Caradon rolls-out Residents Discount Parking Card Scheme following successful Trial

Following the successful trial of Residents’ Discount Parking Cards in Looe and Saltash, Caradon District Council has extended an enhanced version of the scheme across the district. Based on Parkeon’s Pay-One rechargeable smart card, the facility is available both in the DG Classic and Stelio solar and mains-operated Pay & Display (P&D) terminals installed by the Company for Caradon during the past four years. The scheme is designed to encourage the use of local shops and other facilities by providing residents with a once-a-day discount off P&D parking fees.

"We want to encourage Caradon residents to buy locally and discounted parking is one way of doing that", says Councillor Hugh Francis, Caradon’s Improving Service Delivery portfolio holder. "The trial scheme in Looe and Saltash has proved to be very popular, with more than a quarter of all households in the towns taking part."

All the P&D machines were fitted with smart card readers when they were originally installed, in anticipation of schemes such as the Residents’ Discount Parking Card. With the roll-out of 10,000 new cards, Caradon has also upgraded the system so that further applications can be added to the cards for the benefit of residents in the future.

"The new scheme, including the back-office system, was fully installed a month ahead of schedule, which meant that we were able to familiarise ourselves with it at our own pace and that was very helpful in a busy department", notes Pauline Ward, the Council’s Car Parks and Concessionary Travel Officer.

Caradon’s new Residents’ Discount Parking Cards are available on a one-per-household basis at L5 each. This covers the cost of the card and gives the user L3.40 towards the cost of P&D parking. The cards can be recharged with up to L30 in cash, either in a P&D terminal or at the Council’s offices. This means that drivers do not have to worry about having the exact amount of change available to pay for parking. They will also benefit from a new and evolving means of payment and the added convenience which it provides.

The P&D terminals will continue to accept coins and the discount parking cards issued for the trial, as well as the new cards. Residents generally receive a discount of 10p off their parking in most of the Council’s P&D car parks, although they are given a more generous L1.50 off a day’s parking in Looe’s Millpool car park during the Summer months.

About Parkeon (website: www.parkeon.com)

Parkeon was formerly Schlumberger e-City, the Parking and Ticketing Systems division of Schlumberger. The Company was at the forefront of the development of Pay & Display terminals in the 1970s and has 30 years of proven innovation and expertise in the parking business.

Today, Parkeon is a leader in parking systems and equipment. The Company employs over 800 people worldwide and generated revenues of €122 million in 2003.

With an installed base in excess of 120,000 machines, its parking terminals are a familiar sight in 3,000 cities across 40 countries and its Pay & Display systems control over 3 million parking spaces around the world. Over the last 15 years, Parkeon has developed an installed base of 3,000 ticket vending machines for heavy and light rail, underground and multimodal transport operators in Europe, notably Belgium, Denmark, France, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK.

Thanks to world-class engineers and substantial investments over the last three years, Parkeon has built undeniable technological leadership in its field. Parkeon provides complete parking and fare collection solutions, equipment and services to municipalities, car park and mass transit operators.

Stelio is a mark of Parkeon.