Motorists handed over more than $1.7 million in fines to Wollongong City Council last year, with almost $470,000 of it from new parking meters.The despised machines helped push total parking fines 40 per cent higher than 2009 levels.But according to data provided by the council, motorists are increasingly coming around to the practice of "pay and display".The 141 machines printed about 10,000 tickets a week last March, when they were installed across the CBD.By late December, usage had risen to 22,000 a week.Illawarra Business Chamber president Les Dion said the growth was encouraging, given that many in the business community had feared the introduction of paid parking would kill off commerce in the city centre."This is a demonstration that we're actually getting a lot more turnover of people coming and going from the CBD," Mr Dion said."The previous $2 flat fee was prohibitive, under the new [pro-rata fees, introduced in late August], there is a lot more turnover."Businesses have heard examples from customers that the meters have enabled them to find a parking space ... quickly."The machines raked in $885,305 last year, on top of related fines, while compliance within metered areas was recently recorded at 98 per cent.A council spokeswoman said a car park on the corner of Keira and Ellen streets - which is planned to open within the next month - was among the facilities being funded by the new source of revenue."Income from parking meters does not go to council's general income but is reserved for capital improvements for CBD parking and transport infrastructure," the spokes-woman said.Almost 17,700 parking fines were issued throughout Wollongong last year - 3000 more than in 2009 and at an average of 340 a week.Of the estimated $1,712,500 in revenue from parking fines in 2010, an estimated $467,400 came from parking meter-related fines, with 7237 offences detected.