Results from the latest survey conducted by the AA, suggests that as many as 70% of motorists would rather park elsewhere than pay for their parking by phone.
Some councils in recent years have looked to switch off their pay & display machines in favour of a pay-by-phone service but rather than a ‘quick and convenient’ option this is now being shown as discriminatory against a range of motorists including pensioners and those on low incomes.
Jack Cousens, head of roads policy for the AA, said: “All providers should make it easier to pay for parking. Not everyone has a smartphone to pay via an app and not everyone is keen to talk to a robot to pay for an hour’s stay. For the elderly and low-income drivers, pay-by-phone feels almost discriminatory.”
With many motorists still preferring to pay cash, Councils are now being urged to review the options they offer for parking payments so ensure that it is fair and inclusive for all.
Alistair Aitken, Director of Sales & Marketing for METRIC said: “While ‘cashless’ systems have provided many benefits in recent years, councils and car park operators are now realising that most of their customers still want to pay with cash – resulting in our ‘coin-only’ models remaining our best sellers. At METRIC, we are proud to offer our customers all payment options, from coins and banknotes to cards and contactless, for their parking terminals, giving them and motorists the greatest flexibility in how to pay for parking.”
About Metric Parking 
Metric Parking is the No 1 UK manufacturer of parking terminals. METRIC have designed, manufactured and supplied over 60,000 parking terminals worldwide. METRIC won the BPA Parking Technology award in 2015 for the VivoPark solution - for barrier-free parking in retail. www.metricgroup.co.uk
