INFORMATION from the Office of State Revenue indicates Orange’s parking rangers are anything but idle, yet there remains a problem with drivers flouting parking restrictions.
Parking fines collected in the city last financial year totalled over $414,000, almost twice the amount collected in Bathurst, but there are still complaints from businesses who rely on short-term parking for their passing trade.
When council comes to consider a trial of parking sensors, which monitor the time a vehicle has been parked, it should bear in mind these short-term parking areas, where a constant turnover of vehicles is crucial.
For areas like Bathurst Road from the railway line to the Five Ways, parts of Summer Street, Anson Street and Sale Street in the CBD, getting motorists to adhere to short-term parking restrictions can be critical to a business’s trading.
Keeping the traffic ticking over is the key to keeping the till doing the same when you’re in a business that relies on a high number of purchases for relatively small amounts. For retailers whose selling point is convenience, having cars left in short-term spaces for hours can be a body blow for business.
Parking rangers are certainly doing their job, as demonstrated by the figure above, but parking sensors would greatly improve driver compliance, particularly in those busy streets where parking spaces are like hen’s teeth.
The sensors’ deterrent value works a lot like speed cameras. In areas where the cameras are placed and well-advertised the traffic slows down. Drivers know the chances of copping a fine otherwise are so high it’s not worth the risk.
In areas without cameras many motorists speed and trust to luck they won’t get caught. A trial of parking sensors in those areas where motorists flout the rules and trust their luck while others lap the block waiting for a space, could point the way to better management of scarce parking.