The Requirement

Increasingly, both major Retailers and Private Car Park owners are reporting that their car parks are being abused by people who regularly park their vehicles for extended periods of time and these abusers are not visiting the Companies who own the Car Parks.

This car park abuse results in either limited or no vehicle spaces being available for “genuine” customers and in turn leads to loss of revenue / profits for the retailers. In addition, for many years car park management was carried out by a parking attendant whose job it was to manually log the details of vehicles on site. This has proven costly and highly ineffective. A solution was required to eliminate the cost of the parking attendant and to free up more spaces for genuine customers.

The Solution

NGP pioneered the use of ANPR for car park management, are now one of the largest operators of such systems. NGP own installers install and maintain the systems nationwide and all administration is carried out in house, by NGP Staff. NGP is registered under the Data Protection Act and a member of the British Parking Association - Approved Operator Scheme.

Proposed Monitoring and Enforcement Method

The System monitors the entire site and identifies vehicles that appear to be “nonauthorised” and issues a Warning Letter or a Parking Charge Notice to offenders, depending on Client requirements. This is achieved using Automatic Number Plate Recognition technology and a custom built software suite.

How The System Works

Cameras are installed at the entrance and exit of the car park and automatically log the number plate of vehicles on entry and exit. This information is then analysed to identify vehicles that have remained on site for longer than the permitted duration. In this case a report is then compiled with images of the ‘violator vehicles’ which is then manually checked before the DVLA is contacted for details of the registered keeper. Once these details are obtained a Parking Charge Notice is then sent in the post.

Installation

NGP provide a Nationwide Installation team. Each site installation is carried out by skilled and trained installers during normal working hours with minimal disruption. Installation is normally completed within two days.

Customer Focused

The System incorporates a number of features all of which are customer focused and can be implemented depending on Client requirements:-

• Incorporates a 20 minute grace period over and above any time limit on signage
• Incorporates a Permit Management System which will allow staff, tenants and visitors to have their vehicle registrations included in an “authorised” database. The database has a facility for permits to be changed or visitor permits to be added as required at the request of authorised personnel.
• Updates can be carried out by these personnel either online, by phone, fax or email.
• Allows staff to register vehicles remaining on site for longer than the time limit.
• One Chance - the ability to only issue a parking charge notice on a second offence
• Photographic Evidence – the ability to provide a time stamped photograph of arrival and departure
• A phone based system, answered by people not machines, to answer any complaints or queries.

About The System

The system proposed:

• Works in accordance with the DVLA voluntary code of conduct
• Works in accordance with the British Parking Association’s ‘Code of Practice – Part 2’
• Has been approved by a number of Trading Standards Offices
• Works in cooperation with various Police forces for the detection and prevention of crime