Sweden Moves Towards the Future of Parking

As one of the most advanced countries in the world, Sweden has a knack for staying ahead on today’s technology and advancements. With approximately 10 million residents living in municipalities and urban areas, and thousands of visitors flowing in and out every day, vehicle parking and management is a must to keep the country on top.

That is why 2 years ago, Mats Igemo and Tommy Jakobsson, responsible for on-street parking operations in Stockholm, began to think about the future of parking terminals and what opportunities were available.

“We looked at the requirements from credit card processors, banks and the general public when using payment machines,” says Tommy Jakobsson, “We wanted the payment method of the future to be both secure, convenient and flexible, while removing the need for paper tickets. Printed receipts displayed on a dash felt a bit old.”

The answer? The new digital and solar powered, Cale Web Terminal (CWT). Not only did they remove the waste of paper tickets, the user-interface is able to accommodate multiple languages. As a service to foreign visitors and tourists, the city is able to provide instructions, via a language button, in German, French or English. The conversion to the CWT parking terminal opened several additional benefits to the city and it’s citizens, paving the way for the project to be nominated for the “Stockholm City Digitalization Award” 2017.

Convenience & Cost Saving

Convenience improves when payment is recorded digitally. Previously in Sweden, roughly 7.5 million receipts were printed each year. Receipts could be forged, blown away and were difficult to handle for 2 wheeled vehicles. In addition, paper receipts increased the need for service calls and malfunction checks. With the new CWT Color Touch terminals, customers could begin a parking session by entering the license-plate, selecting time and then applying payment. No paper receipt needed nor the need to walk back to a vehicle to place the receipt in a dashboard.

By switching from the previous ‘Pay & Display’ model, where receipts were mandated to be printed and displayed in the vehicle, to electronic payment, maintenance costs have been cut drastically.

“The CWT’s digital receipt and electronic payment option have completely changed the way we work,” says Jakobsson. “We used to have to collect and send out maintenance crews to retrieve coins, change paper, clear jams, etc. These new terminals have eliminated that need. We can now re-focus about 60% of our maintenance budget to other much-needed areas.”

Easily Transported and Installed

The new CWT units are solar-powered and no longer need to be connected to external power sources. This way, there is no construction work for power lines, which is complicated, expensive, and comes with implementation and electricity charges. The new CWT parking terminals are therefore easy to integrate into the urban environment and can easily be moved to accommodate the changing and growing city.

Real-Time Communication

One of the most impactful benefits of moving to the new CWT terminals is that they communicate in real time with the back office system. This allows the Parking Authority to monitor the health of the system remotely, while performing operational tasks from the office that previously required on-site attention. Since all information is digital, the parking transaction is transmited in real-time for enforcement purposes and can be easily updated and viewed at anytime, from anywhere. Time and cost savings span over all areas of the parking operations, while providing better and faster service to customers.

As part of the project, the city of Stockholm has decided to follow the success from cities like Copenhagen, Denmark and Kula Lumpor, Malaysia to introduce Cale’s WayToPark App. The WayToPark App allows the end user to remotely check a session they have started, extend the session or find receipts from the convenienvce of their smartphone.

Facilitating Payment

The new CWT parking terminals allow customers to pay using a variety of coinless options; credit or debit cards, and contactless payments such as Samsung pay and Apple pay. Using this mode of operation, receipts are stored digitally, allowing the end user to conveniently receive a copy via text, or emailed directly at the parking terminal.

As an added benefit, if the end user does not request a receipt at the parking terminal, they may request one using the self-service portal, a Cale provided service that has been integrated with the city website.

“Allowing a self-service web interface for receipts has, reduced the calls to our helpdesk” concludes Tommy Jakobson.

The Plan

Currently, the project to replace all old parking terminals to the new digital and solar powered CWT’s is underway. So far, 350 have been installed with another 650 in line to be placed into operation.

“The CWT Color Touch has made a big difference in the parking industry in Stockholm and Sweden,” says Mats Igemo,

“We are getting international visitors from around the world who come to learn more about the enormous benefits that the city and parking authority is getting from the new system. Being able to reallocate time, energy and funds is a huge move for any city or municipality.”

The new CWT parking terminals have now been nominated and are one of the finalists for the Stockholm City Digitalization Award. The prize will be awarded on November 28th during the ‘Quality Awards’ ceremony in Stockholm, Sweden.

“It is a great honor to submit this cutting-edge parking system in Stockholm to the innovation contest,” says Mats Igemo. “We are excited to see what other projects have been entered, but no matter what, we know that once again we have put Stockholm as one of the most technologically advanced parking cities in the world.”

About Cale 

Cale offers innovative and efficient parking and transit payment solutions to improve urban mobility for Smart Cities. From the start in 1955, Cale has developed into a world leading brand within the parking business, with a turnover close to a billion SEK. Cale has subsidiaries, distributors and customers all around the world. Cale specializes in customizing technology, may it be for parking terminals, mobile payment solutions, transaction handling or centralized software systems, and converts this into functionality, always with the highest possible focus on the parking operator as well as the driver.

You are welcome to visit our website, www.calegroup.se, to read more about our products and services, or feel free to contact us.