Off street car park revenue collection equip-ment was also developed to replace the Attendant with a biscuit tin and a roll of tickets. The early ‘pay at entry’ and ‘pay at exit’ systems were also coin only acceptors and unable to give change – and so shared the same limita-tions as Pay & Display which was often installed off street. Parking charges were generally low and vends were simple – lack of change giving capability was not a major problem.
The Road Traffic Regulation Act of 1984 required that equipment and devices used by Local Authorities (to collect parking charges on or off street) be approved by the Secretary of State for Transport.This type approval requirement was relatively short lived. Off street charges were increasing and, with the growth of long term parking (particularly at airports), the need for banknote
acceptance, change giving and ‘plastic’ payment
grew. The transactions to pay for parking
Paying
for parking
1. INTRODUCTION
www.BritishPPOSITION PAPER 15
June 2007
During the 1930s on-street parking problems developed in down town
Oklahoma, U.S.A..This led the Chairman of the city’s traffic committee, Carl
Magee, to offer a $500 dollar prize for the development of a practical solution
based on his idea for a coin operated timing device.
The winning machine was called ‘Black Maria’ and was the world’s first parking
meter.
In the UK on street waiting restrictions had already been introduced by this
time but it was not until 1958 that Westminster City Council introduced the
first parking meters. The first Pay & Display machines followed during the
nineteen sixties and multi bay meters were also developed.
Early Parking Machines took coin only payments – and initially some took only
one denomination of coin. As the years went by increasingly wide ranges of
coin denominations were accepted but coin only payment persisted on street
for over 40 years.
were growing more complex and were taking longer - so payment at car park entry or exit began to cause unacceptable queuing.The demands on the revenue collection
equipment were growing more sophisticated and new ‘pay on foot’ systems were
developed to meet these demands. In the early nineties on street parking tariffs also started to rise rapidly. It was not, and is not, possible to provide reliable note acceptors and/or change giving capability within the compact low cost on street equipment.Thus high tariffs mean that the motorist must carry plenty of coins - and it also means high values and volumes of coin are fed into unattended machines.This necessitates more frequent and costly cash collections and increases attempts at theft. Also as ticket values increase departing motorists are more inclined to pass on tickets with worthwhile unexpired time to arriving motorists.
As a result the demand for alternative means of payment for on street parking is growing.
2. A BACKGROUND NOTE
ABOUT PARKING REVENUE
COLLECTION EQUIPMENT.
There are two main categories of parking revenue collection equipment;1. Equipment which relies on the motorist to pay under threat of penalty for non payment – parking meters, multi-bay meters and pay & display machines are the main examples of this type.The threat is created by parking enforcement patrols. 2. Equipment which relies on the opening and
closing of physical barriers to ensure that the motorist pays.
2.1 Equipment for On street use Physical barriers can not be erected on the streets so category 1 equipment must be used. It must be compact and visually unobtrusive – and it must also be robust and reliable. Usually large numbers of units are bought because each can serve relatively few parking spaces – so low cost units are essential. .
Provision of plastic card readers for this equipment is fairly straightforward but adding note readers, change givers or chip & pin panels is more complex and costly. 2.2 Equipment for Car Park use
Equipment from either category can be used -although from Category 1 only Pay & Display is widely used in UK. Pay & Display will be appropriate in smaller car parks or where parking charges are low.Typically one P&D unit might serve 30 – 70 car park spaces and collect several hundred pounds of revenue per week.
Physical barriers (normally of the rising arm type) at car park entry and exit may be actuated by various signals or combinations of signals. Examples include signals generated by;
Idetection of vehicle presence
Ireceipt of a payment
Ithe issue of an entry ticket
Ithe reading of a paid exit ticket
Irecognition of a vehicle number plate.
Since the 1980s there has been a strong trend to move payment points away from the entry and exit lanes to locations within the car park. Sophisticated ‘Pay on Foot’ machines have been developed to meet this need.These offer coin and note acceptors, change giving, credit (or debit) card payment, chip and pin and intercom facilities.Typically one pay point might serve 150 - 200 parking spaces and collect some thousands of pounds each week. Car park equipment must be at least as robust and reliable as that installed on street and, where there are limited numbers of units available, transaction speeds can be important. 2.3 Equipment costs
All parking revenue collection equipment has significant costs of acquisition, installation, operation (particularly in respect of cash collection and vandalism repair) and maintenance.
Above
The first parking meters were installed in the UK in 1958 by Westminster City Council
3. ALTERNATIVE PAYMENT
SOLUTIONS
Many alternative non cash payment systems have been developed to overcome the increasing difficulties of cash only payments. All have merits and drawbacks, some are popular in particular market niches, but as yet the vast majority of parking payments are still made by cash.
