Aussie council's 'confusing' new parking upgrade sparks surprise backlash
According to the Sydney council, the older, coin-operated meters will also now be decommissioned – ending the option to pay with cash.
Residents living in some of the country's most affluent suburbs have responded with mixed reactions to their local council unveiling new cashless parking meter.
North Sydney Council, on the city's lower north shore, rolled out the new cashless devices last week after it was announced Australia's 3G network will be decommissioned in August — meaning existing systems required upgrading.
The rollout across the local council area was completed on July 25 and the new meters use a tap-and-go system much like payWave. According to council, the older, coin-operated metres will also now be decommissioned.
The change aligns with the broader national trend of councils ditching traditional methods of operating in favour of more environmentally-friendly and electronic methods. North Sydney Council said previously it would stop handing out paper parking tickets, instead issuing them via email — a system now mirrored by many other LGAs around Australia.
North Sydney residents torn over new cashless meter
It's not the first council to go cashless either, with Parramatta in the city's west, for example, also moving to a completely cashless system from April 1. Online this week, locals were torn over whether they were for or against the new cashless system, but many argued they did the job.
"They actually work pretty well," one man said. "Thank you so much for making it easier to part with our money," another joked. "Another step forward to a cashless system," somebody else said.
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On social media, it appeared that's where the positive sentiment ended, with many others blasting the new payment method. "When the sun hits them you cannot see the screen at all. Well done Council. I’m certain old people wouldn’t even know their number plates off by hand, [now] they’ve got more confusing technology to try to learn how to use," a seemingly unimpressed woman wrote.
"So the only way to pay going forward is using a smart phone? That seems very limiting," said a second. North Sydney Council does however facilitate payment via payWave using Mastercard or Visa.
"Hard for the elderly and those struggling financially to keep up with all this 'convenience'," another person argued. "Some of us students don't always have money in our accounts," a woman said.
Others agreed the area was densely populated with older people, who likely struggle to keep up with technology. One man suggested the new technology would mean "there will be some free parking days". "As we witnessed last week, there is always going to be outages," he said.
Council responds to concerns, says feedback mostly positive
A spokesperson for North Sydney Council said it has had "ground staff assisting the community in the past week" and "seen an overall positive response to the new meters since going live".
"We are open to feedback, ensuring the transition is straightforward for the community. Those who have been assisted found the Touch N Gos, PayStay app and parking meters relatively easy to use. To increase visibility, Council are expanding the amount of Touch N Gos and parking meters," the spokesperson told Yahoo News Australia.
"Feedback to ground staff was that the new parking meters are quicker but acknowledge some are unhappy with cashless meters. As the meter system has changed from pay-by-bay to pay-by-plate, ground staff noted users adjusted well to this minor change. First time users of the PayStay App or PayStay Guest may need additional time to navigate the programs and we acknowledge this opt-in technology may not be convenient for all.
"As with our previous parking meters, the new meters accept credit card. Payment is also accepted by calling 1300 322 111, with this number located on back of the parking meters."
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