Parking fit for the future at the Queen Mary on the Alster

Parking fit for the future at the Queen Mary on the Alster

Hamburg, 3 March 2009: As you drive up to the car park at the Europa Passage everything seems just like it always has done. A car park entrance like any other. Today though, all of a sudden the barrier opens as if by magic without the driver needing to open his window or operate the entrance terminal.
But it isnt magic, its LPR License Plate Recognition, and its being used for the first time in Germany as a fully integrated parking management system in the underground car park of the Europa Passage shopping centre. From now on the automatic license plate recognition system will enable the Europa Passage car parks many regular customers to enter and leave in a user friendly manner, ticket-free.
Just as with the high quality architecture of the centres internal design, the operator, Contipark, has set the bar high in terms of service quality in the underground car park. After all, one thing is certain the shopping experience or way to work begins and ends in the car park.
As an additional service and in order to fulfil the high expectations of our visitors, together with DESIGNA Verkehrsleittechnik GmbH we are installing the LPR license plate recognition system, explains Michael Kesseler, managing director of the Contipark Group. In this way, access to the car park for season parkers, and perhaps in future short term parkers too, will be made easier via a reservation system. After all, our motto is service makes the difference, continues Kesseler.
The license plate recognition system also offers more security for customers, as the ticket information is linked to the license plate, meaning that it is only possible to leave in the same vehicle with which they entered. The advantages for the operator lie not only in the systems user friendliness, but also, in addition, LPR provides a platform for additional products, such as the use of a payment and reservation system.
Since the underground car parks completion two years ago, the parking system has been geared towards the needs of domestic and international day visitors.
Our PM ABACUS system was supplied with high quality TFT displays from the very start, which show the operating instructions in an attractive, graphic form, adds DESIGNAs Sales Manager for Germany, Marten Jentsch. "A multilingual navigation menu also makes using the system even more simple and convenient, continues Jentsch.
In line with todays payment standards and the expectations of the visiting clientele, guests of the Europa Passage car park can also pay their parking fees by credit card. Through the addition of a multicon, DESIGNAs PM ABACUS system is capable of processing credit cards directly at the car parks entrances and exits.