Canterbury City Council Selects Casio S Mobile Technology for Parking Enforcement And

Canterbury City Council selects Casio’s Mobile Technology for Parking Enforcement and Free Flow of Traffic

Canterbury City Council and surrounding towns rely on Casio’s DT-X30 and Spur’s Si-DEM software to keep the streets free flowing:

Background:

It’s widely agreed that the historic city of Canterbury and neighbouring towns of Whitstable and Herne Bay are some of the most beautiful and historic in the South of England. With a road system that can trace its roots back to medieval times where narrow cobbled streets meet main ‘A’ roads, this picturesque city and surrounding areas require efficient parking management. In 1999 responsibility for parking enforcement transferred from the local police force to Canterbury City Council (CCC).

Colin Perris is the Senior Transportation Strategy Officer at Canterbury City Council and provides the essential link between IT technology enablement and Parking Enforcement. He is responsible for the recommendation and provision of optimal parking enforcement equipment. He takes up the story: “Our primary function is to keep the streets within the City free flowing and safe through the use of Parking Enforcement Officers. To enable this flow since 2004 our officers have been successfully using Casio mobile devices to reliably transmit information from over 26,000 fixed penalty offences issued each year.”

Mobile Technology Progression:

The previous Casio IT-500 devices that had been in use since 2004 by the Parking Enforcement Officers were so easy to use, reliable and robust that Colin and the team sensed that they would be hard act to follow. However all involved recognised that mobile technology has progressed so greatly across 6 years, that it made sense to upgrade the Casio handhelds to the latest generation of Bluetooth/GPRS enabled devices. This functionality would allow the Council to become completely service-focused to the paying public, enabling them to access all information as to where, why, and when the offending vehicle had been issued with a Fixed Penalty Notice (FPN) almost immediately in real time.

Helping Colin and his team keep abreast of handheld technology developments and advising accordingly since 2004 is Casio Accredited Partner, Spur Information Systems, suppliers of the original Casio devices. As trusted advisors over six years, Spur develops the hand held software, Si-DEM, together with the backend processing software and provides second line technical support to the Council.

Regular planning and general service reviews each quarter with Spur help CCC shape the requirements for the next generation of mobile handheld parking enforcement tools. In these planning meetings, a list of requirements quickly began to emerge. Wireless GPRS and GPS for mobile transmission and positioning were high on the list, together with

1 quality enhanced image capture backed by the strong physical integral attributes within each unit of reliability, portability and ease of use.

From the new generation of handhelds, the new Casio DT-X30, emerged as a strong contender from the outset. Featuring Wireless WAN/LAN and Bluetooth, the model offers CCC real-time communication with GPRS, so that officers can send data straight from the street back to head office in real time. Of equal importance, was the rugged yet lightweight design of each unit. Colin notes. “Our officers have been using Casio devices every day for the past six years, so reliability and robustness is expected and very important. Casio has a near unblemished and proven track record with us, with minimal returns of the previous generation of handhelds.”

The solution:

Taking their thoughts onboard, the Spur team enabled an onsite product demonstration at CCC’s offices. The long-term combination of Casio’s usability, reliability and feature rich handheld terminals together with Spur’s software and ongoing support was compelling – as was the fact that the terminals came within budget. After evaluating other competitive solutions being run at other neighbouring Councils, in May 2010 the Team provisioned 23 Casio DT-X30s from Spur for each of their Officers.

Rollout began immediately and because the software was familiar and even easier to use than previous models, training was kept within a two hour timeframe.

Using the new Casio DT-X30, the process for dealing with offending vehicles is now largely automated and seamless. The Parking Enforcement Officer selects the offence from a drop down list; prints and attaches the Parking Enforcement Notice to the offending vehicle; captures associated images and downloads the data from the handheld. Whilst back at base, the Spur Si-DEM processing software fully automates the backend administration process; from creation of follow up reminder letters, to communications with the DVLA and external enforcement officers.

Effects on the streets:

Although used to having an integrated camera within the handheld, using the Casio DT- X30, the Parking Enforcement Officers are now able to send up to five images per offending vehicle via GPRS, which are available to be viewed online within ten minutes of the Penalty Charge Notice (PCN) being issued. The DT-X30’s special low light facility means that high quality, clear images can even be captured in poor light conditions.

The Si-DEM software automatically checks which vehicles are entitled to the 4,500 permit passes that exist in the City. The GPS feature has allowed a map of parking congestion ‘hot spots’ to be identified - these are specific areas that the software has highlighted as being known trouble spots for congestion due to poor parking, facilitating more active patrols. In fact, just the deterrent of increased surveillance in the area has helped keep these critical access points clear.

In terms of portability, the CCC officers find that Casio DT-X30 is small, compact and lightweight yet with a screen that is easy to view and even displays in full sunlight glare. Each officer maintains their own enforcement kit, so reliability of each machine is vitally important and it needs to weather the heaviest rain and survive accidental drops. This is of no concern to the DT-X30 thanks to its incredible IP67 rating and drop-proofing from

2 1.8m, which makes it one of the most robust handheld devices on the market today. As CCC’s handhelds can be in use from 7.30am to 9pm each day, power consumption is an important consideration, and the battery life of the DT-X30 is easily sufficient for the duration of a shift.

The Casio DT-X30 also has some exciting features for the future. Very shortly the officers will be able to contact head office direct via a mobile phone signal thanks to the integrated SIM card. And, shortly to be phased into the machines is Advanced Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) software – so instead of manually keying in number plates, ANPR software will allow Officers to simply point and click at a row of vehicles to identify and match parking duration with ticket validity.

Effects in the Back Office:

In short, the combined use of the Casio DT-X30 handhelds with the Spur Si-DEM software has completely revolutionised parking enforcement administration. The process is now so automated that staff have been able to be redeployed to other positions within the CCC.

Colin reflects, “The process behind every Penalty Charge Notice used to be extremely manually intensive. We had a support team of around 20 administration personnel who would spend copious amounts of time validating PCNs; answering queries from the public and liaising with other bodies. This could involve matching images to date and time stamps on each PCN; manually corresponding with DVLA and enforcement; and dealing with queries on the phone. Now the whole system is available to view online within 10 minutes of the PCN being issued, together with detailed imagery, so we have managed to streamline the team to just 3 supporting staff.”

In addition, faced with online imagery, the time to pay fines has significantly decreased (thanks to the quality and speed of PCN information online, 70% of notices are now settled within a 14 day timeframe, up by 20%); but for those contested cases, the Si- DEM software automatically produces Court Packs. These are straightforward evidence packs that have a uniform structure and can be presented to Court in an unbiased format. Compliance to legislation such as the 2004 Traffic Management Act is a key factor in all the Council’s transportation strategies and use of the Casio DT-X30 and Si- DEM software is a key factor in achieving and demonstrating compliance.

In summary:

Colin surmises, “Through the use of Casio’s handhelds and Spur’s software there is a wider knock on effect in having a cleaner, uncongested city. What we achieved here is not about generating revenue, it’s about keeping the streets clear and free flowing while encouraging use of the 3 Park and Ride schemes and designated city car parks.” Colin concludes. “Through the system we have not increased the number of PCNs issued, which has remained constant over a three year timescale, but we have increased the visible deterrent and services to the paying public, undoubtedly making Canterbury a more attractive and accessible city.”