City of Perth ticketless city parking with AutoVu ALPR
The City of Perth in Western Australia deploys the AutoVu automatic license plate recognition (ALPR) system as a ticketless parking solution that speeds up vehicle entries and exits, reduces Co2 emissions from idling vehicles, and eliminates costs associated with paper tickets.
The company
The City of Perth is a local government area and body within the Perth metropolitan area, which is the capital of Western Australia. While the city’s population has reached just over 21,000 people, its central location and growing business district draw in a workforce of 124,000 people who commute into the city daily from surrounding areas. For these reasons, the City’s parking unit, City of Perth Parking, offers 34 car parks which accommodate over 11,000 parking bays. A limited number of monthly permits are allocated to each car park, and the remaining parking spaces are reserved for transient customers.
The challenge
Over the years, CPP had implemented many initiatives to reduce its environmental impact. So when Patrick Abernethy, Manager for City of Perth Parking, heard about a ticketless gated parking application using ALPR technology, he was eager to start a trial. “For a ticket-operated car park, a customer needs to stop at the boom gate, press a button, retrieve a ticket and then the boom gate will open and they can proceed,” he said. “We wanted to speed up the entries and exits, reduce Co2 emissions from vehicles that are idling at the gates, and reduce the costs and waste associated with tickets.”
The solution
Unified parking and security
CPP monitors parking, as well as video cameras and access control doors within its garages using the Security Center platform. The team works more efficiently using one unified interface.
Complete parking solution
The AutoVu system integrates with the DATAPARK parking management system, allowing both systems to sync databases of transient customers and monthly permit holders in real-time.
Ease of reporting
The CPP team pulls reports using the AutoVu system to see how many vehicles enter the facilities and how long they stay. This helps them identify opportunities for parking improvements.
Mobile parking app
Moving forward, CPP will also be offering a mobile app service whereby transient parking customers will be able to pre-book a bay within specific car parks.
“Moving to a ticketless gated parking application with AutoVu and DATAPARK has helped us save money and live up to our green reputation, while offering customers a more seamless parking experience.”
Patrick Abernethy, Manager
Results
Moving to a ticketless system has offered our customers a smoother parking experience. According to Patrick Abernethy, “There is no more stopping at the gates. The AutoVu ALPR cameras read the license plates and the gate opens — it’s all so seamless. There are also no more lost or wet tickets, since all license plate information is digitally stored. Our customer service has definitely been enhanced.”
The CPP has also experienced a tremendous savings in the management and operation of car parks— not just on the tickets themselves, but also on all the associated costs such as printer heads, ink ribbons, jams, and maintenance. “We are saving about $25,000-$35,000 AUD per car park annually,” he said. The CPP also assists law enforcement with investigations by providing images and information of wanted vehicles.