T2 Systems: T2 Pay Station 8 Software Supports Mission of EasyPark

Background

Vancouver-based EasyPark CEO Nigel Bullers has had a meaningful career sharing the way he sees the world around himself and taking action to effect positive change. In the world we live in, he explains, we oftentimes see consumers standing in doorways surprised to find businesses closed. “They don’t close because they got too big and busy,” he said. “It’s because they didn’t have enough support on a regular basis.”

In his experience, Nigel believes that – as great as word-of-mouth can be – the mightiest impact you can have in preserving something good is to support its development the best way you can. For more than eight months, he and the EasyPark team provided T2 a tremendous amount of support in the development of T2 Luke II and Luke Cosmo Pay Station 8 (PS8) software. “Supporting and partnering with T2 was really important to us,” Nigel said.

A longtime, valued partner of T2, EasyPark is a private operator that manages almost 190 locations for about 45 unique clients in Metro Vancouver, BC, from parks and beaches to downtown valet, retail, and event parking, each with unique management and payment requirements. Their name represents their values and promise to their customers – to make parking easy. “Hand in hand with that, easy has to be safe,” Nigel said. “Making parking garages and payments safe for customers has always been paramount.”

Challenge

EasyPark’s mission to be cutting-edge on safety, paired with Visa and Mastercard’s prompts to upgrade point-of-sale systems with EMV chip acceptance, set forth Nigel’s and his team’s determination to create the best possible solution alongside T2.

“We really want to be able to say to our customers, ‘If you’re standing at a meter with your credit card, it is the safest it can possibly be for you,’” Nigel said. “We knew it was going to be a big process to get there while avoiding credit card penalties – a very big change, but in our minds, it was also going to be a big payoff to become EMV-complaint, and to see all that the T2 Pay Station 8 solution can imaginably be for us, our users, and T2’s next customers.”

Solution

Through early adoption and testing of T2 Pay Station 8 software during its development, EasyPark’s observances and feedback have been instrumental in our solution’s success. “Now that it’s settled, PS8 has become the new norm, really” Nigel said. “The measure of a consumer’s [positive] experience is ‘I want to walk up to a meter, make a payment in a fairly intuitive and quick manner, walk away, and forget about it.’” The best feedback EasyPark has received from patrons about PS8 pay stations has been very little feedback at all.

EasyPark has successfully moved 95% of their customer pay stations to PS8 since October 2023 to meet the credit card penalty deadlines. Only a few PS7-powered, gifted pay stations remain at not-for-profit locations.

“The new meters have been a great solution for us, and an even better experience for the consumer,” Nigel said. Tap payment methods were extremely important to EasyPark, to ultimately make parking easier and safer for consumers. “Tap is difficult to manipulate by bad actors. You have a compromise on a credit card, and you don’t come back from that easily – so for us, customer safety is 100% the most important consideration.”

Nigel is also enjoying the many other advancements that have come along with PS8, greatly enhancing EasyPark’s day-to-day operations. “The web-based application for pay stations with role-based security is great! The calendared base rate is much, much better in making the back end so much more intuitive. And having colored welcome screen graphics? Well, our VPD enjoys leveraging this around the holidays, and some of our retailers are using it to advertise their specials. Having the ability to announce special events on screen that are happening – and things to come – we really like this feature a lot that so few others get to use,” he said.

Nigel shared great enthusiasm speaking about PS8 over-the-air-updates capabilities. “Can I just say…it is amazing,” he said. For a private operator that manages many locations, this functionality is a key benefit for easier fleet management. “Before, pay station updates caused a great amount of stress and resources for EasyPark. Now, we’re not as concerned about easily missing smaller lots by going place to place, we can ensure pricing is always correct at each location, and have our people focus on troubleshooting the moment it is needed.”

Results

Pay Station 8 has streamlined EasyPark’s operations significantly. It’s been a long road to develop, but it has come out on top, according to Nigel, with thanks to T2 and his team. “T2 has always taken a total approach to being part of the industry, in listening and delivering,” he said.

“Why wouldn’t you support an organization – a partner – that’s also so approachable?” he questioned. “One where you can give feedback even when it’s not comfortable, have it taken it the right way, and know for sure something will be done about it, for any issue. T2 owns its misses and puts the right people in place to fix it—and that’s not a small thing. It’s a cultural values thing that aligns well with what we have here.”

“So, its inherent in us,” he continued, “to say, look, T2 is a strong enough company – North America wide – that has been here for the industry and consumer. We must help support and grow them so they’re there for the next consumer.”

The ways that Nigel continues to see the world of parking around him opens up so many more opportunities to evolve the industry, and we look forward to partnering with him on future projects to make them happen.

Contact us to learn more about how Pay Station 8 software can improve your T2 Pay Station performance.

About T2 Systems 

T2 is the largest provider of parking and mobility solutions in North America. With over 27 years in business, T2 now serves more than 2,000 customers and maintains the largest Customer Community with over 7,500 active members. T2 helps universities, municipalities, operators, healthcare campuses, and transportation hubs generate revenue and operate efficiently with a comprehensive, integrated suite of solutions featuring touchless and contactless capabilities. From curbside management to gateless, from mobile payments to transportation demand management, T2 strives to make every trip a smooth journey by streamlining the parking, mobility, and transportation experience with technology solutions that help organizations manage resources, achieve goals, and empower consumers with choices.