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Volume 13, Number 3-March 2008

www.parkingtoday.com

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Volume 13, Number 3-March 2008

SeePage 35

pt0308:parking today 02/17/08 3:32 PM

See us at the PIE Booth #409


See us at the PIE Booth #102See our other ad on Page 64


PARKING TODAYvolume 13 number 3

20 Fear of Parking

24 Cut Your Costs – Here’s a Foolproof Way

28 Hoboken Automated Garage

Reopens Amid Fanfare

30 Parking Meter Revenues are Fair Game

32 Public Policy Boring?

Not When it Involves Parking

44 Laugh ... I Thought I’d Never Start

48 Assess a Parking Structure’s Condition

58 Amateur Parker: The Lure of the Lot

Regular Features

Cut Your Costs . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Page 24

PARKING TODAY is circulated free of charge to those who have aninterest in the parking industry. In order to facilitate delivery, read-ers outside North America are charged $60. Post Office receiptavailable upon request. Single copy price $15.

Manuscripts, articles, photographs, artwork, product releases andall contributed materials are welcomed by PARKING TODAY; how-ever submissions are subject to editing. Advertisers and advertis-ing agencies assume liability for all content (including text, repre-sentations and illustrations of advertisements printed and also anyand all claims made against the publisher. Publisher’s sole respon-

sibility for error in advertising content extends to correction in thesucceeding issue.

PARKING TODAY (ISSN: 10955062) is published monthly by Bricepac,Inc.,12228 Venice Boulevard, #541, Los Angeles, California 90066.Periodicals postage paid at Los Angeles, CA and additional mailingoffices.

POSTMASTER: Send address changes to PARKING TODAY, P.O.Box 66515, Los Angeles, CA 90066 In Canada to Station A, PO Box54, Windsor, ON N9A 6J5. Publications Agreement Number40826055. ©2008, Bricepac, Inc.

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CIRCULATION

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CONFERENCE, CLASSIFIEDAND INTERNET SALES

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DIRECTOR OFOPERATIONS, BRICEPAC

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Parking Today is aBricepac company

Point of View ..................................................................................................6

People in Parking ............................................................................................8

PT Blog ........................................................................................................42

New Products ..............................................................................................52

PT the Auditor ..............................................................................................54

Death by Parking..........................................................................................61

Advertisers Index ........................................................................................65

Classified Advertising..................................................................................66

Dealers, Installers & Suppliers ....................................................................68

Upcoming Events ........................................................................................70

March 2008 Features


MARCH 2008 • PARKING TODAY • www.parkingtoday.com6

had breakfast the other day with a consultant andtwo of his staff, one of whom was the former headof the fraud squad at a major police departmentand the other who at one time ran the parking for

one of the largest building owners in the U.S. The con-versation was fascinating.

I posited that the parking business had changed considerablyin the past 30 years, moving from operators who negotiated leaseswith building owners to the concept we see in most of the country(except perhaps the Northeast) where the operator is under con-tract on a month-to-month basis. (This change in how garages areoperated has, many think, caused major problems with the busi-ness of owning and running parking operating companies. Incomehas gone down, and the business has become more and more cut-throat. Fees are so small that often operators can’t afford to proper-ly staff and run the garages. They are forced down by buildingmanagers who think that paying the lowest price is best, and byoperators who are willing to take the job for such small fees.)

One of my breakfast companions commented that this phe-nomenon may have been caused at least in part by one person, thethen-head of the largest parking operator in the country. That wasMonroe Carell and Central Parking.

It’s well-known that Carell’s goal was to be the biggest, and hestrove to take over parking operations across the country andaround the world. He called these new locations his companypicked up “take-aways.” At one time, Central had more than 5,000locations. Carell brought strong competition to the market, andreacted to the downward pressure on fees by focusing on contractsrather than leases. Other operators, to compete, had to lower theirfees, and the rest is history.

It made some sense, but frankly there are other factors atwork. Asset managers are also incentivized to lower costs and paidon how much they can keep down expenses. So they were quick tojump on board and sign contracts, some with incredibly low fees.(I know of one case in San Francisco where the operator, notCentral, ran the garage for $1 a year and a piece of the action overa certain amount, and never hit that amount – but that’s anotherstory.) The asset managers then thought they could browbeat theoperator into a performance level that was impossible to achievewith the money available.

