Case study 6:

Common Sense Charging Case Study Trafford

Background Trafford Council is host to United’s world famous home ground, . The vast majority of the time the residential and light industrial streets are virtually the last place you would expect to pay for parking on street. There simply isn’t the demand. Except, of course, on days when Manchester United is playing at home, when literally thousands of football supporters descend on the site, many of whom travel by car.

With privately operated car parking facilities nearby charging as much as £10 to , the free parking offered on street, close to the stadium was an attractive option for fans. Prior to the introduction of match day charging, the unregulated streets became a literal “free-for-all”, causing traffic problems which were difficult to control.

“Match day parking around Old Trafford was a bit of a headache for the Council but the introduction of RingGo has turned The thorny issue of quite how best to manage the problem, particularly when the timing of event days might only be known a fortnight in advance the situation around. was vexing for the Council. Introducing payment machines to regulate We’re delighted; fans occasional match day parking simply wasn’t viable, so an alternative had to be found. are happy; and even the local publican Why Pay by Phone? says business is Trafford Council initially chose a conventional solution - introducing match booming. It’s a day permits sold in books through local retailers and direct from the Council, enabling fans to purchase in advance and then park in the streets winning combination around the stadium. But there was no ability to purchase on the day and all round.” with fans travelling from around the country, it was difficult to communicate Geoff Ball, Head of Transportation, the scheme effectively. Sporadic adoption of the permits led to problems Trafford Council with enforcement and the scheme quickly lost credibility. So Trafford Council turned to phone parking as a solution soon realising that this offered an ideal alternative, which fulfilled all their requirements, namely: • Low cost implementation • Payment feasible on the day Results • Communication at the point of purchase On the street, the scheme has been • No losses due to theft or vandalism, and well received too. Compliance in the • Easy to offer only on match days area is good and no complaints have been received either about RingGo, Which Solution? or the lack of an on-street alternative. (Importantly the option to purchase Trafford Council undertook their procurement using a formal process in scratch cards in advance from the which quotations were invited from prospective suppliers of cashless Council or from the local pub in the parking solutions. A number of responses were received. The RingGo area has been retained). proposal offered the compelling combination of a market leading system, a reasonable cost and the previous experience of implementations around Any incremental revenue generated both the Wembley and Twickenham stadia. RingGo was selected. from phone parking is being ploughed back into easing traffic Implementing the solution congestion elsewhere on Match The timescale for rolling out RingGo was extremely tight. With the contract Days, ensuring continued public awarded in the last week of July, Cobalt Telephone Technologies had just support for the charging regime. 2½ weeks to implement, before Manchester United’s first home game on the 16 August. This included developing and deploying the signage, leaflets, Trafford was the first implementation public relations, website information, enforcement systems, handsets, of RingGo in the area. But on the first day of banking and training. operation, over a third of users were existing customers of RingGo Nicola Henry, Parking Services Manager for Trafford Council comments: - highlighting the prevalence of “The RingGo roll out went extremely well. Given the short timescale RingGo usage across the country. and the unique aspects of the Trafford scheme, it was quite a task to get everything done in time. But signs and leaflets were designed Trafford Council is very pleased with and amendments turned around quickly – we were impressed.” the RingGo approach and is already considering how the service can be Because the scheme operates as a fixed expanded elsewhere. The Council Old Trafford fee, with just one zone, we did have to Football communicated the service widely Stadium Match make some changes to the marketing Day Parking through local media in the pre-launch and training collateral. But once we From 16th August 2009, stage, and is now seeking ways to “Match Day” parking charges are being introduced fed this back to the RingGo team they in the area promote its success through similar close to the Old Trafford Football Stadium. All vehicles quickly made the updates.” parking in the marked area channels. will have to pay £3.00. ”We’ve made a few changes to the Use RingGo! • Pay Match Day Parking Other RingGo locations by phone with a credit or scheme since it went live and they’ve debit card • Call 0161 6340 340 and where Event Day parking follow the instructions all been handled professionally too. • Quote location code 3000 is offered In summary - we’re very pleased we www.RingGo.co.uk Please note: Parking payments are only required on Old Trafford Match Days. At all other times, parking is free. If you’re not sure if it’s a match day or not, call RingGo and the service will let There is a 20p convenience charge for using RingGo on top you know if payment is required. of the parking charge. You will be asked for your vehicle Twickenham, Richmond upon chose RingGo.” registration and payment card details.Calls to register take a couple of minutes. Calls to park take less than a minute. During office hours this information can also be obtained Parking Services, Trafford Council on 0161 912 1382/1383.from Thames Nicola Henry, Parking Services Manager, Trafford Council W embley Stadium, Brent Fratton Park, Portsmouth For more information on RingGo, please visit www.RingGo.co.uk, Pride Park Stadium, Derby phone 01256 339195 or e-mail [email protected]