METRIC AURA FOR THE ISLE OF WIGHT

September 6 2010

The Isle of Wight, renowned for sailing, music festivals and the favourite home of Queen Victoria, now boasts advanced new pay and display machines have been designed specially for their coastal application.

The Isle of Wight Council’s Aura parking machines have been built by Metric with stainless steel components to increase the life of the contract.

The UK’s only pay and display machine manufacturer appointed a member from their own in house project team to oversee the contract – one of its biggest and most prestigious this year.  For the first time on a large scale in the UK, Metric has also built the mains and solar powered machines in one piece to include the pedestal.

The tender to ship, install and commission the 149 Auras, 79 of which are solar and 70 mains, in every town on the Isle of Wight, has been completed on schedule - taking just five weeks in total.

Approximately 40 of the 63 on street machines are on esplanades very close to the sea and one machine, at the resort of St. Helens, is actually on the beach.

“With the machines needing to work reliably in close proximity to the sea we took the decision to include stainless steel components to give life throughout the contract,” explained Richard Boultbee, Metric Sales Manager, during a visit to the Island to see the installation at first hand.

“The requirement is for the machines to operate reliably on the coast and we therefore built the units to withstand coastal conditions”.

Another feature has been to build the machines in one piece, a practice which has been successful for the United States.  “It went well in the States and so we decided to continue it for this project” said Richard.

Instead of installing the pedestals and erecting the machines on top, they have been built in one piece and this he felt had contributed to completing the contract on schedule.

Mark Downer, the Island’s External Operations Manager (Parking Services), said there had been an ‘exceptionally good dialogue’ with Metric throughout the project..

“It was very handy having a project manager here to oversee the installation because it freed up the workload of council staff.  Credit must also be given to our parking supervisors who assisted and worked hard on the ground.

“Metric also worked incredibly quickly to complete the installation in five weeks so that it was all ready for Cowes Week from July 30 to August 6 inclusive.  Ten machines in the town sold 6,707 tickets that week.”

He went on:  “One of the objectives behind this new installation is to make our parking supervisors operationally more efficient.

“The networking of the machines will allow us to have sophisticated reports so that supervisors can be more proactive because they will know of an event before it happens.”

Fifty eight percent of the machines – 86 - have been installed off street with four located in the Island’s largest car park which has 250 spaces.

Twenty eight of the Auras, including those in long stay car parks used by commuters to the mainland, have chip and pin credit/debit card acceptance.  Latest figures show that total transactions to date have already passed the half million mark. 

All day parking costs £6.60 and total revenue from on and off street parking is second only to council tax as the island’s biggest revenue earner. 

Total revenue to the Isle of Wight Council from ticket machines over the last year on the existing tariff was £2.3 million.

Said Mark:  “The peak months for car parking are April, July and August which account for a large percentage of the 2.4-3.0 million tickets issued every year.

“Motorists have been complimentary in their remarks about the new machines which have enhanced their parking experience and the Auras have improved the appearance of our streets and car parks.

“It is the first time the Island has had a major change in pay and display since 1999-2000 when 50 of the previous manufacturer’s parking machines were installed to be millennium compliant.

“The predecessor machines to the Aura were ageing – and failing - and parts could not be guaranteed beyond 2012 so we went out to tender. 

Said Peter Hayward, Isle of Wight Council Head of Highways and Transport:  “The previous parking metres were wearing out and a number suffered technical problems.  These models became obsolete and needed to be replaced.

“The cost has been met from an existing budget that was set aside to replace the old machines.  When the old coin-only machines, installed before the millennium, are taken into consideration, we are getting very good value for money.

“The new Metric machines feature very modern technology with a number also containing chip and pin to allow people to pay by card and feature in locations with higher demand,” he added.

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