BATHURST’S new mobile parking enforcement vehicle issued 255 tickets in its first two months of operation in March and April, official figures reveal.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
In March, 108 tickets were issued, while 147 fines were issued in April.
Those figures are well above the 77 tickets written by parking officers walking the beat in February, but short of the fines needed to recoup the $100,000 outlay for the new technology.
The 255 tickets written in March and April poured $33,047 into council’s coffers and meant that a total of $133,297 has been raised from the 1032 tickets issued to date in the 2013-2014 financial year.
The nine-month total leaves council tracking well behind the 1771 parking fines written in the 2012-13 financial year (total $208,713) and 2301 tickets written in 2011-12 ($243,610).
But Bathurst Regional Council maintains the vehicle was never intended to be a revenue raiser, saying it was introduced to increase traffic turnover in the central business district.
“It was never intended as a revenue raiser and the revenue raised so far isn’t over or above what is normal for this time of year,” Mayor Gary Rush said.
For the same two-month period last year, 262 tickets were issued, raising $33,231 in revenue.
Cr Rush said the vehicle had made more people aware of the time constraints that applied in certain parking areas and had increased traffic turnover.
“I do hear back from many people that it has significantly freed up parking spaces in the CBD,” he said.
“I think it was a good investment. It makes parking in the CBD more accessible for more people. People could ignore time zones a little bit before, thinking the ticket inspector would only be around to book every three or four hours, as opposed to two, but they are aware the vehicle has a greater capacity to patrol areas, so they move.”
Packed all-day car parks and an increase in vacant on-street parking spots suggest that plan is working, but only time will tell if shoppers and CBD workers become complacent following the initial media blitz that accompanied the introduction of the vehicle.
Cr Rush said if the number of fines significantly increased as people became complacent, council would embark on another awareness program about parking restrictions.
“The reality is we don’t want people to be fined, we just want people to be obeying parking times,” he said.
Cr Rush said with more people obeying traffic times, it was easier for council to asses the CBD’s current and future parking needs.
