Should parking a car really be so complicated?
‘Please note, no change given’
IT is the task most drivers have performed on autopilot for years: enter car park, take ticket, park car and pay on departure.
The pay and display alternative is equally simple and familiar to most.
But the Kinnoull Street car park in Perth is a whole new challenge – one it is easy to fail. And the slightest slip is mercilessly punished by operators Smart Parking who, after all, collect most of their revenue from these very mistakes.
Little wonder, perhaps, that this multistorey next to the council headquarters in the centre of Perth has generated hundreds of complaints to local politicians.
It was with some trepidation, then, that I edged my car up the narrow passageway to the entrance, where a sign warned I was now entering into a contract with Smart Parking; by staying, I must agree its terms and conditions and that my car was now being watched by automatic number plate recognition systems.
But what if I did not want to enter the contract? I could not reverse. There was a car behind me. The only way to proceed was into the car park – and those not wishing to be bound by the terms and conditions had just ten minutes to find their way out.
I drove inside and was at once struck by the multitude of notices warning motorists of the systems in operation. It bordered on oppressive. They were even on the ramps between floors.
After parking, I went to the nearest machine and prepared for a few moments of hard concentration, determined not to make a mistake. The machine was covered in black polythene. Out of commission.
I headed back to the ground floor, passing more signs on the stairs. One said ‘Please note, No change given.’ Another cautioned: ‘You must pay for the entire period of time that your vehicle is within the car park, from the moment your vehicle enters to the moment your vehicle leaves. The time is calculated by ANPR [automatic number plate recognition] cameras at the point of entry & exit.’
A few steps later, a new one said: ‘Your correct registration number must be entered into the payment machine keypad.’
One at the machines said: ‘Data captured may be used to request registered keepers details from the DVLA. The data may also be used to check compliance with the contract, as detailed in the full terms & conditions set out in the notices located throughout the car park.’
By now my head was spinning and I had not even begun to negotiate the pay machine. There were notices taped to it, too. The first said: ‘You can pay for your parking on entry or exit. If paying on exit, please note the time you arrived as the machine will not inform you.’
The second counselled: ‘Ignore time on ticket when paying on exit.’
So, it seemed, customers could pay at the beginning or end of their stay but it was for them to work out exactly when they arrived and would be departing to ensure this tallied with the data captured by the spy cameras.
Charges ranged from 90p for an hour to £10 for up to 24 hours, but notes were not accepted and machine did not give change. Nor did the office. ‘NO CHANGE’ said a handwritten sign on the door.
First, though, the challenge of entering my registration. It has the letter O in it, so I had to ensure I did not enter a zero instead. The only way to tell them apart was their location on the keypad.
Finding I did not have the exact change, I paid £2 rather than the required £1.80 for a two-hour stay. The machine spat out a ticket showing the time by which I had to leave. Had I paid on exit, the ticket would have displayed a time with no relevance at all to my stay.
So far, so good. I have not heard from Smart Parking in the two weeks since I parked there. So perhaps I managed remain within the terms of our ‘contract’.
But the purpose of my visit was to see how difficult the car park was to use. I was on high alert and concentrating hard. But should parking our cars really require such levels of concentration? And is it reasonable that the first we become aware of any problem with our visit is when a fine of £60 (quickly rising to £100 if unpaid) drops through the letter box?
Many of those receiving the fines paid for their parking, despite having made honest mistakes with the unfamiliar and complex rules.
A large proportion of customers are elderly. Others are carrying shopping or pushing prams. Is the idea to prey on their bafflement or inattention?
The challenge the Kinnoull Street car park sets customers is to negotiate its complex system perfectly without any pointers as to whether they have done so or not. Only when the fine comes – or doesn’t – is it clear whether the test was passed.