This week, DU Parking and Transportation Services (PTS) is expected to complete the installation of new CALE (pronounced cal-ay) America Pay-by-Plate stations at all hourly parking lots, which they believe will improve the overall parking experience at DU.

“Really what we’re looking for is to augment security and enhance performance here at the University,” said PTS Customer Service Representative Lexi Aguilar.

PTS manager Melissa Yates estimated the total cost of the renovation at $350,000, funded by permit holder and visitor revenue. Students enjoyed complimentary parking at hourly lots during the installation of the machines.

Yates and Aguilar described the old machines as “problematic,” and are hopeful that the new system will reduce citation errors because it works “in real time,” whereas before there was a time delay between when payment was received and when the report would reach Campus Safety.

“You had instances where you pay for parking, and maybe it doesn’t register in our system, so that’s how you end up with a citation. So these [machines] will improve all that and eliminate these issues,” said Aguilar.

Hourly parking rates have not changed, however the machines will no longer dispense change, which is clearly stated on the front.

Yates said this will eliminate the need for a $6,000 change account held by PTS. Like the old machines, customers can elect to print a receipt, but this service is not automatic.

The installation of the CALE system will allow access to a variety of new features, including License Plate Recognition (LPR) technology.

“You’ll see our vehicles around campus with cameras on the top and they basically go through and read the lot by plate,” said Yates. She said that PTS is asking current permit holders to tie their license plate to their permit to increase efficiency for Campus Safety. Aguilar said the installation of LPR technology should be completed in the next month.

The new system will also eventually allow students to pay for parking or add time to the meter from a mobile app. Yates estimates this feature will be available in March or April.

Until now, client data has been self-hosted by PTS, which Yates called “precarious” in terms of information security. “We have it nailed down, but we don’t want to leave that up to us,” said Yates, adding that part of the project will be enlisting the help of an off-campus triple-encrypted data center to handle hosting, expected to be up and running by late April.

Aguilar says the project will have no effect on permit parking on campus, aside from requesting current permit holders to update their vehicle information.

CALE is a global parking services company headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden.

This week, DU Parking and Transportation Services (PTS) is expected to complete the installation of new CALE (pronounced cal-ay) America Pay-by-Plate stations at all hourly parking lots, which they believe will improve the overall parking experience at DU.

“Really what we’re looking for is to augment security and enhance performance here at the University,” said PTS Customer Service Representative Lexi Aguilar.

PTS manager Melissa Yates estimated the total cost of the renovation at $350,000, funded by permit holder and visitor revenue. Students enjoyed complimentary parking at hourly lots during the installation of the machines.

Yates and Aguilar described the old machines as “problematic,” and are hopeful that the new system will reduce citation errors because it works “in real time,” whereas before there was a time delay between when payment was received and when the report would reach Campus Safety.

“You had instances where you pay for parking, and maybe it doesn’t register in our system, so that’s how you end up with a citation. So these [machines] will improve all that and eliminate these issues,” said Aguilar.

Hourly parking rates have not changed, however the machines will no longer dispense change, which is clearly stated on the front.

Yates said this will eliminate the need for a $6,000 change account held by PTS. Like the old machines, customers can elect to print a receipt, but this service is not automatic.

The installation of the CALE system will allow access to a variety of new features, including License Plate Recognition (LPR) technology.

“You’ll see our vehicles around campus with cameras on the top and they basically go through and read the lot by plate,” said Yates. She said that PTS is asking current permit holders to tie their license plate to their permit to increase efficiency for Campus Safety. Aguilar said the installation of LPR technology should be completed in the next month.

The new system will also eventually allow students to pay for parking or add time to the meter from a mobile app. Yates estimates this feature will be available in March or April.

Until now, client data has been self-hosted by PTS, which Yates called “precarious” in terms of information security. “We have it nailed down, but we don’t want to leave that up to us,” said Yates, adding that part of the project will be enlisting the help of an off-campus triple-encrypted data center to handle hosting, expected to be up and running by late April.

Aguilar says the project will have no effect on permit parking on campus, aside from requesting current permit holders to update their vehicle information.

CALE is a global parking services company headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden.