Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Don’t Even Think of Parking Here

From: Marcel <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 17 Feb 2003 16:43:47 -0500

Don’t Even Think of Parking Here
February 2003 - By Matt Purdue

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

To most of us, parking meters are, quite literally, small change. But to a city
government, parking fees and fines are indispensable sources of revenue. Vancouver,
British Columbia employs more than 100 parking enforcement officers (PEOs) who issue
approximately 400,000 citations worth some $9 million (CDN) in fines annually.

Vancouver’s PEOs don’t get much sleep, working from 6:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. in five shifts
seven days per week to enforce on-street parking bylaws and the residential permit parking
system. With such a high profile in Vancouver, the PEOs have jumped headfirst into
wireless field force automation to reduce hours wasted shuffling paper.

Vancouver PEOs have been outfitted with handhelds (and portable printers) running an
application called TicketManager. The Symbol SPT 1733 handhelds enable real-time, wireless
two-way connectivity via the Telus Mobility CDPD network with a central database of ticket
and permit records. Epic Data, a British Columbia-based developer of wireless data
collection systems, provided the software, system set-up and operation.

“This is an easy-to-use system that utilizes handheld PDAs and real-time information
system updates to eliminate much of the paper and manual data entry from the ticketing
back-end system,” says Ralph Yeomans, Vancouver’s manager of parking operations and
enforcement. “This frees up budget to focus on other city initiatives and is a valuable
step forward in improving customer service in our bylaw enforcement program.”

Here’s how it works: peripatetic PEOs begin by entering a license plate. On the handheld
display, a series of drop-down menus and automatically filled-in fields make completing
enforcement notices more convenient and efficient. This also eliminates the time-consuming
and error-prone task of batch-processing handwritten tickets each day.

PEOs also benefit from real-time links to a trove of parking department data that enables
them to be more effective on the streets. For example, before the system was in place,
PEOs nabbed approximately one illegal resident parking permit holder each week. Now,
officers can enter a license plate and see that a vehicle is not registered as the
official owner of the permit; as a result, they discover and tow 10 vehicles per day using
illegal permits.

Since the system was rolled out last January, gains have been dramatic. In an analysis
produced by city staff, the system showed a net annual benefit of $235,000 estimated over
the first six years on an $801,000 capital investment. After six years, the benefit
increases to $393,000 per year.

The analysis anticipated the elimination of three key-punch positions (out of four) for
transcribing handwritten parking tickets. It also projected a higher volume of valid
tickets, increased ticket payment rates and fewer meter violations. City staff believe the
capital cost of the equipment purchase could be paid back in as little as three years,
leading to a potential net present value to the city of $1 million over six years.

One unintended benefit has repeat parking scofflaws driving scared in Vancouver. The city
tracks approximately 9,000 vehicle owners who have five or more tickets outstanding. Now
that PEOs have real-time access to this data—and one-button wireless access to tow-truck
calls—revenues from the court cases section (cases that will be taken to court if a ticket
is not paid) are up $300,000.

http://www.destinationffa.com/APCM/APCMviewer.asp?a=824&print=yes
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From: Rick Parrish <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 17 Feb 2003 15:47:57 -0600

Marcel wrote:

>For example, before the system was in place, PEOs nabbed approximately one illegal resident parking permit holder each week. Now, officers can enter a license plate and see that a vehicle is not registered as the official owner of the permit; as a result, they discover and tow 10 vehicles per day using illegal permits.
>  
>
That sucks! A downtown worker leaves their car at the shop, drives the 
friend/spouse/relative's vehicle into work, and gets towed.
-rick
[ listening to Bealtes' tune "Lovely Rita ... Meter Maid ..." ]