Do you need an app to park in South Florida? The way to pay is changing

Cities across South Florida are moving more toward mobile apps to charge for parking.

Read more Do you need an app to park in South Florida? The way to pay is changing

What does that mean for you?

If you prefer paying for parking with cash or at least a credit card at one of those kiosks, the world is changing. Most private lots and an increasing number of public lots and garages are going app-only.

But if you rely on apps for your everyday life, from latte payment to gas station discounts, the transition to an app-filled parking world may be the thing you were always waiting for.

Earlier this year, Hollywood eliminated its human parking attendants at a downtown garage and added a parking app to supplement a payment kiosk.

Some feel that using an app to pay is an easier way to pay for parking, while others feel it excludes people who don’t live on their phone.

Maggie Abdo-Gomez, who lives in the Village Green area of Miami-Dade, finds apps more complicated to use than an actual parking meter or kiosk.

Abdo-Gomez says she doesn’t “particularly care for apps” as she prefers not to “clutter” her phone. She also said that using apps to pay for parking “seems to not take into consideration this whole swath of people in our society.”

“I can just imagine someone who might be older, less tech savvy,” Abdo-Gomez said. “People from all kinds of income and financial backgrounds and abilities, so what about all those people that can’t have these fancy phones or that just can’t navigate the app?”

She also said these apps can make it harder for people without credit cards to pay for their parking.

“Apps are based on you having a system of payment attached to it, associated with it — a credit card,” Abdo-Gomez said. “Well, there are lots of people who don’t have credit cards. There are lots of people who are bankless, who depend on a cash economy, and so what about them?”

Miami-Dade, for instance, has a law that require businesses to take cash for goods and services.

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When Abdo-Gomez just plans on parking for an hour or two, she said she doesn’t want to put that on her credit card. And she noted that when using the app, there’s a service fee.

“Parking is already outrageously expensive to begin with, and then if you pay at the machine, you don’t get a service charge. But then if you use the PayByPhone, they include a service charge,” Abdo-Gomez said. “It just seems not fair.”

John Wisdom, a 55-year-old from Kendall, said he likes using parking apps, especially as his information is already saved and “it can usually read my location automatically.”

He thinks apps are more convenient than using a physical pay station.

“For one, I can sit in my car and pay instead of getting out in the hot sun, standing in line to use a machine or pay an attendant with cash that I probably don’t have,” Wisdom said. “I can also renew or extend the parking remotely instead of having to go back to the machine every time.”

Wisdom said relying on parking apps does have a downside, though.

“Sure, if you don’t have a smartphone, you wouldn’t be able to use the app so paying at a machine might be your only option,” Wisdom said. “Another disadvantage might be if your phone loses power or breaks and you can’t renew your parking. I personally have never experienced this though.”

Here’s a breakdown on how to pay for parking in several South Florida cities:

Paying for parking in South Florida

Miami Beach: The city uses both the ParkMobile and the PayByPhone apps to allow people to pay for parking, but the city still has more than 200 pay stations. “The overwhelming majority of customers now pay through mobile applications,” said Melissa Berthier, the Miami Beach communications director.

Miami: The city uses the ParkMobile and PayByPhone apps as digital payment options for public parking. There are also about 54 parking meters throughout the city where you can pay with a credit card or coins.

Coral Gables: The ParkMobile and PayByPhone apps are used for parking payment. And yes, in a bit of a retro moment, there are also some traditional parking meters available that accept coins, as well as pay stations that take credit cards and cash. “The city cautions drivers never to scan QR codes to pay for parking,” said Martha Pantin, the director of communications and public affairs in Coral Gables. “Coral Gables does not use QR codes for parking payments, and fraudulent QR codes have been placed on parking equipment in the past.”

Fort Lauderdale: The ParkMobile and PayByPhone apps are available, in addition to single-space parking meters and garage or lot kiosks. The single-space meters accept coins, and the kiosks accept cash or card.

Hollywood: Parkmobile is the only app used for public parking spaces. There are also 118 physical meters still active across the downtown and beach areas that accept bills and coins.

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