Breaking the barriers
Published: 23 September, 2010
Does new technology mean the end for the traditional car park barrier?
A revolutionary new car parking system which uses automatic number plate recognition cameras is on the market, eliminating the use for conventional barriers while significantly reducing hardware, maintenance and service costs. Similar systems have already been installed at airports and train stations where there is a high level of traffic but with Siemens having designed its own version and other companies getting on the bandwagon, could barrier-free systems be the future of shopping centre car parks?
Barrier-free systems are designed to reduce crime by putting a stop to parking scams and with parking fraud increasing year on year and operators reporting millions in lost revenue, the rewards could
be big.
The use of such systems can also improve customer experience by reducing ticket queues and bottlenecks caused by barriers, making both entry and exit speedy and efficient and in turn eliminating
the stress and frustration felt by many motorists when using
car parks.
So how does it work? Carefully sited automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras read and log a vehicle’s number plate as it enters and exits a car park, automatically checking the parking fee against the ticket purchased. If there is a shortfall or if a ticket has not been purchased in the first place the system will create a report detailing arrival and departure times, including views of the car entering and exiting the car park so that the operator can immediately issue a fine. Katy Tong, marketing manager at Siemens, describes it as a mini version of the London congestion charge.
The system offers a choice of four flexible payment methods including pay-as-you-go schemes for the convenience of booking online or paying via a mobile phone. This reduces the risk of theft from ticket machines and because they do not need to be emptied as often, it saves on labour costs.
Lee Herrington, product and solutions manager at Siemens, explains: “The ANPR cameras work autonomously via a central server. It’s an overnight job to collect all the data and dial into the pay-as-you-go system. The next morning or whenever is convenient for the operator, the system presents a list of possible contraventions with images. The operator can then go through the list and check to make sure they are correct before they send out fines.
“They can use the images to verify whether the vehicle in question should be charged. For example, a police car or an ambulance may have used the car park but does not need to pay, so the operator can delete them from the list.”
Herrington explains that it is up to the operator to decide exactly how people get charged if they underpay. It might be that they are given one or two days to pay via mobile or that it’s written off if they’ve only stayed an extra 15 minutes.
It is also potentially possible to link the system to the DVLA database, enabling the bill to be posted directly to the car owner’s address.
ANPR cameras also have the capability to alert the operator if a repeat offender is in the car park so that action can be taken. Furthermore, the barrier-free system can provide trend analysis enabling operators to offer continual improvement. The cameras can identify ‘hot spots’ and produce yield analysis data informing owners of which payment systems are the most popular.
Siemens did a six month live trial to compare the contravention rates as estimated by the operator compared to the system results. Whereas the operator thought the contravention rates were 3 to 4 per cent, the system showed that actually 15 per cent of customers were either not paying or underpaying.
The system can also be used to enhance customer recognition schemes and to encourage loyalty for long-term users. As Herrington, explains: “It might be that when somebody is using one of the payment systems, a message tells them ‘You’ve parked in this car park [so many times], do you want to buy a season ticket?’”
Katy Tong outlines more of the benefits. “It offers all the benefits of pay on foot systems but without barriers so there’s no waiting or queues and it doesn’t clog up the town centre,” she says. “It also enables accurate recording of who has been in the car park and for how long.
“There is no requirement for wardens to police the car park and the system could even be used to greet VIP customers as their number plate is recognised.”
PAY-AS-YOU-GO
RingGo, Verrus and Parkmobile are three companies offering a service compatible with barrier-free systems which enable people to pay for their parking via mobile phone without the need for a ticket. As the RingGo website explains: ‘In the fast-moving digital world of 2010 why should parking a car require hunting for coins and trekking to the machine to buy a sticky ticket?’
Almost two million people are registered with Verrus in the UK which launched in June 2005. Customers register by giving their vehicle registration number and their credit or debit card details and after that all it takes is a quick phone call outlining location and length of stay and the payment is taken automatically. If the motorist is running late it’s easy to extend and the whole process can even be done by text message.