Of course, when you have such low fees and want to stay inbusiness, you begin to look for ways to lower your costs, and theconcept of charging for every piece of copy paper, having thegarage manager run four garages in the neighborhood, andcharging for FICA and SDI (even when the employees are overthe payroll limit) becomes routine.

This lowballing also brings the sleazier side of our businessout into the open. These “fly-by-night” operators are willing to“perform” for incredibly low prices, but then under-report incomeand don’t pay taxes, pay their staff in cash under the table, and

Point of View

I

One Man Did All This?Plus Casper and PIEBY JOHN VAN HORN

pocket the difference. Legitimate operators find it difficult to com-pete in that environment and lose market share.

So whatcha think? Was this change in the parking businessdue to the influence of one person, or is there more to it than that?Let’s face it. Monroe Carell is an extremely successful parkingoperator. He provided good jobs for thousands over the years andended up selling his company for hundreds of millions. He musthave been doing something right.

One final comment sent in by a reader of my blog: “Good,Fast, Cheap – Pick two, you can’t have all three.”

***Casper, WY, had a meeting of downtown merchants about

parking, and I was pleasantly surprised to find someone who actu-ally understood the problem. Dawn Stevenson, a Casper merchant,put it this way: “Part of the solution is for downtown businesses tofill a niche that customers want. You become a destination pointbecause people like to shop with you.”

Yeah, that’s it! If you build it, they will come. Parking isn’t theproblem; it’s part of the solution.

According to an article I read, Casper wants to redo its down-town area. What better way than to charge for parking and take themoney and clean up the streetscape, install lighting, attract busi-nesses and increase security?

They have taken the first step. Way to go, Casper.The University of Wyoming has a problem. It’s a parking

problem. They are studying the problem. They found that most stu-dents don’t buy parking permits. They park for free in surroundingneighborhoods. Bad students, bad.

They are considering a solution. Bus lines, bike racks, con-venient transportation. Did they consider charging for parking?Charging in the neighborhoods around the school? You know theanswer.

Will they spend millions on bus lines, bike racks, convenienttransportation? You know the answer. Will the students ride thebus? You know the answer.

However, if on-street neighborhood parking costs more thanon-campus permits, will the students consider the bus? You knowthis answer, too.

By the time you read this, we will be in the final planningstages for our Parking Industry Exhibition in Chicago. It’s going tobegin March 30 at the Hyatt Regency, O’Hare. The venue has beennewly renovated, the list of speakers is impressive, and Andy tellsme that exhibitor sales are off the charts.

This is going to be a show you won’t wantto miss. It’s informative, it’s intimate, andyou will come away with the parkinginformation you seek.

See you in Chicago.

PT


WHAT’S TRACKING YOUR PARKING REVENUE?If your tenant leases include monthly parking, you need PARIS, (The ParkerAccounts Receivable Information System). PARIS is the premier billing andreceivables system built specifically for monthly parking.

With PARIS, you can easily:

• Ensure compliance with lease terms, including future rate escalations,minimum billings (“must takes”) , and parker limits

• Ensure that all active garage access cards are being billed

• Automatically calculate prorations for new and terminating parkers

• Collect monthly payments through recurringcredit card charges and bank drafts

• Manage the waiting list for monthly parking

PARIS offers simplicity of use while delivering detailed, professional reports andcomplete audit trails.

GENEVA: IntegraPark’s Geneva application uses data from your revenuecontrol system to track and analyze your operations, then posts the

financial results to your General Ledger system. Geneva is anenterprise-wide revenue management system, built specifically forthe parking industry. Geneva provides bank account reconciliation,calculates revenue budgets and rate projections, enables instantanalysis for upper management and clients, and eliminates tediousspreadsheet reporting and duplicate data entry.

For a demo please email us at: [email protected] call 281.481.6101




Digital Payment Technologies, aleading supplier of electronic parkingmeters, management software and onlineservices for the global parking industry,has successfully achieved third-partyvalidation of its products under the Pay-ment Card Industry’s Data Security Stan-dard. Following on the heels of its PCIcertification as a Level 1 ServiceProvider in April 2007, the companyonce again engaged PSC of San Jose, CA

(www.paysw.com), a qualified paymentapplication security professional firm, toachieve official validation of its productsunder PCI’s Payment Application BestPractices program.

Toledo Ticket has announced anadditional sales person to our NationalSales Team. Kurt Eubanks is its newMidwest Regional Sales Manager, basedin Kansas.

