Stoke's Partnership To The Premier

Stoke on Trent has taken on several new groundbreaking initiatives in terms of service delivery and the use of technology. Stoke say some of the leading edge developments they are particularly proud of are the interfaces associated with the management of kerbside equipment such as the pay and display machines supplied by Metric.

Metric first supplied parking machines to Stoke on Trent City Council 27 years’ ago. The city council now has a total of 170, the majority of which are networked though PSTN, and there are 45 with a unique help point facility.

The six towns of the Potteries are on the system and Metric has a resident engineer and Service Manager based at the Stoke parking and security office which is a ‘first’ for the industry.

In his presentation at the parking and security open day, Metric’s Sales and Marketing Director Mr. Bill Laurie congratulated the City of Stoke on Trent on their ‘forward thinking strategic approach’ to parking management and enforcement.

He told an audience that included local authorities: “We at Metric are delighted to have contributed to that approach and thank Stoke for inviting us to participate.

“The Stoke-Metric partnership has existed for a very long time – the first machines having been installed more than a quarter of a century ago.

“The city now has 170 machines installed, the majority of which are networked with our Alert system and more recently interfaced directly with the TSL back office and enforcement system.

“Metric is the ONLY supplier of pay and display equipment and other support services with significant research and development and system engineering resources based in the UK and under the direct control of UK management.

“This puts Metric in a unique position to support forward-thinking projects with bespoke systems development and systems integration.”

Further examples of recent development partnerships include:
- Payment terminal for the London Congestion Charge
- Roadside ticket machines for London Bus (the adaptation of pay and display to provide bus ticketing).

Said Mr. Laurie: “The Metric strategy is to support forward-thinking partners or customers.

“This is achieved by providing the tools and services they need to manage their pay and display and ticketing equipment. At the same time, to directly provide more support services.

“Metric will develop and provide whatever technology and support that is required by the market place and, more importantly, our partners and customers.”

London Bus was a typical example of support services with Metric being required to provide:
Service cover 24 hours a day, 364 days a year.

“We load tickets, we collect cash and we provide a call centre for the public – we even clean the machines”, said Mr. Laurie.

He concluded by saying that every authority and private customer had their own unique needs and innovative solutions to their parking and traffic problems.

“Metric has the flexibility and strategic interest to support those that wish to be innovative and continuously improve their operations.

"In this respect, Stoke has given a lead and we are pleased to be part of it”.