Tens of millions of older motorists could possibly be restricted from taking easy journeys to the city just because they received’t have the capability to pay for parking, says main automobile breakdown restoration supplier Begin Rescue.
As native authorities more and more transfer to ‘pay by app’ techniques, pensioners who do not need a smartphone will discover themselves excessive and dry at parking bays within the UK’s cities and cities.
The transfer away from money and card funds has been accelerated by cell phone suppliers switching off 3G knowledge networks, on which some parking machines function.
Presently there are no less than 30 totally different smartphone apps to pay parking prices.
Britain’s greatest parking app is RingGo with 19 million customers, however different main gamers comparable to ParkMe, Parkopedia, Simply Park, and PayByPhone wish to develop.
Most function utilizing apps however with some, comparable to RingGo, you possibly can name and e-book your spot over the telephone. There may be nonetheless no manner of paying by card or money straight, although.
Information from Ofcom reveals that solely 68% of these aged 65 or over use a smartphone to go surfing. With greater than 9.2 million drivers on our roads in the identical age group in response to the DVLA, that implies there are probably 2.9 million older drivers with out entry to apps to allow them to pay for parking.
“Native authorities have an issue, however it is usually a nationwide problem that must be addressed,” stated Lee Puffett, managing director of Begin Rescue.
“Aged individuals like to make use of money and they’re completely keen to pay – and they need to have that possibility accessible to them. If native authorities need parking income they need to make fee strategies which can be straightforward for all of society, not simply the youthful technology.”
