New parking meters not easy for all, says barber
A new parking meter system is supposed to “offer greater convenience” in central Hamilton, but CBD barber Gini Berggren says it has the potential to trim her customers.
Forty per cent Berggren’s customers are elderly, and she’s frustrated to watch them waddle the distance from her premises at Barber on Barton up the street to sort out their parking.
“It's raining. It's cold. They've got to get out of the car. They've got to walk all the way down to the parking meter. And by the time they get there, some of those elderly might not remember why they’re there.”
Barton St has seen its more than twenty coin meters replaced by four electronic meters after the recent upgrade.
In the past, no action was required for those who would like to park for less than two hours. Now, drivers have to register their registration through the machine or on a mobile app to use the two hours free parking. But with some customers in wheelchairs and others with walking sticks, the barber said there should be better solutions. “It’s not user friendly. Old men don’t know how to use cards, they don’t know how to use apps.” One solution Berggren thinks should happen is another meter on the northern end of the street, or some process where shop owners can help validate parking for customers.
On the sunny Tuesday afternoon when Waikato Times visited the street, Anne and Bryden Thorpe from Cambridge were doing their quarterly visit to Specsavers.
The couple said they didn’t know they now had to register their number plate in the machine, and there was no signage around telling them to. When they tried to enter their rego, Anne couldn’t see the display clearly because of the font size and the sunlight, so she asked for help from the reporter.