Coin parking facility to be introduced in first half

A common facility in U.S. and European countries, coin parking machines will be introduced in Korea. The Strategy and Finance Ministry said Monday it will adopt the system to ease parking difficulties in downtown areas. The plan is one of the measures to vitalize regional economies that the ministry announced recently.

In foreign countries, coin parking facilities are installed on roads on the side of sidewalks, in order to resolve the shortage of parking spaces. One can insert coins into the device and park for needed time. This is an easy solution to city parking chaos since installing the machines is all one need to do.

The ministry will first install them at traditional markets or downtown shopping districts that are suffering from declining competitiveness due to lack of parking lots. During the first half of this year, the ministry will negotiate with the Security and Public Administration Ministry and local governments to decide time and place for installation.

Coin parking machines were installed in the past. In 1981, the Seoul Metropolitan Government selected 150 places in central Seoul including places near the Seoul City Government complex and Jongno District Office. But it abolished the system in 1992. In 1999, parking machines started operation based on private commission method, but were fizzled out and withdrawn.

A Seoul city official said, "Some users broke the machines because they didn`t know how to use them, while others chose to park illegally due to lack of awareness that it is not free. Therefore, sufficient publicity will be needed before the introduction."