AITPM presentation

1. An Engineering Approach to an
Emotional Problem
Craig Covich – Director Environment and Planning,
Mosman Council

2. “…a higher annual income than several
African nations.” (Fairfax Media, 2014)
Mosman
Personal Family Household
0
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
3000
Mosman New South Wales Australia
Medianweeklyincomes($)
2011 Census Data (Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), 2013)

3. ∗ Council resolved on 19 May 2009 to introduce a
Resident Parking Scheme (RPS) and Ticket parking
Scheme (TPS) at Balmoral despite receiving significant
objection and numerous petitions containing over 4000
signatures.
∗ The scheme was implemented in 1 November 2009 and
within a week the parking meters were vandalised.
The Story

5. ∗ A TPS is a scheme that requires a motorist to pay for and
obtain a ticket after parking the vehicle in the ticket parking
area (Roads and Maritime Services, 2012).
∗ RPS limit non-residents and non-permit holders to time
restricted parking – in Balmorals case 2 hours. They are
designed to provide equitable and appropriate mix of parking
spaces in residential streets and streets close to recreational
areas, such as beaches (Roads and Maritime Services, 2012).
The Scheme

6. ∗ “I will be disadvantaged and I am being discriminated against”
∗ “Children will be killed”
∗ “Parking chaos”
∗ “I won’t be able to access my driveway”
∗ “No where to park”
∗ “It won’t work”
∗ “Money grab”
Critiques Received

7. ∗ The scheme’s operation was proposed to be reviewed after 12
months, however the continuing criticism post implementation has
forced the Council to resolve to review the scheme one month into
operation.
∗ Council’s engineering staff undertook its largest in house traffic and
parking assessments to examine impacts the scheme would have
on residents to counter the public criticism the scheme has
received.
∗ This study was peer reviewed by Gennaoui Consulting and the
survey counts were assisted by austraffic.

8. Study Area: Balmoral
• There are approximately 1,450 parking spaces of
which 178 spaces is accommodated by Council’s
reserve carpark.

9. ∗ The study area encompasses all
streets which have the RPS and
TPS installed and also includes
selected surrounding streets.
∗ For the purpose of this study
the area has been divided into 8
precincts labelled A to H.

10. ∗ To counter claims regarding visitors avoiding paid parking
and occupying residential streets, occupancy counts were
undertaken before the scheme implementation and during
the 2009/10 Summer period to see if the paid parking spaces
were utilised.
∗ Parking permit counts were also undertaken to analyse
parking patterns of the residents.
∗ Council’s general approach on these studies would be to
average and summarise the data.
Study Method

11. ∗ Counts were undertaken at regular intervals at least 8 times a day,
which included key interest times such as 6pm when residents
return from work.
∗ Key average values were summarised in a table.
∗ However the raw data collected for the study was found to be
overwhelming to be defined in tabular format.
∗ Further, it was found that this normalises the difference in parking
popularity across different streets and was found to be
inconclusive.

12. ∗ A graphical representation was deemed to be more
appropriate and facilitate the detail required for
analysis as well as a medium to present in an
appropriate manner to the public.
∗ A staff member with a background in Geophysics
enlightened an innovative method typically used for
density mapping – Heat Map Analysis
∗ Parking occupancy was redefined as parking ‘density’.
Heat Map Analysis

13. Preparation
∗ Each street was traced onto a geo-
referenced aerial to provide a
guide for grid points.
∗ The grid point was assigned the
corresponding geo-coordinate and
a parking ‘density’ forming a grid
file in preparation of the heat
map.

14. % Occupancy
X Y 6:00 10:30 16:30 18:00
338135.2887 6255879.077 42.88 100 73.37 84.21
338107.1867 6255867.281 42.88 100 73.37 84.21
337957.9709 6255803.887 37.12 65.91 35.61 40.15
337929.7162 6255791.95 37.12 65.91 35.61 40.15
338052.8463 6255843.678 52.8 90.91 74.33 81.82
Sample Grid File

15. Data Mapping
∗ Using a surface modelling package named Surfer (Golden
Software, Inc, 2010) the grid file was converted into a heat
map.
∗ However care is required for the open spaces where there
are no grid points. These open spaces have no weight and
require interpolation from neighbouring points.
∗ After several mathematical algorithms were trialled, the
Krigging method was deemed to suit our data.

19. ∗ Too much information is prone to exploitation.
∗ Selecting an effective representation of data is essential to
reveal fact and inform a mass driven by agenda and
emotion.
∗ Heat Map Analysis is a powerful tool for analysing parking
patterns over large study areas.
∗ Easy to understand
∗ Resistant to misunderstanding and exploitation
Conclusion

20. ∗ Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2013). Census of Population and Housing 2011.
Canberra.
∗ Fairfax Media. (2014). Australia's richest suburb: they're swimming in it. The Sydney
Morning Herald. Retrieved from http://www.smh.com.au/.
∗ Golden Software, Inc. (2010). Surfer 9. Golden, Colorado, United States of America.
∗ Roads and Maritime Services. (2012, January). Pay Parking. New South Wales.
∗ Roads and Maritime Services. (2012, November). Permit parking. New South
Wales.
References