Searching for change to feed the parking meter is going to be a thing of the past in London, as long as you have your cellphone handy.
Motorists will now be able to pay for parking at more than 3,100 spaces in municipal lots and on-street spots through the Honk app. The city announced the new partnership with HonkMobile on Thursday.
The app allows motorists to seamlessly search for, pay for, and top up parking from their smartphone or tablet.
"The beauty part is, you don't have to be in the parking lot to do it. You don't have to wait in line, you don't have to stand in the pouring rain," said Michael Back, Honk Mobile founder and CEO. "You get a notification 15 minutes before your time expires. So, say you booked an hour and your meeting ran long, previously you'd either have to run out to the meter or gamble that you get a ticket. Now you can buy more time from wherever you are."
Drivers set-up the app with their licence plate number and have the option of adding multiple plates to their account. They then add payment information to the account, in the form of VISA, MasterCard, American Express, PayPal and VISA Debit or MasterCard Debit.
Back, a Western University graduate, launched the Toronto-based start-up three years ago.
"I've been involved in electronic payment since 2001 and when I looked at parking it was a transaction that was kind of stuck in the dark ages ," said Back. "I had to stand in the freezing cold, I couldn't find it, didn't know how much it costs, and it was kind of one of the only things out there that wasn't e-commerce enabled. So I felt there had to be a better way."
London joins Grand Bend, Oshawa, St. Catharines, and two dozen universities across Canada, including Western, in offering Honk
"Part of our strategic plan is to leverage technology to improve Londoners' lives. Each of our service areas are taking that very seriously. They brought this idea forward. I think it is a very progressive idea. I think in 2017 it is about time that you can pay for parking on your phone," said Mayor Matt Brown. "It's going to provide a better level of service for Londoners and help them avoid parking tickets."
HonkMobile is already looking towards the future with plans to introduce a reserve parking spot feature in London in the months to come.
"It is typically off street, not on-street, so for parking lots and parkades, you actually reserve a spot," said Back, who stressed this feature has not been unveiled yet in London. "So if there are 100 spots in the lot and you reserve one then they only sell 99 more to the general public."
Honk can be downloaded for free on both iOS and Android through honkmobile.com, the App Store, or Google Play.
The app will not replace the coin operated parking meters and Pay and Display meters motorists are accustomed to using across the city.
