Smart pay stations send cold symptoms to Parking Store

MEDIA RELEASE:

WINNIPEG February 9, 2007 - During this prolonged cold spell the Winnipeg Parking Authority advises its downtown parking customers that the new on-street pay stations may perform sluggishly in extreme cold weather.

“It’s not any different from our cars and any other mechanical devices”, said Dave Hill, COO of the Parking Authority. “We’re all sluggish at -40C.”

The new pay stations begin to slow down at -30C and are too cold to operate effectively at -37C.

“We want to assure citizens that our office is aware when the machines aren’t functioning and our patrol staff will not ticket cars if people legitimately can’t get a receipt from our machines. In that situation what we ask the public to do is to continue to park, but respect the one or two hour time limit as designated by the signage.”

The new on-street pay stations report their maintenance condition to the Winnipeg Parking Authority office every 10 minutes through a wireless signal. Despite the advanced communications technology, the WPA still appreciates if people notify their office at 311 to report a slow operating machine. If the lines are busy, citizens are encouraged to try again later.

When the temperature warms up a few degrees the machines begin to function again and the patrol staff give motorists time to clear away before the monitoring of receipts resumes again.

Before purchasing the new pay stations, the machines were cold weather tested at the University of Manitoba. Their tolerance to -30C was considered satisfactory since in a typical winter Winnipeg there are only a handful of days when the day- time high is colder than -30C. The last week has been an exception and well below seasonal norms.

The new devices allow for 10% more cars to park in a given block and it has made snow clearing easier without the meter posts every few feet.

“Our customers really like the convenience of being able to use credit cards and the fact that they can move their cars and use the same receipt for two or three different stops within the same time zone,” said Hill. “The old crank meters required more maintenance than these new machines and we were no longer able to find available parts to fix them.”

“Response to the new parking meters has been overwhelmingly positive from our downtown business members and downtown patrons,” said Stefano Grande, Downtown BIZ executive director. “We appreciate the Parking Authority’s efforts to make parking easier downtown. When it’s this cold outside, and the machines are a little slow, it’s good to know the Parking Authority has a positive and progressive customer service approach by not issuing tickets during this freeze.”

If motorists receive a ticket they believe needs explanation the Parking Authority asks them to either email (311@winnipeg.ca) drop by their office at 495 Portage, or call 311.