Lymelight Boulevard is a popular destination offering entertainment, attractions, and a variety of renowned food and drink outlets in Newcastle-under-Lyme.
Due to the size of the venue, it has a multi-storey car park with around 300 parking bays. The car park’s need was to improvise the current parking system and enhance visitor experience.
The venue had an outdated barrier system, resulting in complex and prolonged entry and exit times for vehicles. With vehicles having to insert a ticket on exit, vehicles were stationary for a longer time.
The parking experience was not the smoothest with occurrence of ticket jams, lost/ forgotten tickets leading to increased expenditure on mechanical failure. The venue had to allocate more expenses for maintenance of the barrier system.
The venue also lacked a proper system to manage the allow list to manage parking permission for the staff and other members of the businesses. Lymelight Boulevard required Bransby Wilson to introduce a streamlined parking process, top-notch user experience, and better operational efficiency.
With everything, the venue also wanted a system to maximise space turnover and ensure revenue is maximised.
We removed the barrierless system to eliminate the future expenses of recurring mechanical maintenance. Removal of the barrier system reduces longer entry and exit duration for vehicles, and shortens the stationary duration.
We wanted the traffic flow to be steadier to maximise the car park’s space turnover during peak hours. The space turnover was required to generate higher revenue while ensuring seamless parking experience
So, we installed a new Automatic Number Plate Recognition(ANPR) system to capture the entry and exit of vehicles. It acts as enforcement for the car park by capturing vehicle registration numbers and prevents any vehicle non compliance and revenue loss.
The data obtained via the ANPR camera will be integrated into the dashboard system to make operational decisions and promote efficiency. We set up an online portal system and provided credentials for the businesses operating inside the venue. The businesses can use it to customise their own allow list for staff and other occasional frequent visitors.
With the new barrierless system, we installed six new payment machines. We placed four of them inside the venue. It promotes easier access for users to pay for their parking. We placed the other two machines inside the car park for more accessibility and visibility for payment.
With various user groups coming to the venue, we ensured there are more payment options for all age groups. So, five of them had contactless and card payment, and one had a cash system. The machines were wall mounted for easy and better access.
The pay on exit system was modified to pay on arrival system. It was vital to ensure visitors were well-informed about the change. We notified visitors with clearly designed signages and displayed the message on touch screen payment machines too. Our regulation-compliant signage displayed all necessary information throughout the car park.
The solutions have yielded benefits and improvement for Lymelight Boulevard’s car park. The barrierless system promoted user experience with a better flow of vehicles.
Less congestion meant minimised exit and entrance times. With better and steady flow of traffic, space turnover has increased during the car park’s peak hour, resulting in increased revenue. Removing barriers has minimised operational cost with no risk of ticket jams and hassle saving the mechanical costs.
The ANPR system ensures no revenue is lost with enforcement in place. Further, with an easier payment system and more payment machines, visitors have an easily accessible payment system. Also, Bransby Wilson’s helpful team is available to help the customers if they encounter queries about parking payment.
The well-designed signage has also settled well with people understanding the new pay on arrival system. People are well informed about the new system of Lymelight Boulevard.
Thus, the strategic parking solution by Bransby Wilson for Lymelight Boulevard has shown rewarding results.