Which is better for Oxford parking — gate or kiosk?

The current parking lots are owned by the Oxford Borough and are using Kiosks for people to park their cars. Many people don’t know how to use the Kiosks and get frustrated when trying to figure them out. Handicapped people have a hard time even walking to the kiosk.

The kiosks take credit cards or quarters to pay to park. Not all people carry change with them so they have to go to the bank to get quarters before they can park. Many people don’t want to use their credit cards to charge one dollar on them. Several people decide not to use the kiosks and will park a couple of blocks away and walk into Oxford business district or restaurants.

The Oxford Borough Council decided to install the kiosks because of the pre-school traffic that goes through the 2nd street parking lot.

The Council didn’t want the carpool traffic to pay to enter and pay to exit when dropping off their children to pre-school at the Oxford Presbyterian Church. During construction of the parking garage the Borough Council voted to make the adjacent street next to the Presbyterian Church (Octorara alley) an entrance and exit for pre-school drop off and pick up. If this traffic remains the same after construction, there is no need for the kiosks for the 2nd street parking lot.

Somehow I think the kiosk system is really meant to generated additional income for the Oxford Borough to help pay for the 300 plus car parking garage by parking fines.

The kiosks have upset the patrons of our rural town and have put people “on edge” knowing that they may get a $15 parking fine if their parked car runs out of time.

I propose the Borough should scrap the Kiosks and install a parking gate system for the existing two parking lots and the new parking garage instead. It’s simple…you get a ticket stub when you enter the parking lot and pay for the time you have been parked when you leave. It would encourage people to shop in town or go to local restaurants and not be worried about getting a parking fine and penalized when they get back to their car.

I talked to a person who invited a friend into Oxford to eat at a local restaurant and when they got back to their cars they each had a fine attached to their windshield for $15 each. This makes the restaurant look bad when the people said they will not come back to eat at that restaurant in Oxford ever again.

Unfortunately this is the mindset of the Oxford Borough Council when they voted to use the kiosks and use this “negative” system.

In summary: get rid of the kiosks and install a parking gate system and you will change the attitude of shoppers from a negative to a positive experience about Oxford and encourage them to come into town to spend their money.

Dr. Malcolm Kelly Oxford Family Eyecare