The UK’s largest car parking companies, including the likes of PayByPhone and JustPark, are joining forces to build a universal payment platform, meaning motorists will no longer have to use a separate app for each provider.
The Department of Transport (DfT) has stated that the interface for the new platform is in development and will be operated by the British Parking Association. This follows a series of government-backed trials, with the scheme of incorporating different apps into one main platform coming at no extra cost to taxpayers.
The new smartphone payment app will be called the National Parking Platform, and will enable drivers to use it for parking their car at all participating car parks. The DfT has said the move will promote “a more flexible parking experience,” with the reliability and usability of existing parking apps receiving constant criticism.
Complaints surrounding parking apps has gradually become a more prevalent issue as councils across the country phase out conventional coin and card payment machines, in an attempt to reduce operating costs.
Autocar, the popular car magazine, recently backed this up by reporting that the growing use of mobile phone apps replacing machines was causing frustration to motorists. Road users have cited connectivity issues and the overall complexity of paying for a car parking space as the two main bugbears, in turn causing delays to journeys and, in some cases, even forcing some drivers to park in different locations.
It is the intention of the DfT that the new parking app will ease these types of concerns. The platform will be operated jointly by private parking companies and councils, on a non-profitable basis. The DfT has also said that the government will monitor the app’s compliance to ensure it is functioning in accordance with its promise to “operate under clear terms to ensure transparency, sustainability, and public value.”
Further to this, the DfT have said that the new app has already been rolled out to 10 local authorities in the UK and currently processes more than 500,000 transactions every month. The timeline for a larger rollout has not yet been announced.
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