Editor:
I have had a number of occasions to use the pay parking on Marine Drive and at Peace Arch Hospital lately, and it seems to me to be double-dipping.
In the old days, you would park at a meter and quite often there was some time left from a previous parker. You would then add the money you thought you needed for the time spent there. You had to keep a close eye on your watch to make sure to came back and added money when needed. A pain in the you-know-what.
It is much easier now to phone in and add the time needed. However, if you do leave before your time is up – and that could be a few minutes to an hour or more left – the next person using the spot starts from scratch. The meters have your money now, plus the money added by the new parker on the same time period.
It is different at Peace Arch. I have had some incredible back pain lately and have been at the hospital a number of times. After parking my car and almost crawling to the pay station, I’ve had to guesstimate the length of time I will be. But you all know hospitals and anything can happen.
So the parking situation comes to mind through the pain and then you remember to phone to add the time needed. Well, you can’t do that in the hospital lot over the phone. You basically feed the money into the pay station, again guessing how much longer you might be.
That has to be one of the most ridiculous situations I have ever encountered. I can’t think of a more suitable place to have the option to add more money by phone.
It would be nice when you were leaving a parking spot if at least you could get a refund for time left.
Brian Lauder, Surrey
