This side or that side?

It’s a daily struggle for Bangaloreans to find a parking space anywhere in the City. Earlier, drivers had a problem finding parking places on M G Road and Commercial Street, but now even in areas like Jayanagar, Indiranagar and Malleswaram parking spaces have become scarce because of rapid commercialisation.

Since these also happen to be residential areas, the number of no-parking signboards placed in front of the houses, make it even more difficult for vehicle owners to find a place to park. And to add to the chaos is the alternate-side parking that allows vehicle owners to park on only one side of the road on alternate dates.

Many vehicle owners in the City say that this system has only added to the already existing problems of parking. The alternate-side parking confuses the drivers. It only adds to the congestion on the roads. Swapna, who has seen these boards all over Commercial Street, says that this system has only added to the chaos on the road. “So many times I have actually wondered which side I have to park on. When I am looking for a parking space, the last thing on my mind is what date it is.

I really don’t see how it has helped because the confusion and congestion on Commercial Street persists,” she adds. Prateek, a student, says that such a system may work in places like Singapore but not in Bangalore. “Such unique parking systems have earlier been successful in Singapore but I don’t really see it happen out here. There are very few proper parking spaces and this system only makes it more difficult,” he adds.
Bharath, a professional, feels that this may work in commercial areas but not in residential areas.

“I really don’t see this system making much of a difference, especially because people resort to parking in no-parking zones. Creating more such lanes with alternate-side parking spaces will only add to the confusion because these are not  strictly manned by the cops,” he adds.

According to the Bangalore Traffic Police, the system has helped in reducing the congestion on some streets. But at the same time, it will not introduce more of alternate-side parking unless there is a request by the people.

M A Saleem, additional commissioner of police (traffic) says, “Only at the request of the local residents and the shopkeepers of the area do we put up the alternate-side parking boards. Many a times, we get complaints from residents and shopkeepers that cars are parked only in front of their place. Hence, we thought that this system will give some breathing space to everyone.”

But is it really a breather? “Not at all,” exclaims Sharanya, a resident of Jayanagar, “we have this system in our lane but it gets very difficult since there is no one to keep an eye on whether people are actually parking on the right side. At times, the police come and fine them but I don’t see it helping in any way.”

Saving time, space and gas

I’ve come to the conclusion that a parking garage has to be robotic to be green.

There are now several examples that show that using automated machinery to move cars into parking spaces is the environmentally responsible way to go.

The only robotic parking facility I’ve visited is at Volkswagen’s Autostadt in Wolfsberg, Germany. It consists of two 20-storey glass towers that store 600 new VWs for customers who want to take delivery at the factory. You press a button with the right code and elevators go up and down and car-bearing pallets move around and, presto, the car pops out before the teary-eyed buyer.

Now they’re building more functional, less flashy versions as everyday automated car parks in places like Dubai and New Zealand.

The first great advantage of them is that they require only half the space to park the same number of cars as a conventional garage. Cars get slotted into spaces like a letter box; there are no up-and-down ramps and no aisles. That means there are no cars wasting gas by driving around looking for a space. The electromechanical automated parking machinery moves the cars into and out of parking spaces.

The biggest one built so far is in Dubai. It has a capacity of 765 vehicles and is able to park 250 cars an hour. This robotic machinery will spit your car out 2-1/2 minutes after you’ve paid at the payment machine. They’re adding a feature that will let you order an automated car wash when you enter.

It’s being pitched to motorists as “a premium valet parking using state-of-the-art technology.”

It’s being pitched to land developers and city planners as “More Green Space – Less Garage Space.” Taking into account land value, it’s argued that an automated facility can be built at a lower cost than a conventional garage. Robotic parking systems can be built above ground or underground. Because only half the excavation is needed for the same amount of parking as conventional garages, there’s a big cost saving on the excavation alone.

I particularly like the fact that, in a robotic parking garage, there are no cars driving around burning fuel looking for a space. Nor will you find huge lineups at the payment window at peak periods.

If you’ve ever parked in that monstrosity under Toronto City Hall you know what an improvement an automated garage would be. A U.S. company that builds such facilities argues that a 1,500-car automated garage would save about 20,000 gallons of gasoline a year in the parking process.

