A further 41 street parking machines will be removed from the CBD in the next month, which will save ratepayers hundreds of thousands of dollars per year, as Darwin Council continues to move motorists to cashless pay-by-phone technology, Lord Mayor Kon Vatskalis has said.
The Lord Mayor said council wouldl save $300,000 a year by fazing out a total of 112 machines across the city, which cost $2200 each a year to maintain.
He said 78 per cent of motorists in the CBD were using the PayStay app on their phones over the traditional machines.
“A lot of people are now using the parking app and some of the old parking machines have reached the end of their actual life,” he said.
“To keep repairing them or replacing them would be too expensive.
“Most people have smart phones, the last thing they need is parking metres.”
Mayor Vatskalis said machines would only remain in certain areas of the city.
“We are going to keep some parking metres where needed,” he said.
“Some people who go to the churches are old and don’t have the knowledge or expertise with smartphones.”
Motorists are still enjoying free parking in the CBD until the end of June due to the COVID-19 crises, but this will soon be reviewed, according to Mayor Vatskalis.
“Before that time council will go back and see what’s happening with COVID and will make a decision accordingly,” he said.
“We’ve had a really good run, three months free parking, it’s been good for the economy.”
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