The CITEA parks itself in the Ruhr region

First impressions are everything. This not only applies to relationships between people, but can also evidently be true for machines. At least, this was the case in Dortmund. When the city's powers that be saw the pictures of the new CITEA pay and display machine in April, they spontaneously decided to install one. "The attractive design of the CITEA was enough to win us over," recalls Wilfried Rader. It was also Rader, Head of Parking Systems at Kienzle Automotive, who set the wheels in motion for the installation of this first machine.

The outcome: A CITEA machine has been in place on "Königswall" since November, directly at the gate to Dortmund's vast pedestrian area, where it provides for controlled parking.

Given this prominent location, the design does not attract much attention; after all, the pay and display machine must meet high visual standards here and blend into the cityscape as effortlessly as possible. Of course, functionality is also key. "The new design of the operating panel and features in particular immediately caught the eye of the relevant city officials," explains Wilfried Rader.

But external appearances are, of course, not everything. As is always the case, it's what's inside that matters. And in terms of what's inside the CITEA, the multitude of options offered by this machine also makes for satisfied faces all round. "The installation of the machine went smoothly and there have not been any problems with it since," says Wilfried Rader in an initial sum-up of the venture.

The City of Dortmund has been deploying Hectronic pay and display machines since the mid 1990s, and today 200 machines are in use. These machines are PA2/1 machines, the CITEA's predecessor, which are equipped with, among other things, a cash card reader, a data transfer function and solar power. "The PA2/1 model was a success, and I'm sure that the CITEA will be too," predicts Wilfried Rader optimistically.