Christchurch Motorists Reveal “Meter Shyness”

Press, Volume XCI, Issue 27680, 9 June 1955, Page 3

Christchurch Motorists Reveal “Meter Shyness”

Christchurch motorists yesterday had their first experience of paying for their parking space in the city’s central area. The meters installed by the City Council produced two most noticeible results—there were many more vacant spaces than usual in the streets throughout the day, and streets on the outskirts of the central area were lined with cars during business hours. The weather yesterday, the farmers’ tity-visiting day. was against a large shopping crowd, but in the morning in particular some of the metered streets were almost deserted. “It is in line with the experience in Auckland and Wellington,’’ said the City Council's Traffic Superintendent (Mr G. P. Kellar). "When meters were first introduced there motorists were ’meter-shy’ for a while, but they have gone back to the city streets, and the same thing will happen here.” Mr Kellar derived quiet amusement from seeing well-known businessmen walking to work. In the past some of them had found it essential to have their cars parked handy to their premises, he said. During the afternoon the meters began to earn more money, but firstday receipts must have been well below what will probably be a daily average in a few months or weeks. Just before 2 pm. there were three ears parked in Oxford terrace between Gloucester street and Armagh street, where there is angle-parking. Around the island grass plot, where parking is free, every space was occupied. Barty in the afternoon a walk around most of the metered streets showed that there were plenty of parking spaces for shoppers, and free parking, too, for a lot of the meters had unexpired time showing. There were about 20 cars parked in spaces where the meters showed the red “time expired” signal Two schoolboys in Gloucester street had apparently set out as honorary traffic inspectors, for they noted the registration numbers of two cars which were parked beyond the half-hour time limit.

While the council lost some revenue through over-parking or failure to pay the fees it had some gratuitous threepences. One woman motorist yesterday morning stopped her car outside ’The Press" office, inserted her 3d in a meter, went into the office and bought a newspaper and then drove off, unmindful or in ignorance of the fact that a two minute stop is allowed. Others put money in the meters after b p.m.—the hours are 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. —and some theatregoers last evening thought they should pay for their parking.

Along Hereford street there were fewer cars than usual during the day, but typists and clerks were to be seen going down to the meters and putting 1 in another coin to protect their employers’ cars. One lawyer who has always parked near his office, and in the past had to call on his staff to shift the car at regular intervals, yesmorning handed his typist a hanaful of threepences to cover the day’s parking. But in spite of all-day parking by those prepared to pay for it, there was a better opportunity for parking. “Meter-jumpers,” the name given to motorists in other centres who driye around looking for unexpired time, were frequent, but they found that it 1 was not easy to see the meter needle showing the time still to go. Some parked in a space where the previous occupant had left 10 minutes and then ; walked two spaces along to find that they could have had 20 minutes’ free stay. ! Traffic inspectors were around the ! city, without their chalk, keeping a , watchful eye on the meters. It is unlikely, however, that prosecutions for parking over the time limit will be taken on offences on the first day. A noticeable common offence yesterday was the leaning of bicycles against the parkihg meter stanchions and bicycles in metered areas. Mr Kellar said he was convinced that the meters would result in a freer flow of traffic in the city.