East Suffolk Council
More choice when paying for parking in East Suffolk
From Monday 20 May, motorists parking in East Suffolk Council-owned car parks will be able to choose from a selection of cashless payment providers.
East Suffolk Council has joined the pilot phase of the National Parking Platform (NPP), a multi-vendor cashless parking solution delivered by the Department for Transport.
This means that, in addition to RingGo, there will now be other parking providers to use when paying for parking cashlessly in all 73 chargeable council-owned car parks across East Suffolk.
The suppliers available, which are part of the NPP, are RingGo, PayByPhone, JustPark, APCOA Connect and AppyParking+. More suppliers may become available later.
Joining the National Parking Platform gives drivers the choice to use their preferred parking app or website, rather than having to use a single provider which the Council has chosen on their behalf. This makes paying for parking easier, quicker and more convenient.
On arrival at a car park, drivers can choose to pay using any of the listed providers, through an app if they already have it or are able to download it at the time, or through the providers’ website.
Drivers are encouraged to check the terms and conditions of each provider before paying for parking, as administration fees may vary and there may also be optional fees for additional services such as text reminders. There is no fee for paying with cash at the machine.
Cashless payments in East Suffolk Council's car parks are currently managed through RingGo, which attracts a convenience fee of 20p per transaction. To help support cashless payments when they were first introduced, the Council has previously absorbed this charge.
Under the conditions of joining the National Parking Platform, this charge will now be paid by the customer. All parking operators on the platform charge a small administrative fee and customers have the option to ‘shop around’ for the provider that offers them the best value for money.
Cllr Toby Hammond, East Suffolk’s cabinet member for Economic Development and Transport said: “Across the country, car park providers use a range of different parking apps, meaning drivers may need to download several different apps, depending on where they are parked. This can be inconvenient and time consuming however drivers using council-owned car parks in East Suffolk will now have more choice about which provider to use when paying for their parking.
“Although East Suffolk Council will no longer be subsidising the small convenience fee that applies to all cashless parking transactions, people will always have the option to choose the provider which offers them the best value for money.
“By joining the platform during the pilot stage, we have a unique opportunity to help shape the future of the scheme. The Council will be working closely with the Department for Transport and the other member authorities to assist in developing the full version of the platform, ensuring that residents and visitors in East Suffolk will benefit from reliable and secure cashless parking services for years to come.”
Each East Suffolk car park has a location code, which is displayed prominently on signs within the car park itself and is used to identify the car park when paying for parking over the phone, online or through an app.
From 20 May, these location codes will change slightly however these will be clearly displayed on signs in all car parks.
All East Suffolk car parks will still accept cash using the on-site payment machines. A valid ticket will still need to be clearly displayed if paying by cash.
Monthly and annual tickets already purchased through RingGo will cross over to the new platform automatically and will remain valid.
The full National Parking Platform is expected to be rolled out later in the year.