LYNN — City residents and those visiting the downtown area will finally be able to pay for parking on their cellphones.
After securing a partnership with PayByPhone, a mobile phone app that allows users to pay for parking meters and extend the time of their parking stay, Lynn’s Parking Department continues to move into the 21st century. The app, which is currently up and running, can only be used to pay for parking at the moment, but there are future initiatives in the works, said Parking Director Bob Stilian.
“It’s a nice tool for the residents and it should enhance the parking,” Stilian said. “Right now it can only be used to pay for parking but down the road, the app will be able to provide drivers with a sense of how much parking is available in our various downtown parking lots. I think it has a lot of potential.”
The department has spent the last 60 days making sure the app would be up and running without any issues, said Stilian. Informational stickers on the parking meters and posted signs will be up soon, he added.
Stilian said he has wanted to do this for a number of years. It wouldn’t have happened without all the help from Ward 5 City Councilor Diana Chakoutis and Lynn Mayor Thomas M. McGee, he said.
“This is really convenient,” he said. “Someone can pull it up on their phone to pay, go into the courthouse and even extend their time from their phones without a worry.”
There is an 11 cent service fee, said Stilian. If you park for two hours, at $1 an hour, the total parking cost on the app would be $2.11, he said. That covers credit card fees and the cost of the phone app.
“The costs for the app are all based on usage, which will be covered by the users,” he said. “There is no cost to the city. It’s a win-win for the city, but even more of a win-win for businesses in downtown and people coming to visit downtown.”
