MERCYASCOT
Putting the end user first in a complex parking environment
MercyAscot is one of New Zealand’s largest private surgical facilities, with 22 operating theatres, an intensive care unit and coronary care facilities. Located in Auckland, they have three sites: Ascot Hospital, Mercy Hospital, and an endoscopy clinic. The Ascot Hospital operates a 450-space carpark.This is a complex, busy parking environment, with 15 independent tenants. Each tenant has several free parking spaces specified in their lease agreement. On most days, these spaces are exceeded by tenants’ staff, customers and visitors, which has resulted in some tenants missing out on their lease entitlement. Over 500 employees work at the hospital, who typically arrive and depart at the same time, causing a bottleneck for the barrier arm system. Furthermore, due to the risk of breakdown, the arm barrier was lifted each night and lowered each morning. This meant commuters frequently took advantage of parking at Mercy Ascot so they could catch the train into the CBD from the nearby station.
The challenge
Balancing the need for better control, with a positive customer experience
The challenge was to regain control of the car park so that all legitimate users could find a space; while ensuring the experience of paying for a park was as smooth and easy as possible. Ascot Hospital wanted simple, easy-to-use paid parking for both regular and casual users. They needed a solution that could grant 30 minutes of free time to casual users while recognising that tenants had a specified number of free spaces and would be charged only when their allocated spaces were exceeded. Several tenants also wanted to pay for their customers’ casual parking fees once their 30 minutes free time was exceeded.
“Having a large number of different stakeholders meant that we needed a comprehensive and feature-rich solution that was simple to use for everyone.”
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Gareth Voigt, Facilities Manager, MercyAscot
The solution
A self-managed system that puts the end user first
Following a competitive process MercyAscot selected Stellar to design and implement a full parking management solution. The first step was to remove the existing arm barrier system in order to allow the vehicles to enter the carpark unimpeded. Next was to build a new system that used vehicle licence plate numbers to manage permits, payments and enforcement. Ascot Hospital’s end-to-end management solution included:
The pay-by-plate payment machines installed are industry gold standard and are used widely across New Zealand. They allow casual customers to pre-pay for their time by entering their plate number, selecting their required time and paying with credit card, debit card or cash. Each customer is granted 30 minutes’ free time.
Customers are not required to return to their vehicle to display a ticket; resulting in a better customer experience and in fewer machines compared to a pay-and-display environment. The payment machines are small and cost considerably less than the large payment stations often used in traditional off-street carparks. The lower cost meant Ascot Hospital was able to have more machines placed along the routes where people walk.
ParKiwi enables users to start a parking session on arrival and to stop the parking session on departure, so they only pay for their actual parking time. This is ideal for regular customers who find it difficult to pre-estimate their parking stay, and for those who do not want to walk to or touch a parking machine.
A secure online permit system was configured to the needs of each regular stakeholder group, with approximately 2,000 vehicle permits varying in price, zones, hours and conditions. The permit solution removed the need for regular carpark users to use a parking machine or to wait for an arm barrier to lift.
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Ascot Hospital and its tenants are able to self-manage the permit system to add and update vehicles. The licence plate recognition camera system provides real-time reporting on vehicle entry and exits so that a monthly invoice can be generated for each permit holder’s carpark stay, whilst making allowance for the tenant’s leased free spaces.
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We also implemented ‘Scratchy Permits’, which allows each tenant’s receptionist to quickly grant visitors or patients a temporary permit. Each month a Scratchy Permit report and invoice are generated and sent to the tenant.
Pay-by-plate parking machines
ParKiwi payment app
Paperless permits
Licence plate recognition cameras and enforcement
The 24/7 enforcement regime uses licence plate recognition cameras to generate breach notices including photographs of the vehicle and a date and time stamp. These are automatically sent directly to the registered owner of the vehicle. Customers can appeal or pay their breach notice through an online enforcement portal. Appeals are managed by Stellar and are considered against criteria set by Ascot Hospital. The cameras also provide the hospital with data on which vehicles are using the carpark and for how long, which allows them to optimise how the carpark is being utilised by different users.
The result
A smoothly-running carpark and happy tenants, staff and customers.
Ascot Hospital’s new parking management solution has allowed them to take full control of their car park, while treating staff and patients with respect and consideration. The combination of payment technologies provides customer choice and allows tenants to manage their own parking requirements within the boundaries of their lease. Remote enforcement and management are provided by an automated, leading-edge licence plate recognition solution, that allows for full flexibility around enforcement criteria. The end result is a carpark that runs like clockwork; and happy tenants, customers and staff.
“We’ve been delighted with the feedback from our carpark users and the control we now have after having countless unwanted vehicles using our carparks previously. Stellar’s outstanding customer support - and in particular, their fair-minded approach when dealing with enforcement enquiries -has made for a great partnership.”
Gareth Voigt, Facilities Manager, MercyAscot