Swiping a credit card to pay for parking is disappearing, but so may some vital information.
Vernon council has agreed not to proceed with the installation of credit card capable meters after a trial period indicated they weren’t popular.
However, there could be some implications when it comes to making future parking decisions.
“We were going to be able to judge the hours of use (with the credit card meters) and there would be reports on when we should increase prices,” said Coun. Mary-Jo O’Keefe.
Instead, that information will now have to be gathered through more time-consuming surveys.
Council opted not to purchase credit card meters because during the three-month trial period, only 1.68 per cent of transactions were credit.
It would have cost the city $67,780 to purchase the meters and there would have been annual operating costs of $25,000.
During the trial period, two companies provided the meters so the city could study their effectiveness.
