INRIX Inc. is launching a new service that to help millions of drivers quickly find on-street parking. Continuing their successful collaboration, the company announced that BMW will be the first automaker to include the breakthrough service in its ConnectedDrive cars.

 

Tulsa developer Mike Fine, CEO and founder of Fine Airport Parking, along with Aurora, CO, Mayor Steve Hogan and several other dignitaries broke ground June 2 on Phase I of an eventual 156-acre mixed-use development in Aurora, south of Denver International Airport. Fine said Phase I will include construction of a $25 million high-end, service-oriented parking facility with room for 3,000 vehicles. Most will be valet and covered spaces. There also will be space for 30 plus electric vehicles, and round-the-clock shuttle service to and from the airport.

 

Washington, DC, has been writing fewer parking tickets, a result of the widespread use of mobile payment technology, a Washington Post analysis has found. A majority of drivers who park on-street are now using the Parkmobile app, a payments system first launched in 2010. And since 2011, the District’s parking ticket count has declined by 300,000, The Post’s analysis shows. The DC Council is now considering whether to raise fines or extend when “premium zones” are in effect.

 

ABM has been awarded a multi-year contract to manage parking operations at Nashville International Airport (BNA). The public- and military-use airport in southeast Nashville served more than 11 million passengers in 2014. Under the terms of the multimillion-dollar contract, ABM Parking Services will operate and oversee 11,150 parking spaces across BNA’s five parking facilities, including a dynamic valet parking service. About 95 ABM employees will be engaged in providing parking services at BNA.

 

MobileNOW! has successfully launched mobile payments in five downtown Indianapolis surface lots managed by Denison Parking, a private parking operator with more than 120 U.S. locations. “Denison Parking is always looking for opportunities to provide our customers more options ... to pay for parking,” said John Hedge, Senior Operations Manager. “MobileNow! allows us to provide this convenience to our customers.”

 

Republic Parking System has won the right to manage 6,100 state-owned downtown Indianapolis parking spaces, as well as hundreds of parking spots at White River State Park, for up to five years. The Chattanooga-based company is awaiting a management contract from the Indiana Department of Administration. The IDOA said the state will pay Republic $16,200 a year in management fees. However, in its RFP, Republic said it would agree to take 15% of net operating revenue. If the pending contract includes the 15% cut, the company could earn at least $435,000 a year.

For months, when parking problems surfaced in public meetings in St. Petersburg, FL, the reply from city transportation staffers has been consistent: We’re going to study that. A parking garage near Tropicana Field? How big should the parking garage at the new police headquarters be? What about the waterfront plan’s suggestions for moving cars off the water’s edge? Now the long-awaited study is ready to kick off. In May, the City Council approved $150,000 to have the Tampa office of Kimley-Horn and Associates analyze the city’s parking needs. A series of public meetings will be held over the summer, and a final report issued in the fall.

 

Companies such as Rover, WhereiPark and HonkMobile are sprouting up to cash in on empty driveways and parking spaces across Toronto. The “sharing economy” is now in overdrive, as companies and consumers try to figure out new ways to monetize existing assets. Grant Brigden and Tim Wootton are working on their Rover parking app, due to launch this summer, where drivers can rent private spots by the hour. But with the City of Toronto trying to crack down on Uber, the question becomes: Is it legal to rent out a parking space? Fully operational companies include WhereiPark, which arranges parking spots on a monthly basis; and HonkMobile, which helps drivers find, reserve and pay for parking. Jeremy Zuker and Alex Enchin launched WhereiPark last October when they realized there was no central online place to track spots available for rent. HonkMobile CEO Michael Back likens what his firm is doing for parking to what Uber is doing to the taxi industry.

 

Dallas / Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) reports that it’s ready for the busiest summer in its 41-year history. With more than 18 million passengers expected during the 2015 summer travel season, DFW is implementing several additional customer-focused programs, such as discounted parking rates and a new Sunny Service Days engagement program. Later this summer, DFW expects to complete the final phase of the Terminal A parking structure, with 7,700 vehicle spaces on five levels and a state-of-the-art parking guidance system.

 

MobileNOW! was to start providing monthly mobile payment options for all city-owned electric vehicle (EV) charging locations in Rancho Cucamonga, CA, on June 1. The city has made concerted efforts to be an EV-friendly community as part of its Healthy RC initiative to promote a cleaner, greener Rancho Cucamonga. The efforts include providing 10 public charging stations at key locations; facilitating EV charger infrastructure through the development code; and streamlining the residential EV charger installation permitting process.

 

Quercus has launched its brand-new license plate recognition unit SmartLPR Access NA, with motorized remote-control lens and all necessary equipment for optimum license plate acquisition and processing in an all-in-one solution. The new unit can recognize the U.S. states marked on the license plates, and is one of the few products on the market with a stand-alone architecture. The device includes the digital camera with motorized lens, OCR processor, lighting, Wiegand output interface, I/O and Ethernet. 

 

The Airport Parking Network Event Europe, an annual two-day conference especially for airport parking managers and airport parking-focused companies, attracts parking industry decision-makers and airport parking managers from all over the world. Conceived in Europe in 2009, the seminar has grown in popularity year-on-year. Its CEO, Jorrit Weerman, has decided to cross the Atlantic and introduce the Airport Parking Network Event U.S.A, set for Aug. 29-30 at the Sheraton Miami Airport Hotel. For more information, go to http://apneusa.parkingevent.com.

 

ParkMe, the leading provider of dynamic and real-time parking data, has launched a smart-parking solution for Orlando. Building upon the successful installation of smart-meters in Downtown last year, drivers can now find, navigate and pay for available parking spaces all from the palm of their hand. The smart-meters use sensors embedded in the pavement to record data about when and for how long a car is parked. ParkMe then integrates these data into its free mobile app, which alerts users to available parking spaces. Moreover, the app guides users to their chosen area and enables them to pay-by-phone through their affiliate, Parkmobile.

 

Parkmobile LLC, the leading provider of on-demand and prepaid mobile payments for on- and off-street parking, has announced that its mobile payments solution is now available at 1,000 off-street parking spaces managed by SP+ in Philadelphia. Customers will be able to pay for parking from their smartphones by downloading Parkmobile’s mobile applications for iPhone, Android, Windows, Blackberry and Amazon Fire smartphones.

 

CurbStand, the first and largest valet parking network for consumers and operators that offers interactivity, seamless mobile payments, and on-demand services, has launched on the Android platform. Timed to the launch, the company will be offering first-time Android app users free parking by way of a parking credit/promo code: Android. This development gives even more drivers access to the pioneer valet parking app.

 

Space Exploration Technologies Corp., a Southern California-based company that designs, builds and launches rockets into outer space, has chosen the West’s leader in parking structure construction to create more spaces for its employees here on Earth. Bomel Construction Co. and Walker Parking Consultants are working together to design and build a seven-level 1,469-stall parking structure across the street from SpaceX’s 510,000-square-foot manufacturing and command center in Hawthorne, CA. The site is next to Hawthorne Municipal Airport. The $16.5-milion garage is set to be finished by Jan. 31, 2016. PTT