Swipe & park

Parking at Bangalores shopping malls could soon be a swipe in, swipe out affair, thanks to a parking solutions company which is set to offer smart cards for collecting parking fees.

The card, being developed by Central Parking Services (CPS) located in HAL II Stage, can be used in a majority of the malls across the city. The smartcard enables users to hop from one mall to another in their car or two-wheeler without paying the parking fee at every mall.

CPS manages the parking systems at various vantage points, including Forum Mall located in Koramangala, Sigma Mall on Cunningham Road, Garuda Mall on Magrath Road and Mantri Square Mall in Malleswaram.

Debet card

CPS managing director N Sathyanarayanan told Bangalore Mirror, The system uses a magnetic swipe card that looks like a debit card. The card can be used at our parking lots; it has to be topped up with currency which gets deducted each time you swipe it.

It is expected to be rolled out by this year-end. The idea is to integrate it with as many things as possible. For instance, we can use this card at a coffee kiosk we would be installing in the parking areas, he said.

Custom made

He plans to tailor it for specific customers. A person may park his vehicle for eight hours a day for a month. Its not fair to charge him Rs 20 every day. So, we will offer a discount. Therell be different schemes, he said.

To ease congestion, Sathyanarayanan plans to integrate the card with the Traffic and Transit Management Centre (TTMC). We will offer discounts to those who park there and take a bus to their destinations, which will reduce traffic on roads, he said.

We plan to tie up with outlets where the card can be recharged and have a call centre similar to that of mobile service providers, he said.

Driver's lounge

The Central Parking Services (CPS) is planning to have a drivers lounge at malls which will have a television as well as a coffee vending machine besides a washroom.

At present, Mantri Square at Malleswaram has such a lounge where drivers can relax while waiting for their bosses. We are suggesting this concept at all the upcoming malls and parking lots to ensure a place is earmarked for this lounge, CPS managing director N Sathyanarayanan said.