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Friday, 25 July 2014 00:35 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
Colombo Mayor A.J.M. Muzammil declared open the parking metre and spoke of the importance of having such equipment in the city saying, “Parking fees is a major source of revenue for the city of Colombo. We want to streamline the collection process.”
Tenaga Car Parks Managing Director Duminda Jayathilake speaking on the initiative said: “President Mahinda Rajapaksa has envisioned the country being a knowledge hub where technology will play a prominent role in the country’s development. We in our own way, through such endeavours as introducing new technological components to the parking industry in the country, hope to contribute towards this vision as well.”
Jayathilake also explained the partnership between Tenaga and the Colombo Municipal Council: “This pilot project is implemented to gauge the reaction of the public on the parking meters and we hope to in the future to work very closely with the Colombo Municipal Council to expand this venture to the whole of Colombo and subsequently to work with other municipal councils to extend the service island-wide.”
More machines will be installed in the near future around Colombo as well as other popular areas Kandy and Mount Lavinia.
Tenaga, the pioneer in parking, traffic management and consultancy services in Sri Lanka, also has plans on installing such machine in supermarkets and other private parking areas together with Cale Access, a renowned Swedish company that specialises in products related to parking, public transport and entry solutions.
Cale parking metres combine the latest technology with a unique design that focuses on energy conservation and efficiency. Powered by solar panels, the machine utilises daylight to charge its 45A battery, which has a guaranteed lifetime of five years.
Built using stainless steel and aluminium, the CWT Compact is sturdy and durable and can withstand temperatures between -35 to 60 degrees Celsius. Equipped with Cale-patented electronic lock system with intrusion sensors and tough materials, the machine boasts of high security against vandalism and Tenaga hopes to install CCTV cameras, which will provide a method of monitoring the area where the machine is present.
Further the machine could be used as a mode of advertising where advertisers could display relevant information in the back of the parking ticket. The multi faceted aspects of the machine also enable tourism friendly features such as accommodating Google maps as well as other necessary travel information.
Jayatilake added: “This is not only a parking metre but an intelligent machine through which many value added services could be implemented in the long run. Further, this is the first time not only in Sri Lanka but in South Asia that such a parking metre of this calibre is being introduced.”
A unit which is being built at a cost of 4,000 Euros (about Rs. 700,000) will use a cloud system to calculate the hours and track the fees due. Dialog Axiata has also been a key player in this project as the exclusive technological partner for the parking metres by providing alternative payment methods for the ease of drivers.
The NFC technology-enabled parking metres will have six payment options available. They are through coins, debit cards, credit cards and touch cards, eZ cash and Add to Bill solutions courtesy of Dialog.
The NFC Touch Cards were recently introduced by Dialog to facilitate contactless payments and transport ticketing, while eZ Cash allows Dialog and Etisalat customers to carry out payments and transactions using their mobile phones.
The eZ Cash facility could also be extended to cover other service providers as well. As such, users can avail of these two options to pay for parking through the new parking metre. The Add to Bill solution, also by Dialog, enables the user to key in his or her mobile number and other necessary details after which a PIN will be provided for the user to utilise the parking facility. The charges will be added to the user’s phone bill at the end of the month.
Commenting on the vital role that Dialog has played as the technological partner in this venture, Jayatilake said: “Dialog partnering with us is a huge milestone for the parking industry itself. Essentially parking was earlier more nuts and bolts business and there was not much technology involved. Due to the advancements and innovation introduced by Dialog, now it is becoming a technology-based industry.”
Pix by Lasantha Kumara
