By Jean Dorrell (Hamilton ratepayer and retired accountant)
Hamilton City Council appear to have adopted this as their motto
We want more people to come into the CBD so let’s offer one-hour free parking.
Now the general rule with free parking is that you don’t have to do anything except park. But not in Hamilton. You need to record your vehicle on either a kiosk or the PayMyPark App.
The HCC website has instructions on how to use a kiosk. There are nine steps (and that is after you have found a kiosk).
The App (assuming that you have downloaded it) requires you to state where you are. If you are on Anglesea Street, are you north or south of London Street? This could be challenging for a visitor to the city or someone, like myself, who lacks a sense of direction. Then there is a message that free parking will be applied at the end. The next screen stated $3.00 per hour for the first 2 hours. And states 60 free minutes apply. This is all accurate information, but it is not intuitive. The app is no simpler than the nine-steps required to use the kiosk. And if you drive more than one vehicle, you will need to ensure that you are recording the parking for the correct vehicle. But please remember, HCC want you to spend time in the CBD.
When the kiosks were first introduced, I would find that every time I went to enter my details, there was a person standing there trying to work out if they had actually done what they were supposed to do.
Why Make Things Simple When You Can Make Them Complicated?
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