ON June 1, I tried to park my car on Carnarvon Road in Tsim Sha Tsui. The problem was not trying to find a two-hour parking space, but how to pay for it.

The meters do not accept money, only ''cards'' that have to be purchased at a Circle K convenience store, which is three streets away. When I finally found the store, I was told the $6 that I needed to pay to park my car for 11/2 hours would cost me $250, which was non-refundable. I actually agreed to pay for this card, and then was told that they did not have change for $500 and therefore would not sell me a card.

Could the Transport Department tell me, why do I have to pay $250 for a $6 privilege, (especially since I only occasionally travel to Tsim Sha Tsui) and how do officials expect the policy to work? Do I drive to Circle K first and buy a ticket before finding a car park (and what happens if there is no space available) or do I park and then wander around trying to find Circle K, and risk getting a ticket in the meantime? Why are parking vouchers being sold at a convenience store? Why is there no option of a ''single'' use voucher, just as the MTR has single journey and stored value tickets? If this system is a copy of the MTR, why didn't the Transport Department follow it through and offer an option on site? Who pays for a parking fine if Circle K cannot sell a voucher because they do not have $250 in the till for change? I took the risk of leaving my car without paying because in reality, paying a $200 parking fine would be cheaper, but I wanted to pay, andI couldn't.