While apps are still part of the City of Ballarat's Smarter Parking Plan, some of the digital coin operated machines are beginning to show their age.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The Courier witnessed a driver attempting to pay on Saturday, with the machine on Lydiard Street flickering between the space he selected and other numbers.
SEE THE MACHINE:
On Monday, three drivers at a separate machine were unable to pay for their parking as the machine malfunctioned in front of them - one phoned the help line on the meter, and was asked to provide her registration details and told not to stay in her park for too long, while another put in a dollar coin with no response from the machine - he was able to catch up with some parking inspectors to warn them.
The Courier's brief and unscientific survey found that of 19 machines surveyed in the CBD, one malfunctioned in front of reporters, one had already been labelled as faulty, and one continued to show signs of malfunction.
The machines in Camp and Sturt Streets were found to be in working order.
The City of Ballarat are checked and reset by mechanics after issues are reported.
Council's infrastructure and environment director Terry Demeo said in a statement these digital coin-operated machines are an older type that will be replaced.
"Current ticket machines cost approximately $8000 each but Council is currently going through a tender process for the supply of new machines as part of the parking strategy," he said.
"New parking technology, including apps, is part of the Smarter Parking Plan tender process which is currently underway."
The future parking plan includes licence-plate scanning technology and payments through an app, though it is not known when this will be rolled out.
Mr Demeo added there will not be a hold on fines from these older machines, but anyone who experiences issues should report it using the phone number on the meter.
The man in the video above said he had been fined the previous week in a similar situation, where he was sure he had pressed the right number.
Have you signed up to The Courier's variety of news emails? You can register below and make sure you are up to date with everything that's happening in Ballarat.
