Time up for CBD paperless parking

The Dunedin City Council has abandoned attempts to install a paperless parking system in the inner city after it proved too challenging for both motorists and parking wardens.

Staff decided not to adopt the machines after two trials over the past 18 months, Cr Jinty MacTavish recently told a hearing considering a plan for minimising waste in the city.

The solar-powered parking meters gave people the option of not needing a receipt because the parking information was stored in the meter and accessible on parking officers' smartphones. However, the system was found to be too confusing for people, she said.

The machines were installed in response to concerns about the environmental effect of parking meter receipts.

The receipts are not biodegradable because their

plastic coating does not break down when exposed to the weather.

The machines, which required motorists to input their car registration number along with how much time was required and choose their payment method, were trialled in the upper Octagon for several months, before the trial was expanded to several council car parks in the CBD.

Cr MacTavish, who launched the new system in March last year, said the first trial was reasonably successful, but the second did not go so well.

The system proved too slow for parking wardens to check, was not user-friendly for customers and people were keying in the wrong numbers.

Residents, especially older people, were finding it challenging to use the key pad, remember registration numbers and walk away without returning to their vehicles, she said.

Many were taking the optional receipt anyway.

''Staff have decided it was not an option, so I'm pushing them to look at alternatives.''

She wished she had better news, she told one submitter on the waste management and minimisation plan.

In response to a further question from the submitter, Cr MacTavish said normal paper was not an option for the receipts because it was affected by humidity, affecting machines.

It also curled and discoloured in the sunlight while sitting on dashboards.

''I'm not trying to defend the [current] system. It's a terrible system and I want to change it, but staff have not yet found a system to replace it.''

Council Cityfleet team leader Brent Bachop said Cr MacTavish's summary of the issues with the machines was accurate.

Up to 80% of people using the machines were still taking a receipt to leave in their cars.

It had also taken longer for parking wardens to enforce infringements because they had to access a separate system, and people keyed in incorrect plate numbers.

Seven new machines were bought by the council for the trial, at $7500 each, but they were part of the normal renewal of machines, he said.

All had now been converted, free of charge, back to the usual system.

The council was now trialling stone paper, which was made from stone waste.

It did not completely break down but was more biodegradable than the plastic receipts issued at present, he said.

The stone paper looked like the paper used now.

Council waste strategy officer Catherine Irvine said stone paper was only slightly better than the paper used at present, but at least parking staff were thinking about more sustainable options.

A competition to find better alternatives to address the parking receipt problem would be part of an action plan developed from the waste management and minimisation plan, once it was adopted, she said.

debbie.porteous@odt.co.nz

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