It’s a familiar scene: You’re late for a meeting downtown, circling the block, looking for a parking spot. Nothing doing. Your blood pressure rises.

It’s a familiar scene: You’re late for a meeting downtown, circling the block, looking for a parking spot. Nothing doing. Your blood pressure rises. You finally find an opening dangerously close to a fire hydrant, but you’re out of time. So you park, then sprint the four blocks to your appointment. When you return, there’s a ticket on your windshield. Welcome to parking in the new millennium.

As it rides the wave of an energy-fed economic boom, Calgary could have easily been the scene of Canada’s worst perpetual parking nightmare. But the Calgary Parking Authority’s (CPA) decision to better manage this increasingly scarce civic resource is paying early dividends.

MAKING FRIENDS WITH THE PARKING ENFORCEMENT OFFICER
Allstream partnered with the CPA to implement the Park-Plus System, a comprehensive short-term parking management solution developed to improve customer service, increase parking spaces and safely and efficiently enforce parking. It aims to accomplish these goals by vastly enhancing traditional parking technology..

Park-Plus allows motorists to call up so-called virtual parking meters on their cell phones to reserve a spot. They can also use advanced curbside meters to pay with cash or credit. Mobile photo enforcement, state-of-the-art payment terminals and wireless communication technologies round out this comprehensive solution.

“Other cities may use one or two of these features,” says Derek Bourque, an Allstream Senior Business Consultant who served as Functional Architect for the Park-Plus System. “Our solution puts all the pieces together and goes much further than point-solutions.”

Going further is already returning significant benefits. By using this advanced system, the CPA has been able to:

• Simplify enforcement. A camera-equipped patrol vehicle takes photos of parked vehicles, then analyzes compliance back at the office.
• Save money. Elimination of paper-based tickets has reduced per-ticket costs from $1.60 to 54 cents.
• Improve meter security. Cashless machines reduce vandalism and save repair costs and downtime.
• Enhance customer service. In addition to supporting cell phone-based reservations, Park-Plus calls account holders when their time is almost up and provides a refund if they terminate the parking earlier then they are anticipated.
• Increase safety. Enforcement officers, no longer stuck walking the streets and issuing paper-based tickets, can focus on keeping fire hydrants and fire zones clear.
• Extend capacity. Increased turnover allows more efficient use of existing spots.
• Bolster reporting. Automated meters gather detailed parking data, which helps the CPA precisely assess usage and adjust rates on the fly and also offers cell phone, parking payment transaction online.
• Streamline business management. The system supports central billing for local fleets.

EXTENDING THE TRUST RELATIONSHIP
The Allstream/CPA relationship, which extends back over ten years and has resulted in a range of systems including impound lot management and bylaw tracking, illustrates how strong partnerships can help companies succeed. Trusted vendors with the ability to integrate the various pieces of a complex solution can reduce the risk associated with implementing next-generation solutions.

In the end, you still have to pay for parking, but with Park-Plus, the experience is more convenient than ever before.