I’ve seen how well the system works at VW’s Autostadt and have no doubt that similar installations would be equally efficient. You drive head-first into one of the bays from which your car will be transported. When your car is returned, it has been turned 180 degrees so you drive out head-first, too.

It’s clean, quiet, efficient and has a nice “wow” factor.

I’m surprised that one of the big high-end hotels or condos that have gone up recently in Toronto hasn’t included robotic parking. It would be a real selling feature.

The lack of downtown parking is in part due to the large space required for conventional ramp parking. A compact robotic parking garage takes up 50 per cent less space and gets cars’ engines turned off sooner. I’ve written in the past about studies that have found that nearly half the cars in a downtown core are simply driving around looking for a place to park. Let’s let the robots get them off the street faster.

Stewart International seeks NextGen system

Stewart International Airport and all others around the nation will be safer, more efficient, better able to handle congestion and more environmentally friendly through saving on fuel.

That’s the future, and it’s beginning to be implemented now, said Carmine Gallo, regional administrator for the Federal Aviation Administration. He described the NextGen Air Transportation System as a “suite of all these technologies coming together,” ranging from satellite guidance to digital data communications systems.

NextGen is in its early stages of implementation and will bring increasing benefits to air travelers that the agency estimates nationwide to total about $24 billion through 2020. It may cost the federal government as much or more during that time, and airlines face expenses to install equipment and do training. Flight delays in 2009 cost the nation about $2 billion and caused lost income to airlines and others of about $9 billion, he said.

Better landing procedures enabled by NextGen save money by streamlining flight paths, including landings. A test in Miami found planes used 50 gallons less in fuel in new landing procedures. Such efficiency also translates to less carbon and pollution, Gallo said.

A new control center is being planned for the New York region and Stewart has asked to be considered for it.

Gallo said Stewart has a chance. “You’re on the list,” for research, he said.

The decision is a long way off and existing facilities are in the immediate New York City area, including a large center in Ronkonkoma, Suffolk County. A large number of jobs would be at the center, but Gallo declined to give a number. Advocates of keeping the facility on Long Island say they see 900 jobs at stake.

“I just want them to come up here and look around and compare it,” said James Wright, chairman of the Stewart Airport Commission.

Another official at the FAA, Leo Prusak, said Stewart is likely to be a parking lot for many of the planes expected in the region for the 2014 Super Bowl game at MetLife stadium in East Rutherford, N.J.

The FAA is planning where to park the 800 to 1,000 planes expected, Prusak said. It is likely Stewart will play a key role, he said.

“The Super Bowl is going to create a really huge problem for us. It’s really parking,” Prusak said. “We don’t know until two weeks ahead of the game how big our problem will be. It depends on the teams.” Most of those planes are private craft owned or chartered by well-heeled sports fans.

Lower Merion’s Parking Services Department

Lower Merion Township’s Parking Services Department has been presented with the “Award Of Excellence for Parking Innovation” by the Pennsylvania Parking Association.

The award was given during the trade group’s annual Parking Conference, Workshop, & Exhibition, held in Pittsburgh last week, and was part of the annual Parking Design and Innovation Awards ceremony. Board members from the Pennsylvania Parking Association vote on the projects, which represent parking-related excellence in design, equipment, operations and construction among the industry and the general public.

The township’s parking-meter installation was submitted for consideration by POM Inc., the Arkansas-based manufacturer of the parking meters, and beat out four other finalists.

“We really put everything into these meters,” Thomas Pintande, director of Parking Services for Lower Merion Township, said. “It’s not just the free time button, which has gotten a lot of attention. It also has high-visibility displays, a ’smart-lock’ system for security and collection, a closed-can collection system, and a refundable smart-card reader.”

The meter is also the first of its kind to have replaceable display parts, another patented piece of technology offered by POM. “Altogether, that’s what separated us from the other finalists,” Pintande said.

