PUBLIC transport and a weak economy have been blamed for hitting Cheltenham Borough Council's car parking income.
The authority is responsible for the running of hundreds of spaces located at a handful of facilities.
But the number of pay and display tickets being issued is going down.
Money generated by the car parks is used to pay for services such as the Town Hall and Leisure@Cheltenham.
The council has received almost £70,000 less than it was hoping for in car parking income for 2012/13.
It comes as the authority has urged more people to go green and get out of their car.
Councillor John Rawson (LD, St Peter's), cabinet member for finance, said: "There has been a gradual downward trend in car park income over a number of years.
"This is partly because of the weak state of the economy, which is causing many people to do fewer journeys by car.
"But there are also more positive factors at work, including a long-term increase in the use of public transport. This is particularly significant among older people who benefit from free bus fares.
"The council's policy is to encourage people to use public transport for the sake of the local environment, so we can hardly complain when people do what we want them to do."
The council has now rethought its income from car parks. Mr Rawson said: "The shortfall in car parking income is something we have been anticipating for several months.
"That is why we reduced our estimated income from our car parks by £50,000 in the coming year's budget and frozen our car parking charges for the third year running.
"At the same time we are taking positive action to improve our car parks, notably by repairing and improving our Town Centre East car park at Grosvenor Terrace, so that people who bring their car into town have a pleasant and convenient place to park."
The council got £3.7million in income from its car parks in 2012/13. It is seen as vital to the council's financial planning at a time when its funding from government is shrinking.
The cash is used to offset the cost of providing other services, many of which are discretionary.
