Brighton and Hove City Council today announced it is saving a quarter of a million pounds a year by introducing mobile parking application PayByPhone across the region. 155,000 drivers, both locals and visitors to Brighton & Hove, have gone cashless and used PayByPhone to make the parking process easier. 

As Brighton & Hove, the tenth biggest user of PayByPhone worldwide, continues with its plan to remove almost half of the city’s parking cash machines, drivers can register to use the service online or via the mobile app. It only takes a few minutes and can be done before they’ve even left the house. Once registered, the app can help save drivers valuable time and also money – as well as be used for parking in several other UK cities and worldwide. 

Being a coastal town, many of the existing P&D machines have suffered weather damage and were costing the council an immense sum to replace. The quarter of a million pounds saving will be from diminishing costs of maintaining machines and cash collection.

By March next year, 600 out of the council’s 1,400 Pay & Display (P&D) machines will be removed from the area. The city is leading the way in becoming a truly connected city, taking part in the wider global movement to make urban mobility more efficient and easier for drivers through new innovation. 

Using PayByPhone is simple; drivers simply input the location number on the relevant street signs to pay for their parking via the app. If drivers still prefer to use cash, they can visit any local PayPoint retailer. Drivers no longer have to scramble to find the right amount of cash to park, with just a few quick taps of the app; it’s all done so they can get on with their day faster. A key benefit of PayByPhone is that it lets users top up the meter remotely when time is running low.  On receipt of an alert on their phone, they can decide whether to return to their vehicle or top up quickly using the app or automated phone service in the aim to reduce the number of parking tickets issued.

Whilst there will be a significant reduction in machines to at least one per street, customers will still be offered the choice of paying in other ways. The council is reassuring people without smartphones they can still register for the PayByPhone service and pay by using web, SMS and IVR. Traditional payment methods will also still be in use including using cash in remaining machines, on-street credit card machines, using cards or cash in any of the 150 city shops displaying a PayPoint sign, as well as texting from older mobile phones.

For further information please visit https://paybyphone.co.uk/parking/. Once registered, drivers can use PayByPhone in cities all over the UK and worldwide.