The City of Cheyenne, WY, is well on its way to becoming an innovative city when it comes to public transportation and parking for its growing population.
Over the years, the City has faced several challenges with how it managed parking, permits and enforcement. City officials soon realized that they needed a solution that not only benefits the community, but also moves them towards a goal of becoming a smart city.
CHALLENGE
In 2018, the Cheyenne Police Department took over parking management and quickly realized that they needed to go digital with all transactions.
“At the time we took over parking management, the City was still utilizing paper to account for all things parking,” said Ted Miazga, Parking Administration Manager, Cheyenne Police Department. “We were finding several errors, and wanted to take the human element out of all transactions.”
Understanding how challenging this transition would be, Miazga said he conducted an extensive search on finding the right digital platform and narrowed his search down to three companies to help digitize the City’s parking management.
“Passport by far was the best solution for us, since its more flexible and reliable platform met all our needs,” Miazga said.
KEY DIFFERENTIATORS
The City knew it needed to find a digital solution that would enable it to future-proof its parking and mobility operations, and a provider who could work alongside City officials, as they continue to modernize their infrastructure.
“The other two companies had a cookie-cutter approach that we would need to use if we selected them,” he explained. “One thing that stood out with Passport’s platform was the overall sophistication of its technology, and its ability to digitally read license plates to help with enforcement efficiency.”
The City currently also utilizes Passport’s platform for mobile pay parking, permitting and payment processing.
“Everything we do for parking management goes through Passport,” he added. “This has drastically reduced the number of man hours we put in and has us operating efficiently.”
DATA-DRIVEN RESULTS
By simply going digital with Passport’s platform, the City has seen a significant decrease in time spent on enforcement, while seeing a 100 percent increase in accountability and revenue since implementation.
For example, the City’s enforcement officers couldn’t cover areas they needed to prior to going digital. As a result, they weren’t able to monitor all zones without leaving their vehicles.
“Where it used to take us 15 to 20 minutes to write a parking ticket, now it is down to 150 seconds,” Miazga explained. “This allows us to utilize our personnel more effectively and cover all areas of the city.”
The City has also digitized parking permits, so if a driver forgets to hang their tag, an enforcement officer can easily scan the license plate for validation.
ADDRESSING HABITUAL PARKING OFFENDERS
Additionally, the City is in the process of utilizing Barnacle, a patented solution that embeds mobile connectivity and online payment processing within consumer and enforcement friendly immobilization. The solution easily integrates with Passport’s digital platform for a safer, more user-friendly alternative to the traditional enforcement boot.
This integration effectively manages motorist violations and repeat offenders on city streets. And, with these technologies in place, officials expect to save more than 10 hours a month on manual tasks, such as data entry.
Instead of booting a violator, a parking enforcement officer suctions a removable, non-damaging yellow device to the vehicle’s windshield. To remove the device, violators follow the simple instructions that are written on the device and pay the fee owed directly from their smartphone. Passport’s platform then processes the payment and the Barnacle releases it from the vehicle within minutes. The same applies for paying parking tickets, which is almost immediate.
FOSTERING COLLABORATION
Miazga said that Passport has addressed his City’s needs in a timely manner, while providing real-time solutions to challenges he faces.
“I don’t think of Passport as just a partnership,” he said. “I think of Passport as an essential piece of our entire parking and mobility operation. If an issue arises, it’s always taken care of promptly and to our satisfaction.”
Passport’s platform powers the mobility operations of more than 800 cities by bringing together best-in-class digital products, including mobile pay parking, enforcement, permitting, and payments. The platform allows cities to aggregate all mobility data and centralize the management of rates and policies, resulting in a more integrated, efficient and reliable parking and mobility infrastructure.
“Everything we do for parking management goes through Passport. This has drastically reduced the number of man hours we put in and has us operating efficiently.” — Ted Miazga, Parking Administration Manager, Cheyenne Police Department.