Quote:
Originally Posted by techguyone
Yes I understand that, what I don't get at all, is why there needs to be *any* car park charges for going to hospital, nor why that should be perceived as a cost to the NHS if the charges get dropped
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Who pays for the car park to be secured and maintained? If you drop car park charges in hospitals, how are you going to stop people just parking up and "nipping in to Sainsburys"? How would you stop people parking up then walking to the local station to get the train to work? Tickets might work, but the hospital staff would need to issue them as if people just had to go to a machine, they could just get the ticket, display it then sod off to do whatever. At least if they are charged, there is a chance fewer people will try it..
BTW, don't think motorists would nick a car parking space in a medical establishment to nip to Sainsburys? Wrong.. My doctor's surgery is in a large converted house, and a few years ago, they paved over the front garden as a car park for the surgery staff. This car park is frequently filled with cars whose owners have just nipped to Sainsburys. This Sainsburys is actually next door and has two council owned car parks - one immediately behind it and one in the next road (a 1 minute walk). There are a lot of people who will go for something they don't have to pay for, even if it causes massive problems for someone else.
The doctors had a small automatic gate to stop people doing this, but people kept driving into it, and eventually it got to the point where it was not apparently economical to repair it.