Pay and display
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- This article is about the machine. For the sitcom see Pay And Display (TV series).
Pay and display machines are a subset of ticket machines used for regulating parking in urban areas or in car parks. It relies on a customer purchasing a ticket from a machine and displaying the ticket on the dashboard, or windscreen or passenger window of the vehicle. Details included on a printed ticket are generally the location and operator of the machine, expiry time, fee paid and time entered.
The first US Generation of Pay and Display machines was introduced in 1950 by Park-UR-Self based in San Francisco California. Park-Ur-Self has grown to become the leading manufacturer of Pay and Display Machines in the United States and now goes by the name Ventek International
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[edit] Principles
Pay and display systems differ from road-side parking meters in that one machine can service multiple vehicle spaces, resulting in lower set up costs. In addition, this system theoretically prevents drivers from taking advantage of parking meters that have time remaining; this factor alone has doubled parking revenues in cities that have switched to pay and display.[1] (A driver may occasionally take advantage of remaining time should a departing parker give away a ticket with remaining time, however.)
In addition, pay and display machines can also accept a wider variety of coins, and many even accept credit cards, making it unnecessary for drivers to carry large amounts of change. The use of credit cards has another advantage - the machines do not have to be emptied of coins as often, and the costs of counting coin and possible pilfering by employees who empty the parking meters also reduces their overall costs.
Recently developed as a complementary payment method is payment by mobile phone. Parking fees can be charged to a customer's mobile phone bill or deducted from their credit balance. RingGo is another similar phone based service.
In the UK pay and display is used for both on-street parking control and parking in car parks and multi-storey car parks where access barrier systems are not installed.
[edit] Coupon parking
Coupon parking is a variation of parking payment, similar to disc parking. It is similar to the pay and display mechanism without the use of machines; the motorist is to purchase a booklet of coupons in advance from the authorities instead.
Set up costs are lower than those for parking meters, but its effectiveness is solely determined by the ability to enforce the system by parking attendants. The system is widely used in Singapore and Brazil, and in parts of some countries such as New Zealand, Malaysia, Austria, Ireland and Israel.
To use a parking coupon, the motorist has to completely tear off tabs of the date and time, or scratch off panels on the date and time in which he/she leaves the vehicle. The coupon is then displayed on the dashboard or hung from the top of a door window facing the roadside. Multiple coupons are used if the parking time exceeds the allowance given for a single coupon, though this is not always permitted.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Toronto reaps big profit in parking - www.preciseparklink.com
[edit] External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Pay and display |
- Coupon parking in Singapore, Housing and Development Board Singapore, retrieved 4 January 2007
- Council opts for coupon parking system finally, New Straits Times, 27 January 2007
- Parking pricing
- Ventek International US Based Manufacturer of Pay and Display Machines
