Councillor Michael Tacke thanked Volkswagen Leasing GmbH and the company sunhill technologies for approaching Salzgitter with the project idea. The city council then approved the trial introduction of cashless payment of parking fees by cell phone using the sms&park® system in May 2017. The administration was commissioned to conclude a corresponding contract with the operator "Sunhill Technologies" for a period of two years. On November 1, 2017, the city of Salzgitter will introduce a digital service that will significantly simplify the purchase of parking tickets: parking fees can then be paid cashlessly and without registration in advance via the TraviPay smartphone app. TraviPay is the most widely used cell phone parking system in the region and can also be used in Goslar, Braunschweig, Wolfsburg, Helmstedt and Wernigerode, for example.
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The 24 public pay-and-display parking ticket machines in Lebenstedt will be fitted with two additional signs indicating the option of cashless payment. "The cashless payment system is a gain in convenience for citizens," emphasized Michael Tacke. Cell phone parking is an optional service that has to be paid for in addition to the parking fees. However, parkers can also continue to pay conventionally at the parking meters.
There are no costs for the city during the pilot phase. Users pay a fee in addition to the parking fee. For one hour of parking, users will have to pay a parking fee of 70 cents and an additional service fee of 24 cents. Mark Riedl, Head of Sales at sunhill technologies, thanked the city for the good cooperation. In the meantime, sunhill technologies has installed the cashless payment system in around 120 cities. The experience has been positive. This was also emphasized by Dirk Warnecke, Head of on-street parking at Volkswagen Leasing GmbH. Working people and visitors to city centers use this payment system. Users are informed by text message ten minutes before their parking time expires and can extend their parking time. Longer appointments or a longer shopping trip are possible without having to consider whether the parking time is sufficient.
After the two-year trial phase, a conclusion will be drawn and the next steps discussed. The project is an important building block in the Smart City Initiative and can be supplemented with further product modules at a later date.
How it works
It works as follows: The driver parks his vehicle and sends an SMS with his license plate number and the desired parking time to the operator. The parking process is recorded and the fee is paid. An automatic reminder is sent before the parking time expires. It is possible to extend the parking time while on the move. Billing takes place via the cell phone bill or a prepaid credit. However, in addition to the parking fees, the user must also pay the costs for the text messages or calls sent. In legal terms, the user concludes a contract with the operator, who collects the parking fees and pays them to the municipality.
The employees of the City of Salzgitter's Citizen Service and Order Department have access to the operator's database and can determine whether the parking space used has been paid for by entering the license plate number. The city does not need any new equipment for this, but can use the mobile devices already in use for monitoring stationary traffic.
The advantages for the parker are Cashless payment and no trips to the parking ticket machine; Reduced risk of fines; Simple operation; Simple requirements (possession of a cell phone). The advantages for the city are Increased attractiveness of the location; Reduced collection effort; Reduction of warning fine procedures; First step towards the "Smart City" (= collective term for holistic development concepts that aim to make cities more efficient, technologically advanced, greener and more socially inclusive. These concepts include technical, economic and social innovations).
Parking ticket purchase via smartphone app:
The smartphone app TraviPay is available to download free of charge for iOS and Android. The app automatically shows parkers their current location and the corresponding parking zone. The parking ticket can then be paid for with a "click" on the display. Before the parking time expires, the customer receives a reminder and can then conveniently extend the parking time while on the move. The system automatically ensures that the maximum parking time is observed. Traffic monitoring uses electronic license plate recognition to check whether a cell phone parking ticket has been purchased for the vehicle in question. Helpful for non-local visitors to cities: with the additional "Back to car" function, the app serves as a guide to the place where the car was parked.
Parking ticket purchase by SMS:
In addition to the app, payment can also be made by conventional text message. To purchase a digital parking ticket, a text message with the content KFZ-KENNZEICHNEN.PARKDAUER is sent to the short code 500030. Information on this is displayed on the parking ticket machines.
Payment via mobile phone bill, credit card or SEPA direct debit:
Spontaneous parkers and occasional users can pay directly via their mobile phone bill or prepaid credit. No registration is required for this. After creating a user profile at www.travipay.com, the payment channels credit card or direct debit are also available.
Advantages as a premium customer:
For just EUR 2.49 per month, you can register as a TraviPay premium customer directly in the app and receive, among other benefits, a monthly total invoice for all parking transactions made.
For more information, visit www.travipay.com/premium
Advantages for business customers:
With TraviPay-Business, sunhill technologies provides a solution especially for companies with field staff or vehicle fleets that digitizes and thus considerably simplifies parking. Accounting and employees are relieved, as paperwork and collecting receipts are a thing of the past. All employees' business parking transactions are managed centrally and invoiced collectively. For more information, visit www.travipay.com/business
Service fee and costs:
The parking fees correspond to the municipal parking fee regulations. For the provision of the service, the customer pays an additional 14% of the parking fee plus EUR 0.14 as a service fee per parking process. The service can be used by customers of the mobile phone providers Telekom, Vodafone and Telefonica with automatic billing via the mobile phone bill. Anyone who has blocked the use of mobile payment in their cell phone (third-party provider block) can have the block removed with a short call to their mobile provider.
About sunhill technologies:
sunhill technologies develops digital payment services along the transport chain. Its partners are the leading German and European mobile phone providers as well as industry-relevant manufacturers and providers in the parking, e-mobility and ticketing sectors. The digital service for paying parking fees at public parking spaces is offered at over 120 locations throughout Germany. sunhill has been a subsidiary of Volkswagen Financial Services AG since 2015 and supports the goals of VWFS AG with regard to new mobility services as a strategic partner.