As Angela Tyreman, sales manager at Verrus, explains: “The benefit to the user is that it is extremely convenient and very easy. Users simply call or text the number on the sign at the car park with their four digit location number and the amount of time they want to stay and that’s it. They don’t have to look for change as there’s no interaction with a machine and they are less likely to get a fine.”
Two shopping centre car parks using the Verrus system are Eldon Square and Eldon Gardens in Newcastle. Although it is offered along with traditional pay and display parking, many shoppers have switched to the pay-by-phone method, with 1,000 transactions being made in a month at Eldon Square. A customer survey conducted by Verrus in the two car parks showed that 96 per cent of users found the system easy to use.
Tyreman says: “The biggest benefit is being able to top up parking remotely. When your time is running out you will receive a text and if you want to extend your time you do it by phone without needing to go back to the car park. This is good for retailers and shopping centres because it keeps people in the shops.
“For parking management, it means they don’t need any equipment, no cash collection and they don’t need to order tickets, so it’s a more cost effective solution. One of the problems is the barriers, not least because people get stuck in car parks and need a warden to let them out or a very expensive CCTV system which allows cars to be let out remotely.”
In the future it may even be possible to store money on a sim card – much like a debit card – and swipe your phone to pay for parking. The technology requires a particular type of phone but Verrus is working with near-field communications to develop the technology and are currently running a trial in France.
ANPR & OTHER TECHNOLOGIES
ACS is a global leader in business process and information technology, specialising in pay on foot systems. It offers a wide range of technology including ANPR systems and pre-booking.
Paul Gillespie, general manager at ACS, explains: “You go to a pay station and top up much like you do on your phone or Oyster card. When the camera sees the number plate it automatically deducts the amount. With these systems it may be that the customer is offered a promotion like a month’s parking for the price of three weeks.”
He describes why ANPR cameras are so important. “ANPR systems increase security and they increase customer experience. If a customer loses a ticket, the management might charge them a set rate of £10 but with the ANPR cameras they can check the system and see exactly when the vehicle entered the car park and charge appropriately.
“People are more likely to use your car park over another one if they get customer satisfaction from the moment they enter the car park even before they get to the shops.”
ACS offers a central system called Multipark. “In old systems the cameras had to send information back to the server and then back to the camera before it could open barriers,” says Gillespie. “With the integrated system you have one system doing everything. The cameras are intelligent – they can recognise number plates automatically and only need to send information to the server once the car has been let into the car park.”
“Our system has an intercom which can play music and sell advertising, for example, it might say ‘welcome to such and such shopping centre, be sure to visit Boots where there is a 2 for 1 offer’ – it imparts knowledge and we get good feedback from customers.”
Nigel Young, sales director at APT lists marketing campaigns, reminding people of late night shopping or communicating extended opening hours, promoting events or competitions as more of the benefits of interactive systems.
“Just as tickets don’t have to be ordinary tickets, pay stations don’t have to be just that either,” he said. “Rather than a means of revenue collection a pay station could act as an interactive means for the customer to buy other additional services. Take the car valet services as an example, a booking and payment mechanism on the pay station could provide better access to the service for all car park visitors and better control from a management perspective.”
plato pay
APT’s new barrier-less system Plato Pay could send shoppers a McDonald’s voucher by text when they go to pay at a kiosk.
Plato Pay was devised two years ago and APT is currently finalising the programming ready for deployment. The system may be the answer for landlords that can’t afford to put the full system in place in one go.
Tom Buck, APT’s group chief technical officer, underlines the system’s flexibility: “It offers better value for money because you can choose at what point you go into it. If you already have ANPR cameras, we can connect our database with the existing technology and there is the choice to pay monthly for the software and the costs of credit card transactions.
“It’s a very broad brush – it doesn’t just provide one piece of the puzzle and it can be cross-transferred with other services. But there are no restrictions: clients can choose to add on later – they can build the system as they want it.”
