Parking meters from hell and the end of a tourist icon for Surfers Paradise?

Here on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia we have many delightful, friendly ladies and some of these are what is known locally as Meter Maids.

In some parts of the world the term ‘Meter Maid’ is derogatory but here in Australia it is used for skimpily dressed (bikini) ladies who put money into parking meters so as to protect motorists from the local stasi (tongue in cheek: parking enforcement officers). You can find out more about the history of our Meter Maids here on the Wikipedia entry- scroll down to the Australia section.

For even more information check out the Meter Maids site here – this page includes some pictures of Gold Coast Meter Maids in their ‘uniform’ which is ideally suited to our sub tropical climate.

I am wondering how long our Meter Maids will last – they are a tourist ‘icon’, however the local Gold Coast City Council is installing voucher based meters, thus reducing or eliminating the opportunities for Meter Maids to assist motorists. This is an astute financial decision on the part of the local council in the sense that in the old days one could often find a meter with time left on it, whereas today as the time is ticket based, once the previous occupant of the parking bay has left then the council can sell the unexpired time again.

Things may soon get a lot worse! Being an avid watcher of new technological developments I have come across the advent of ‘parking meters from hell’. Far worse than anything you have seen before! Imagine the fiend that ‘phones home’! I must say however that they have excellent revenue raising potential for local councils – jolly good, chaps! Check them out here .

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Tags: Gold Coast, Tourism, Travel

Category: Gold Coast