stevieg

Yeah heard them going on about it on Radio 1... the makers saying 'not paying for parking is the same as shoplifting'

Bollox. total Bollox.

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Chairboy

Not all paid parking is bad. Here's my rationale:

1. In concentrated areas (like downtown), there is less parking then there is demand for parking on the streets.
2. If meters did not exist, the first people there would park their cars, then go to work or sit in a cafe somewhere just drinking coffee all day, and there would be no way for you to get into one of the stores without hiking a few miles.
3. By creating the 'put in a quarter every half hour' situation, you create churn. People are more likely to go and buy what they want, then leave. They then create room for the next person to come, park, make THEIR purchase, then leave. End result, more money for the shopkeepers and it's easier for you and I to go and buy the things we want. "But chairboy", I hear one of you whine, "if I was there all day, I'd be putting money into their hands too by BUYING coffee!<sniffle>". Maybe you'd make SOME purchases, but purchase patterns can be expressed on a graph as peaking in the beginning, then trickling off. A typical transaction might be for you to buy coffee and a donut (or whatever) when you arrive, then anywhere from 30-60 minutes later, maybe you'd make another purchase, and it's likely to be just another coffee (or anyhow, a smaller order then you started with). If you have to keep the meter fed, you'd be more likely to make your purchase, hang out for 15 minutes to finish it, then leave. 5 minutes later, the next person (who got your parking spot) arrives and does the same thing.

End result, more money goes into the economy, more people have jobs, more people can buy the things they want, and so on. The cost to you? A quarter or so. The benefit to you? Lower taxes because of less people on welfare, the ability to get what you want to buy, etc.

Also, think of the congestion this relieves from people who might perma-park their cars somewhere busy and leave it there while they spend the weekend inside, or at a friends house or something. That's dead space! Now, there's incentive NOT to leave it parked somewhere busy. This is also a benefit for you.

Does this mean that parking without paying is akin to shoplifting? No. That's a specious argument. Does it mean that meter maids aren't sometimes jerks? Also no, there are some rotten ones out there, but I imagine the way people treat them doesn't help.

Does this mean that paying a reasonable parking fee (I know, some places it's crazy, but on average, it's a tiny prick in the skin, not a gaping wound) is bad? No.

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rickster

Thats all well and good but when you have to work in different places everyday in a city like london and your job lasts all day. Thats one parking space taken up all day that then costs me £40 (about $80).

I agree with what your saying, but that only works in shopping areas.

rickster

sometimes its cheaper to get a parking ticket

£50 fine if paid within 14 days
£100 fine if paid within 30 days

at least they give you 14 days credit

stevieg

I agree in principal with what Choirboy says but take issue a little bit.

In my local town, Nuneaton, the council runs the main car parks. It costs 50p to park. That obviously covers the costs, as they have just built a multistory car park and not raised the charges - and council tax is pretty low compared to other areas.

At my work it costs £10 a month to park, in the middle of Birmingham city cente. OK the investment was made a long time ago, and they let visitors park free. But it's obviously not costing money to run the car park, it'll be paying for itself, that's the way it works at my place.

But if I want to go to the overpriced shops in Birmingham city centre, and park in their adjacent car parks, I have to pay, maybe £5 for an hours parking! The security's worse, the spaces aren't massive, the only thing going for them is they are reasonably clean, but no better than in my local town. If I want to go to one of the cheaper car parks, it's maybe £3 to park for an hour, and for that I'm pretty much gauranteed none of the cameras work, the toilets are dangerous and my car might not be there when I get back. It's the same in another of the local towns, Solihull. Parking there used to be dirt cheap, and you could also park in one of the free car parks. Now it's an expensive car park if you want to go and shop there.

But what about if I want to go to a supermarket? Well, it's usually free! Or an out of town shopping centre. Free again.

So what does that mean to ME. It means that the council run car park in my local town is charging the ACTUAL cost. The cost of paying people to guard it, and paying for it's maintanance and development.

The out-of-town shopping centre car parks are free, which probably means that they are owned by the same company that rents out the shop units, and a portian of that goes on the car park costs. Same kind of thing with the supermarkets, they'll be happy to pay to run the car park if it means you'll shop with them.

However these big car parks in the bigger towns are just about ripping people off. They must sit round and think 'what's the maximum we can charge'. Not what's the least we can charge, and I'll bet the people working in the car parks don't get any extra money than the guys who work in the council car parks, so that means, say £4.50 goes up the chain to some fat bastard who owns a car park company. So expensive car parking doesn't mean better economy, more jobs. It means for the 5 or 6 big car park companies, say 30 or 40 people in the UK have loadsa money (of course this is just car parking, in a capitalist society it's the same with any business) and what do they do with it? Probably invest it... In property, like all their fat bastard friends. Which means that less 'normal' people can buy houses and rent of them, or some holding company or other, and house prices go up and up.... And the same in many other market sectors, and of course lots of people who go shopping once a week and pay for 3 hours parking each, probably have £15 less a week wasted on expensive car parking.

If society was *fair* then everything would be cheaper, or everyone would get paid more. But it's not and that's just how it is, and moaning about it aint gonna do jack ****.

OH and London! Don't get me started on that *****ing place with it's congestion charging!!! I went there assuming when I got home I'd log on the net and pay the congestion fee.... NOOOOOOO I get fined. Bloody great. Oh well, paid it before it doubled, but that's still £50 wasted. And I bet it doesn't go into the London council's coffers being re-used to hepl the environment either, it probably goes on the M$ licencing for the big *****ing .Net system used to run the congestion charging system. I know what they mean now by 'Do more with less' yes less money in my pocket, b*stards.

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rickster

Your lucky! I missed a payment, never got a fine (poxy royal mail again) and then got a summons to go to court. In the end I had to pay £250 fine and pay court costs of £125. but your right, it just lines the pockets of some fat cats.

Oh, did you know that the congestion zone is expanding right to my pigging doorstep. But, because my house isnt IN the zone, I get no exemption from it. What does this mean I hear you ask??? That whenever I leave my house, try to leave my street, I am in the congestion zone. And now it is going up to £10 aswell.

stevieg

£10???? FFS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

There's no winning all the *****ing politicians are in cloud cookoo land whatever political party there in.

It's gonna be LCD number plates before you know it LOL

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Enforcer

shhhh!, you weren't supposed to let that cat of the bag

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stevieg

Funniest one I heard is the 'GPS tracking' for road-charging (and probably catching speeders)

I won't let the cat out of the bag on what i'll be doing on that one!

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