PayByPhone parking service extended

Brighton & Hove City Council has extended PayByPhone cashless parking to cover most of its on-street parking locations.

Initially introduced along the seafront in 2013 for on-street parking bays and at 10 council owned car parks, PayByPhone’s popularity amongst tourists and local residents has seen parking payments using PayByPhone doubling since the service was first extended this summer.

The benefits of using the PaybyPhone service, such as being able to keep track of payments online, have helped drive take up of the new service. More than 70,000 residents, visitors and businesses have registered and have used the service for the first time in Brighton and Hove.

It’s also more convenient; motorists don’t need to have the correct change to park, display a ticket or return to their car if they wish to top up for more parking time. The service is available through the PayByPhone app, registering by phone or on the PayByPhone website.

PaybyPhone transactions are visible on the handheld devices used by the city's civil enforcement officers, so you don't have to remember to display a paper ticket in the window of the vehicle when this service is used.

As well as extending the service across the city, the council has introduced an alternative option for drivers who prefer to use cash to pay for parking or don’t have a mobile phone. They can now do this at local PayPoint shops for the same price as using a Pay and Display machine.

Motorists simply take a note of the location number (a five digit number on the Pay & Display machine) where they have parked and go into the nearest PayPoint shop, where they give their vehicle registration number, how long they want to park for and then pay by cash. They don’t need to return to their car to display a ticket and, if they need to pay for additional time, they can do so at any of the 150 PayPoint shops across the city. PayPoint shops can also give customers change whereas pay and display machines don’t.

From 1^st December, as part of a trial, the council will be covering 34 of their pay and display machines in different locations where a PayPoint shop is situated next to the parking bays. In these areas motorists will have the option of using PayByPhone or cash in PayPoint shops. The council is running the trial in order to gauge the public’s response to removing some of the on street machines. The trial will run until February 2015. It also saves money because fewer parking machines are needed. This reduces the cost of maintaining parking machines and replacing those which are coming to the end of their life. Each machine costs £4,500 to replace.

Mark Astbury, Commercial Director from PayByPhone added: “With technology changing fast, mobile phone parking, usually through an app, is increasingly taking over as the most popular method of payment. Making paying to park easy and accessible through apps and mobile phones enables councils to reduce the cost of maintaining expensive parking equipment and collecting the cash each day.”

How it works

When you park your car, scanning the NFC or QR codes on the signage identifies the exact parking location. Alternatively you can call the number displayed on the signs and give the location code on the sign. Then you enter or call up to say how long you want to park for and confirm the transaction. You can do it by app, over the phone or online via any smartphone device able to connect to the internet. Motorists don’t need to worry about returning to their car before their time expires as they can simply top up their time from their phone wherever they are. The same goes if they are paying by cash in a PayPoint shop, all you have to do is go into the nearest one to top up the parking time.