Around one-in-five drivers say their local authority is forcing them to use their mobile phones to pay for parking by scrapping, or consulting to scrap, parking payment machines.
A survey of 1,900 UK drivers revealed that 11 percent reported that some or all parking payment machines had already been moved by their local councils.
According to the RAC study, motorists in London were the most likely to say payment machines were already gone or would be going, followed by the East of England and the East Midlands.
The move is being driven by mobile networks switching off the 3G mobile phone signal, which many parking machines rely on.
To deal with the change, councils are being forced to either spend money on replacing the machines with modern ones or remove them and replace them with a cashless system.
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Many have already done so, with mobile phone applications like RingGo or PayByPhone becoming popular.
The RAC stated that councils in Brighton and Hove, Bromley, Enfield and Harrow were scrapping all of their payment machines.
Some drivers have already vented their frustrations at the gradual change, in particular, elderly people who may not be the most technologically savvy.
Almost three-quarters of people surveyed who were 65 and over said they felt angry at the idea of physical parking machines being removed.
They argued that they should be able to pay for parking in whichever manner they wanted to, with a fifth of drivers saying they felt discriminated against.
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Rod Dennis, spokesperson for the RAC, said: “Of course, cash-strapped councils will find it difficult to justify spending large sums of public money on upgrading parking machines which explains why some are bringing in third-party parking app providers instead – sometimes making parking charges even more expensive as they take their own cut.
“But it’s vital councils, and indeed private parking operators, carefully assess the impact of going down this route before taking machines away.
“In the event a council still goes down the route of removing a ticket machine, signage should clearly explain what drivers need to do to pay to park and a phone number should be provided that allows someone to pay by card, without demanding drivers download and register with another app.”
The Department for Transport is currently developing the National Parking Platform (NPP), which aims to make finding and paying for parking easier.
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It is hoped that this would allow motorists to pay for parking using a single parking app of their choice, with Manchester City Council already taking part in the project.
Councillor Darren Rodwell, transport spokesperson for the Local Government Association, said “considerable challenges” are present for councils to deal with regarding the removal of the 3G network.
He added: “This change, along with other customer trends, has led to councils digitising parts of their parking services. This includes moving to cashless payments and in certain cases removing parking meters when other more beneficial, efficient and secure ways can be taken to make payments.
“In line with other public and private services, there are advantages in going digital, such as drivers getting a text warning that time will expire, or being able to extend their stay without returning to the car park, as well as reducing the risks of theft from payment machines.”
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