Demand for meters remains despite PayStay’s popularity

Parking meters are expected to remain on Darwin’s streets, despite the overwhelming popularity of the PayStay payment app, Darwin Council have said.

fFifty-five per cent of on street parkers tstill pay with coins in Darwin

Parking meters are expected to remain on Darwin’s streets, despite the overwhelming popularity of the PayStay payment app, Darwin Council have said.

The app's usage sees a monthly increase of 7.56 per cent in earnings, while earnings from parking meters have declined by an average 3.63 per cent each month since June last year.

Council economic development and tourism manager Liam Carroll said PayStay was becoming the preferred payment method.

“The consumer is evolving and moving towards digital payment methods,” he said.

“This is clearly evident through the take up of PayStay.

“The new registrations in the app increased by over 50 per cent year-on-year.”

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While council removed 43 parking meters from the streets between June and September last year, they won’t likely be removing any more in the near future.

Mr Carroll said while the app was becoming more popular, there were still road users who preferred to pay by traditional methods.

“A key consideration in removing further parking machines is whether Council wishes to continue to provide a cash payment option,” he said.

“The reduction of parking meters will not be well received by those motorists whose preference is to pay by coin or credit card rather than pay by phone, but the trend in PayStay users uplifting and using this method is to be noted.”

The demand of the traditional parking method is highlighted by the fact 55 per cent of on-street parkers paid with coins.

However no one paid for on street parking with their credit card at parking meters, indicating the ease and accessibility of the app.

The annual $2200 maintenance cost could eventually have an impact on the longevity of meters, with more than 40 of the city’s remaining 266 meters generating less than $2000 over a two-year period.

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“This gives rise to the need to explore the feasibility of operating the existing meters, as their lack of use could be better addressed by converting them into digital payment options,” Mr Carroll said.

“(But) reducing the number of parking machines will increase the average distance motorists will have to walk to manually pay for parking at a machine.

Council will discuss the issue at Tuesday night’s council meeting.