 As part of moves to encourage more environmentally friendly ways of entering the city centre, Stockholm City Council began the trial of a congestion charge by automatic direct debit payment for those driving into the city centre in November 2005, known as the Stockholmsforsoket. The Council also wanted to trial a scheme where holders of the SL (Stockholm Transport) card were able to park free of charge, and tasked the parking operator Stockholm Parkering with organising the provision of 25 parking spaces close to public transport facilities for this purpose.
It was hoped that the city entrance control points would encourage drivers to choose more environmentally friendly ways to travel, such as leaving their car behind and using public transport to travel into the city centre.
Stockholm Parkering asked Cale Access if it were possible to integrate a special card reader into the Cale payment terminals so that motorists with an SL (Stockholm Transport) card could park free of charge when inserting their valid card into the terminal.
Cale Access, Stockholm Parkering and SL (Stockholm Transport) worked together to create a system specification. After approval, Cale Access started the design process, and presented a prototype in good time before the start of the trial. The solution was a Cale MP104 credit card terminal, with an additional card reader fitted to accept SL cards. The terminal would also be able to verify the validity of the SL cards, and on insertion of a valid SL card, the motorist would receive a free parking ticket valid until the next day.
One of the key advantages with this solution was that motorists without an SL card could still pay for the parking fee with coins or a credit card. The separate SL card reader ensured that the terminal would be easy to use which, in turn, meant that very few motorists needed assistance with how to pay at the terminal.
When the trial finished on July 31st 2006, it was agreed that the system functioned extremely well and was popular with the motorists. Since the trial ended, all motorists now have to pay for their parking, but the Cale terminals could easily be converted back to how it was before the trial if the Council desired.
Claes Johnsson, technical manager of Stockholm Parkering, explains, "The advantages with this solution were that existing terminals could easily be modified and fitted with an additional card reader for our SL cards. This has proved to be a reliable and user friendly solution, and the customers were satisfied, not least because of the free parking!"
|
