Contactless payment is being rolled out across Aberdeenshire’s pay and display car parks to make it easier for drivers to abide by controversial new rules.
Two machines with contactless card payment systems have already been installed in Inverurie and Peterhead and 12 more will be put in place before September 1, so each car park in Inverurie, Peterhead and Stonehaven have at least one machine equipped with the technology.
By next April, 22 more will be installed across Aberdeenshire.
The move comes after the authority’s infrastructure committee voted to scrap free parking in its off-street car parks for initial periods earlier this week.
Instead of the current system, where motorists can park their vehicles without any charge for up to an hour, they will have to pay 50p under the new rules.
But, subsequent charges for longer parking periods will be cheaper than they are at the moment – at £1 for one to two hours, £3 for two to five hours, and £5 for more than five hours.
The new costs will come into place at the start of September.
It will still be possible to pay by cash, as well as by the RingGo smartphone payment system, which offers drivers the ability to extend a parking period without returning to their vehicles.
Aberdeenshire Council covers the cost of using the RingGo service.
Peter Argyle, the chairman of Aberdeenshire’s infrastructure committee, said: “Reduced parking costs for medium-length stays, along with the contactless payments, will make payments easier and quicker, making parking more accessible and increasing town centre dwell times.
“We have had feedback from local businesses who wanted to see this, so I hope they feel the benefit of it, as well as those visitors to our town centres who make use of the new facilities.”
