Wellington City Council deploy over 3800 sensors and the newly developed PayMyPark smartphone app across it's CBD.

The challenge

Wellington CBD is at the centre of the New Zealand and a popular tourist destination which encompasses parliament buildings, sandy beaches and a working harbour. A fair, efficient parking management system is an essential component of making a visit to Wellington enjoyable for visitors, fair to residents and profitable to local businesses.

Up until August 2016 drivers in the Capital have been paying for their parking sessions through nearby parking meters, returning to their car to display a ticket and then ensuring they are back in time before the ticket runs out, a sometimes stressful and annoying task.

In the backoffice, Wellington City Council has been managing parking through traditional methods: officers would patrol time-restricted areas, identifying overstays with the dated chalking method and issue infringement notices. Not only a tedious, time consuming and mundane task for parking enforcement officers but also an inefficient one as not all infringing vehicles can be identified.

Our solution

Following a successful trial in early 2015, August 2016 saw Wellington City Council go live with Smart Parking’s SmartPark solution, and parking payment app PayMyPark.

The deployment includes a network of over 3,800 RFID equipped SmartEye vehicle detection sensors which register whether each parking bay is occupied or vacant.

The information is fed instantaneously to the PayMyPark app, a simple to use app which provides drivers with real-time parking availability, guides them to free spaces and allows them to pay for the parking session straight from their smartphone device and extend their time remotely.

Data is then relayed live to SmartRep, Smart Parking’s powerful cloud-based software tool, which collates and analyses the data and will be used by the Council to understand how drivers use it's parking spaces - a vital resource in planning further improvements to Wellington’s parking systems.

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How does it work?

• Once parked, drivers simply enter the bay number into the app and press ‘start’ then continue at their leisure. Upon return to the vehicle they then select the ‘stop’ function therefore only paying for the time they use. Smart Parking’s infrared sensors automatically detect when a car arrives and relays the information to PayMyPark alerting the application of the cars arrival and departure.
• Drivers are also given the option to pay in advance. If they return before their parking session has expired they will receive a refund for the remaining minutes to their parking account.
• The app will also generate alerts when time is running low, and will allow the user to top up the parking session from anywhere.

The benefits

By providing real-time parking availability functionality motorists now have a much better chance of finding an available and suitable parking space quickly and easily, reducing the amount of time spent idling / circling; increasing occupancy.

The introduction of PayBySpace technology means drivers just pay for the time they need and it’s done. No need to return to their vehicle to display a receipt. Not only does this improve the driver experience but it also indirectly helps local businesses by improving access to the CBD.

Real-time and historic data from SmartRep gives Wellington City Council the accurate information they need to access andd implement more convenient ways to park in the Capital.

About Smart Parking

Formed in 1993, Smart Parking is now one of the largest and fastest-growing bay sensor technology companies in the world with SmartPark with deployments in capital cities across the globe including Canberra; London, Cardiff, and Cape Town, Costa Rica and Cape Town. 

Smart Parking specialises in some of the most technically innovative real-world solutions available within the market and continually leads the way in the development and application of these technologies, under the 'Smart' systems brand. They develop industry-leading technology and provide their clients with the very best parking management solutions.