MUNICH, Germany, July 15, 2001 (PRIMEZONE) -- EasyPark Ltd., a subsidiary of OTI (Neuer Markt:OT5)(GER:OT5), announced today that it has signed an agreement with the City of Tel Aviv by its subsidiary Ahuzat Hahof, that manages the City's parking solution, to expand the EasyPark program to include parking payment for parking lots and to implement a complementary system utilizing a SmartID Sticker to manage vehicle registration and parking permits. As a part of the agreement, the City of Tel Aviv, the largest metropolis in Israel, will launch an aggressive marketing and promotion campaign to promote the use of EasyPark and SmartID Stickers.
"We are excited by the opportunity to present the EasyPark solution in our parking lots, and street parking on behalf of the City of Tel Aviv. We have found EasyPark to be the most convenient payment method, as drivers do not need to exit the vehicle and are only charged for the actual time parked," said Jacob Meir, General Manager of Ahuzat Hahof. "We expect that the solution will be installed in every vehicle in the City, either through the SmartID Sticker and/or the EasyPark card, allowing residents to park either in the street or at a parking lot. We expect to distribute SmartID Stickers for 100,000 vehicles and at least 50,000 EasyPark cards by the end of the year."
The City of Tel Aviv, through Ahuzat Hahof, has already placed an order for an initial 10,000 EasyPark cards and 10,000 new vehicle registration stickers to support this endeavor. As a part of the agreement, further space on the multi-application EasyPark smart card and the SmartID Sticker has been allocated for additional municipal services, which are expected to generate additional revenues for OTI. OTI expects that an additional 50,000 subscribers by the end of the year will significantly increase transaction fees generated by the system. OTI receives transaction fees of around 10% of the parking system revenues and repeat renewal revenue each annum for every sticker.
"We at OTI are happy to join forces with the City of Tel Aviv by Ahuzat Hahof, which is the best partner to introduce a solution that provides the ultimate convenience for on- and off-street parking for the citizens of Tel Aviv," said Oded Bashan, Chairman, President, and CEO of OTI. "This is yet another example of the superiority of the EasyPark solution and its growing success."
EasyPark utilizes OTI's award-winning contact-less smart card technology as the foundation for the easy-to-use cards. Drivers need only to turn the card on, indicate the correct city and zone codes, and display it within their vehicle. Turning the card off upon returning to the car, the driver is charged only for the actual parking time - an efficient improvement over the existing parking system. The same e-cash value used for on-street parking payment will now be accepted at private parking lots. The card is simply presented at the gate when entering or exiting a parking lot. An entry time stamp recorded on the card is compared with the exit time automatically debiting the card only for the exact amount of time within the parking lot.
SmartID Stickers are permanently attached to the windshield of the vehicle, containing an OTI smart card chip with the vehicle's current registration information as well as specific parking permits. OTI's sticker is the only one worldwide that is able to resist a temperature up to 120 degrees Celsius. With SmartID, a Tel Aviv resident with a neighborhood parking pass is exempt from parking payment in that area, which can be verified by the use of a hand-held contact-less smart card reader issued to all parking enforcement officers. SmartID Stickers are updated electronically with status and payment information as needed.
EasyPark is currently used in 27 cities with over 30,000 vehicles installed, and are purchased at a price of $20 each. Cards can be purchased at malls, gasoline stations, and at post offices. Further expansions proposed include toll road payment and other municipal payment options.
About Easy Park
EasyPark Ltd. was established in 1991 as a subsidiary company of OTI, and was selected as the winner of the Israel nationwide electronic parking card project in 1997. Together with Hayun Israeli Computers Ltd., an Israel-based clearinghouse, the company established EasyPark Israel Ltd. to manage the implementation and operation of this nationwide project and provide clearing services for the collected parking fees to the local Israel municipalities.
About OTI
Established in 1990, OTI (On Track Innovations) designs and develops contact-less microprocessor based smart card technology to address the needs of a wide variety of markets. Applications developed by OTI include product solutions for mass transit, parking, gas management systems, loyalty schemes, ID, and secure campuses. OTI has regional offices in the US, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Africa to market and support its products. The company was awarded the prestigious ESCAT Award for smart card innovation in both 1998 and 2000. Visit OTI on the Internet at www.oti.co.il.