Parking apps ‘to make pay and display extinct within a decade’
Mon, 29 Jul 2024
New research has revealed there are now around 30 different parking apps used across the UK for parking on land owned by private firms and local authorities – and motorists are spending millions of pounds on them every day.
What’s more, this growth of parking apps is leading to the demise of parking meters and other forms of cash-based parking.
Car park owners work with parking app suppliers to offer ‘cashless’ parking. They agree the base cost for parking, with the app supplier receiving a fee for providing the service, and the rest of the cash going to the owner.
They are described as the "Airbnb of parking" because they don’t own any assets and simply allow landowners to tape payments for use of their space.
Last year, motorists paid £1.93 billion to park on public roads and in council bays. That’s almost £5.5 million a day, growth that’s being made easier by the many different parking apps now in use.
The £1.93 billion figure doesn’t include money made by private parking firms, either – meaning the true cost to motorists of parking in the UK is likely to be far higher still.
As a result, profits at the biggest parking app firms have soared, reports The Sunday Times, "with bosses making millions in pay and dividends."
RingGo, the biggest parking app in the UK, made a profit of £5.1 million in 2022.
The first parking apps were introduced in the UK back in 2009 and, last year, there were estimated to be around 250 million cashless parking transactions in the UK.
Anthony Eskinazi, boss of parking app JustPark, says he expects traditional pay and display meters to be all but extinct within a decade and he did not see any local authority buying traditional meters beyond 2025.
While they are an easy money-making solution for those in charge of car parks, motorists are much less keen on the growing dominance of parking apps.
Older drivers or those without a mobile phone may struggle to pay – and those visiting a new area are often frustrated at having to download and set up a new app simply to park their car.
Indeed, one motorist was fined a staggering £240 because they did not download the app quickly enough. Due to a poor signal, they couldn’t pay for parking within the 15-minute free parking window.
Some parking apps are even making extra cash from offering add-on 'services', from parking insurance to simple features such as getting a text message to confirm your parking, or remind you when it’s coming to an end.
Infuriatingly, some parking apps even require you to cancel your session when you leave, rather than paying for a set period of parking in advance. Because it is easy to forget on an app, some motorists are running up hefty charges.
One parking app is also sending promotional offers to motorists after they’ve bought a parking session – from 'meal deals to mental health counselling'.
The parking ombudsman, Parking on Private Land Appeals, said it had received almost 85,000 complaints from motorists in 2023 – up more than 50% from the previous year.
The Government has long been aware of motorists’ frustrations with parking apps, but has yet to take action.
It says it does plan to launch a national parking platform, but while it’s due to launch this autumn, no date has been set.
Meanwhile, the income councils raked in from parking surged to £962m in the 2022-23 financial year, a huge increase from £317m in the previous financial year.
Figures show hourly daytime parking rates have risen 11% in two years as councils try to balance their books.
"With local budgets stretched, drivers are the cash cow when it comes to revenue-raising. More councils are investing in apps in an effort to ease the management of their cars parks," says the AA.
Apps also mean it’s easier for them to cheaply increase the number of places where they charge and to put up prices.
Is the driver or vehicle owner responsible for parking fines?
