Industry News

December, 2016

J&L Parking Corp. and the Newark (NJ) Downtown District (NDD) have teamed up to add to the city’s history as a music and arts center by turning some downtown parking lot kiosks into vibrant artistic creations that honor Newark’s jazz music traditions. The first of its kind in Newark, the project — part of the company’s Parking Lots Arts Program — is designed to help residents and visitors alike “re-imagine the role of a commercial parking lot within the greater urban landscape,” an NDD official said.

 
Skidata Inc. has promoted Matthew Gooley to Marketing Specialist in the U.S. headquarters. He will be responsible for developing an organized marketing roadmap and executing the plan for all of its U.S. business units. For the past year, Gooley has been assisting Karen Blasing Pradhan with marketing tasks and events. She now will concentrate on more technical, product-centric aspects within
the company.

 
Partnering with DS Management SRL, UK-based ParkCloud has gone live with a new carpark, called Parking Zeus, next to the legendary archaeological site of Pompeii, Italy, which was buried in a catastrophic eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 A.D. The parking facility is just 50 yards from Porta Marina Superiore, the main entrance to the excavations. Set in an area of ancient fruit trees and open 24/7, the carpark encompasses more than 4 acres.

The Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute (PCI) has named Professor Wael Zatar, Dean of the College of Information Technology and Engineering at Marshall University in Huntington, WV, as its Distinguished Educator for 2016. And Halil Sezen, a Professor in the Department of Civil, Environmental and Geodetic Engineering at Ohio State University was chosen as PCI’s Educator of the Year. The awards were presented during the PCI Committee Days and Membership Conference in October.

 
Scheidt & Bachmann U.S.A. (S&B U.S.A.) has officially relocated its subsidiary headquarters to a larger facility in Lowell, MA. The decision to move it from Burlington, MA, was driven by the company’s long-term need to accommodate growth for its Parking and Fare Collections business divisions. The new 72,000-square-foot facility is designed to allow for “a flexible, spacious and technologically advanced work environment.” In related news, Oakland International Airport has awarded a contract to S&B U.S.A. to install and maintain a new PARC system to service the airport’s public and permit parking lots, totaling 8,400 stalls. It includes integrated LPR and CCTV to improve security, and replaces a 10-year old Xerox system. Completion is set for mid-2017.

 
The Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tampa, which has been using an AVPM valet parking system for almost a decade, recently implemented the company’s PARC system to manage its self-parking operation. This high-volume property offers many world-class amenities, including an AAA Four Diamond hotel.  In related news, LaGuardia Airport — which handled more than 28 million passengers in 2015 — and the governing Port Authority of New York and New Jersey have chosen AVPM to manage their valet parking operation, which is undergoing a $4 billion renovation.

 
Bond Street, a $185-million retail and leisure development in Chelmsford in Essex County, UK, has selected Park Assist to install a M4 camera-based parking guidance system (PGS) in its 288-space underground carpark. Its M4 PGS is equipped with smart-sensors that enable parkers and operators to enjoy a better parking experience, as well as run a more efficient facility. In related news, Park Assist is installing the same PGS at Avanta Gardens in Monterrey, Mexico. The high-end, mixed-use development is owned by Insar SC, a leading real estate developer in Mexico. 

 
Rental Management, a nationally recognized magazine serving equipment rental professionals for 38 years, has selected rental-ready Carryall utility vehicles from Club Car, part of Ingersoll Rand, as a recipient of one of its 2016 Editor’s Choice Awards. The vehicles were selected for the award based on several factors, including online audience engagement at ForConstructionPros.com/Rental over a 12-month period. Other criteria included innovation, versatility, productivity and profit potential.

 
As the leading free zone services provider in the Middle East, Dubai International Airport (DAFZA) offers excellent facilities and services. Its reserved parking areas for tenants illustrate the top-class facilities it offers. With the Nedap solution for long-range vehicle identification, safe and convenient access control to these areas is guaranteed. The system was integrated by Alpha Plus Security & Alarm System.

 
SP Plus Corp. (SP+) has named Jeff Eckerling as SVP of Revenue and Growth. He brings a 20-year career with experience leading start-ups and e-commerce companies. Eckerling was on the forefront of developing the science of revenue optimization while at Orbitz. In related news, SP+ has assumed management of the Millennium Garages in downtown Chicago. North America’s largest parking company now operates the 3.8 million-square-foot parking system, with 9,176 parking spaces spread over four garages, which are underneath the city’s Millennium, Grant and Maggie Daley parks.  

As professional hockey and basketball seasons kicked-off, SpotHero, the nation’s leading parking reservation service, announced an official partnership with Monumental Sports & Entertainment, which owns the Washington Capitals, Wizards and Mystics, and the Verizon Center in DC. By booking parking in advance with SpotHero, fans and event-goers can enjoy games, concerts and other events without worrying about parking. Its website and mobile app offer guaranteed, pre-paid parking options.