Some of the non cash systems rely on modified versions of the revenue collection equipment described above – others are independent of it.The equipment dependent systems are covered first.
3.1 Payment Systems Requiring Revenue collection equipment
Decrementing cards:
Motorists must buy these plastic cards already pre-charged with a value of parking (eg £20) sometime before they undertake any parking act.The cards are normally used at Pay & Display or Pay on Foot machines in lieu of cash to pay for a ticket and each purchase reduces the value held on the card – cards can often be recharged. If use spreads over more than one Local Authority or Parking Operator problems of revenue allocation arise. Careful marketing and sales organisations are required to promote and make the cards available. Patrolling enforcement is needed when used
with Pay & Display. Decrementing cards were first used in the early nineties but they have not proved popular.
Oyster Cards:
There has been discussion about how use of these might be extended to cover parking within the London area but problems of development and hardware costs, methods of operation, revenue allocation and commission charges are all yet to be resolved.
Plastic card payments:
Credit cards, debit cards and specialist cards can be used in three principal ways.
The first way applies on street or in a car park and involves card use at a ‘pay & display’ machine or a ‘pay on foot’ machine.The user places the card in a reader on the face of the machine, the parking duration/fee is defined by user action at the machine, or by the entry ticket which is read by the machine, and is charged automatically to the cardholder’s account. Specialist service providers sell detailed and sophisticated processes to ensure that the parking fee is correctly transferred to the parking operator.
The second is the use of the card at a staffed cashier point where the transaction is just like any other retail card use.
The third applies only to barrier controlled car parks.This was first used at airports and is now increasingly applied in other multi-storey car parks.The motorist arrives and presents a card to a card reader at the entry point – this records card detail and arrival time and permits entry. On leaving the car park the
Below
Physical barriers (normally of the rising arm type) at car park entry and exit may be actuated by various signals or combinations of signals
driver must present the same card to a similar reader controlling the exit barrier – the parking system then calculates parking stay time and amount due and this is automatically charged to the cardholder’s account.The barrier is then opened so the motorist may leave.
The introduction of ‘Chip & Pin’ security measures has made particular difficulties for the parking industry because the average transaction value (except at airports) is quite low and transactions may be slower than for cash payments. Process times can be quite critical in some parking applications. Fitting ‘Chip and Pin’ panels and the associated software and protocols to pay points has proved costly and complex and the take up of ‘Chip & Pin’ authorisation in car parks has been quite slow.
A few Local Authorities are now trialling Pay & Display machines which accept credit cards but no cash.These are in high tariff areas where motorists may not have sufficient cash and where security and machine coin capacity would dictate frequent and costly cash collection activity. (please see comments on this subject in section 4)
Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR):
There are two ways in which ANPR techniques are used in car parking. One is related to payment and the other to security. For payment systems a car may be pre registered with the parking operator and the ANPR system will allow its entry and exit by barrier actuation so long as the car owner has paid the appropriate parking charges (or is given credit to pay them later) This is much like using a season ticket.
The security uses are beyond the scope of this paper.
Mobile Phone payment:
The possibilities of mobile phone payment were first trialled around 2001 on street in Dublin – and this system has now been installed in a number of cities across Europe. Various systems of mobile phone payment have since been promoted and new ideas are under development. Some of these are linked to revenue collection equipment and some
are independent of it.The latter are dealt with in section 3.2.
The first systems (related to revenue
collection equipment) generally involve calling up an administration centre whilst close to the parking equipment at the parking location.The parker gives the unique identification number of that equipment – if he/she is pre-registered the administration centre will authorise the parking machine to issue a ticket to the value specified by the user and transfer the charge to an approved account for payment to the parking operator.The phone company receives an agreed fee per transaction.
Currently there are trials with the latest generation of mobile phone (incorporating an electronic purse) which require wi-fi to be installed in the car park.This recognises the presence of a compatible mobile phone in the vicinity. As the car containing the phone approaches the car park entry the driver is offered the option to ‘take a ticket’ in the
Above
The introduction of ‘Chip & Pin’ security measures has made particular difficulties for the parking industry because the average transaction value (except at airports) is quite low
normal way or to pay from the ‘electronic purse’ within the mobile phone.
The user simply presses an ‘e-purse’ button on the mobile to accept the phone payment offer. The car park system will then open the entry barrier- the motorist drives in and parks. On leaving the motorist drives to the exit - the mobile phone is detected and the parking fee due is displayed on car park equipment as the car approaches.The motorist presses the ‘e-purse’ button again to activate payment from the e-purse- and once this is done the car park system opens the exit barrier. 3.2 Payment Systems not requiring revenue collection equipment Vouchers or Scratch Cards:
Vouchers (or Scratch cards) are sold to motorists by retailers close to the chosen parking place.The motorist determines, from signs on the street, the value of voucher(s) required for the anticipated length of stay and ‘scratches off ’ various time and date panels from the voucher to indicate when parking started.The Voucher is then prominently displayed within the car.
