Taking the Pain out of Car Parking Charges?

Cashless Car Parking is coming to a street near you!

Transport Minister Danny Kennedy announced the extension of a trial cashless payment system to a number of cities/towns across Northern Ireland including Newry.

Following the success of the initial trial of the first cashless payment scheme introduced in Belfast a year ago, the scheme will now be rolled out in Newry, Londonderry, Lisburn, and Omagh.

The Minister said: “We have had excellent customer feedback during our evaluation of Northern Ireland’s first cashless pay by mobile phone parking scheme. The scheme provides a viable alternative to coins at parking machines allowing a credit/debit card payment substitute and it gives people a convenient way to extend their parking stay. "

Cashless parking is a convenient way to pay for parking without the need for coins. It works simply by making a very short phone call at the start and end of a parking session. Payment is taken on either a credit or debit card at the end of the month. Customers register for the service either online or over the phone.

Once registered, customers make one phone call to start their parking and another to stop it on return to their vehicle. Customers are free to go about their business safe in the knowledge that their parking payment is taken care of until their return. As customers can stop their parking as soon as they return to their car they are only charged for the time they actually use - which many drivers find saves them money, even taking the 15p administration fee into account. Traffic attendants will know that you have paid for your ticket by entering your vehicle registration into the live database on their handheld devices.

Danny Kennedy said: “With Parkmobile’s start/stop approach, motorists no longer have to accurately predict the length of their stay. This will free up people from having to return to their vehicle if they want to stay longer, provided they do not exceed the maximum permitted stay period shown on the signs.

“Nearly forty thousand calls have been recorded since the schemes introduction last February, a clear indication that motorists have benefited from using the Belfast service and it makes sense to give other towns which have pay and display parking the same opportunity to make use of the scheme.”

Peter O’Driscoll from Parkmobile, who supply the system, said: “Depending on motorists’ personal preferences, they can start their parking by a short phone call, activating online, or via one of the Parkmobile parking apps available on iPhone, Android and Blackberry.

“We know that when it comes to cashless parking it is important not to try to be a one size fits all company. Customers vary greatly in their use of technology and their parking needs and it is important that we have a broad approach and appeal to all user groups. Accessing the system by mobile phone is still the most popular method but we continue to see strong growth in users choosing to start and stop their cashless parking action through one of our Apps, making the process quick and simple, and avoiding the need to search for coins.”

Using the Service

1.To use the service, customers must first register. Registration is free and can be done over the phone (telephone number 028 9575 7988) or on the website http://www.parkmobile.co.uk.

Once registered, customers simply park and call 028 9575 7988 to activate their parking. During the activation customers will be asked to confirm their location which can be found on the nearest pay and display machine. Once the location has been confirmed, the parking event is started.

At the end of each month payment for parking is automatically charged to the registered credit or Debit card. These charges will include a 15p administration fee for each parking event.

2. Online account

All users of Parkmobile’s cashless parking are automatically provided with an online account during registration. This can be used to access parking history, review and download invoices and to update vehicles and payment details. Online accounts can be accessed via http://www.parkmobile.co.uk. The user name and password is sent to a customer following registration. If a customer forgets their user name and password they can be requested by sending ‘park login’ as an SMS to 66644 from their registered mobile phone.

3. How do traffic attendants know that someone has paid for their parking via cashless parking?

Traffic attendants have been issued with handheld devices that access a live database containing all the parking events at any location of interest. They simply enter the registration of the vehicle they would like to check and are provided with a quick summary showing if that vehicle has parking activated and in what location.

4. Parking restrictions

The pay by phone service can be used at all pay and display parking locations in Newry, Londonderry, Lisburn and Omagh. Users are advised to check the signage displayed on the street furniture or pay and display machines. Parking within the on-street areas (Lisburn and Newry) operates a restricted stay period of one or two hours. To assist motorists in managing their parking, users can register to receive a reminder 10 minutes before their maximum time runs out. Reminders cost 10 pence per text.