Single Rechargeable Smart Cards Provide Access To Pay-on-Foot and Pay & Display Car Parks

Parkeon has provided VINCI Park, the parking management company, with combi rechargeable smart cards. They are available to the 5,000 staff at Cardiff University Hospital Wales (UHW) – as well as regular or long-term patients and visitors – and enable them to use a single card to pay for parking in Pay-on-Foot (P-o-F) pay stations at the site’s multi-level parking facilities, and in Pay & Display (P&D) terminals in its surface car parks.

By integrating contact and contactless technology on a single card - for P&D and
P-o-F, respectively - Parkeon has provided a highly flexible and convenient parking control solution. It enables VINCI Park to offer a range of parking tariffs and concessions, which vary according to each car park’s designated use(s) and the time of day, to four staff user groups at the Hospital.

The scheme gives Cardiff UHW’s personnel access to parking on different parts of the site - for whatever period is convenient - whilst also enabling them to strike a balance between cost and convenience when deciding where to park. Another benefit is multiple entry/exit facilities within a 24-hour parking period, at a fixed fee, to complement the work schedule of multi-shift and multi-centre health staff.

The cards are a convenient alternative to cash or credit cards, both for staff and regular or long term patients/visitors. They remove the worry of not having the right coins available to pay for P&D parking, both day-to-day and in the longer term.
The general public has access to the multi-level parking facilities – a 1,295 space multi-storey and a two-level 280 spacer – as well as seven surface car parks. Non card holders are able to pay with coins, bank notes and credit cards, according to the type of payment machines provided in each car park. The parking controls are designed to optimise the use of parking facilities shared by the general public and the Hospital’s staff.

In the multi-storey car park (MSCP), the card scheme is integrated with a video-based licence plate recognition (LPR) system, which automatically raises an entry barrier for card holders, speeding-up the entry process. This saves time for drivers and reduces queuing at the entrance, which helps prevent a build-up of traffic on the adjoining highway. Intelligent card debiting automatically deducts the correct amount, according to the tariff for which the holder is registered, to speed-up the exit procedure. The use of contactless cards also makes for quicker entries/exits at the 2-level car park.

Parkeon’s PC-based Parking Rights software is used to manage the card issuing and driver/vehicle database management system, facilitate relevant concessions, and prevent unauthorised usage. Drivers can register more than one vehicle on their cards but, should they be driving an unregistered one, they can still access the MSCP by presenting their combi card at an entry terminal, instead of relying on the LPR system.

Another PC-based Parkeon program, Varioflex™ Financial, monitors the P-o-F installations’ revenues using data downloaded directly from the pay stations and terminals to the system’s server from both multi-level car parks. A similar package, Parkfolio™ Financial, provides the same function for the P&D terminals, from which data are downloaded via a Jumbo hand-held terminal. The programs output comprehensive financial and statistical information relating to the use of all the car parks at Cardiff UHW. This helps both external and internal management to review and develop the parking facilities.

On being awarded the contract to manage parking at Cardiff UHW, VINCI Park replaced the existing P&D machines in the surface car parks with 20 new Parkeon solar-powered Stelio™ P&Ds and those in the 2-level car park with the same manufacturer’s Varioflex P-o-F, barrier-controlled system. VINCI also replaced the original access control equipment in the MSCP with a Varioflex P-o-F installation.

About VINCI Park

VINCI Park UK is part of the VINCI Group, world leader in concessions, construction and related services. The Company designs, finances, builds and manages parking infrastructure and facilities for public and private organisations around the world.

Operating in 12 countries and managing 810,000 parking spaces, VINCI Park is a world leader in car park concession management and the number 1 operator in Europe.

VINCI Park offers innovative, quality-parking solutions for parking enforcement, notice processing, clamping & removal services and designs, builds, finances and operates car parks. VINCI Park aims to set the highest standards in the parking industry through the application of innovation and quality of service.

VINCI Park Services UK Ltd, Portsoken House, 155-157 Minories, London, EC3N 1LJ
Tel: +44 (0) 207 481 1272 Fax: +44 (0) 207 481 1308 www.vincipark.co.uk

About Parkeon (website: www.parkeon.com)

Parkeon is a global leading player in the fields of on-street and off-street parking and automated mass-transit ticketing equipment and systems.

Its activities encompass the development, manufacture, installation and maintenance of equipment and systems, as well as related services, including systems management and hosting, which have leveraged a network of twelve data processing centres around the world.

Parkeon is leader of the on-street parking segment with a 58% global maket share. With an installed base of over 130,000 machines, the Company’s parking terminals are a familiar sight in over 3,000 cities across 40 countries. Its Pay & Display systems control over 3 million parking spaces around the world. Parkeon also has an installed base of 3,000 ticket vending machines for heavy and light rail, underground and multimodal transport operators.

Based in Europe (Germany, Italy, Spain, Belgium, the United Kingdom and France (where the Company is headquartered) and the United States, Parkeon employs over 830 people worldwide and generated revenues of €130 million in 2004. The Company’s R&D establishment, production line and quality control centre are in Besançon, France. Its manufacturing facility has an annual production capability of 20,000 Pay & Display units and 1,000 ticket vending machines/access control systems.

Parkeon was formed in November 2003 after the global-leading equity firm, Apax Partners, acquired the parking & ticketing division of Schlumberger. Originally established in 1970, the Company has played a significant role in the development of Pay & Display technology, in which it has over 30 years experience.

Parkfolio, Stelio and Varioflex are marks of Parkeon.

Parkeon Limited, Membrain House, Ferndown Industrial Estate, Wimborne, Dorset BH21 7PP, U.K.
Tel: 01202 850927 Fax: 01202 850903 Web: www.parkeon.com