There are six different categories of awards. The township’s project was submitted under “Parking Technology/Equipment.” For consideration, either a company or a project had to be in Pennsylvania – other projects included selections from New Jersey (the new Revel Casino) and Florida (the Miami Marlins’ stadium garages), among other locations across the country.

Projects considered had to have been completed between Jan. 1, 2011, and May 31, 2012. Lower Merion Township’s new single-space meters were installed in the early months of 2011, after a thorough study of several other companies’ models and public discussions. The 10-minute “free time” button on the 1,600 new meters allows drivers to run a quick errand or to get enough change to use the meter for a longer period of time. Selection of POM’s meters was based on the cost of replacement and maintenance, the new payment options and added convenience for residents.

What’s the best software for online meetings?

It’s become a maxim of modern business life: Your most important meeting of the year won’t take place in a conference room, but rather online with all attendees viewing a common computer screen.

It’s impersonal. It’s detached. And it’s often quite vexing. Simply joining the Web meeting can sometimes be a problem. But if you haven’t checked out these online services lately, you might be surprised by how much they’ve improved, or their wide range of pricing and features. Whether you’re looking for simple screen-sharing to produce a PowerPoint deck, or whiteboard and collaboration tools for deeper interaction, chances are there’s a Web app to fit your needs and your budget.

While some of these—WebEx, for example—have been around for several years, cloud providers are constantly updating. We test-drove four small-business-focused services that can help with various types of meetings, and were generally impressed by their current levels of finesse.

You start by running a Java applet that creates a little control window where you can specify whether to share the entire screen, an application, or a custom region. It’s too bad that participants see a gray rectangle in the area covered by the control window, but you can at least move the window around so that it doesn’t conceal important information.

If you share your entire screen, participants can see a navigation bar with information about you based on your settings, the name of your meeting, the dial-in number, and a chat window (if you’ve authorized one). You also get a list of participants, and MeetingBurner lets you make any one of them the presenter—though that person must download and run the screen-sharing applet.

Drawbacks? MeetingBurner’s interface is cluttered and not always intuitive.

More importantly, the free version does not let you record the proceedings. To record a meeting and share that recording, you must subscribe to either the $40-per-month MeetingBurner Pro (for up to 50 participants) or the $100-per-month Premier edition, which supports up to 1000 users and adds analytics to the mix.

As for the control panel’s chat window with audio options GoToMeeting by default uses a computer’s built-in speaker and mic, but you can opt to get a phone line and audio PIN to use with your meeting number. Another button initiates a recording, which you can save for playback in GoToMeeting or Windows Media Player. You also see how much space is left for your recording.

GoToMeeting nicely lets you hide parts or all of the control panel. Also, you don’t need to go to a website to get started: The desktop app has you up and running in seconds (although initial setup of the software does take a few minutes).

Attendees at my test meeting complained that it wasn’t obvious that they needed to click on a button to activate use of their computer’s audio system (I didn’t try the bridge line), but they otherwise reported that the app worked as advertised. Participants can choose whether to use the phone line or the computer.

GoToMeeting supports up to 25 attendees on Macs, PCs, iPads, iPhones, and Android devices. There’s a free trial, but no free version: An organizer account that lets you hold unlimited meetings costs $49 per month or $468 per year, and Citrix offers pricier services for large crowds—say, for webinars. It’s not a bad deal if you hold a lot of meetings where people collaborate on projects.

Two decades later

To the Highland Park Democrat and other Pittsburgh preservationists, “paradise” in this case was the Syria Mosque concert hall, a 3,700-seat, ornate, faux-Middle Eastern-style building — a style dubbed “Shriner Islamic” by one historian.

It sat for 74 years on Bigelow Boulevard, across the street from the equally iconic Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Hall and behind the Pittsburgh Athletic Association buildings, playing host to legends from Frank Sinatra to Yul Brynner and the Cure.

Despite one of the fiercest preservation battles in the city’s history that culminated with Mr. Ferlo, then a Pittsburgh city councilman, and three fellow supporters being arrested the morning bulldozers rode in on Aug. 27, 1991, the Mosque and its acoustically perfect hall couldn’t be saved.

