Time for STANDARD national on line parking? - FoxyJukebox

You want cash, you go to an international standard hole in the wall, but if you want to park , a university degree is needed to read the convoluted options, timings and instructions written on decaying paint in council car parks, stations and street sign throughout the land.Yes of course we must pay for parking so why the hell not make it SIMPLE and SMOOTH ?

A sad looking local car park machine with it's steamed up perspex window had a major queue the other morning due to vandalism (a machine smash and grap?-someone desperate for a few £s!), with an attached long dreary TYPED epistle from a council jobsworth encouraging users to pay by other methods, one of which was to ring the authority and ask for extension 12345--ha ha...fat chance of a reply from that at 07.15 in the morning.

I like the idea of the online car park pay method.I do hope it becomes obligatory and national . You register at home, presumably get an app and off you go!...wonderful if it was the ONLY method of nationally paying.

Time for STANDARD national on line parking? - RT

Some people, including me, spend much of their time in areass where there's no mobile signal - so buying/using either a smart phone or a basic phone is pointless.

I've no problem with making pay-by-phone ONE of the options - but it can never be made mandatory.

Time for STANDARD national on line parking? - daveyjp
Our Council is contracted to such a service and I downloaded the app. I removed it after I was informed it costs more for the convenience of not using cash as there is a transaction charge every time I use it.
Time for STANDARD national on line parking? - Ian_SW

Charging more for the cashless service does seem to be the common way with these. I presume this is down to it being contracted separately. There's no way it can actually cost more to process the electronic payment than send down someone in a van to empty the cash out of the machine, and take it to the bank.

There is a city centre car park I use frequently which costs £7 per day (cheapest proper car park in town) It can be paid for by phone, but they add a 20p 'Service fee'. The machine is a proper old style pay and display machine, with a display which just says how much you've paid and a green button to make it print the ticket. It only accepts coins, and not even £2 coins. Most people who use the car park regularly get a large bag of pound coins from the bank every few weeks, and feed seven of them into the machine each morning.

I've never been there when the machine is emptied, but it must be fairly heavy as the car park has about a hundred spaces and is always full by 10am.

Time for STANDARD national on line parking? - RichT54

Every week it seems there are reports of new ways that hackers can break into your phone and get access to passwords and other sensitive information. Unless your phone is very new, the chances of getting an update to fix the security problems they exploit is virtually non existent. This is why I refuse to do any financial transactions through my phone.

Time for STANDARD national on line parking? - oldroverboy.

The chances of having a simple easy to use system are about nil.

How about contactless payments for car parking machines?

Register your vehicle details on a national database and then pay contactless on entry.

Why won't it happen? because there is too much money to be made out of fines.

Same for everything else in our society, where "choice/competition" has made easy comparisons a nightmare.

Dartford crossing anyone? london congestion zone?

Don't even go there with trains.. just booked a flight of 400 miles for £22.

cheapest train ticket over a £100 and no guarantee of a seat plus 2 changes on the way and a 7 hour journey complete with filthy toilets.

Time for STANDARD national on line parking? - RT

There are various "C" zones around the country Congestion in London, Charge in Durham all using the same "C" symbol but all disparate systems so you need an account for each you might visit.

Time for STANDARD national on line parking? - concrete

There is more chance of a ride on Flipper than a co-ordinated national parking scheme. It is not in 'their' interests to make payment or understanding the rules easier. They thive on 'fines' and actively seek to impose them. The only answer is for me to run for President and I promise I will sort out a fair national parking system and obliterate the parking shark companies overnight. Details to follow!!!!

Cheers Concrete

Time for STANDARD national on line parking? - Wackyracer

Last week I looked at parking near Old street underground and although it said you can pay by phone or by texting a number that was on the sign, there was no indication of the cost to park there at all.