Lille Métropole - the Lille conurbation - includes 85 municipalities and has a vast public transport network, one of the few in France to offer three travel modes: underground trains, trams and buses. Transpole, a subsidiary of the Keolis group, handles over 152 million journeys per year as the operator of the network, which is among the most modern in Europe, due to the fully automated underground system. For many years now, Lille Métropole has been applying an ambitious policy aimed at making access to public transport easier. The development of intermodal transport systems, particularly covering both urban and interurban networks, or the application of a new fare policy have been major steps in that proactive policy. Today, the continuation of the policy calls for the introduction of a full contactless ticketing system (for occasional users and pass holders alike) offering modern technology in respect of transport ticket media, such as contactless cards and tickets, NFC telephones and contactless USB keys.

After studying solutions from several suppliers in the market, Lille Métropole selected Parkeon firstly because of our resolutely modern and fully integrated comprehensive ticketing solution and secondly because our solution completely addressed the requirements and offered a rugged technical architecture to make it possible to achieve the project objectives.

That is the background against which Parkeon will take charge of the development of the entire ticketing system that will be built around the TransFolio offer. The services of Parkeon, which will include designing, software development, equipment manufacturing, installation and commissioning, will particularly include the supply of the following:

• A TransFolio central ticketing server to carry out a number of functions such as fare management, machine supervision, card management, revenue tracking and statistics; management of new remote sales channels, management of data exchange for interoperability;
• Almost 1200 contactless validators on board buses, with colour touch screens;
• Over 750 contactless ticketing consoles on board buses;
• Almost 560 contactless validators with colour touch screens in metro and tram stations;
• Nearly 40 Point of Sale and Card Customisation Station terminals in the sales offices of the operator;
• Over 270 Simplified Point of Sale terminals for agents;
• Nearly 230 ticket vending machines and reloading machines in tram and metro stations and at some bus stops;
• 30 information terminals in metro stations;
• 500 handheld inspection units;
• 50 handheld validation units for Transport on Demand and Transport of Persons with Reduced Mobility;
• Ticketing machines for 8 car parks (ride and park, city park, exchange hubs) to incentivise motorists to use public transport.

The Parkeon offer is supported by the latest generation of hard and software solutions. It combines technological innovation and recognised ticketing know-how.

• All the machines have touch screens and are simple and easy to use, so meeting the expectations of the end users, who are the customers of Transpole.
• The Ticketing Server is at the heart of the system - its performance, reliability and capacity to develop are key enablers of project success. The TransFolio solution, which relies on a single, consistent latest-generation software package, provides the power of new technologies (n-tiers architecture, lightweight clients, Java technology etc. and the implementation of new sales channels, such as NFC, Internet and USB key) and the flexibility of major standards (Oracle database, Internet technology etc.)

 Thanks to almost thirty years' experience in the design and supply of ticketing systems and the large investment made in the last two years in its new Transfolio ticketing offer, Parkeon's strategy of becoming a major player in the world of ticketing systems is now showing results. Philippe Millet, Public Transport Director of Parkeon comments on the announcement of the new project: "For such a project to succeed, we need to take account of the constraints relating to the specificities and needs of our customer Lille Métropole and take on board their requirements in terms of schedule. Our strong involvement, manufacturing capacities, full control over ticketing technologies and the organisational model proposed for managing the project are key assets for the fulfilment of our mission".

About Parkeon

Parkeon is a key player in urban mobility. Thanks to the wide-ranging services it offers, which are unique in terms of parking and transport management, Parkeon is today present in 40 countries. Its capacity for continual innovation has been displayed throughout its 35 year history. Parkeon systems and equipment facilitate management and mobility in over 3000 towns and cities. The leader in ticketing and systems for parking and transport payment, Parkeon employs more than 1100 staff around the world and registered a turnover of 176 million euros in 2008. Based in Europe, the company is present in France, where its head office is located, in Australia, Belgium, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK, and in the USA. It relies on an international network of partners to cover other markets. For more information: www.parkeon.com

Parkeon Media Contact
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