Motorists have the chance to redeem themselves

APCOA PARKING IRELAND, in conjunction with Athlone Institute of Technology (AIT), is giving staff and students in AIT the chance to learn from the error of their ways by issuing a ‘warning only’ notice to first-time parking offenders.

The news comes after APCOA extended its existing nine-year relationship with the Athlone Institute of Technology until, potentially, 2016 following another successful competitive tender.

As part of the new deal, APCOA is taking a conciliatory line to enable all first-time parking offenders to redeem themselves and avoid paying clamping fee.  It’s an initiative that’s sure to resonate favourably with users of the Institute’s 1,136 car park facility.

Neil Cunningham, Managing Director of APCOA PARKING IRELAND, said: “While most motorists regularly abide by the terms and conditions of parking in AIT, the college wanted to provide an initial safety net to those who, for whatever reason, park in contravention.

“Our fair parking scheme works on the basis of a points scale.  Quite simply: if a parking offence has been incurred, the motorist will receive a warning notice, which will remain valid on our system for 12 months. However, if no further offence occurs within the same annual period, the motorist will revert to zero on the points scale again.  

“The principle purpose of the parking initiative is to educate motorists, not penalise them.  However, if a motorist continues to park in contravention at AIT, they will be subject to a clamping fee, which will be administered on a tiered enforcement tariff; based on the number of offences committed within a 12-month period,” added Cunningham.

In addition to the implementation and management of the fair parking scheme, APCOA will continue to provide enhanced managed services for AIT, which include: appeals’ handling, enforcement signage, and reconciliation and reporting.  It also comprises the issuing of staff and students’ permits through a bespoke permit management system, which has been developed in consultation with the education sector.

About APCOA

APCOA PARKING was established in Ireland in 1998 as a parking management company.  Together with its UK counterpart, APCOA’s UK and Ireland businesses currently employ 2,200 staff, and a further 2,500 staff across 10 other European countries. 

To date, APCOA PARKING Group is the largest full-service parking management company in Europe, providing a wide range of on and off-street services on behalf of local authorities, and clients at airports, rail stations, shopping centres, town and city centres, hotels, hospitals and