“It’s just sad, you know?” said Marshall Goodwin, an Oakland resident and preservationist who was arrested with Mr. Ferlo. “It didn’t have to come down.”

The building’s owner, the Shriners, had it demolished so that it could sell the 2 acres of land under it to UPMC, then known as Presbyterian University Health System, for $10 million.

“At the time it was probably one of the highest prices ever paid for real estate in the city at $5 million an acre for land,” said Greg Hand, who was vice president in charge of development and construction in 1991 for National Development Corp. and was the main architect behind the deal that brought UPMC together with the Shriners.

Though the hospital system tried to conceal its role as buyer for months in 1991 — until it was forcibly revealed during a court hearing — its purchase of the site, and what it has done with it since, is for many observers a prime example of how UPMC pays inflated prices for taxable land and takes it off the tax rolls.

It famously outbid the University of Pittsburgh — which may have preserved the concert hall, Mr. Ferlo said — in a land battle that caused a rift between what were then two institutions more closely tied than they are now.

Throughout the five-month debate before demolition began, UPMC and National Development argued that razing a money-losing concert hall was a fair trade for the two office buildings they planned to build in four years.

“The whole issue of urgency [to tear the building down] was always predicated on the statement that, ‘Hey, we need to develop this part of Oakland.’ And it never happened,” said Sam Cordes, the attorney who represented the preservationists in court. “Witness after witness came in and said [of the new buildings] ‘This is going to be a godsend.’ ”

UPMC refused to answer questions from the Post-Gazette about what happened to the plan to build the office towers, and the site’s ongoing life as a parking lot is confusing to many.

But after Pitt put a hold on any new development in 1992 — at a time when the university had the power to make such decisions for UPMC — it said site development would be delayed a couple years while Pitt put together a master plan for it and UPMC’s campus.

The site was converted into a “temporary” parking lot, and UPMC converted it from taxable to tax-exempt. In 1991, the last year the building was in use, the Shriners paid $66,535 in property taxes to the city, county and school district.

Even Mr. Hand, who is semi-retired, never fully understood why it wasn’t developed, though he has a guess.

Carl Bergamini, an architect who worked on Oakland Planning and Development’s recent Oakland 2025 plan for the community, said the Mosque site was the only UPMC property that specifically came up when the public discussed changes it wanted to see.

One proposal: Build new housing for middle- and upper-income retirees who might have attended Pitt or Carnegie Mellon. “People might want to retire to their alma mater and have lifelong learning available to them,” he said.

Oakland Planning and Development took that idea to UPMC officials recently and “I think they were interested,” Mr. Bergamini said.

Parking system to make debut next month in Englewood

Have you ever been short on quarters right when your parking meter is about to run out? Englewood shoppers will soon be able to leave their loose change at home when Parkmobile’s “Pay by Phone” parking is rolled out for a soft opening on Oct. 1.

“What it’s going to provide is that extra level of convenience,” said Councilwoman Lynne Algrant. “It sends a message to the residents and visitors of Englewood that the downtown is welcoming. We’re making it easy as possible for you to be here and stay as long as you want.”

While the soft opening will begin in October, the city is planning to have an official rollout of the program in November.

Smartphone users will be able to scan QR stickers, which will be placed on the city’s 650 parking meters, to set up an account that will connect their credit cards to the Parkmobile system to pay for their parking, which includes a small convenience fee.

Shoppers can then travel worry free through the different stores in the downtown, as a text message will alert them if their time is about to expire. A two hour limit will be set on these meters, as it has been in the past, said City Manager Timothy Dacey.

Those without Smartphones will have access to this use the “Pay by Phone” plan as well, as a 1-800 number will be available for their use, said Dacey. Shoppers who wish to opt out of the service entirely will still have the option of feeding change to the meters.

Algrant said having this service available will entice members of the younger generation, who generally are accustomed to using Smartphones for many of their daily activities.

“I think we’ve moving in the direction of the way people are operating business throughout their cell phones,” said Algrant.

The “Pay by Phone” parking service will not be just for Englewood parking meters alone; any Englewood shopper who creates an account with Parkmobile will be able to use the services in any major cities that have the Parkmobile facilities, said Dacey.

