Västerås introduces new text message parking system

From May this year, the residents of Västerås will be able to buy text message parking tickets. This system will be less expensive and offer more flexibility than the text message tickets offered by the present system. Consequently, the local authority is expecting the number of text message tickets sold to increase from approximately 60,000 to 120,000 a year.

In May, Västerås local authority will be unveiling a new parking ticket system to residents.
Under the new system, the cost of a ticket will decrease in comparison with the present system since it will also be possible to pay by text message. Until now, users have had to pay a fee when paying by text message, but this fee will be abolished under the new system. Västerås local authority has chosen Unwire as supplier of the new system which, in addition to saving residents money, will also be more flexible:

”The new parking system is both less expensive and more flexible than before. The price will decrease by up to DKK 4.50 per ticket and it will also be easier for residents to extend their ticket – now, by up to an hour longer. The first text message will already have indicated how long the user wishes to park for – and if they wish to extend this time, they just have to choose a new number of hours. It is a very easy-to-use system, so we are expecting the payment by text message option to become even more popular in the future," says Anneli Asplin, a traffic planner with Västerås local authority.

A simple solution
Besides the decrease in price, the biggest advantage of the new text message ticket will be that it will save time and that users do not need to have ready cash available when they want to park their car. The price of the ticket is deducted on the basis of a subscription, and since the parking ticket will be sent to the user's mobile phone, they do not need to find a ticket machine and go back to their car to put a ticket in the windscreen.

The procedure is as follows: the user sends a text message containing information about their registration plate, the length of time they wish to park for and the zone in which they are parked to a four-digit number, indicating how long they wish to park for (minimum 1 hour, maximum 10 hours), and the zone in which they are parked. They will then receive a text message indicating the time when the parking ticket will expire.Ten minutes before the ticket expires, the user will receive a text message asking them if they wish to extend their parking period. They can then choose to remain in the parking bay for up to ten hours longer. And the parking attendants will always be able to see who has paid by looking the registration plate number up in their electronic system, which is updated constantly.

”We expect the system to be almost twice as popular as the current one. Around five per cent of people use the old text message system, but we expect this figure to rise to around ten per cent. Consequently, we expect, in the future, to sell approximately 120,000 text message tickets a year,” says Anneli Asplin.

Advantages for both the town and residents
It is not only the residents who are looking forward to the opportunities afforded by the new system. According to Anneli Asplin, the local authority also sees several economic advantages in the new initiative:

“The system will also bring numerous advantages to the town. We think that, as more and more people choose to use the text message ticketing system, we will save money on the ongoing expense of maintaining and emptying the machines. The residents will get what they want, but so will the town as a whole."