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IT’S ‘WAVE AND PAY’ IN THE PARK

Published: Thu, 29 Jul 2010 07:46:05 GMT

Visitors to England’s largest national park will be able to ‘wave and pay’ for their parking this summer.
 
For the Lake District National Park is the first to order Metric Auras with ‘contactless’ and chip and pin credit/debit card payment facilities.
 
Seven ‘wave and pay’ Auras will shortly be installed in car parks over a dispersed area in what is 800 square miles of national park containing the highest mountain and deepest lake.
 
The Lake District National Park, which has a total of 24 Metric pay and display parking machines, is replacing seven with ‘wave and pay’ and chip and pin.
 
Said Car Parks and Boating Centre Manager David Coxon: “The ‘wave and pay’ option will give a quicker turnaround, make it easier for people to pay and improve customer service for people who want a more flexible way of paying for their parking.
 
“We understand we have placed the first order with Metric for the contactless and chip and pin credit card Aura.
 
“A big thing for us is having the ASLAN Web system installed due to the fact that our car parks are dispersed over a massive area. There can be 60 miles between one car park and another so remote monitoring is important to us.”
 
The installation of the new machines will be completed during May and the ‘wave and pay’ feature is expected to go live within the next few months.


 

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‘MAYDAY’ CALL FOR SOLAR POWER

Published: Thu, 29 Jul 2010 08:06:32 GMT



It was a ‘Mayday’ call from the London Borough of Croydon to Metric Parking for more solar power.
 
The borough wanted a further 17 solar powered Aura pay and display parking machines to control the parking zone in the vicinity of their Mayday Hospital.
 
The latest order now brings the number of solar powered coin operated machines in the borough to 36. Croydon already has a total of 850 Metric Accents and Autoslots.
 
Barry Francis, General Manager of Infrastructure, said “Croydon’s policy of using sustainable technologies wherever possible meant they would be turning more and more to solar power in the future”.
 
The Mayday Hospital controlled parking zone will be implemented in two stages, the first in the spring and the second in early summer.

 

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LEEDS GOES ‘ALL METRIC’

Published: Thu, 29 Jul 2010 08:08:27 GMT



Leeds City Council has gone ‘all Metric’.
 
The Council, which already had 140 Metric Accent pay and display machines in its car parks, now has an install base over nearly 200.
 
Leeds ordered a further 57 Metric Accents for installation in the City Centre to replace aging PES equipment. The specification includes GSM for remote access and configuration, a service which Metric provides to the City Council.
 
Said Richard Boultbee, Metric Parking’s UK Sales Manager: “Leeds City Council were keen to unify their pay and display parking machines and we are delighted they have chosen Metric.
 
“This demonstrates their confidence in the Metric Accent and it is pleasing to see a great and vibrant city like Leeds supporting UK manufacturing” he added.

 

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SELLING IS ABOUT USING YOUR ‘LOAF’

Published: Thu, 29 Jul 2010 08:21:26 GMT

The UK’s only manufacturer of pay and display machines is using its ‘loaf’ when it comes to selling – into the bakery trade.

 

Premier Foods – bakers of Hovis – are the latest to purchase a Metric Aura for staff purchases of bread at their Wigan bakery.

 

It’s the same principle at Warburtons where Metric Accents issue tickets for lower cost factory shop bread.

 

Two Accents have been installed in the Wednesbury bakery for staff purchases. A number of other Warburton factories, including Enfield, Bristol and Newport, also have Metric machines for issuing tickets.

 

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LONDON BOROUGHS ORDER METRIC PARKING MACHINES

Published: Thu, 29 Jul 2010 08:45:14 GMT


Six London Boroughs have placed orders for pay and display parking machines with Swindon-based Metric Parking, the UK’s only parking machine manufacturer.
 
Large orders for the Auras have been received from Kensington and Chelsea, while Hammersmith and Fulham are also Accent purchasers.
 
