Corner Brook unveiling new mobile app for parking
New parking meter app designed to bring Corner Brook into the future, says Todd Flynn
For drivers in Corner Brook, change for the better may soon be coming — in the form of no change at all.
Corner Brook residents will soon be able to ditch their pocket change, with a new app from HonkMobile.
The smartphone app allows people to pay for their parking time using their iPhone or Android devices, rather than coins.
It would be a great solution, being able to pay by using your smartphone.- Todd Flynn
Todd Flynn, Corner Brook's manager of protective services, says the city wants to "move with the times."
"I don't go around with a bunch of coins in my pocket anymore and I come to these parking spots," he told CBC's Corner Brook Morning Show.
"It would be a great solution, being able to pay by using your smartphone, just the convenience of it is great."
According to Flynn, the new app-based system is ready to go, but the city will wait until signage is put up in the designated parking areas before it makes HonkMobile available.
Mobile power
Flynn said users will have to register their information — a description of their vehicle, plate number and the method of payment, including credit card or PayPal — with HonkMobile.
When a driver comes to a parking space, they can use their mobile device to pay in advance for as much time as they want, up to $1/hr, in 25-cent increments.
HonkMobile founder Michael Back said the service uses GPS to determine which area the vehicle is parked in, as well as helping drivers find empty parking spots.
Corner Brook traffic enforcement officers on patrol can see the vehicle's license plate and use their own app to see whether the paid time for that parking space has elapsed or not.
As for whether Corner Brook's parking meters will soon be obsolete, time hasn't run out for them — at least not yet.
The city will try out the app system for six months to see how it works.