Northern Ireland Minister of Transport
Danny Kennedy announced the extension of a trial cashless payment system
to a number of cities/towns across Northern Ireland be introduced into
towns with on-street and pay and display parking.
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."
"Thousands of 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, avoiding the need to
search for coins."Become a customer for free today.