As if paying for car parking wasn’t bad enough, now we’re expected to jump through hoops on a phone app - Jayne Dowle
It’s an excuse to get out of the house. And if you’re as parsimonious as me, a chance to stock up on a few post-Christmas bargains such as cards and decorations for next year (sad I know) and re-stock the birthday present drawer with gift sets, books and treats slashed in price.
‘Twixtmas’ as it’s known, is also a time to enjoy the many independent businesses our Yorkshire towns, cities and villages proudly boast. From artisan chocolatiers to pet supplies, coffee shops to art galleries, all that festive bonhomie helps us cherish and appreciate our independents, especially after having survived the endurance test that is the dreaded Christmas supermarket food shop.
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Hide AdIt sounds lovely, doesn’t it? Until you try and find a place to park, and then scramble around attempting to pay via app. If I was in charge, parking would be free everywhere between Christmas and New Year, so people would be encouraged to venture out away from the telly and their screens.


Now we can’t even pop out for a look around the shops without ending up glued to our phones.
Universal free parking is never going to happen, despite countless studies proving that where it does exist, retail footfall almost always soars.
Parking charges are a mighty cash cow for local councils, bringing in roughly £1bn in fees and charges in 2023-24, according to government data. What’s worse is that in so many locations now, local councils have dispensed with pay and display machines for app, online or phone payments only.
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Hide AdBack in October, the AA warned that drivers could stop visiting town centres as parking services go online and parking fees continue to rise. Jack Cousens, the AA’s head of roads policy, said: “The cost of parking, as well as ease of payment, has an impact on consumers and they will ‘vote with their wheels’ if they deem the price too expensive, or a hassle if they can only pay via an app or by phone.”
App is easiest, if you can get it to work. Different parking providers for different locations force drivers to download multiple smartphone apps, which is annoying in itself.
More annoying still is when local mobile data is poor. And this is by no means a phenomenon peculiar to rural areas. I’ve been stuck sweating in a car-park in the middle of Leeds, trying to download an unfamiliar app when it’s impossible to get a signal whilst signs everywhere warn drivers they must pay as soon as they arrive or face dire consequences.
Meanwhile, profits for parking app providers soar higher than your blood pressure when that pesky app refuses to appear.
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Hide AdRingGo’s revenues climbed to £29.9m in the year to December 2023, up from £25.8m a year earlier, according to its latest accounts.
And profits at Just Park, one of Britain’s biggest parking apps, have surged, more than doubling in the year to March, from half a million pounds to £1.3m. Turnover for the same period has climbed to £16.1m, up from £12m the year before.
Just Park works with local authorities and businesses to provide cashless car parking and reservations, and also allows homeowners to rent out their driveway or electric vehicle charging spots to other drivers, for which they receive a fee through its app. The latter can be a nice little earner, especially in busy cities.
Back on the city street or town centre car park, however, drivers are often left puzzled and anxious over parking by app. Older people in particular, find app parking unnerving, not least because it demands a fairly up to date smartphone and not everyone possesses one.
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Hide AdIf a worried driver lives in a location where there is no choice but to pay by app – or face a hefty fine that believe me, is almost impossible to challenge – they simply won’t bother going out, Boxing Day sales, nice little cafes and independent shops or not. And that’s a loss, not only to personal freedom but local economies.
I understand there is a practical reason why apps are taking over. Pay and display machines typically work via a 3G Sim card, which allows them to transmit data on whether the machine is out of order, its cashbox is full or it needs new tickets.
But 3G mobile networks are being switched off, rendering these machines obsolete. Councils, obviously under pressure to save money, are not updating them and bringing in other means of payment instead.
Try explaining all that to a pensioner without a decent smartphone, struggling with their shopping in the rain.
Local councils should at least offer a choice when it comes to car parking – cash or other means.
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