Jim Zullo has joined TimHaahs as

Vice President, managing its office inNew Brunswick, NJ. Before joining thefirm, Zullo was Senior Director of RealEstate and Economic Development forNJ Transit, the nation’s third largest tran-sit agency. He also has worked at theNew Brunswick Development Corp.,Lockheed Martin and the NewBrunswick Parking Authority.

High Concrete Group has beenselected to manufacture the architecturalcladding panels for the new C.S. Mott

Children’s and Women’s Hospital inAnn Arbor, MI. The precast panelswill be produced at the company’splant in Springboro, OH. High Con-crete Group was awarded the $8 mil-lion contract by Barton Malow Co. ofSouthfield, MI. Nearly 1,200 precastpanels covering approximately156,000 square feet will be fabricatedfor the 1.1 million-square-foot facility.HKS of Dallas is the project architect.

Architects Herbert S. Newmanand Partners of New Haven, CT,received a 2007 AIA ConnecticutHonor Award for its design of the Sci-ence Hill Parking Garage at Yale Uni-versity in New Haven, CT. The designof the new parking structure was citedfor its ability to blend into the neigh-borhood and the natural environment;to respect an adjacent architecturallandmark by Eero Saarinen; and totake maximum advantage of all sitingpossibilities.

Randy Carwile, P.E., Director ofOperations for the Atlanta office ofWalker Parking Consultants, hasearned the Leadership in Energy andEnvironmental Design’s AccreditedProfessional credential. The distinc-tion differentiates building profes-sionals who have the training andability to successfully move a devel-opment through the LEED certifica-tion process.

Walker Parking also announcedthat Daniel Johns has been namedManaging Principal for its Los Ange-les office. In this role, Johns managesthe office’s budget and staff, andhelps determine and meet client needsfor the firm’s comprehensive portfo-lio of design, restoration, new con-struction and consulting services.

Booth manufacturer B.I.G. Enter-prises (www.bigbooth.com), was sub-mitted to scrutiny when an independ-ent third-party strategic marketingfirm questioned company customers

Continued on Page 10

PEOPLE IN PAR KING Send information for this section to:

[email protected]

888.687.6822 | digitalpaytech.com

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PEOPLE IN PAR KING

about their perceptions of its products and services. Interviewsover a five-year period indicated 61% placed B.I.G. in the high-est category of product satisfaction. and 53% of those inter-viewed placed it in the highest category of service satisfaction.“We’re grateful for the feedback customers have shared,” saidB.I.G. Vice President Dave King. “Our team is looking forwardto continuously improving how we communicate with, andserve, the B.I.G. customer.”

Metric Parking, which has been producing machines for theparking industry for more than 30 years, has appointed PhilSirois as Business Development Manager. He will have theresponsibility for building the distribution network for MetricParking products in North America. Before joining the compa-ny, Sirois worked for Parkeon as a Regional Business Develop-ment Manager. His appointment follows the recent naming ofDave Witts as President of Metric Group Inc. for North Ameri-ca. Witts said, “This was one of my first objectives as President– to build a distribution network that will allow sales and serv-ice of our products across the country.”

Dean Meyer was promoted to President and CEO of PelcoInc., effective Jan. 21. COO since November 2007, Meyerreplaces David L. McDonald, who was the company’s top execu-tive for 20 years. McDonald will continue his work with Pelcoas Chairman of the Board.

Building Design & Construction magazine has named VickiFord, P.E., as one of “40 Under 40” professionals in the AEC

industry. It editors chose her from among 275 entrants. The 40honorees were feature in the magazine’s January 2008 issue. APrincipal in the Dallas office of Walter P. Moore, Ford special-izes in structural renovation of historic buildings and complex3D structures. She also serves as an in-house mentor for youngengineers, as well as a faculty member of the firm’s FastStartprogram for graduate engineers.

Mike Taylor has joined the sales force of AMAG Technologyas Senior Director of New Business Development. He reports toMatt Barnette, Vice President of Sales. In his newly createdposition, Taylor will manage the company’s national end usersand integration partners. He also will develop sales strategies toincrease AMAG’s market position.

Austrian-based Skidata AG, a member of the Swiss Kudels-ki Group and a leading international physical access control spe-cialist, has established a subsidiary in Spain. As of Jan. 1, Skida-ta Ibérica has taken over the business activities of Siatron S.L.,its distribution partner for the Spanish market since 1995. Ski-data will hold the majority stake in the new company; theremaining stake will be held by Tradesegur, the Spanish-basedsecurity and traffic solution specialist.