Ealing, Brent, Hounslow and Hillingdon have ordered Metric Auras for their boroughs.
 
Said Mick Catchick, Metric’s Special Projects Manager with responsibility for London: “We are of course delighted to have received recent orders from many London Boroughs for Metric machines, with so many of the boroughs ordering the Aura and Accent machines for their parking zones this year.”

 

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PARKING MACHINES THAT ARE MAKING HISTORY

Published: Thu, 05 Aug 2010 07:17:01 GMT


Four Metric Aura pay and display parking machines are making their own bit of history.

 

The black machines have been installed along rural roads where traffic parks for one of the UK’s most prestigious and popular tourist attractions.

 

The four pay and display machines take £4 a day from tourists for parking their vehicles on the roads leading to Snowdon – the highest peak in Wales that ranks amongst the most beautiful in the world.

 

Snowdon, or in Welsh Yr Wyddfa (the tomb), stands at an altitude of 1,085 metres (3,560 ft) above sea level and is climbed by thousands of visitors each year.

 

The machines are proving their worth to a North Wales partnership which chose Metric Parking of Swindon to supply the Aura - and their sales and technical expertise – specially for this outstanding National Park visitor attraction.

 

Metric has installed a total of nine Auras – including the four unique country roadside machines – in the Snowdonia National Park which is a mecca for tourists from the UK and abroad.

 

In a scheme called Snowdonia Green Key, Metric was commissioned to supply their latest generation Aura pay and display parking machine to assist the partnership of Snowdonia National Park, the Countryside Council for Wales and Gwynedd and Conwy Councils.

 

The Metric Aura is collecting £4 a day parking fees (£2 half a day) in car parks and roadsides in the Snowdonia National Park area.

 

There are four Metric Aura roadside parking machines in Pen-y-Gwryd and the others have been installed in the National Park’s car parks in Nant Peris, Watkin Path and Snowdon Ranger Path.

 

Two of the machines in Llanberis have been enclosed in metal shelters due to vandalism which the partnership has reported to the police who are investigating.

 

Apart from the vandalism, a spokesperson for Gwynedd Council said the partnership was pleased with the slimly designed Metric machines painted black to blend in with the landscape of their most spectacular locations.  

 

“To my knowledge these machines are the only ones of their kind to be located in such stunning scenery anywhere in the UK,” said Alan Grimley, Metric Parking’s representative for North Wales.

 

Alan, who took the order for the nine Auras within the Snowdonia National Park, added: “I was most excited because to me this part of the country is idyllic.”

 

Gwynedd Council say an integrated transport project in northern Snowdonia, set up to encourage more visitors to park and use the bus, was also working well.

 

The Snowdon Sherpa bus network provides a half hourly service from Llanberis to Pen-y-Pass starting at 8 in the morning and continuing until 6.40 in the evening. Some of the buses are equipped to carry bikes.

 

The council spokesperson said the revenue from the parking machines helped to subside the bus network which was one of the longest running rural bus services in Britain that operated all the year round.

 

For a £1 fare visitors can catch an open top bus up the scenic Llanberis Pass.

 

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DSB (Danish State Railways) opts for TVMs from Hoeft & Wessel

Published: Fri, 27 Aug 2010 08:28:14 GMT


Almex.jpg

118 almex.station conform to the latest EU TSI standard
station.jpg
Hanover/Germany, 26/08/2010. Following a Europe-wide invitation for tenders, DSB (Danske Statsbaner (Danish State Railways)) has again opted for Hoeft & Wessel’ stationary ticket vending machines (TVM). The Almex business division of the German IT and Engineering Group for ticketing, parking and mobile solutions will be supplying a total of 118 almex.station TVM’s and installing them at railway stations in Denmark. DSB previously bought TVM’s from Hoeft & Wessel in 2004. Together with the new order, a total of around 300 stationary TVM’s will be in operation at DSB.

