The Dunedin City Council is switching all parking meters in the central business district to pay-by-plate technology, where motorists enter their vehicle registration plate number, instead of the machine spitting out a ticket.
The nine-week work programme to convert the meters would start on February 27, the council said in a statement.
The Otago Daily Times reported last year machines in the central city were ageing and fewer of them were able to read credit cards.
There were delays in getting machines fixed, because of supply-chain problems, the council said in July.
City council transport group manager Jeanine Benson said yesterday having a consistent and reliable meter system was important.
"We’ve heard from the community that our current meters aren’t fit for purpose, and we’re confident that the upgrade will benefit Dunedin car park users by making the parking process faster and easier," Ms Benson said.
The council said the changes would cost $775,000 and save an estimated 100km of paper waste a year.
Drivers paid for their parking by entering their vehicle’s licence plate number.
Parking wardens could access the system remotely to confirm motorists had paid.
The meters would accept three forms of payment — coins, credit cards and payment through the PayMyPark app.
The council expected the meters would be more reliable and less maintenance would be required.
Ms Benson said current parking meters would be retrofitted with the new technology.
However, removing the need to return to the car after paying for parking meant fewer parking meters were necessary.
The number of meters around the central city would drop from 330 to 265.
In total, 65 meters would be made redundant in the new upgrade, with 48 being older models that would be scrapped for recycling or reused for spare parts.
The remaining 17 redundant meters would be kept by the council for use as either full chassis replacements, or for parts, she said.
