Swindon car parks to go cashless

All 20 car parks owned and operated by Swindon Borough Council are in the process of being evaluated, with new machines and barriers being procured where necessary.

Creating a cashless system will mean that those using council-owned car parks across the Borough will know exactly how to pay and what to use. It also prevents the machines from being targeted by thieves and vandals, as has been seen in town centre car parks and those at Lydiard Park.

People parking in these car parks will be able to pay via debit or credit card, with contactless or chip and pin, either at a parking machine or online using an app or by phone.

The majority of the Council’s car parks are pay and display, this will remain the case following the change to cashless, meaning those parking in them will still need to collect a ticket and pay at a machine to display in their front window.

At present, shoppers and visitors who use Brunel North, Fleming Way and Whalebridge car parks receive a ticket when they enter the car park and, after paying for their parking, put it into a machine to exit the barriers on the way out. This will remain the case when the system moves to cashless. Brunel West is currently Pay by Phone-only ahead of the new machines being installed.

Alternatively, last year saw the opening of the Fleming Way bus interchange, making it easier for residents to get buses into and through the town centre. This new facility also saw new cycle lanes, helping to better connect the town’s two Flyer cycle routes. There are also car parks throughout the Borough that are not council-owned and still accept cash should motorists prefer to use those.

Councillor Chris Watts, Swindon Borough Council’s Cabinet Member for the Environment and Transport, said: “There’s currently a real mish-mash of car parks across the Borough and there’s no uniform technology in place.

“We want to make parking in our car parks as simple and easy as possible. This work will also help reduce the amount of vandalism and theft we’ve seen at our ticket machines. Handling cash from car parks is also an expensive and time-consuming process.

“Some of our car parks, such as Brunel West and others in the town centre, have been card-payment only since the COVID-19 pandemic and we have not seen any issues.”

Work to make the Council’s car parks cashless is anticipated to be completed by the end of August but is subject to any unexpected delays.