An Engineering Approach to an Emotional Problem

Craig Covich – Director Environment and Planning,Mosman Council

“…a higher annual income than several African nations.” (Fairfax Media, 2014)

Mosman

Personal Family Household0

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Mosman New South Wales Australia

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2011 Census Data (Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), 2013)

∗ 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

∗ 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

∗ “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

∗ 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.

Study Area: Balmoral

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

∗ 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.

∗ 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

∗ 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.

∗ 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

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.

    % 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

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.

∗ 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

∗ 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