
A pay and display machine is a type of
ticket machine
A ticket machine, also known as a ticket vending machine (TVM), is a vending machine that produces paper or electronic tickets, or recharges a stored-value card or smart card or the user's mobile wallet, typically on a smartphone. For instance, ...
used for regulating
parking
Parking is the act of stopping and disengaging a vehicle and usually leaving it unoccupied. Parking on one or both sides of a road is often permitted, though sometimes with restrictions. Some buildings have parking facilities for use of the bu ...
in urban areas or in
car parks
A parking lot or car park (British English), also known as a car lot, is a cleared area intended for parking vehicles. The term usually refers to an area dedicated only for parking, with a durable or semi-durable surface. In most jurisdic ...
. It relies on a customer purchasing a ticket from a machine and displaying the ticket on the
dashboard
A dashboard (also called dash, instrument panel or IP, or fascia) is a control panel (engineering), control panel set within the central console of a vehicle, boat, or cockpit of an aircraft or spacecraft. Usually located directly ahead of the ...
,
windscreen
The windshield (American English and Canadian English) or windscreen (Commonwealth English) of an aircraft, car, bus, motorbike, truck, train, boat or streetcar is the front window, which provides visibility while protecting occupants from t ...
or passenger window of the vehicle. Details included on a printed ticket are generally the location and operator of the machine, expiry time, fee paid and time entered.
Systems
The first generation of pay and display machines in the United States was introduced in 1950 by Park-UR-Self, based in San Francisco, California. Park-Ur-Self has grown to become the leading manufacturer of pay and display machines in the United States and now goes by the name Ventek International.
Pay and display
Pay and display systems differ from road-side
parking meter
A parking meter is a device used to collect money in exchange for the right to Parking, park a vehicle in a particular place for a limited amount of time. Parking meters can be used by Municipality, municipalities as a tool for enforcing their i ...
s in that one machine can service multiple vehicle spaces, resulting in lower set up costs. In addition, this system theoretically prevents drivers from taking advantage of parking meters that have time remaining; this factor alone has doubled parking revenues in cities that have switched to pay and display. A driver may occasionally take advantage of remaining time should a departing parker give away a ticket with remaining time. This can be prevented by putting the license plate number on the ticket.
In addition, pay and display machines can also accept a wider variety of coins, and many even accept
credit cards, making it unnecessary for drivers to carry large amounts of change. The use of credit cards has another advantage - the machines do not have to be emptied of coins as often, and the costs of counting coin and possible pilfering by employees who empty the parking meters also reduces their overall costs.
In the
UK pay and display is used for both on-street parking control and parking in
car parks
A parking lot or car park (British English), also known as a car lot, is a cleared area intended for parking vehicles. The term usually refers to an area dedicated only for parking, with a durable or semi-durable surface. In most jurisdic ...
and
multi-storey car park
A multistorey car park (Commonwealth English) or parking garage (American English), also called a multistorey, parking building, parking structure, parkade (Canadian), parking ramp, parking deck, or indoor parking, is a building designed fo ...
s where access barrier systems are not installed.
Machines
File:Torontoparkingmachine.jpg, A machine in Canada operated by the Toronto Parking Authority.
File:Par fee machine.jpg, Example of a machine which accepts not only coins, but bills, credit, debit and prepaid cards.
File:PayDisplay-UserFriendly-ChargingSystem-CamdenLondon.jpg, Message reads "This machine will calculate the correct parking period for whatever value of coins you insert subject to a minimum charge of 40p and a maximum of £9.60"
Tickets
File:Albertparkticket.JPG, An Australian pay and display ticket, issued by a Reino machine.
File:Frankston City Council parking ticket 2019-04-10.jpg, Australian pay and display ticket.
File:2015 Madeira Samsung (170).jpg, Portuguese pay and display ticket on dashboard of vehicle.
File:Parking ticket Wohnmobile Kronenburger See, Germany 2015.jpg, German ticket.
File:Bilet parkingowy z Wrocławia.jpg, Polish parking ticket.
Pay on foot

Pay on foot is a variant where the driver is issued with a ticket at a barrier upon entering the car park. At the end of their stay the driver inserts the ticket into a machine which calculates the amount based on the duration of stay. The driver then exits the car park by inserting the paid ticket into another barrier. This system means that drivers do not have to decide on their duration in advance.
Higher technology systems
Progressions of pay and display include
pay by phone parking and
Pay by Plate, where payment is linked to a specific
vehicle registration plate
A vehicle registration plate, also known as a number plate (British, Indian and Australian English), license plate (American English) or licence plate (Canadian English), is a metal or plastic plate attached to a motor vehicle or trailer for ...
.
Coupon parking
Coupon parking, also known as ''parking vouchers'', is a variation of pay and display without the use of machines; instead, the motorist purchases a booklet of coupons in advance from the authorities. To use a parking coupon, the motorist has to completely tear off tabs of the date and time, or scratch off panels on the date and time in which he/she leaves the vehicle. This process is similar to
disc parking, except that a parking disc is reusable whereas a coupon can only be used once. In the
Republic of Ireland
Ireland ( ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland, with a population of about 5.4 million. ...
, reusable free-parking discs are unknown and parking coupons are called "parking discs".
The coupon is displayed on the dashboard or hung from the top of a door window facing the roadside. Multiple coupons are used if the parking time exceeds the allowance given for a single coupon, though this is not always permitted. The system is widely used in
Singapore
Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...
and
Brazil
Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...
, and in parts of some countries such as
New Zealand
New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...
,
Malaysia
Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...
,
Austria
Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...
,
Ireland
Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...
and
Israel
Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...
.
See also
*
Decriminalised parking enforcement
Decriminalised parking enforcement (DPE) is the name given in the United Kingdom to the civil enforcement of car parking regulations, carried out by civil enforcement officers, operating on behalf of a Local government in the United Kingdom, ...
*
Parking guidance and information
Parking guidance and information (PGI) systems, or car park guidance systems, present drivers with dynamic information on parking within controlled areas. The systems combine traffic monitoring, communication, processing and variable message s ...
*
Pay by phone parking
References
{{Authority control
Street furniture
Parking