PAID PARKING
To pay or not to pay
Free parking is loved by everybody except if you need to park urgently and there are no more spaces available. Why is there no more spaces available you may ask? Free parking is not always the best deal as free parking are inviting anybody to make use of the parking spaces in a centre whether they have business there or not. Being paid parking prevent those who utilise the facility for their own benefit leaving those who need it most, in the lurch. Viewing the facilities around a centre with free parking, one can see that it will be used for other purposes or by people who do not have any business being there.
When the number of parking spaces in a centre is greater than or equal to the number of motorists wanting to park, it results in maximum utilisation and paid parking is not a question. But if the number of parking spaces in a centre is being utilised by non-residents or motorists with no business in the cenre it leaves the residents and their visitors in a quandry with no availability. The utilisation of parking spaces may not be clear to those who are requested for payment but it will become obvious as soon as paid parking is installed. All of a sudden you have a choice of parking because the people who used to utilise the parking for their own benefit, is not willing to pay for the use thereof. This can be parents walking their kids to school if there is one close by, taking their dogs to the lake, just parking there to visit across the road or simply leaving a vehicle in the parking overnight because there are too many visitors at home and there is no parking space available.
If parking is kept free of charge and if the number of parking spaces is fewer than the number of motorists needing to park, the feeling of content is reduced by the uncertainty of finding a space to park. Motorists with a less urgent need to park may end up occupying parking spaces that motorists with more urgent needs are prepared to pay for. Suppose a fee of £4.00 per day is charged for parking. demand will equal supply and everyone who needs a parking space can find one.
Paid parking also has a good influence on unlawful visitors to a centre at night or over weekends. People who uses a centre's bin facilities to drop off excess waste from their residences are wary to enter as they will have to pay for the privilege to dispose of their waste.