End to the 'hassle' of multiple parking apps

[21TonyK]

"Drivers will be able to use any of the large parking apps to pay, rather than having to download new ones for each new car park, the Department for Transport says."

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ckg44pgn2g4o

Good move!

[FiF]

Agreed it's a good move. Early days yet, none of the councils and operators round here are signed up yet so still got multiple apps.

[119]

Brilliant idea, however,

"But the key will be ensuring as many car park operators as possible sign up to the system."

[irc]

Around here parking is mostly free. A £2 coin covers to the paid for car parks when needed.

A good idea though for those living in less civilised areas.

[Jamescrs]

irc said:

Around here parking is mostly free. A £2 coin covers to the paid for car parks when needed.

A good idea though for those living in less civilised areas.

A £2 coin in any city and most large towns wouldn't get you 20 minutes now

[.:ian:.]

"Drivers of red cars will be able to park for free in every car park in the United Kingdom, a DFT spokesman said today.

But the key will be ensuring as many car park operators as possible sign up to the system."

[miniman]

Personally I’d rather see money thrown at adding more parking spaces than solving a non-problem.

[Randy Winkman]

miniman said:

Personally I’d rather see money thrown at adding more parking spaces than solving a non-problem.

Fair point. Though that does almost certainly mean more or bigger car parks which can be a challenge.

In response to the £2 coin comment further up, I do think a benefit of phone based payment is that you can add time without going back to your car. I've done it for a station car park back home when I've still been in London. To be fair, pay when you leave car parks avoid that.

Having one app would be great though. The first time I paid at a car park by phone I assumed that other car parks in the area would use the same app and was rather disappointed to find they didnt.

[bitchstewie]

I still find it bizarre that apps for parking seem to be the only method of payment at some car parks.

I've literally seen swarms of elderly all standing in the car park of a major park looking at their phones or asking their kids/grandkids what they do to pay.

I don't get why they don't offer contactless too as a bare minimum as most people will at least have a debit card.

[Sway]

Jamescrs said:

irc said:

Around here parking is mostly free. A £2 coin covers to the paid for car parks when needed.

A good idea though for those living in less civilised areas.

A £2 coin in any city and most large towns wouldn't get you 20 minutes now

It'll get me two hours in my nearest city.

Tbh though, we're an outlier - yet everyone still moans about parking costs. Not an issue for me, I only ever go in with Mrs Sway, and she's got a blue badge.

[Drumroll]

miniman said:

Personally I’d rather see money thrown at adding more parking spaces than solving a non-problem.

It is only a "non problem" if you don't do a lot of travelling and up with half a dozen apps on your phone. Scam QR codes for downloading apps are quite common, which doesn't help.

[FiF]

Further thought. Paying through an app involves paying an extra charge additional to the cash price. Looking at the route map on the platform seems as if the customer payment follows a convoluted route through multiple hands. Is this an excuse to raise the service charge as all this has to be paid for.

Yes cynical, but think it's a fair question.

[miniman]

Drumroll said:

miniman said:

Personally I’d rather see money thrown at adding more parking spaces than solving a non-problem.

It is only a "non problem" if you don't do a lot of travelling and up with half a dozen apps on your phone. Scam QR codes for downloading apps are quite common, which doesn't help.

I do indeed to a lot of travelling with up to half a dozen apps on my phone.

[MitchT]

bhstewie said:

I still find it bizarre that apps for parking seem to be the only method of payment at some car parks.

I've literally seen swarms of elderly all standing in the car park of a major park looking at their phones or asking their kids/grandkids what they do to pay.

I don't get why they don't offer contactless too as a bare minimum as most people will at least have a debit card.

This.

The closest possible thing to an end to parking hassle would simply be to madate contactless card payment so no one needs to faff around with apps or scrape around for the right amount of change. It's as though the whole parking system has been designed to maximise the chance of you not being able to successfully engage with it, such that you have to turn round and go home, by which time you've already been there long enough to attract a penalty.

[spikeyhead]

Drumroll said:

miniman said:

Personally I’d rather see money thrown at adding more parking spaces than solving a non-problem.

It is only a "non problem" if you don't do a lot of travelling and up with half a dozen apps on your phone. Scam QR codes for downloading apps are quite common, which doesn't help.

Especially when the phone coverage there is poor. Took me twenty minutes to download one app and get it linked to my payment method

[alangla]

miniman said:

I do indeed to a lot of travelling with up to half a dozen apps on my phone.

I’ve got 3 on mine that you don’t (Flowbird, Evology and Parking Ops), so that’s at least 9 and probably still doesn’t cover everything.

[Randy Winkman]

spikeyhead said:

Drumroll said:

miniman said:

Personally I’d rather see money thrown at adding more parking spaces than solving a non-problem.

It is only a "non problem" if you don't do a lot of travelling and up with half a dozen apps on your phone. Scam QR codes for downloading apps are quite common, which doesn't help.

Especially when the phone coverage there is poor. Took me twenty minutes to download one app and get it linked to my payment method

A big problem is how long it can all take the first time for each car park. As I said above, once you've got through that, subsequent visits tend to be easy and I prefer it to other ways of paying.

[MesoForm]

bhstewie said:

I still find it bizarre that apps for parking seem to be the only method of payment at some car parks.

I've literally seen swarms of elderly all standing in the car park of a major park looking at their phones or asking their kids/grandkids what they do to pay.

I don't get why they don't offer contactless too as a bare minimum as most people will at least have a debit card.

I see the opposite when I do a parkrun at a local National Trust place - for non-members it's cash or an app that doesn't work as there's no phone signal so you see lots of people scrabbling around in their car trying to find 5 pound coins

[Glosphil]

MesoForm said:

bhstewie said:

I still find it bizarre that apps for parking seem to be the only method of payment at some car parks.

I've literally seen swarms of elderly all standing in the car park of a major park looking at their phones or asking their kids/grandkids what they do to pay.

I don't get why they don't offer contactless too as a bare minimum as most people will at least have a debit card.

I see the opposite when I do a parkrun at a local National Trust place - for non-members it's cash or an app that doesn't work as there's no phone signal so you see lots of people scrabbling around in their car trying to find 5 pound coins

A recent visit to a NT property with a large car park & only 2 payment machines saw a 15 minute queue at each machine. NT members taking seconds to pay but non-members having problems with the app and/or finding coins. My wife used her card for some-one finding it difficult to pay. My daughter, who arrived in her own car, just didn't bother paying.

A car park on the Kent coast was £12 for 2 hours! People complaining machine would not accept their debit/credit cards. We didn't park & found a free car park 1/4 mile away.

Edited by Glosphil on Friday 23 May 10:20

[miniman]

MesoForm said:

I see the opposite when I do a parkrun at a local National Trust place - for non-members it's cash or an app that doesn't work as there's no phone signal so you see lots of people scrabbling around in their car trying to find 5 pound coins

It’s almost as though NT want their car parks to be used by their members.