PROJECT

/ Cashless Parking

CLIENT

/ Alastair Gilchrist

GOAL

/ Residents, business and visitors know how to use cashless parking tools (such as Pay By Phone, scratch cards, chip & PIN pay and display equipment and online accounts).

CONTEXT

/ Parking enforcement has a major effect on the reputation of Westminster City Council and with the introduction of radical parking developments (such as Pay by Phone parking), the council must work hard to establish and maintain Parking Services’ reputation as firm, fair and excellent.
The cashless parking challenge is a key part of this. As well as positioning the scheme as the way of the future – an easy, convenient and safe way to pay for parking in Westminster – we need to ensure residents, businesses and visitors to Westminster understand how it works, and register.
We also need to meet the challenge of keeping existing registered cashless customers happy with the system, by explaining the choices they have available to them and simplifying the process. For example, 47% of residents find Westminster’s Pay by Phone parking system easy to use, 31% disagree it is easy to use.
In terms of Pay by Phone, almost 300,000 people have registered since the scheme launched in 2006 with over 2 million transactions.
Support for the scheme:
  • According to the 2008 City Survey, 66% of residents said they had heard of pay by phone parking and the removal of traditional meters.
  • 40% say they support pay by phone parking, 35% say they oppose it.
  • 34% of those 25-44 oppose pay by phone parking compared with 44% of those 45-60, and 26% of those 61+.
  • 45% of those 25-44, 34% of those 45-60 supports and 40% of that 61+-support pay by phone parking.
  • 33% of those in social grades C1 and C2 support pay by phone parking compared with 44% in social grades A and B and 40% in social grades D and E.
We need to work to build awareness of cashless parking schemes, and to convert those opposed to the scheme, into supporters. We know that two existing key channels to target these people are the Westminster website and the Westminster Reporter. (51% of those in social grade A and 58% of those in social grade B say they find Westminster’s website useful. 66% in social grade C2, 62% in social grade D, and 64% in social grade E say they find the Westminster Reporter useful. 82% of all residents agree that the Westminster Reporter is informative.)
We will run focus groups to drill down into our existing data from the quarterly tracker and City Survey, and to establish more detail about the barriers to support and satisfaction.

OBJECTIVES

/ 10% increase in audience satisfaction with Pay by Phone parking
25% of people who park in Westminster registered with an online account
Over 50% of residents are registered to use pay by phone
AUDIENCE / Residents
Visitors
Staff
Members
Local authorities
KEY PARTNER / Partners in Parking (PiP), other LAs who use Verrus
STRATEGY /
  1. Use model 14 step campaign template for remaining PbP rollout and use existing channels to inform those who park in Westminster about online account management and the choices available.
  2. Bonus/reward system for those that already have a PbP account.
  3. Establish which groups are anti PbP and target to encourage improved perception and take up whilst introducing alternatives like scratch cards and P&D

KEY MESSAGE /
Cashless parking is the easy, convenient and safe way to pay for parking in Westminster.
IMPLEMENTATION /
March 08
  • Announcement of 1 millionth PbP transaction and prize give away to winner
May 08
  • Parking Summit (see Park Right plan)
  • Quarterly tracker questions
  • Reporter article featuring 1 millionth PbP transaction prize winner
  • Announcement of 2 millionth PbP transaction prize winner
  • New PbP telephone number goes live – published in Park Right booklet
June 08
  • £5k advertising on West End Live event collateral to include:
Website
Theatre flyers x 20,000
Z-cards x 100,000
Brochure x 25,000
  • Quarterly tracker results.
  • Focus groups set up to drill down into pockets of satisfaction and dissatisfaction and ward-based data.
  • Roll-out of PbP across WCC - removal of meters
  • Quarterly parking e-newsletter #1 to include details of PbP
  • 14 step roll out:
1)Personalised emails to ResPark holders in zone and those in the area who have registered for their account online
2)Timely homepage image and link
3)Supercards suckered onto parked cars in the area
4)SMS to lapsed users of pay-by-phone in neighbouring zones
5)On-street promotional presence
6)Advert in local paper(s)
7)On counter shop leaflet dispenser
8)Message in neighbourhood specific channel (neighbourhoods communications) and amenity societies
9)Area forums - subject to timings
10)Stickers on meter heads
11)Poster advert in local library and One Stop
12)Reporter article if appropriate timing
  • Sell-in story to local media
  • Launch of parking cards (scratch cards) – and soft launch to audience who are likely to need this alternative to PbP. To include:
-Westminster Plus article
-Leaflet drop to older people’s associations, libraries, Silver Sunday events
-Senior Passport Website
July/August 08
  • Reporter article – Pay by Phone (and scratch cards)
  • Campaign to target those anti PbP – based on research and focus group findings
  • Online account management communications to include:
-Research existing registered users and what makes them use online accounts, in order to target new users.
-Email to all parking stakeholders and registered parkers
-Use virtual PA to encourage people to register online
-Message on PCNs
-July Westminster Reporter feature
-Website updates
  • Old parking meters sold on e-bay – potential press release and internal communications
  • Pay by Phone tutorial – mini campaign to help customers use the service and to prevent customers coming through to operator when using the automated PbP service. Comms supporting agent interactivity to include:
-Five simple steps to using PbP – acronym to simplify the steps and make the tutorial memorable to users
-Text message to users with 5-step PbP tutorial
-5-step PbP tutorial downloadable pdf on website
-Video demo on how to use PbP
September 08
  • Reporter special – direct mailed to residents
  • Reporter article focusing on ‘Where the money goes?’ from parking, how theft has been cut in response to increased cashless parking tools
  • Competition to encourage sign up for the service
  • CEO’s here to help – CEO’s go out on street in negative wards to provide hands on help and to encourage sign up to PbP. Supported by signage on site, CEO business cards and PbP tutorial leaflet (see June). Monitor success.
  • Quarterly parking e-newsletter #2 to include details of PbP
October 08
  • Article on Parking (Scratch) Cards in Westminster Plus – take up of scheme, how it’s been going since launch, case study of elderly Westminster resident benefiting from scheme
November 08
  • Quarterly parking e-newsletter #3 to include details of PbP and other cashless strategies
  • Reporter article focussing on decommissioning of all meters, potential press release
December 08
  • Christmas competition/promotion to encourage sign up for the service
  • 14 step roll out (see May)
January 08
  • New Year e-newsletter #4
Feb/March 09
  • Evaluation: City Survey and Parking Report
  • CEO’s here to help part 2
  • Final meters decommissioned – press release and media activity, Reporter article on the overall impact and benefits of the move to cashless parking
Ongoing
  • Internal comms where appropriate to advise staff of new policies and activity:
-Loop
-Wire
-WestWords
-Notes to managers
  • 10% ad hoc requests
See also Park Right comms plan for overlap and tie in.
Timings / April 2008 – March 2009
EVALUATION /
  • City Survey
  • Quarterly tracker survey
  • Number of customers registered with an online PbP account
  • Parking run surveys of customers views and suggestion

Recommended
budget / 25 marketing officer days and 15 media officer days
Cashless strategy rollout completion (£30k from 07/08)
Online account management (£5k)
Cost centre
AGREED