ParkingPlanners has promoted both Matt Strickland andTroy Jamail to Senior Vice President and added Mark Senitz asVice President. Strickland will oversee South Texas, EasternU.S. and international projects. Jamail will oversee the CentralU.S. and Texas division.

The Chamberlain Group has named Executive Vice Presi-dent Scott Mordell to oversee operations at sister company

from Page 8




HeathCo. Keith Springs, HeathCo President, will now report toMordell. Chamberlain and HeathCo are owned by DuchossoisIndustries. Said Chamberlain CEO J. David Rolls: “Since theHeathCo acquisition in August 2007, (Mordell) has been direct-ly involved in (its) integration and strategic planning efforts.”

In addition, Rolls recently announced that Chamberlain hasacquired Digitech International of Asheville, NC, as part of itsongoing growth plans in the integrated access control industry.Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

Zeag USA has entered the California market via its directfactory office in Culver City. The company will work directlywith its customers as it does in so many of the other states in theUSA. For more information, contact the local Manager, DonGraham, via e-mail at [email protected].

Central Parking System has announced that its USA Park-ing System affiliate was awarded a five-year contract extensionto manage parking operations at Fort Lauderdale- HollywoodInternational Airport in Florida. USA Parking will continue tomanage approximately 17,000 parking spaces and provide valetparking services for airport patrons. The airport is one of thefastest-growing in the U.S.

The comprehensive Product Technical Training Course bySecura Key is available to technical and sales personnel on abimonthly basis. The course is offered at corporate headquartersin Chatsworth, CA. Included in this offering is training onStandalone Proximity Access Control Units, Access Control

Systems, and Video Integration. The class will cover systemconfiguration and typical door installations. For more on SecuraKey training courses, visit www.securakey.com.

Carl Walker Construction, experts in parking garage con-struction and the repair and maintenance of parking structures,has been awarded the contract to build a 726-space parkinggarage at the Pittsburgh (PA) Technology Center. It will beresponsible for all phases of construction, from facilitating plan-ning and zoning review and approval to obtaining permits andmanaging day-to-day work at the construction site. Work on thenew parking structure, which will be owned by the Urban Rede-velopment Authority of Pittsburgh, was to have begun in Febru-ary on land occupied by surface parking lots.

Green Courte Partners, a private real estate investmentfirm targeting niche real estate sectors, has promoted David B.Lentz to Managing Director and Kian H. Wagner to Vice Presi-dent. Lentz will continue to lead the firm’s manufactured hous-ing community acquisition efforts. Wagner will lead the firm’sanalytical team, as well as source and develop manufacturedhousing community acquisition opportunities.

Charles Andrews has been appointed CEO of Celona Tech-nologies, the data migration specialists, to help aggressivelybuild its customer-facing sales and support activities, as well asto develop its industry-leading application data migration soft-ware.

Sidney Freedman of the Precast/Prestressed ConcreteInstitute has been named one of the 2007 “Influencers of theYear” by The Concrete Producer magazine. The honorees werenamed in its December issue. Freedman, PCI’s director of


PEOPLE IN PAR KINGfrom Page 10


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Get Results with AutoVuThe AutoVu LPR solution by Genetec allows you to significantly increase parking revenues. With the most accurate license plate recognition technology, AutoVu automatically identifies vehicles at entries and exits, eliminating client and employee fraud at your parking facility. Find out how Genetec’s AutoVu solutions can dramatically facilitate the management of your parking facility at www.genetec.com



architectural systems, erection safety, and industrial opera-tions and safety, was one of five industry leaders singled outfor recognition because they “have championed initiativesthat have, and continue, to fundamentally transform theconcrete industry,” the magazine said.

Traffic Technologies, a New Windsor, NY-basedcompany specializing in intelligent transportation systems,electronic toll collection, conventional toll collection andRFID-based parking solutions – has been selected byCentral Parking System, the parking operators at SyracuseHancock International Airport, to design, develop anddeploy E-ZPass Plus electronic toll-collection technology atthe airport’s parking facilities.

TimHaahs teamed with Alexander Building Constructionand High Concrete Structures Inc. to provide prime designservices for a 1,500-space parking structure for York (PA)Hospital, owned by WellSpan Health. The state-of-the-artparking structure, which will almost triple the facility’sparking capacity, is sited on a steep side hill, with an eleva-tion change of up to 40 feet. Adding to the complexity ofthe project, the adjacent roadway separating the hospital andgarage had to remain in operation during construction.

