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07
Apr
Car park investment to allow drivers to pay as they like
Drivers will have the choice of paying for parking with cash, card or app at every car park in North Yorkshire for the first time under council plans for an overhaul of its parking facilities.
The council aims to install 430 new solar-powered parking machines in its car parks and on-street parking places, as well as in the barrier control systems in its two multi-storey car parks.
The new machines are due to be considered by the council’s executive next week, as is a £400,000 programme to replace old sodium lighting with new LED heads and old lamp columns where required.
Investment in the machines and lights is estimated to generate cost savings of £587,000 a year.
Over the longer term, the council also intends to update signage around its car-parks.
Cllr Keane Duncan, North Yorkshire Council’s executive member for highways and transportation, said the improvements would make the county's car parks safer and more efficient.
He said:
Our record £2.5 million investment package will deliver key benefits for everyone who uses our car-parks, while at the same time delivering essential cost savings for our taxpayers.
Right now, some of our car parks appear unwelcoming and are in a poor state of repair. The technology is outdated, with most machines approaching the end of their working life. Some are now 20 years old and prone to glitches.
We know the experience can often be frustrating for users when machines suffer malfunction. We also know visitors are often surprised to find that some of our car parks only accept cash payments.
Our plans will bring our car-parking service into the 21st century, so all 430 machines in the county can accept card, cash and app for the first time.
The new machines will be much more reliable, solar-powered and better for the environment, with larger, brighter interactive screens and better instructions.
They will also be ticketless, meaning less visits from our staff are required and less maintenance. They also remove the need for visitors to return to their vehicles after paying.
North Yorkshire Council’s executive will be asked to approve the investment in the county’s parking infrastructure on Tuesday next week (April 15).
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