A series of updates to car park facilities in the borough designed to improve user experience and streamline the parking process for residents and visitors will be introduced shortly.
A major update includes the installation of new backlit, touch screen payment machines, offering a more user-friendly experience.
These machines address the common issue of faded keypads making it difficult to enter a registration number, and ensures that the process can be made quickly and easily regardless of the time of day, but particularly during the evening and winter months when visibility is reduced.
In line with the upgrades, a £1 for one hour fee has been reintroduced, replacing the £1.50 for three hours previously available. The revised pricing tariffs is designed to be fair and simple, while still offering affordable parking options.
Additionally, cashless payment methods have been introduced across all car parks, with new machines that exclusively accept Contactless payments.
This measure improves the overall reliability of the parking machines as coin jams and damage caused by vandals attempting to gain access to them has been negated.
The Contactless payment approach also ensures that motorists no longer need to carry coinage for the correct denominations to pay for their parking, and do not need to pay more than the board price, as the previous machines were unable to dispense change.
The new parking machines also provide real-time feedback on usage, for example the time periods motorists are parking.
An Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) system will also be introduced at the Rope Walk car park. This cutting-edge technology will eliminate the need for paper tickets, reducing the risk of lost or damaged tickets and associated fees.
Leisure centres across the borough will still benefit from three hours of free parking, which allows visitors to enjoy the facilities without worrying about parking costs. Leisure centre car park users will still need to enter their registration number on the parking machines to ensure their session is timed for the free parking and display a ticket.
The car parking improvements will reduce waste and time spent emptying parking machines.
RingGo, the mobile parking provider to Council-owned car parks, is still available. Users are reminded to check any additional fees when paying for parking using this method.
Cllr Nicky King, Portfolio Holder for Business and Regeneration, said:
“These new initiatives are part of our ongoing effort to modernise and improve the parking experience in Nuneaton and Bedworth.
“By introducing backlit touch machines, ANPR technology, and cashless payment methods, we are making parking more convenient and efficient for everyone.
“The changes are designed to reduce waste, enhance user experience, and ensure our car parks remain easy to use for years to come.”
All Council-owned long stay, short stay and leisure centre car parks across the borough remain free to use between the hours of 6:00pm and 8:00am.