Sunday, September 30, 2012

Won't Miss #4: parking charges

I know that parking charges are not exactly news, and I've been to some big cities in the USA where they are a normal part of life. However, I lived in a small Pensacola, FL and I rarely ever seen parking charges there. I don't think even downtown there had any charges, because I don't ever remember paying any. 

Here in UK however, parking charges are EVERYWHERE! Forget London, even smaller towns have a fee. The picture above is from one of the parking garages in Cambridge, and I ended up paying £23 to park there for a day. I can tell you I won't ever do that again, but on that day a friend I went with didn't want to take a Park & Ride bus because she had a stroller and I listened. Let's just say I won't ever listen to anyone with a stroller, unless they are willing to pay the parking bill. Two people are more than capable of getting a stroller on the bus, especially when these buses are very low to the ground. Sorry for the off-topic rant. 

Other places don't have such high rates, but it all adds up after a while. For example, to go my usual Bury St. Edmunds, I have to pay £2 for up to 1 hour, £2.80 for up to two hours, £3.30 for three, and £4 for up to 4 hours, and if I want to stay longer, I have to pay again. There is also an additional charge of £1.10 to park there after 6pm, but everything closes at 5:30 anyway so all we ever go there at that time is a movie theater. It used to be free after 6pm just last year, but since I've moved here the charges went up 3 times and the night rate was added. 

In other places, the parking is outrageous during the day, but generally free after 5-6pm. The problem, like I've mentioned before, everything clothes at 5:30pm or around that time, so there is really nothing to do in order to benefit from that free parking. Another thing that drives me crazy is how even if I manage to find free parking at the outskirts of the city, it's timed. I'm referring to a nice retail part outside of Cambridge specifically, which has lots of different shops I would have liked to visit, but I can only park there for 2 hours max. There are cameras which are used to catch those who just re-park after two hours. Really, 2 hours is not enough to go to a big retail park. 

Overall, parking in England is really annoying, and those who know me personally know that I constantly complain about it. I don't have a luxury of a train station right next to me, so I have to drive everywhere and as a result, I have to think about first finding the parking, then how much it will cost me, and then how long I can actually stay there.  A lot of time it takes away the enjoyment of going anywhere, and I will not miss that. 

4 comments:

  1. Wow o.O That is... confusing! In Germany we also have lots of places with parking charges (especially if you want to park near a city centre), but they're not this confusing with week, weekend, night... x.x

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    1. The above screen shot is just an example I choose because I parked there for a day and ended up paying those charges. Most places are much less confusing, but they have a time limit so you have to think about the time your ticket expires and come back and pay more. Sometimes when I go see a movie there, I have to really think it my charge will be enough for a whole movie. There are attendants that walk around and check the charges and I don't want to get a ticket just because I came back 10 mins late.

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  2. Remind me to never live there, visit absolutely, but I hate how many places here in Honolulu charge so if I lived there I'd have to hurt somebody! My hometown in Texas has very few places that charge and we are a pretty large city. Here though most places seem to charge and not always in a uniform way (some are meters, some have tickets+incremental cost+parking attendants, others are numbered and have a big box with slots to put your cash in, and still MORE you prepay on a machine and leave the ticket in your window. T_T If possible, I try to park at a mall or shopping center and walk where I'm going to save myself the trouble.

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    1. Doesn't work like that here lol, malls are the places that charge the most (the screen shot is from one of Cambridge malls), and shopping centers are the ones that have 2-3 hours parking limit.

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