The TVM’s conform to the latest requirements of the European Union (EU) regarding ease of use especially for persons with restricted mobility. The TSI standard – the technical specification for inter-operability – defines and, therefore, standardises the arrangement of operating functions. The new TVM’s accept payments by coins, bank and credit cards. At some locations it will also be possible to pay with banknotes and to receive change in the form of banknotes

 

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Metric & Almex at fair TranspoQuip Latin America 2010

Published: Fri, 27 Aug 2010 08:35:04 GMT


The Hoeft & Wessel Group strengthens its activities for logo-transpoquip.pngthe South America market, especially Brazil and Argentina. The IT and engineering Group’s Almex and Metric business divisions will present their solutions at TranspoQuip Latin America 2010 in the Expo Center Norte - São Paulo, Brazil, on 10-12 November 2010.

Ticketing and parking solutions will be shown in a joint environment. All solutions are proven and ruggedized, yet support state of the art technologies like e-ticketing and electronic cash payment.

The Group’s business activities are being coordinated in São Paulo, Brazil, by their Regional Manager, Germano Ramlow. ”Public transport via buses, trains and subways is growing in importance in cities in Brazil and Argentina. At the same time efficient operations for controlling parking are increasingly being sought. This is a very interesting environment for Almex ticketing systems and Metric “Pay and Display” parking systems. In the last few months I have noticed strong interest in proven technology engineered in Europe.

 

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Hoeft & Wessel successful with ticketing systems in Spain

Published: Wed, 01 Sep 2010 08:02:45 GMT




Zaragoza and Murcia opt for e-ticketing system from Hoeft & Wessel and Ikusi
Zaragoza, the fifth largest city in Spain, and Murcia, seventh largest city, have opted for an e-ticketing system from Hoeft & Wessel and Ikusi. The delivery of 50 stationary ticketing vending machines, 22 onboard TVMs and comprehensive back office systems to the local public transport operator TRAZA (Tranvias de Zaragoza) will start at the end of this year. The devices are intended for the new tram line “Línea 1”. The tramway operator TRANVIMUR in Murcia will receive 51 stationary TVMs for the extension of the tram line 1 by the end of this year.
 
Hoeft & Wessel is a German-based IT and engineering Group. With its Almex brand, it is one of Europe’s largest supplier of ticketing systems. For Spain, Almex has formed a strategic alliance with the Spanish company Ikusi, one of the leading companies in the design, introduction and management of electronic systems e.g. for railways and public transport.
The new TVMs are designed to enable access for all passengers, especially those with restricted mobility. Features for handicapped are a special socket for wheelchair users, Braille, interphone systems, and LED flags. Fully supporting e-ticketing capabilities, the stationary TVMs will be able to dispense electronic tickets in conformity with ISO/IEC 14443 Type A and B (Mifare) as well as RFID ultra-light paper tickets.

In recent years, Spain and Portugal have become almex optima.jpgincreasingly important markets for Hoeft & Wessel. Its Almex ticketing systems are now well known in the public transport sector. More than 2,000 buses in Spain and Portugal use the latest generation of Almex ticketing equipment. Onboard units for buses are in use in the Spanish cities of Valencia, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Reus and Tarragona. The stations on the tram system in Vitoria are equipped with almex.station ticket vending machines, which were also delivered in cooperation with Ikusi.
In Northern Portugal, the long-distance coaches of Rodonorte running into Porto and Lisbon are equipped with almex.optima ticket machines for ticket sales and seat reservations. The urban bus operator TUB in the city of Braga has equipped its 120 buses with almex.optima ticket machines. Both operators also accept the Andante contactless Calypso cards from the city of Porto. 

The reason for this success is a network of local partners who cooperate and combine their skills based on Almex proven and rugged ticketing solutions.
“The development of ticketing systems in response to local needs, combined with on-the-spot hardware maintenance and software support, has been the key to the success achieved,” commented Almex Export Sales Manager David Hodgkinson.
Hoeft & Wessel will continue to expand its business activities in Southern Europe.

 

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