “But, when I drive into many parking lots, they charge me 2 yuan (24 US cents) according to the old standard,” said Wang Xin, who bought his Chery last month. Said Jia: “Fixing such issues will take time.” New equipment Many experts insist the development of multiple-level and above ground parking garage is a must. Such facilities are commonly used in developed countries, and they are applicable in China. They have one big advantage: They save space. Generally, such facilities require about one-25th the amount of space for a ground parking lot. Moreover, multiple-level and above ground parking equipment is cost-effective, and convenient. Such facilities are highly secure, and improve cities’ living conditions. The parking industries in some developed countries and regions have become profitable, and are earning hundreds of thousands, or more, US dollars a year. In Japan, the parking industry began in 1991. Many businesses paid great attention and began investing in the sector. Statistics indicate Japan’s parking sector is worth about US$7.7 billion (115 billion yen). The intelligent parking system developed by CARTEC and SPK in Japan not only generates fat sales in Japan, but also has become involved in some parking projects in Shanghai. In the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, the price of a parking space is much more than that of a sedan. Taking Huijing Huayuan for example, a parking place is priced at HK$600,000 (US$76,923). In the United States, the parking industry is worth about US$26 billion per year, and the sector creates about 1 million jobs. When Thailand was suffering from the region’s financial crisis in 1998, investors transformed surplus apartments into parking garages. They recovered their investments very quickly, and the stagnant real estate market eventually reignited. Parking facilities in China are still a fairly new concept. The first multiple-level and above ground garage didn’t appear until 1989. In the past 10 years, China’s parking facility industry has developed at an astonishing rate. Before 1997, not many people had heard about a mechanical parking house. But in 1997-99, the device became more commonplace. As more people own and drive personal vehicles, it is crucial that China regulate, construct, manage and develop adequate parking facilities, experts said.
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Automated Parking System T5 Multi-Storey Car Park, Heathrow, London, United Kingdom
June 16, 2008
ParkingNewsIndia: Heathrow’s Terminal 5 began passenger operations on 27th March 2008 and suffered one of the most disastrous openings in airport history. Despite costing a total of £4.3bn, the terminal was forced to cancel over 500 flights and lost around 28,000 bags within the first few weeks of opening. T5 was unable to resume its full schedule until 8 April 2008.
However, evidence of the terminal’s potential, particularly in regards to technology, is found at its multi-storey car park, which has a new intelligent parking system.
Upon arrival at the car park, the car has its registration plate recorded by a number plate recognition system and printed on a ticket for the driver. Once through the barrier the driver isdirected to an empty parking space.
HOW DOES THE SYSTEM WORK?
This system works by using an information screen at the barrier, a bay monitoring system and further intelligent signage at a number of strategic positions throughout the car park, which indicate where to find an empty space and how many spaces there are. This information is updated in real time as the sensors are all networked to a central system, which ‘polls’ them every few seconds for an update on status.
“Once the car is parked a sensor will mark the bay as occupied. “
Empty parking bays in the T5 multi-storey are indicated by the green light of a sensor placed over the space; in this case, because there were no pillars the sensor and light were combined into one unit. Once parked the sensor will mark the bay as occupied and the green light will go off.
Other colours are available and T5 disabled spaces are marked with a blue light. The driver can then simply go to the terminal and conduct his or her business.
ON THE WAY HOME
Currently, when returning to your vehicle, however hard you try you may still forget the details of the zone you’re parked in. The new car park has a solution – by inserting your ticket into a car-locator terminal at the car park (one of 16 such machines at the entrances and on each floor) the driver will get a 3D map image on a 32 inch LCD screen indicating a region where the car is parked.
Each floor is divided into four regions of around 200 cars, with each floor holding around 800 cars. When parking the car is tracked with a number of cameras assigned to every region, at the start and end of each.
“The system saves the driver roaming round and round the car park looking for a space and so can reduce carbon emissions.”
This means that the system knows only which floor and region the car is parked in and the location cannot be pinpointed to a particular space. Systems are being developed to do this but they are not in use at T5.
This system uses only around 35 infrared cameras which can recognise number plates; a more accurate system would require more cameras or different technology. To pinpoint a car to a particular space the spaces would have to be numbered and this is not the case at the 3,800-space Heathrow T5 multi-storey car park (MSCP).
CAR PARK AND SYSTEM
The entire MSCP is networked and space details are displayed throughout the car park on electronic signs and updated in real time via the sophisticated sensor system provided by Highlight Parking Systems Ltd.
David Harrison, the managing director of Highlight Parking Systems, commented: “The system saves the driver roaming round and round the car park looking for a space and so can reduce carbon emissions. In the T5 car park this could save 397t a year (BAA research figure).”
Highlight Parking Systems also installed a similar system in the Terminal One MSCP (short term) as a trial prior to the T5 contract. In this case, the sensors and indicator lights were in separate units. Siemens developed and installed the car location system.
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Heathrow T5 opened on 27th March 2008. |
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Highlight Parking Systems has installed an innovative sensor and indicator system at the T5 MSCP. |
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The green light indicates a free parking space; the blue light indicates a free disabled space. |
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Each of the 3,800 spaces has a sensor and light. |
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The system has been hailed by BAA as one which will contribute to reducing carbon emissions. |
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