In addition to adding the Parkmobile program, the city will also be revamping the Bergen Street parking lot in an effort to make the downtown more accessible, said Dacey. Forty-four parking meters will be taken out of the lot and will be replaced with a pay station, which will accept credit or cash.

Moped parking rules change

Notable changes were made to the way students and staff park on campus this year. Parking decals changed from hanging to vinyl. Mopeds, scooters and four wheelers are now required to park in motorcycle parking, and the entire parking system is transitioning to an online format. These changes have caused confusion for some while at the same time improving efficiency and removing the need to stand in line for hours to buy parking permits.

One of the most noticeable changes stems from a desire to lessen the contact between pedestrians and vehicles on campus. The removal of Student Center Lane placed SDSU one step closer to creating an all-walking campus. The other major change was to require mopeds, scooters and four wheelers to park in designated motorcycle parking areas.

Last year mopeds and scooters were allowed to park at bike racks and outside of buildings, provided they were not driven on sidewalks.

“We found that hardly anyone was walking their mopeds on the sidewalks,” said Derek Peterson, head of Parking Services. This created the need for a rule change.

“Mopeds are not generally a hazard to pedestrians, they go pretty slow,” said Bryce Kummer, a junior political science and economics double major and moped rider.

Those who ride mopeds found the change in rules perplexing.

“I was very confused at the beginning of the year,” Kummer said. “The whole reason I bought my moped was because of the convenience of getting around campus.”

Vehicles with an engine size less than 50 cubic centimeters are not required to be registered or licensed. This causes an unusual problem for the UPD, which writes tickets.

“Since there is no way to trace who owns the moped, we can’t write tickets, but the students and staff have been very good about following the new rules,” Peterson said. “We have not had to tow or impound any mopeds so far.”

The increased amount of vehicles that are required to park in motorcycle parking has caused overcrowding at the very few motorcycle parking areas on campus.

“There have been times that the lot [on Rotunda Lane] has been so full that I have had to leave,” Kummer said. “I feel bad for the motorcycle riders who had to buy a parking permit and now can’t find a spot because of all the mopeds.”

Peterson says there are plans to put in another motorcycle parking area on Rotunda Lane near the central heating plant once construction on the building is finished, expanding the number of motorcycle spots.

However, these spots will not be used once winter hits. Parking Services will have to convert motorcycle parking into an area for snow piles once the seasons change. This is bad news for those who were planning to tough it out as long as they could.

“I was planning on manning up for as long as possible,” Kummer said. “It really saves a lot of gas as opposed to searching for a parking spot in a car.”

Other changes are in full effect as well. The parking decals have transitioned from hanging cards to vinyl squares that stick to the inside of vehicle windshields. The change happened for a few reasons, not the least of which was students and staff getting pulled over for leaving decals hanging from rear view mirrors while driving. It also caused a related problem if people forgot to put the decal back up after taking it down, resulting in a ticket. The new vinyl decals remove some of the hassle and worry associated with the old ones.

This year the entire process of purchasing parking permits moved away from long lines and onto the Internet. In fact, permits were only available for purchase online this semester. Peterson said that around 7,000 permits were sold this year, with each one sent to its buyer’s mailbox through the click of a mouse.

Digital Board Discussed at Policy Session

Lots of topics, including gateway signs, parking spaces and digital reader boards, were discussed among the Norcross City Council at the September Policy Work Session on Monday.

-Mayor Bucky Johnson proposed to start the process of considering a digital reader board made at the corner of Holcomb Bridge Road and Buford Highway. Councilman David McLeroy and Mayor Pro Tem Andrew Hixson, who both voted to table the digital reader proposal on Jones Street by the railroad tracks, voiced in favor of the motion.

-The council also looked at some of the LCI study recommendations of preventing semi-trucks from crossing the railroad intersection at Holcomb Bridge Road. Ideas of adding more signage on the side of the road, improving the vertical curve at the crossing, and erecting a gateway sign or decorative barrier were tossed around. The council suggested that City Engineer Jeff Mueller make another proposal with more specific details on options at the next policy work session.

