Bunbury City Council today took pity on motorists weighed down by loose change, with the installation of parking ticket dispensing machines. The machines allow the City Council to harvest a cash crop from otherwise infertile acres of tarmac in the CBD.
The installation of the machines is expected to change parking behaviour which, in turn, is expected to change driving behaviour. Instead of traffing circling the CBD aimlessly looking for a free bay, it is expected that the imposition of parking fees will encourage longer term shoppers to congregate in the tecketted free parking areas recently established, leaving more bays in city streets available for local shopping.
“The recent introduction of two hours free parking in the clearly marked off-street carparks has worked very well,” City of Bunbury mayor David Smith said. “People are making good use of this initiative and the introduction of parking machines will make more on-street parking spaces available to more people.
“Anyone just wanting to make a quick trip into town is much more likely to find a carpark outside the shops rather than the current practice of driving around hunting for bays.
“We expect this will lead to more convenience and the orderly movement of traffic in Bunbury streets.”