Liberals promise card machines for parking

Sir Pompously said :

To top it all off, your License should also be your MyWay card. No point in having two cards when you can just have one!

Wasn’t there a similar concept a few years back, the Australia card?

wildturkeycanoe said :

Great, they expect everyone to get a credit card now!!

Well you use the internet and credit cards have been around a helluva lot longer then it, a visa debit is free, move with the times.

Great, they expect everyone to get a credit card now!!

urchin said :

seriously? $10,500 per machine? that doesn’t seem excessive to anyone?

I think they’d actually be worth more than that, before installation!

Besides, didn’t Labor do one better just after this announcment yesterday, when they replied to say they’d be spending $300k on a *study* to investigate new machines….? Hahaha!

urchin said :

seriously? $10,500 per machine? that doesn’t seem excessive to anyone?

Not really, you think about what has to go into each machine, it has to be tamper proof, it has to have some kind of network capability, as well as being able to take change and notes, they have to be made harder to hack, then the metal that goes into them, install time etc.

urchin said :

seriously? $10,500 per machine? that doesn’t seem excessive to anyone?

no, how much does a plasma teev cost? a photocopier? a coffee machine? several gees for a machine that needs to withstand weather and, hopefully, vandals, seems ok. rekkun you could knock something up more cheaply?

I know the current Labor Government is looking at MyWay enabled machines, and have touted future use of MyWay for pay parking since its inception. It is a good idea but I don’t think this, ahhhh, “policy” will help Zed (It is quite a lame attempt at making something not that exciting into something exciting).

I have used my ICOCA in Japan for train travel as well as vending machine purchases and shop purchases in the West Japan region and it is awesome. I have used my Snapper in Wellington for shop purchases as well as bus travel. The extended use of pre pay smart transport smart cards is great. While I do not think there will ever be a MyWay enabled vending machine, pay parking and taxis are the next logical steps to the MyWay network. After that use in Libraries, access to paid tourist attractions and events would be great to boost MyWay and make it an all purpose Government card. To top it all off, your License should also be your MyWay card. No point in having two cards when you can just have one!

seriously? $10,500 per machine? that doesn’t seem excessive to anyone?

Felix the Cat said :

Welcome to the 20th century, ACT Govt

If they won Govt and then introduced this, wait for the taxpayers to be slugged to pay for it.

No win for us from the Liberal scum here.

The fact that there are people who would change their vote over something like this explains a lot about the quality of governments which get voted in. Go the important issues people.

Jim Jones said :

Wow – first the flashing signs near school zones, and now this.

The ACT Liberal party are just an unstoppable force for insightful policy innovation at the moment.

I know.

Surely there is better things for them to do?

Like writing some more human rights legislation or making sure that our prisoners have easy access to drugs.

blub said :

How many people who regularly park actually pay each day with coins? Wouldn’t you just buy those prepaid tickets – which give you a discount too.

I’m surprised how many people don’t get the pre-paid tickets. mind you the discount is not that much.

Morgan said :

Its called Visa Paywave. Visa is trialling the use of this on Buses somewhere in Europe.

The difference between using something like Visa’s Paywave or Mastercard’s Paypass is that the credit companies keep the money. If you used MyWay for such a system, you prepay with your MyWay credit so the Government already has your money – rather than the credit company giving the money to the Government on a pay per use basis.

Someone with an accounting or economic mind can figure out which one’s better for the public purse, and for consumers in the long run. I have no idea.

Rollersk8r said :

Dammit that was my idea! We have been discussing it at work for months. There’s got to be lots of other small governmnt-related transactions that could be made easier with the myway card – national park entry (in the ACT), tip fees, library fines, even entry to civic pool, for example?? Any others ideas out there??

And hey – the more uses the card has the more likely people might be to actually try the bus!

It would also be perfect for small non-municipal transactions, i.e. buying coffees – although we assume there would be legal or other issues preventing the government from effectively creating the ACT’s own little debit card, competing with eftpos etc?? To be viable for use as general currency there would have to be fees and revenue involved etc.

Its called Visa Paywave. Visa is trialling the use of this on Buses somewhere in Europe.

blub said :

How many people who regularly park actually pay each day with coins? Wouldn’t you just buy those prepaid tickets – which give you a discount too.

I parked in Woden for four years and never had a pre-paid ticket. I tried to order one once but they told me I had to go into the shopfront and provide ID and become a customer becuase I was from NSW…F**k that for too much hassle.

For the last 18 months of the 4 years I parked about 2km away almost every day and walked to try and reduce my weight. It also saved me a buttload of money so it was worth it.

jules_from_latham said :

Fingers crossed this initiative actually happens regardless of the election outcome – I hate having to use coins all the time.

Hear hear! I occasionally have to leave my nice secure work car park and face the challenges of parking in the city. I hate having to scrounge around to find loose change, up to $14 in some cases, just to park. First world problem, but dammit, it is annoying.

I’d rather they just lowered the price of parking.

Dammit that was my idea! We have been discussing it at work for months. There’s got to be lots of other small governmnt-related transactions that could be made easier with the myway card – national park entry (in the ACT), tip fees, library fines, even entry to civic pool, for example?? Any others ideas out there??

And hey – the more uses the card has the more likely people might be to actually try the bus!

It would also be perfect for small non-municipal transactions, i.e. buying coffees – although we assume there would be legal or other issues preventing the government from effectively creating the ACT’s own little debit card, competing with eftpos etc?? To be viable for use as general currency there would have to be fees and revenue involved etc.

Far out brussel sprout! That would get my vote….I hate having to hoard coins. Just this morning I had to park, go and buy something to get change, hoof back to the car park and finally come in to work. Not that there will be any car parks for us to park in after the Gov has sold them all. I park in the one near the police station in City West and have noted that there has been glass all over the ground near the ticket machine for weeks, which proves they are not serviced at all….not sure quite what the $11 a day pays for?

So is this going to be a major policy platform? Big Issues Zed.

Saying that – it’s actually a pretty good idea. Hopefully whoever gets in implements it.

How many people who regularly park actually pay each day with coins? Wouldn’t you just buy those prepaid tickets – which give you a discount too.

Fingers crossed this initiative actually happens regardless of the election outcome – I hate having to use coins all the time.

Wow – first the flashing signs near school zones, and now this.

The ACT Liberal party are just an unstoppable force for insightful policy innovation at the moment.

Oh dear, they’ve found a winning policy. Maybe the nice airport owners have shown them how you can run a series of carparks with machines that take credit cards and thus make it EASIER for your parking victims to give you their money.

Welcome to the 20th century, ACT Govt