Case Study

Manchester Car Park Guidance System

Manchester NCP Control Room, Photo courtesy AECOM.Tools Involved

  • Car Park and Roadside Security;
  • Parking Management.

Site Description

Manchester County Council has initiated a joint venture with NCP Ltd to invest in improved car park security and management systems.

Site Problems

Manchester like many cities and towns suffers from large amounts of traffic. Additional congestion and stress is caused when motorists attempt to enter car parks that are already full. The security and availability of parking spaces is vital to ensuring that Manchester stays a vibrant regional centre.

Scheme Description

400 digital CCTV cameras have been installed in 40 car parks in Manchester, which feed information back to a manned 24-hour Control Centre. Three radio networks have been installed (NCPnet, Storenet and Nitenet) so communication between operators and personnel (car park staff) is possible.

The control room is one of the largest control rooms of its type in Europe with:

  • 50 Terabyte digital storage system;
  • Integrated city watch and car park camera systems;
  • Separate police/evidence viewing area;
  • Biometric access control system;
  • A multi-operator control room;
  • Separate close control equipment room housing all control equipment;
  • Ergonomically designed desk layouts;
  • Five No. 42" plasma screens with interlacing feature;
  • Multiple user workstations throughout; and
  • A dedicated fibre optic network utilised throughout the city for images, voice and data communications.

Variable message signs have been installed on key routes for the display of car park availability. The Control Centre and VMS signs are linked to modern control equipment.

Scheme Objectives

To provide additional security to parking in and around Manchester City Centre. This will make motorists feel more comfortable travelling into Manchester and leaving their cars at designated car park sites.

The VMS signs aim to ensure motorists can make an informed choice about car parking availability and their best route into the centre.

Improvements

It is anticipated that the system will deliver:

  • synergy in transport and community safety initiatives in support of the city centre management strategy;
  • regeneration of existing car parks; and
  • a revenue stream for the Local Authority.

Integrating Systems

This system integrates Car Park and Roadside Security tools including CCTV and parking management tools such as variable message signs into a system designed to ensure the security of car park users and vehicles, and the efficient operation of the road network.

Costs

Capital costs: £13m (of which approximately £3.1m was for the control centre). The other £10m includes spending on upgrading the specification of car parks, including lighting, provision of help points and general refurbishments. (David G Smith et al)

Revenue costs: not available at present

Benefits

No results have been reported, but NCP has commissioned research in this area. Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU) will be undertaking six months detailed research in Birmingham, Bristol and Manchester, specifically looking at the relationship between Car Park Crime and other Urban Crime.

No attempt has been made to validate the results reported. Users of the guidance are encouraged to assess the robustness of the results presented and the likely transferability of the case study to their own local environment.

More Information

Home Office Research Study 266, Between the lines: an evaluation of the Secured Car Park Award Scheme, David G Smith, Mick Gregson and James Morgan - http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs2/hors266.pdf