SKIDATA's back at school at Ulster University

As could have been expected, the announcement of the initiative didn't go over too well with the 20,000 students and members of staff at the university – at first. Meanwhile that attitude has changed, as it is becoming clear that the introduction of 'park and pay' is in keeping with the university's mission of providing high-quality amenities (such as a sufficient number of safe parking spaces) along with top-quality education. The idea behind the 'park and pay' initiative is to reduce the total number of vehicles on campus while preventing campus roads from being used as thoroughfares by non-university traffic. Also, with the number of car break-ins on the rise, the introduction of an automated parking revenue control system is an effective way of reversing the trend.

The project involves networked installations at Ulster University's four campus sites at Coleraine, Derry, Jordanstown, and Portrush, which makes it the largest parking system installation in Ireland so far. SKIDATA™ Parking System APT 450 was an obvious choice for the project, not only because of SKIDATA's vast experience from previous projects on the Emerald Isle, including installations at the airports of Belfast and Cork. The other crucial factor in the decision was that the SKIDATA™ system ensures future expandability through scalable software and the optional integration of third-party hardware.

The trustees of Ulster University had very clear understanding of what they expected from a professional parking management system. For one thing, they wanted it to be both locally and centrally controllable – another reason why they went with an APT 450 solution. The campus at Coleraine College was designated as the site of the "Command Centre" for the entire system equipment at the university's parking facilities. Every component can be centrally operated as needed, and an intercom system allows staff at the control centre to provide assistance to users at all gates and pay points.

Parking permits are issued on SKIDATA™ keycards, which grant their holders handsfree access. What is more, the cards can be programmed for various other applications as well. As a result, permit holders can have their keycard turned into a value card or long-term permit