ePetition - Reintroduce scratch card voucher parking
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ePetition details
Reintroduce scratch card voucher parking
A significant proportion of the City's residents and visitors are experiencing difficulties due to the increased use by the Council of pay-by-phone parking. This particularly affects many elderly people and those without, or who have difficulty using, mobile phones. To make their life easier we would like to see the reintroduction of scratch card vouchers as a means of paying for parking in the city.
This ePetition ran from 14/10/2016 to 25/11/2016 and has now finished.
1715 people signed this ePetition.
Council response
Response provided by the Chair of the Environment, Transport & Sustainability Committee at their meeting on 11 October 2016:
"A voucher system used to be available as an alternative to
paying for parking by cash in a small area of the city but was
withdrawn following committee agreement almost 10 years ago.
They were withdrawn following feedback from the Traffic Penalty
Tribunal about the signage and use of the vouchers which some
drivers found confusing. Drivers had to scratch off their arrival
time and date and display the correct amount of vouchers for their
stay, whereas other payment systems work this out
automatically.
Since the withdrawal of the vouchers the number of PCNs issued has fallen by around 30,000 per year partly as a result of fewer mistakes being made by drivers using the voucher system. The voucher system was also very expensive to administer with costs including
- the invoicing of up to 200 outlets
- a member of staff and van required to restock them
- voucher printing costs
- signage costs which would be considerable if the scheme were to
be re-introduced citywide
Very few councils still now sell parking vouchers as a
result.
Drivers wishing to pay for parking in cash at an outlet rather that
at a machine or by phone can do so at one of 150 PayPoint outlets
in the city. And the substantial cost which would be involved in
reinstating a scheme which could even outweigh income received from
their sale. And of course recently, the Policy, Resources &
Growth Committee did agree to the introduction of pay by card
parking system and we hope and we feel that will be a very easy and
convenient method for motorists to use".