6 hours ago
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For motorists fed up with having to wrestle with a phone full of apps to pay for parking their car, relief could finally be in sight with a unified app.
Lengthy delays have dogged a government-funded initiative, the National Parking Platform (NPP), designed to let people use one app to pay for all their parking instead of having to sign up to a plethora of services.
However, ministers said it was being taken forward by a parking industry consortium after government-backed trials, “ensuring the future of simpler, easier driving at no extra cost to the taxpayer”.
The government said the service would launch “as soon as possible” but, with 10 local authorities currently taking part, it may be some time before drivers can delete most of their parking apps.
In February, the Guardian revealed that the government was being accused of pulling the plug on the NPP by ending its financial support after more than five years’ work by officials and promises of a nationwide rollout.
There are thought to be more than 30 parking apps in the UK. The NPP is intended to bring a “one app fits all” vision to life by connecting participating car parks to a shared platform through which drivers can pay using any approved app.
The NPP has been under development at the Department for Transport (DfT) since 2019, but this year it emerged that taxpayer funding for the scheme’s pilot was about to be withdrawn.
On Wednesday, the government said the British Parking Association (BPA), one of the main trade bodies, would take forward the development and running of the platform.
Ministers added that it would be delivered by “a consortium of industry leaders,” including three of the best-known apps – RingGo, JustPark and PayByPhone – and led by the BPA.
The agreement will involve the parking sector working with councils to run the platform on a not-for-profit basis. The government will maintain oversight it.
The DfT said the consortium would bring more local authorities on board “imminently”.
However, connecting up potentially thousands of council and privately owned sites into a single system will be a big endeavour.
Rod Dennis, a senior policy officer at the RAC, said: “The key will be ensuring as many car park operators as possible sign up.”
The 10 local authorities taking part include Manchester, Liverpool, Peterborough and Coventry city councils and Oxfordshire county council. The platform is being used in 476 parking locations and handles more than 550,000 transactions a month.
Lilian Greenwood, the minister for the future of roads, said: “This government is on the side of drivers and dedicated to giving everyone simpler, more flexible parking.”
