Architect, urban planner and inventor John Alt today challenged the parking industry to license and implement new mobility technology that will increase pedestrian access throughout central business districts and make downtown "satellite" parking facilities feasible for the first time.

The new technology, called SMRrTRAM ("smart tram"), is a bus-like vehicle that operates at street level and provides continuous, high capacity, two-way transport along a single, dedicated guide lane. Two trams always arrive together at each stop, from opposite directions, and the next pair is never more than two-and-a-half minutes away.

Alt, president of Village Technology, a U.S.-based urban technology design firm, has spent the past decade readying SMRrTRAM and its patented synchronization logic for market. Because the trams make frequent, predictable and reliable stops all along their 2-to-8 km routes - and because riders can use them repeatedly for one daily fee - Alt said commuters and hourly parkers will prefer to use facilities served by SMRrTRAM.

Alt presented several scenarios that showed how parking facilities could profit from the addition of SMRrTRAM mobility systems. These included payment mechanisms that allow car parks to incorporate daily SMRrTRAM access fees into their parking rates - and to share in any increased retail sales created for downtown merchants.

For more information, visit www.villagetechnology.com.