This system is most successful where there is a high density of retail outlets willing to sell
Vouchers at all times when they may be required. Schemes tend to be confined to relatively small areas and have proved popular in locations where narrow pavements make meter installation intrusive.
Patrolling enforcement is needed. A significant logistical effort is needed to maintain sufficient stocks of Vouchers at the retailers and to collect and account for the revenues collected by retailers.
Similar systems can be applied in car parks and in these situations the Vouchers are normally sold by the car park operator.
Parking permits,Visitor permits and Season tickets:
These apply to a single, or small number of, parking locations.They must be purchased sometime before any parking act, and they require an accurate administration system to ensure successful operations. Patrolling enforcement is needed for on street applications and for open access car parks. Where a car park is barrier controlled the permit is normally of a ‘machine readable’ type which can actuate the barriers.
In car meters:
In car meters are small electronic devices (perhaps 100 x 50 x 10 mm) with an active LCD or similar display. Motorists must buy these units already pre-charged with a value of parking sometime before they undertake any parking act. Once parked the motorist activates the meter and places it inside the car windscreen.The meter display shows that it is decrementing the ‘on-board’ value at the correct rate - meters can usually be recharged. Meters require a wide area of validity to realise good benefits for users but if this spreads over more than one Local Authority or Parking Operator problems of revenue allocation arise. Careful marketing and sales organisations are required to promote and make the meters available. Patrolling enforcement is needed. No applications are known of in the UK.
Prepayment by internet booking:
This is most commonly used for long term air-port parking and is growing in popularity in that niche market. Full internet retail systems are needed to collect revenues against credit cards and often the vehicle registration number must
Below
In car meters are small electronic devices (perhaps 100 x 50 x 10 mm) with an active LCD or similar display
be given at the time of booking.This enables ANPR equipment at the chosen car park to recognise vehicles which have been booked in and to open the entry barrier on their arrival. It also allows a system check on cars leaving the car park to ensure that they have not over-stayed the paid time before allowing exit. Pre-booking does not always guarantee space being available and the industry must develop ways to deal with this situation.
Mobile Phone payment without associated on street equipment:
On street signs are required to define the areas where the particular system applies. Some systems require associated ‘in car’ equipment – others rely on the vehicle registration mark (VRM)
Users register with the mobile phone system administration company providing details of their mobile phone, their payment account and their VRM. When they park in an area where this payment scheme applies they call the company to indicate where they are parked and for how long they plan to stay. (Alternatively they call up on arrival and again on departure.) Their account is charged for the appropriate fee.
Systems can offer options tailored to customer needs, such as acknowledging payment by text and (for a small extra fee) reminding the motorist by a call on their mobile a few minutes before their paid time expires.The motorist may then remove the car – or purchase further time using the mobile phone (up to the maximum permitted time at that parking place).
Parking Attendants patrolling the area are equipped with hand held devices which enable them to check with the administration com-pany that the parked vehicle is ‘clocked on’ to the system – if not a PCN can be issued.
4 DISCUSSION AT THE FORUM
(AND SUBSEQUENT INPUTS)
4.1 General issues
Forum Members generally welcomed extra methods to pay for parking now that charges are often much more than ‘loose change’ - but there was also concern that all methods should be readily accessible and
straightforward to operate.The keying of VRM details into P & D machines was instanced as
an unwelcome complication (this is to prevent the ‘passing on’ of tickets which are still valid – see also section 4.5 below).
There are many reasons why a motorist may not be willing or able to pay for parking by electronic means and the Forum questioned whether the introduction of cashless payment only parking is fair and, more importantly, whether it is legal. Denying the opportunity to pay for parking with cash might be construed as refusing to accept legal tender.
The Forum expressed the view that in any circumstances where the Parking operator is making charges for the use of cashless payment methods over and above the publicised parking charges these extra charges should also be set out in the Order and clearly stated on the tariff boards and notices. It was noted that cashless transactions would result in some savings in cash collection, cash handling and equipment maintenance costs for the operator and these savings might exceed the extra charges associated with electronic payments. In such cases passing on the costs of electronic payment would be hard to justify; the Forum felt that where charges were applied they should be proportionate. Concern was expressed about parking systems which require motorists to call ‘0870’ numbers which may have high call charges associated. Grace times should also be clearly publicised and proportionate.
Above
There are two ways in which ANPR techniques are used in car parking. One is related to payment and the other to security
Publicised operational procedures should be in place for circumstances when equipment will not accept payment by any one of the usual methods.
Location of Pay Points should be fixed, convenient and well marked. Poorly publicised relocation of Pay Points can cause confusion and delay for the public.