-Speaking of gateway signs, a design for a corner “Welcome to Norcross”-type sign further down Holcomb Bridge at Peachtree Industrial was presented to the council. It will include an LED digital reader board and lantern lighting.

-The council discussed the parking study implementation project at Norcross City Hall which will add 11 parking spaces. The project was tabled at the last city council meeting so that the council can see estimates on pervious pavement versus typical asphalt for the area. According to the agenda, asphalt is estimated to cost $28,100 and pervious pavement will cost $40,761. Johnson announced that they will determine at the next city council meeting if they will move forward with constructing the additional parking.

-An update was given on updating the gravel parking lot at the South Peachtree Street and Holcomb Bridge at the railroad tracks. The council decided to see what the railroad company would allow for the parking lot.

-City Public Relations & Marketing Manager Tixie Fowler proposed the idea of shutting down streets between Thrasher Park and Cochran Drive on Halloween night to make the streets safer for trick-or-treaters. The mayor and council suggested not to completely block off the streets since it would prevent residents from leaving, and instead setting up Norcross Police cars at either side of the road and to decrease the speed limit.

Tuesday the ground was broken on the new Central Preston Middle School. The school will be located near the current high school and administrators are already counting down the days until it opens.

“We are absolutely thrilled. It should be a year and a half, and we are thrilled about the next year-and-a-half,” said Central Preston’s principal Karen Ovesney.

Tuesday, the board of education also broke ground on a new addition and remodel of the Terra Alta School.

The building serves more than 400 students in pre-K thru eighth grade.

“The building is worn out,” said Dr. Parsons. “The older portion of the building is just work out. The infrastructure, the heating system, the data system, the lighting, electrical, the plumbing, the building has just outlived its usefulness now.”

The new schools are exciting for more than just the board and administrators. Superintendent Parsons said studies show that new schools improve many parts of the education process.

On-the-spot fine for wrong parking

Resuming its tow-away drive on reckless parking of four and two-wheelers on city roads, the traffic police in Ludhiana has now introduced on-the-spot penalty in the towing compounds of traffic police for the violators.

Previously, the traffic polices’ move to suspend its tow-away drive had led to chaos on city roads. Haphazardly parked cars and two-wheelers were a common sight in busy areas of Ferozepur Road, Pakhowal Road, Mall Road, Ghumar Mandi and other areas.

Meanwhile, city residents, who were happy with the “streamlined” traffic flow due to the tow-away drive, started expressing opposition to the polices’ move to suspend it.

ACP (traffic) Swapan Sharma said, “Following repeated appeals from city residents, we have decided to resume the tow-away drive with on-the-spot penalty in the police towing compounds for violators. As far as complaints regarding damage of vehicles from the recovery vans is concerned, at present we are using the same vans but have decided to procure hydraulic and sophisticated recovery vans.”

Providing information about the hi tech hydraulic vans, ACP said, “The sophisticated hydraulic vans would have CCTV cameras, public addressing system and global positioning system (GPS). We are in the process of procuring these.” Sharma added that an employee of recovery van company would always be present in the towing compound at division no. 7 police station, Sarabha Nagar and Police Lines in case any violator feels that his vehicle has been damaged by the recovery van.

Meanwhile, city residents are happy to have some order back on roads. Harvinder Singh, a resident of Pakhowal Road, said, “People will again become over conscious about parking of vehicles since recovery vans will move around in the city throughout the day. Even for violators, the facility to pay penalty on-the-spot would be hassle-free.”

Apart from towing campaign, traffic cops have also issued a set of new strict guideline for auto rickshaw drivers. These include guidelines stating that no additional seat along with driver seat in autos will be allowed and overloading will be challaned. ACP Sharma said, “We have challaned 1,373 auto rickshaw in 15 days for traffic violations, with majority of them challaned for overloading. Apart from these, we have impounded 500 autos which were running on city roads without any proper documentation.” He added that repeated violators would face cancellation of challan.

Harish Kumar of BRS Nagar said, “Following the drive against autos, traffic on city roads has considerably improved. If such drives continue very soon our city will have manageable traffic.”