As one of the largest and most advanced retail complexes in the country, Menlyn Park shopping centre will soon boast a comprehensive, state-of-the-art parking system designed to ensure quick and easy access at the complex. The new parking system will include an extensive pay-on-foot system, as well as an electronic guidance system to direct shoppers to the available open parking bays at the centre.
Aludi Technologies was awarded the contract to install the parking management system at the centre, while strategic business partner Advopark is responsible for the parking guidance in and around the company centre. According to Marketing and Sales Manager, Frank Fowles, the contract is the biggest in the company's history and probably the largest pay-on-foot parking contract to be awarded in South Africa. Aludi Technologies is also involved in a number of other major parking projects, including at Sandton Square, Hyde Park, Century City, the Pavilion, the Lesotho border posts and at airports in Zimbabwe.
Parking system at Menlyn Park
To manage the 8000 parking bays at Menlyn shopping centre, a total of 22 pay-on-foot stations - Aludi's new AK-1240 POF units - will be strategically placed throughout the complex for the convenience of the shoppers. Four manual cashiers will, however, also be available.
"At the request of the centre's management, Aludi also designed a special revalidation system, which allows multiple parking area tariffs to be accumulated and charged to the client at the end of his or her visit," says Sheldon James, Aludi Technical Director.
The way the revalidation system works is as follows:
There are standard ticket dispenser/reader units at all perimeter entrances, which allow 'free' access to all short-term parkers, via a ticket that is dispensed with date, time and parking lot number encoded on it. The 'free' access extends to the uncovered parking only, and the revalidation system comes into play when a short-term parker moves to the structured parking area.
The ticket received at the perimeter dispenser is inserted into the revalidation machine, which writes the time and the new parking lot number on it. The short-term parker may then move between the structured and open parking up to six times using the same card, and the information will be stored on the ticket.
When the parker is ready to leave the complex, the ticket is inserted into an automatic pay station, or handed to a manual cashier. The total number of hours spent in the 'paid' parking area is tallied up and the client is charged accordingly.
Voice annunciation system
A second development that was designed with Menlyn Park in mind is the voice annunciation system.
This is a single integrity computer chip - installed into the entrance and exit dispensers, as well as the pay-on-foot terminals - which allows the central control to download up to four voice advertisement, welcome or farewell messages to any of these devices.
The messages can be anywhere between three and 24 seconds in length, and may range from the latest specials at a tenant's store to a message that says - for example - 'Welcome to Menlyn Park shopping centre and enjoy your shopping experience'.
These messages can be programmed to activate through any of the following methods:
* Ticket button pressed.
* Ticket dispensed.
* Event cancelled.
* Ticket inserted.
Because each chip is single integrity, different messages can be relayed through different dispensers and terminals throughout the centre, at the same time.
Drive-in and long-term parker operations
Menlyn Park is the first shopping centre in the country with its own drive-in, situated on the upper level, and with its own access ramp. At the drive-in entrance is a manual cashier station, which reads the incurred parking fee, records it, and then simply charges the client a flat rate to enter the drive-in.
The client is then permitted to spend as long as necessary in the drive-in area, and is allowed free passage to exit the complex by means of a short-term ticket dispensed by the cashier.
The reason the incurred parking fee is recorded is to check whether there is abuse of the system, by means of parkers leaving their cars in the parking for several days, and then going into the drive-in to avoid the accumulated parking costs. Should this type of abuse happen, the centre management will then have a record of it and be able to take steps to rectify the problem.
In order to encourage tenants to park in their specified parking area, the long-term parker card (normally a plastic credit card type) will allow for entry into the tenants' parking area. However, upon leaving, an exit pass-through time is encoded onto the ticket.
This means that the long-term parker must exit within a prescribed amount of time, or they will be charged the standard tariff. In other words, tenants are encouraged to park in the area set aside for them, rather than in open parking that is supposed to be for customers.
Electronic guidance system
Menlyn Park's parking guidance system begins at the ring road surrounding the centre with a complete set of signage and an electronic guidance system to direct traffic to the areas where parking is available. The system is designed to provide motorists with accurate, timeous and continuous information about parking facilities and available bays, using realtime decision and information technology. Advopark's contract to supply the parking guidance system is comprehensive and includes all external guidance signage, display boards at the entrances to the parking garage, as well as availability, parking and exit signage within the garage.
The guidance system provides the following significant benefits:
* Parking facility capacity is optimised - surveys indicate an increase of over 15% in occupancy.
* Traffic flow is improved.
* Traffic congestion, noise and vehicle emissions are greatly reduced.
The system pays for itself through increased occupancy. It has been found that the installation of a parking guidance system can increase income by 15%.
ParkShow software and VMS workstation
Advopark's ParkShow software can function independently from the pay-on-foot software, providing a powerful guidance and traffic information tool that optimises the utilisation and efficiency of a parking facility.
The software can be run in full automatic mode, or may be manually overridden, providing the operator has the necessary authority. Full feedback and a visual display of the information exhibited at any time on the internal and external signs is provided on the workstation. Operation is simple and guided by clear screen prompt instructions. Faulty communication to signs is automatically detected and reported on the workstation.
The information from the entrance/exit counting outputs and database interfaces directly with the ParkShow Workstation database. A dial-in facility is provided, so that information on VMS displays and diagnostic maintenance and upgrading can be remotely performed.
The option is also available for the installation of buried spread spectrum vehicle detectors - for the monitoring of individual parking bays (bay-detection) and traffic counts on external roads - using the same software and workstation, and an automatic security system can also be implemented at any stage, using these facilities.
Special software - designed by Asytec, for whom Aludi Technologies is the local agent - allows for the realtime transfer of information between the Aludi and ParkShow workstations. Additional interfaces are also provided to link to shopper flow systems and any other type of reporting that may be required by management.
Juan Joubert of Advopark says that - in line with the centre management's belief that Menlyn Park is the future of shopping centres in South Africa - the parking guidance system that has been instituted is of the same high calibre, and complements the futuristic principles behind the design of the shopping complex.
"We foresee a great future for our parking guidance system and this is corroborated by the prestigious projects that have already chosen to adopt it, in the form of both Menlyn Park and the entire Sandton precinct, comprising Sandton City, Sandton Square and the Sandton Convention Centre," he concludes.
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