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Bedford Borough Council is today (28 October) launching RingGo as an alternative payment option for all its on- and off-street pay and display parking, as part of a programme to improve efficiency within the Council. The service is being used strategically alongside a review of the Council's aging fleet of payment machines. A significant proportion of Bedford Borough Council's 150 pay and display machines are now more than 10 years old. Failure rates are increasing, causing delay and frustration. As a result, the council is carrying out a strategic review of all machines, collating their age, usage and failure rate, to gauge replacement needs and priorities. With each machine costing around £3,000 and the current economic situation strongly influencing outlay, the council views the introduction of RingGo as integral to its parking policy. The service offers an alternative payment option for motorists, in the event of a local machine failure and means there is less pressure to replace or repair all faulty machines immediately, if at all. Councillor Charles Royden, Bedford Borough Council's portfolio holder for the environment and transport says: "We are embarking upon a replacement scheme carefully assessed upon criteria of age, reliability and use to ensure resources are spent only where vital. "The introduction of the RingGo pay-by-phone system will reduce the number of replacement pay-and-display machines as well as eliminate any inconvenience and frustration for the motorist. Other local authorities have also found the introduction of the new technology has led to a reduction in repair costs at existing cash payment machines. "The vast majority of motorists have a mobile phone meaning there really is no reason not to pay for your parking. Where people continue to purposefully disregard parking regulations, we will continue to proactively enforce." Terry New, sales director for RingGo comments: "We are seeing an increasing number of councils, like Bedford, which are introducing RingGo as a way of reducing reliance on payment machines. There are substantial costs involved in maintaining and using coin collection equipment, so it's pretty easy to see the benefits of introducing digital payments as an alternative." |
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