would not start leaving work
purchased new battery/installed
no change

cycled park/neutral/drive/park/neutral repetitively (probably 40-50 times)

would not start in park or neutral
could hear fuel pump start and not much more

towed it home
bought a starter
prepared to move it to driveway for work (pushing)
in attempt to get it to neutral
it actually started
parked it
once again won't start

before i replace the starter i was wondering if there is a common failure of a component in the starting circuitry associated with the transmission not providing the neutral or park signal permissive to start

thanks for any knowledge you may share in advance