Well you could. Simply visit a private car park instead.
My 85 year old grandad manages with a smart phone, so its never too late. And lets be honest, the people who refuse to use one are slowly going to die out. Sounds harsh but here we are.
TBF I think the issue here is that the machines in a few areas that took card payments are having to go because they use the 3G mobile network which is being turned off, so those councils are having to replace the machines, and are using the opportunity to put new machines in with no cash option. I dont recall any on street machine in Sheffield being able to take a card so it shouldnt be an issue here (yet).