As tariffs increase some car parking operators are reviewing the practice of charging for minimum block periods (of for example one hour) – there is no technical reason why, where the charge is £2 per hour, a motorist should not buy 15 minutes parking for 50p. It was also suggested that future consideration might be given to defining Penalty Charges by setting them as a multiple of the hourly parking charge (eg X 50) for the parking place in question.This would be equitable in so far as the penalty for a parking contravention would reflect the value of the parking space where it was committed.
The general tone of discussion reflected a desire to see honest, fair and transparent policies for setting and publicising parking tariffs and revenue collection methods which are straightforward and available to all.
4.2 Credit and Debit cardsThe Forum noted that the introduction of credit card only (ie no cash accepted) payment machines could be both convenient and cost effective for Parking Operators but questioned whether it is fair or legal. (as discussed in the previous paragraph). It was noted that whilst the Charge Card industry promote ‘Chip & Pin’ as a quick pay-ment system it can, in some parking applica-tions, be considerably slower than the previous transaction method.This can cause unaccept-able delays at locations such as rail stations. It was noted that the flat rate charge for use of debit cards could be disproportionately high when the card was used to pay for a low value parking transaction.
4.3 Mobile Phone payment
Mobile phone payment either relies on the user holding a credit or debit card or the operating company may link to a bank account.This may make difficulties for drivers who do not hold any such accounts.
Phone payment systems which do not use on street equipment allow the Parking Operator to save costs of installing/ replacing and maintaining equipment - and this is particularly attractive where vandalism is prevalent. The mobile phone system can be disrupted if the signal strength is poor at the parking
Below
The possibilities of mobile phone payment were first trialled around 2001 on street in Dublin – and this system has now been installed in a number of cities across Europe
location. System safeguards are therefore needed to ensure that all attempts to log on and log off (including those which fail part way through) are recorded and preferably
acknowledged to the motorist.
Without such safeguards a motorist may believe that logging on has been successful and that payment has been made – whilst in reality communication failed at the critical instant and the payment process was not initiated. In such circumstances a Parking Attendant would believe that payment had not been attempted and a PCN would follow.The motorist would challenge and the recording of the failed phone call would provide important evidence (just as time records of failed P & D machines provide important evidence).
4.4 Powered Two Wheeler (PTW) issues A central London Authority plans to charge PTWs for parking and a pay by phone system using text messaging is proposed. Concerns were expressed about the accuracy and security of such methods in addition to the concerns dis-cussed in paragraphs 4.1 and 4.3 above.
Payment for PTW parking on street is resented by some riders because they feel that they are helping to reduce congestion and that they should be encouraged by adequate free park-ing. It was noted that several PTWs can park within the space required by one car. It was also noted that charging may be needed to ration demand for space as it exceeds supply. Safe and clear display of Pay & Display tickets is a problem for motorcyclists and a Parking provider who wishes to charge motorcyclists by this system should provide suitable methods for ticket display.
It was suggested that rather than charge riders for use of ‘lock on bars’ these might be financed by advertising. If ‘added value’ such as secure clothing lockers were provided adjacent to the parking spaces payment would be more acceptable.
4.5 Passing on of non time-expired Pay & Display Tickets
Pay & Display tickets are often defined as non transferable by Traffic Orders and so ‘passing on’ of tickets which still have some time validity is a contravention of the Order.
As hourly rates and minimum parking periods increase the temptation to ‘pass on’ tickets increases.
For further information about the Parking Forum please contact:
Parking Forum, c/o British Parking Association, Stuart House, 41-43 Perrymount Road, Haywards Heath,West Sussex RH16 3BN Tel: 01444 447300 Fax: 01444 454105 Email: info@BritishParking.co.uk Web: www.BritishParking.co.uk
The Parking Forum is an initiative of the British Parking Association and its current members are:
Automobile Association;
Association of Chief Police Officers; Association of British Drivers Association of London Government; Association of Town Centre Managers Association of Train Operating Companies; Bike Parking Security Association; British Parking Association; British Motorcyclists Federation; Confederation of Passenger Transport; Department for Transport;
Disabled Drivers’ Association
Disabled Persons Transport Advisory Committee Highways Agency;
Institution of Highways & Transportation; London TravelWatch;
National Federation of Bus Users; RAC Foundation;
Rail Passengers Council; Royal Town Planners Institute; Road Haulage Association; Strategic Rail Authority; Transport Research Laboratory.
parking
FORUM
A number of Forum Members expressed the view that Good Practice should allow the ‘passing on’ of unexpired tickets and also should allow purchase of time in smaller increments of (say) 15 minutes where tariffs are high.This might impact badly on the total revenue collected for the parking place but it would seem fairer to the motorist. However another side effect is might be extra PCN issues for time expired tickets.8