The Post-Tensioning Institute (PTI) has announced theavailability of two updated publications for companiesinvolved in post-tensioning construction. The secondedition of “Specification for Seven-Wire Prestressing SteelStrand for Barrier Cable Applications” provides infor-mation on the use of this type of barrier cable system. Thefifth edition of “Recommendations for Stay Cable Design,Testing and Installation” is the definitive resource for thedesign of cable stay bridges. For more information, visitwww.post-tensioning.org.

Networkcar Inc., a leader in wireless vehicle manage-ment, has appointed Tamara Chamberlin as Vice Presidentof Indirect Distribution. She has extensive experience inleading and building indirect distribution in the wirelessindustry. Most recently, she was General Manager / WestRegion for Clearwire, a Craig McCaw wireless Internetstart-up.

Ron Schuman, P.E., has joined the Tampa, FL, office ofWalker Parking Consultants as Senior Project Manager. Hehas more than 25 years’ experience in the consulting engi-neering industry. For the past 17 years, Schuman has spe-cialized in the planning and design of parking structures andmixed-use facilities for a variety of owners and user types.

Walter P. Moore recently announced promotionsthroughout the firm’s 10 offices:

The following were promoted to Senior Associate: MarcoBernal, Jason Bray , Lourdes “Lulu” Cardenas, BenCheplak, Jon Conrad, Joe Dowd, Leandro Etcheverry,Cari Gerrits, Earl Hartle , Kara Hartleib, Shana Heffler,Todd Judy, Scott Martin, Bart Miller, Keith Mitchell, RobMohrland, Fari Nouri, Chris Reutlinger, Jamison Smith,Charlotte Temple, Jane Tierney, Xiangdong Tong, MattWagner and Ceri Warnie.

The following were promoted to Associate: KevinAnderson , Sridhar Baldava , Alex Biggs, Stephen Blumen-baum, Justin Farr, Joe Gannon, Jason Henderson, LoraHendrickson, Julio Hernandez, Brent Hungerford, Leigh


Continued on Page 16Come see us at the PIE show


See us at the PIE Booth #604/606



Metric EntersParking Management

The Metric Group has launched a new departmentfocused on providing a parking management service. Salesand Marketing Director Bill Laurie said the decision toappoint a parking services manager in the UK had beenrequested by the industry. Brian Nelson, who worked for amajor parking management company in the UK will headthe division.

“Having taken the decision to enter parking manage-ment for the first time, we are delighted to have someoneas experienced as Brian on board to open doors in a sectorof the market in which we haven’t previously beenrepresented,” Laurie said.

“We have done our homework, and we are confidentwe can provide solutions to problems ... within this area ofthe parking industry,” Laurie said. “Metric recognized along time ago the opportunity that existed for a manufac-turer of parking units to tailor-make its services to themanagement sector, and we shall now seek to satisfy theindustry’s needs.”

Nelson most recently served as Parking Manager ofCapital Shopping Centres based at The Harlequin, Watford,England.

Hyun, Kelly Jackson, Jeff Jansing, Adam Johnson, Chris Kam-merer, Won Lee, Brian Lewis, Wes McLean, Mauricio Lopez,Jabar Mohammed, Diego Monroy, Jason Myers, Boon Newsom,Jennifer Ridd, R. Gaylon Schilling, Tom Schilling, RyanSeckinger, Mara Soloway, Rowdy Westbrook, Tianyi Yi andGareth Young.

Scheidt & Bachmann has been awarded the equipment con-tract for the Luhrs Office Center Parking Garage in downtownPhoenix. The 600-space structure is centered between theMunicipal Court House, US Airways Arena and Chase Field.The facility is operated by American Valet. Also, the Tampa PortAuthority has awarded the company the contract for parking andrevenue control equipment for its Channelside Parking Facility.Its 2,000 spaces will have six entry lanes, six exit lanes, fivepay-on-foot stations, and two mobile handheld cashiering units.

The Euclid Chemical Co., a leading supplier to the concreteand masonry industry, has acquired Productos Cave S.A. ofSantiago, Chile. Terms were not disclosed. Kenneth W. Korach,President of the Cleveland-based company, said the acquisition“expands Euclid Chemical’s current Latin American footprint tothe Southern Cone of South America. The additional market,operational and managerial resources of Productos Cave com-plements the already established Euclid Chemical companies inMexico, Colombia and Central America.”


PT


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