Editorial: Parking cash an easy lure

OPINION: The robot parking wardens are on their way.

Hamilton city councillors listened intently last week to a pitch from Cambridge-based firm MeterEye which outlined how its parking monitoring system could bring a new efficiency to parking in the city.

It would offer "electronic chalking" on cars which overstay in parking spaces through in-ground sensors and a web-based reporting system. With parking fees and tickets bringing in roughly $44,000 a week or $2.3 million a year, at a time council is trimming back projects to keep rates rises palatable, it's understandable why such a system looks attractive. A MeterEye trial in Taupo found 30-40 tickets a day should have been written for the 24 bays that were tested when the council was only writing that many for 1000 parks.

In Hamilton it could mean more ticket revenue with less cost as council moves away from 13 wardens wielding their chalk to fewer, highly mobile wardens dishing out the tickets when alerted by the computer system. But while some councillors sat transfixed with potential dollar signs in their eyes, it's worth pointing out that this is the same CBD that is plagued by a shortage of shoppers. People frustrated with paying high costs, particularly in parking buildings, are doing it for free at a number of outlying malls.

Councillor Roger Hennebry had every right to be concerned about his colleagues' fiscally inspired zeal for the new system, pointing out that it was just the sort of thing that could drive punters away. This is especially the case when meters are reset whenever a car leaves to prevent piggybacking by other motorists.

We're not advocating council scrap parking fees, but it should not overlook the flexibility of zipping into a park with a few minutes left on the meter. It's an attractive incentive for someone to get that quick errand done, usually involving spending a few bucks with adjacent retailers.

Those pushing electronic monitoring may be right when they claim an increased turnover of parks and vibrancy will be the result. At the least the system could give the council the ability to map parking hot spots and plan the best fit of spaces, time limits, charges and enforcement to create the kind of vibrant CBD we all want.

Council should trial the electronic system. But the measure of its success should also be its impact on the CBD, not solely council's coffers.

Council is investing heavily into Garden Place. It has bought the former Wilson underground car park with a view to eventually rejigging traffic flow through the area and Saturday's Waitangi celebrations, headlined by Australian Idol Stan Walker, was an example of just the sort of event that is needed to bring people into town.

But they shouldn't forget the small stuff, like how the public perceive the parking regime.

If council sees it simply as a way to wring more dollars from them, they will vote with their feet.

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