Parking gets easier with Tenaga’s ParkSmart App
As the population of Colombo increases daily, the congestion on the roads is on a rise. With this, there’s a lingering need for an effective vehicle parking management system. Tenaga Car Parks,the pioneer in providing parking and traffic management solutions in Sri Lanka presents to you the ultimate solution with the launch of their new user friendly and convenient mobile app – Tenaga ParkSmart. The mobile application was launched in partnership with the Colombo Municipal Council todayin the presence of Eng.L R L Wickramaratne – Deputy Municipal Commissioner (Engineering Services) amongst other distinguished guests from the Colombo Municipal Council and the Sri Lanka Police.
Headed by Nihal Wickramaratne, Director Engineering Traffic Design and Road Safety and his team at the Colombo Municipal Council, ParkSmart is the first ever mobile application in Sri Lanka designed to facilitate efficient parking. The application will allow its users to conveniently pay your parking costs without having to physically go to parking metres, also placed by Tenaga at parking bays designated by the Colombo Municipal Council.The designated areas where the Smart Park Machines have been placed are Galle Road (from Dehiwala to Galadari junction, including all connecting by-lanes) and R A De Mel Mawatha (from Dharmarama Road to Liberty Plaza Junction and all connecting by-lanes).
At the event, the CEO of Tenaga Car Parks (Pvt) Ltd, Dilan Perera enlightened those present about the Tenaga ParkSmart application. The solar powered parking machinespartnered with Dialog Axiata and powered by CALE Sweden have been in place at these locations from the beginning of last year. The parking tariff is calculated on an hourly basis and differs according to the vehicle type. Motor bikes would be charged Rs. 10; three-wheelers Rs. 20; cars and vans Rs. 30 and Lorries Rs. 50.
The mobile application developed by Negete (Pvt) Ltd, only available for Android devices at the time of the launch, will come into play as a tool to consume time and avoid the unnecessary hustle of personally going to the metre machines. This app provides the facility for payments to be paid using eZ cash, Dialog Add2Bill (in the near future) or through your debit or credit card. It comes with special features to make life much easier by having an automatic reminder that will notify you when your parking time is about to expire, a parking tracker and a record of all your parking history.
Representatives from Negete demonstrated to the gathering exactly how the app would function. Once downloaded, the application requires you to register your phone number as this is how the phone would be connected to the app. The user is then required to register their vehicle on the app as the charges would be dependent on the vehicle. When switched on, while within the proximity of the designated vehicle parks, the application can show you the Tenaga parking metre closest to you. Once you reach the parking bay the user can then choose the number of hours you would park your vehicle and then make your payments accordingly, using the payment option of your choice. Later, the reminder on the application shows you the time remaining and gives you the option of extending your time slot. The application is also eco-friendly as all receipts are electronic.
Tenaga Park Smart will soon be available on other operating systems and is also expected to be joined by Gtechna, Canada to establish a proper system of enforcement. Perera also informed the audience that being the only private organisation to be paired with a government organisation such as the Colombo Municipal Council for such a project is a true privileged and thanked the CMC for their corporation.
