When you run aHealth Report, themotor has to be running! Now, in hindsight, it made perfect sense why there was a


failure of the charging system, no oil pressure and electrical prob- lems – themotorwas not running; the ignitionwas only in acces- sory mode.My service adviser was a little disappointed with me that I had wasted four hours of his time. Except – I had not run the report. The Ford IT Director and


Factory Engineer had! I suggested that the dealership check to see how many other cars had called in sick after the SYNC upgrade session. Sure enough, several other appointments were scheduled over the next few days. So what does any of this have to do with the parking indus-


try, other than it involved a car?Training, that’s what! Here we have a multinational multibillion-dollar company


working with one of their top-rated dealerships in the state of NJ and neither the Factory Engineer nor IT Director knew how to properly do any of the items described above. (They later explained that this was the first time they had done this, and it was a learning curve item for them as well.We all had a good laugh about it after the embarrassment faded.) Now think of the parking industry. We spend $250,000,


$500,000, maybe a million dollars on a ParkingAccess Revenue Control System for a facility and maybe, just maybe, we also include a whopping 8 to 10 hours of training over a few days on how to use the system. This training is for the parking garage employeewhomay or may not be able to spell PC.At some future date, this employee is


transferred to another site, and he is now responsible for training his replacement.Within a small window of time, no one knows how to manage, operate or program the system! On top of that, the garage staff has no clue as to howto download updates, patch- es or service releases offered by the manufacturer to fix known bugs in the program. The parking industry is rapidly changing. Payment Card


Industry (PCI) compliance rules and Internet access are chang- ing so rapidly that by this year’s end, we may have to have the PARCS’ PC on a “VPN” to remain compliant or lose certifica- tion fromthe bank clearinghouse. Yes, nowI knowthat every garagemanager reading this arti-


cle understands implicitlywhat aCiscoVPNis, howto install the VPN, set theVPN for domain access, maintain the software as patches are released and downloadable, and finally set the fire- wall access for open ports behind or in front of the DMZ! Yes, our industry is rapidly changing, and many operators,


large and small alike, have no continuing training programestab- lished; they do not have a secession programin placewhen trans- ferring employees, or even basic SOPswritten in the garageman- ager’s language on how to log into the system. From my point of view – manufacturers need to step up and


begin to formalize ongoing training and make it a part of their cost of the system.


Woof! PT


Parking Not Getting Any Cheaper, Colliers Reports from Page 50


Holding steady Ross J.Moore, the firm’s chief U.S. economist, points out


that the survey shows how strong U.S. parking rates have remained in spite of the problems that have plagued the U.S. economy during the past couple years. The Colliers survey states that the data indicate “that even in


the face of economic hardship, parking garage owners and opera- tors have managed to hold rates steady…Over the past year, Canadian and U.S. parking rates both registered little change, highlighting the high degree of stability in this often overlooked real estate sector.” “Despite a loss of eightmillion jobs and a significantlymore


challenging business environment, few U.S. cities saw a signifi- cant reduction in parking rates” during the last 12months,Moore says. Daily andmonthly parking rates held relatively steady, with daily charges down 1.4%andmonthly charges up 1.1%. Moore sees the high demand vs. tight supply as a reason


rates have not dropped significantly in the face of economic hard- ships.His report indicates that 70%of the cities surveyed showed that parking garages are 60%to 80%fullMonday-Friday and on weekends during special events, and 20%showed they were usu- ally full during those times. “In NorthAmerica, demand for parking is higher than sup-


ply,”Moore says. “The problemwith parking is that it is difficult to make the numbers work. Building a parking structure is extremely expensive, and to get an economic return is difficult. “Many people look at the price of parking and say: ‘How


can they charge so much just for me to park my car?’But it is a structure that obviously sits there 24 hours a day,” he continues.


“If most people park their cars for eight hours a day at the most, you have an asset that is sitting there largely empty for 16 hours. But it still has to be paid for, in terms of property tax, mainte- nance and insurance. So, as a general rule, we don’t get a lot of overbuilding for parking, not just here in the U.S. but outside NorthAmerica.” SupportingMoore’s claim, the survey states that “just 15%


of cities surveyed indicated new garages will be constructed in the next 24months.” “With the economy anticipated to recover only slowly, cou-


pled with a still weak labor market, parking rates are expected to show little change in the coming year, but beyond the next 12 months, parking rates are expected to resume their upward trajec- tory,” the survey adds. “I think the survey shows that parking is a great business, if


you can get in at a reasonable price,”Moore concludes. “For all the talk of people abandoning their cars and taking up public transport, I thinkwe have aways to go beforewe get to that point. “The parking industry seems stronger than ever. If you look


at how our societies are laid out, we are heavily dependent on the car and will remain so for some time.” (The NorthAmerican and Global Parking Rate Surveys can


be found on the Colliers International website at www.colliers.com.)


Pete Goldin, Technology Editor for Parking Today, can be reached at pete@parkingtoday.com.


PT SEPTEMBER 2010 • PARKING TODAY • www.parkingtoday.com 53


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