Sticky problem in parking

Central city motorists know the feeling only too well. By some minor miracle, you've found a park on the street. You dash to the pay and display machine, insert the small fortune in coins required, press the OK button, then - kerplunk, followed by ... nothing. No ticket emerges. Argh!

The next time it happens, you may well be able to blame the weather.

Auckland's wet, sticky climate takes the rap for many things. Now there is something else to add to the list. Auckland City parking officers have found that whenever it rains or is humid - and in Auckland, that's a lot of the time - the paper in pay and display machines can jam.

"Anyone who works with paper will know that when it's humid you have sticking problems," says Auckland City Council parking services manager Chris Geerlings.

"Until we go paperless, we're stuck with it."

Help, in the form of new machines with text and credit card payment options, is on the horizon.

Cash Handling Systems, which makes the machines, says the paper absorbs moisture.

It is an issue for pay and display machines everywhere, says the company's technical director, Mark Oliver - hot and sticky Darwin, for example, where the company has machines, has been grappling with it too.

"But Auckland, because of the rain as well as the humidity, causes problems," said Mr Oliver.

Auckland City has 738 pay and display machines, most in the central business district, churning through more than 20,000 transactions a day.

Mr Geerlings said about 96 or 97 per cent of those transactions happened without any problems.

When problems do occur, they are usually because of paper jamming or coins not registering.

Motorists are hit in the pocket, but long-suffering parking officers feel it too.

"It frustrates the parking officers because they get people growling at them because the pay and display machines aren't working properly," said Mr Geerlings.

Late last year, parking officers were so concerned about the problems, that the council spent several days checking every machine.

"The worst we could find was 20 machines in one day, so ... you are more than likely unlucky if you strike one that is jammed."

The council and Cash Handling Systems have tried many ways of coping with the climate.

Technicians thought about small heaters, but as the machines are driven by batteries, they were considered inappropriate.

At one stage, PVC paper was installed in the machines.

"They were brilliant as far as the water absorption problem goes," said Mr Oliver, "but as soon as you put the ticket on the dashboard in the sun, the PVC ticket curled up."

Mr Oliver believes the best answer lies in the latest generation machines the company has designed.

Some of these are in use in Wellington, where the city council says it is very happy with them.

The machines have improved protection from the elements and a printer capable of handling a plastic-coated paper.

Best of all for customers, the new machines can detect if a ticket has not been issued and will issue a refund, thereby avoiding leaving motorists with no coins and no ticket.

The new machines, which accept credit cards and enable customers to pay by cellphone, will be tested at about a dozen sites around the University from next month.

If the trial is successful, the new machines will gradually replace the old ones, at a cost of about $6 million.

Until then, the next time a pay and display machine jams, the council says, customers should try another machine and contact the council offices to explain what happened and discuss a refund.