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Comment by dmlorenzetti | Hacker News Reader

Another example of selling the same space twice is cities moving from fixed parking meters, to meters that print out a parking receipt.

With the meter stuck on a pole at the parking space, if I pay for an hour but leave after 20 minutes, the meter still shows time. Somebody else can come and park there for 40 minutes, free.

But if I buy a paper receipt and stick on my dashboard, and leave after 20 minutes, the next person still has to rent the same 40 minutes of time.

Nobody I mention this to is upset about it (neither am I, at heart, though I do notice it). That suggests to me that conflicts over tray space on airplanes is driven more by a sense of claustrophobia and powerlessness, than by any particular notion of fairness or ownership.

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In Australia, parking at popular beaches is both packed and crazy expensive, with day passes pushing $50, so there's a well-established tradition of giving your parking ticket to the guy waiting to swipe your spot as you pull out.

Of course, the councils running the parking didn't want to lose out, so they've "upgraded" to parking meters that require you to punch in your license plate number, which is then printed on the ticket in large letters to make sure it can't be reused.

In the Netherlands ( and probably elsewhere) you get a parking app and hit start and stop so you only pay for the exact amount of time you used.

I bet they make a lot of revenue from people forgetting to hit stop

I understand your cynicism, but most systems like this have a reasonable maximum timeout (usually the maximum time you're allowed to stay in that zone - 2-3 hours) at which point it'll end the session.

While that's far from ideal for a 5 minute stop, it's not the only way to pay (you can also try and guess how long you'll be in the spot and prepay much like meters but to the minute rather than some multiple of the change in your pocket) - and at some point you need to take ownership of your oversight, no?

I’ve parked in places where I’m pretty sure the only option was to start a timer (it’s why I made the comment).

EDIT: yup, RingGo in a city centre in England. Just checked. Only option is to start a timer. And it stops in 5 hours time if not stopped (£5.60 for the first 2 hours then a fixed £3.80 for the time until 10pm)

When the old systems worked just fine, and there is no option to prepay, no, I will not take ownership of my “oversight” - it’s dark patterns designed to prey.

It’s more inconvenient for me yet they charge me a convenience fee (especially if you drive a lot of rentals, registering each car is a PITA).

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