Paper or plastic parking tickets: Which one to choose?

When considering the purchase of new equipment for a parking lot, whether it is a new installation or the renovation of an operating one, the same doubt always arises: paper parking tickets or plastic cards?In recent years, the balance has tipped towards plastic cards thanks to their reusability, allowing multiple uses.But despite this great advantage, there are multiple short and long-term disadvantages that make the use of these plastic cards not as profitable as they seem.1.The plastic card dispenser equipment is much more expensive than paper ticket issuers. Therefore, the initial investment for its implementation is somewhat higher.2.The wear and tear of plastic card dispenser equipment is much greater than parking ticket printers. Their maintenance and spare parts make the expense to keep the system in the best conditions higher.3.Plastic card dispenser equipment has a lower capacity, allowing the storage of between 250 and 500 cards depending on the equipment. The ticket issuer equipment can generate between 2,500 and 5,000 different tickets in a single refill. This makes the staff have to constantly recycle the cards, especially in high-rotation parking lots.4.Although plastic cards have a greater use than the paper tickets themselves, which only have one, they suffer wear by friction when being expelled/introduced into the equipment.This wear generates a grease on the surface of the card, causing them to stick together. Therefore, every time you want to reuse a plastic parking card, it is necessary to clean it, losing hours of work on it.5.Plastic cards do not show useful information for customers that can be printed on paper parking tickets, such as the date of entry, time of entry or the license plate number if an LPR system is installed.Therefore, the system is not completely transparent to the customer, generating some distrust. Paper tickets offer greater security and a better experience.6.The future is heading towards making the parking system compatible with mobile technologies. One of these digital functions is paying from the smartphone itself or applying discounts with an app by scanning the barcode or BIDI of the ticket.This is impossible to do with plastic cards. Those parking lots that use them are being left out of the digital parking business that is becoming increasingly important in many countries.