 
Allpro Parking has re-entered the City of Syracuse, NY, parking market with the opening of a 427-space surface facility in downtown’s Armory Square District. Onondaga County officials awarded the contract in July 2016, with operations beginning in September. “We have not been in the Syracuse area since 2012,” said Daniel Lassiter, Director of Business Development, “so this operation fits nicely into our overall development plan for expansion in New York State.”

CivicSmart, an innovator of patented on-street parking sensors and other “Smart Parking” technologies, has hired Gretchen Effgen as Executive Vice President of Mobility Solutions for its emerging mobility division. She will develop partnerships and business models to deploy smart parking-embedded mobility programs globally, the company said.

 
Washington Dulles International Airport, ranked the 28th busiest airport in the U.S., has awarded HUB Parking Technology the contract to update and replace its PARC system. Five parking facilities at the airport, with more than 23,000 spaces, serve both transient and contract parkers. The new system will comprise 82 lanes of HUB equipment, including 19 entry stations, 24 express exit stations, 10 fee computers and 15 credit card-only pay-on-foot paystations.

 
UK-based Parkopedia has announced a global partnership to provide TomTom, a leader in navigation and mapping products, with premium parking content for its automotive customers. CEO Eugene Tsyrklevich said, “We have been working on parking matters with TomTom for a while now, and are particularly happy to see our joint efforts come to light in this new market-leading solutions for drivers and the automotive industry.” In related news, the world’s leading parking services provider has announced a deal with France-based Coyote System. The provision of premium on- and off-street parking information, including real-time availability, across the Coyote
suite of products forms part of
the agreement.

Atlanta-based Parkmobile, the leading provider of mobile-enabled parking and mobility-related services, has partnered with the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, Canada, to provide mobile payments for campus parking. Students, faculty, staff and visitors will be able to use the app at some 1,500 spaces in 14 lots. Customers can pay to park with their smartphones using the Parkmobile app for iPhone, Android and Windows phones, or by calling the toll-free number on the green meter stickers and signs.

 
Eberle Design Inc. (EDI) has appointed John Shearer as its Sales Manager. He will apply his more than 14 years of traffic industry sales and management experience to EDI’s core products, including iCITE Data Aggregator DA-300, Advanced Transportation Controller Cabinet components, and the Signal Monitor Recertification Program, the company said.

 
Drivers reportedly wasted an average of 55 hours last year searching for parking, representing nearly $600 million in lost time and fuel. To make each trip as efficient as possible, Inrix parking lot information is now incorporated into Waze, the free, real-time traffic and navigation app powered by drivers themselves. The collaboration between the two companies is designed to extend Inrix “smart driver” services to more people through the app to further improve urban mobility.

 
Lanier Parking Solutions, a wholly owned company of New York-based Citizens Holdings, has acquired Alan Kahn Parking Advisory contracts for 10 high-quality locations based in Chicago, Milwaukee, Baltimore and Atlanta. Additionally, Kahn has joined Citizens Lanier as a Senior Vice President for the company, based in Chicago. Kahn rejoins his former colleagues Jerry Skillett (CEO) and Bijan Eghtedari (President) from their earlier days at Central Parking.

 
The Massachusetts Convention Center Authority has selected Propark America to administer parking operations at the Boston Common Garage (BCG) and the new Lot on D across from the popular outdoor destination, the Lawn on D Powered by Citizens Bank. It assumed operations of both facilities on Aug. 1 under a three-year contract. As emphasized in its bid, Propark made it a point during the transition to retain almost all of the BCG staff. In related news, the company has promoted Luis Garcia to SVP for its West Region. “As a longtime member of ‘The Parking Dream Team,’ Luis represents one of the many organic success stories that have helped anchor our company and position us for success,” said CEO John Schmid.

 
Canada-based PayByPhone continues to “solidify its global reach” with recent contracts in Las Vegas, the UK’s Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, and three cities in France. The company said that implementing the service was based on its market-leading service, world-class apps, and history of high adoption in major cities such as Vancouver, Canada (50%), Miami (67%), and the Massachusetts Transportation Authority in Boston (90%). Combined with a suite of location-aware services that allow the app to automatically adapt to a user-specific situation, PayByPhone offers a completely seamless experience in more than 300 locations around the world.

 
Stockdale Capital Partners, an LA-based vertically-integrated real estate investment firm, has formed an institutional partnership with the Grosvenor Group, an international property group, and San Diego-based Ace Parking Management. The partnership will acquire, own and manage high-quality parking structures and surface lots across the Southwest. It will target income-producing parking garages in infill, high-traffic submarkets and garages attached to hotels and office buildings that can be acquired and managed independently.  The partnership also will consider surface lots in supply-constrained markets where parking operations can be executed, it added.