The rising popularity of pay by app parking proves that smartphone technology has finally caught up with outdated municipal parking operations. For many years after the introduction of smartphones, many cities still required people to pay for parking on outdated coin meters. But nowadays you can use a mobile parking app to find, reserve and pay for parking.
This is an excellent development for municipalities as well as drivers. Municipals are finding it easier to track parking data and plan city parking according to actual data rather than guesswork. On the other hand, drivers no longer waste time looking for suitable parking. Keep reading to know the 7 main benefits of using mobile parking apps such as pay by app parking.
1. Reserve Parking in Advance
If you are attending a basketball game or a concert at a popular location such as the State Farm Arena, finding a parking space at the last minute can be very frustrating. Popular events attract huge crowds so if you aren’t a city dweller you may spend a lot of time looking for parking. The search may even make you miss the start of the event.
Apps for parking help resolve this dilemma by allowing you to reserve a suitable parking space days before the event. All you would need to do is type the name of your location in the app, your arrival date and time and your departure date and time. The app will then locate available spaces and you can select the one that suits you best.
On the day of the event, your mobile application will act as the parking pass to enter your revered parking spot. The reserve feature on parking mobile apps is especially useful for first-time visitors to a location. This is because they may get lost on their way or be unaware of traffic trends in the new town.
2. Find a Parking Spot Fast
Pay by app parking cuts down on the time you would spend hunting for a parking space, allowing you to arrive stress-free and on time for your event. With modern technology, you won’t have to circle around blocks looking for a place to park. Smart technology can detect cars parked in each parking lot in a designated city and report how many parking spaces are available at each lot.
Once you have a parking app installed on your phone, you can then type the location you are headed to and the app will report back on where you can find parking. You can then look at the available options and choose the one that is closest to your meeting location or whichever is most convenient for you. An app for parking can also direct you to the exact parking location of your choice through satellite navigation and map applications.
3. Several Payment Options
Traditional coin meters only allowed you to pay for parking using change. It was usually a bit of a disaster if you only had large dollar bills and needed to park your car. The advantage of pay to park apps is that they offer you several payment options when you need to pay for your parking.
For instance, you can pay using several credit cards as well as apps such as PayPal. If you don’t want to use modern technology you will still be able to use cash at most parking lots and parking meters.
4. Add Time to Your Meter Remotely
Before the invention of parking apps, we had to keep an eye on the clock during meetings to ensure that we didn’t go over the time paid for at a parking meter. If you were held up in a meeting you would find a parking ticket for going over your time and sometimes cars were even towed.
To avoid fines, we may have ended meetings prematurely which could have appeared rude. With mobile parking apps, you can now add time to your meter remotely. This allows you to finish your meeting in peace without appearing rude or anxious.
5. Better Management by Municipals
Mobile parking apps give municipalities a better tool to manage their parking. They can track how many empty parking spaces there are and direct traffic to the right places. Long term city planning can also be improved by adding spaces in areas where there has been a high demand for parking.
Parking apps have also increased the number of money cities collect from parking. This is because it’s so much easier for people to pay for parking and the funds go directly to the town’s accounts.
Municipals can also spot parking violations much easier using apps and have fewer contested cases in court as the app records are objective and hard to disprove. Parking apps also allow commercial parking lots to plan around trends. For instance by opening extra parking lots on busy periods and shutting them down when there is less traffic.
6. Contactless Payment Promotes Health and Hygiene
Another benefit of mobile parking apps is that they reduce contact between people. Touching parking meters while inputting coins could encourage the spread of diseases such as Covid-19. Additionally, contact with contaminated money or with infected people when money changes hands could also encourage the spread of infectious diseases.
7. Smart Packing Reduces Pollution
The next benefit of smart packing is that it reduces city pollution. Cars and motorcycles that circle blocks looking for parking cause a lot of unnecessary air pollution. A common urban statistic states that 30 percent of vehicles in congestion are drivers looking for a parking spot. This means that smart packing and mobile packing apps could cut car emissions and air pollution by about 30%.
Pay by App Parking Makes Life Easier for Drivers
The increase in the number of vehicle owners has made parking in cities a nightmare for most of us. On busy days, you could spend over half an hour driving around looking for parking. This is not only time-consuming but it also uses up fuel and makes us late for events and meetings.
Mobile pay by app parking technology has revolutionized municipal parking by making it easier for us to locate, reserve, and pay for parking. Click here for more information on how you can locate and pay for suitable parking when attending a game or event at State Farm Arena.