It’s an often occurrence that motorists end up paying for longer than they have parked, do not have the exact change needed to pay for their parking or are running late in returning to their vehicle. This week, Tamworth Regional Council will implement a smarter solution to help make this process easier for the community.
On Wednesday 17 April 2019, Council will have implemented the award-winning Easy Park Pay by Phone service as a payment option across all paid parking areas within the city with the aim of saving users both time and money.
Manager of Infrastructure and Projects at Tamworth Regional Council, Mr. Murray Russell said: “We are always looking for new and innovative ways to enhance the process and infrastructure used within the city that will benefit the community.
“Partnering with EasyPark and implementing the service into the paid parking zones around Tamworth is another step towards becoming a smarter-thinking and operating city”.
The service, that is currently used in councils such as Newcastle, Ballina and many other locations across Australia can be accessed via an app on smartphones.
Once parked, users will enter the parking area code that is displayed on parking signs and meters or select the area from the virtual map in EasyPark. All ticket machines will be re-branded with clearly visible parking area codes displayed.
Users will enter their registration number along with a start and end time for their parking. An alert will be sent to the user’s phone 15 minutes prior to the parking time running out. Users can then select to extend their time, if the parking policy allows.
When users then leave the parking area, they click to stop and only pay for the time that is spent in the park.
The app will integrate with Council’s current system as the payment is processed under the same guidelines that the existing ticket machines process a credit card transaction. The app also provides information to the ranger’s devices to show a list of registration numbers of those who have paid, similar to an electronic ticket.
“The app will be accessible in all areas of Tamworth that require a parking ticket to be purchased, however the normal machines will still be operational for those wishing to stick to the traditional method,” said Mr. Russell.
“We encourage the community to try EasyPark and see the convenience for themselves. Our hope is that this will be a more efficient way for the community to operate and lessen the chances of parking penalties.” added Mr. Russell.
