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editor@britishparking.co.uk
COMPANIES AND PEOPLE ’Appy customers in Basingstoke
run car parks easier. Payment for
parking by phone was introduced by Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council in 2009 to cut motorists’ frustration at trying to find change for the pay-and-display machines. But now drivers can also use their mobile phone
to register and activate their parking,
A new local-rate telephone number and a web app have been launched to make paying in Basingstoke town centre’s council-
either using a new web app service or a new activation telephone number, charged at the local rate. Te local-rate number
could be free for many motorists, who can use it as part of their inclusive minutes on their mobile phone. Te new Parkmobile
web app is simple to use and is accessible via the browser page on mobile phones. Using the web app,
drivers can register to use the Parkmobile service or log in to an existing account. Motorists simply text ‘park url’ to a short code and they are sent back a link, with easy-to-follow instructions. Motorists can also access the web app
service to monitor their live parking sessions and buy more parking time, if needed. Te civil enforcement officers verify parking payment by checking a vehicle’s registration number against the central parking database, via a hand-held device. Te new services
come after Parkmobile won the tender to run the council’s pay-by- mobile service for a second time. Te council’s
cabinet member for communities, sport and leisure, Cllr Clive Sanders, said: ‘Tese
improvements to the pay-by-phone service give motorists using our town centre car parks a range of new ways to pay to suit their needs and the way they prefer to pay. ‘If they haven’t got the
cash to use the pay and display machines, they can now choose from a number of different and cost-effective ways to pay for their parking; via telephone, text or web. People are getting used to using mobile phone applications and the new web app makes parking even more stress-free.’
TACKLING THE STATES
Ben Stephens, parking services manager for
Bromley Borough Council More of London’s calling
Nine London boroughs have now signed up to RingGo cashless parking systems, with the London Borough of Bromley the latest to provide cashless parking for all on and off-street parking, excluding the multi-storey car parks in Bromley town centre. RingGo won the
contract following a
www.britishparking.co.uk
tough tender process. A trial by an alternative supplier has been operating in one area of the borough; this will now be replaced. Commuters driving
from the south and south east of the capital can now register once and park anywhere along the south-east corridor into the city
centre, using the same number and the same phone parking system throughout. Bromley’s business
manager for parking services Ben Stephens, said: ‘Tis method provides a neat solution to these problems and will provide significant benefit to many of our customers.’
An enforcement company has given four months’ leave to one of its employees to allow him to jet off to the USA to fulfil his ambitions of becoming a football coach. Fuzail Patel,
22, who works for Phoenix Commercial Collections, has won the contract to coach youngsters at a summer school in the States, after successfully completing a training session in front of assessors.
Patel currently coaches an under-12 team from Highfields, near Bolton, and is working towards his Level Two FA coaching certificate after successfully completing his Level One qualification, with the backing of the Bolton Council of Mosques. Patel said: ‘My goal is to get kids from all different backgrounds into the game. ‘There is a big campaign to kick racism out of football and I want to be part of that.’
JULY 2010 41
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