App to replace pay and display
AT Park app
Auckland is about to lose its payand-display parking machines, which are being replaced by a smartphone app.
Auckland Transport is trialling the ‘‘AT Park’’ app in August before public release in September or October.
Users will be able to enter their credit card details and car registration into the app and pay by tagging on and off for however long they were parked.
AT’s parking design manager Scott Ebbett says it spelled the end for having to go to a machine, print out a ticket and place it on your dashboard.
‘‘You can start and stop directly from your phone; you don’t have to guess how long you’re going to be’’, he says.
When you get back to the car, stop your session and you’re done.’’
As for parking machines, they would be ‘‘thinned out’’ and then eventually removed altogether over the coming years, he says.
Ebbett says the ‘‘AT Park’’ app has been more than a year in the making and had a $300,000 development budget, with more costs likely to be involved in the roll-out. ❚ The app uses a tap on, tap off system ❚ Pricing will remain the same
❚ On-street parking will still have a 10 minute free period
He says the app would mean people were far less likely to be given a parking fine, and would benefit by paying for the exact amount of time they used the space.
Auckland isn’t the only city using technology to improve and simplify the parking process.
Wellington City Council has installed almost 4000 central parks with sensors, attached to an app that lets motorists ‘‘pay and walk away’’.
Hamilton Council is due to roll out a similar innovation in November.
While New Zealand’s biggest cities are working to implement new parking technology, Palmerston North is celebrating almost six years of ticketless parking.
Frogparking sensors were introduced in Palmerston North in 2010 and have continued to lead the pack on parking tech. In 2014, the company introduced a smart carpark, which charges drivers based on availability of spaces.