PayByPhone parking app launches in Lynbrook

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Lynbrook residents and commuters now have the option to pay for parking with their phones at the more than 600 meters in the village by using the PayByPhone application.

The app, which enables residents to pay for parking with a credit or debit card, officially went live in the village at the end of October on a limited basis and can be downloaded from the App Store or the Google Play Store. Those who do not want to use the app, however, are still able to use coins at all of the meters.

“They can now use the service in Lynbrook, as they can in over 300 cities across the globe,” said Adam Kriegel, the sales director for PayByPhone.

Once the app is opened, users are asked to add a vehicle by entering their license plate number, the state their car was registered in and the type of vehicle they drive. They are also provided the option to add a photo and a description of the vehicle. In addition, they have a choice to have the app save their information for future use. Drivers are then prompted to input their parking spot number and select how long they would like to park. The app also has the function to alert drivers if their time is expiring, and, if they need to add more time they can do so remotely.

“Residents and visitors of the Village of Lynbrook should download the app because it provides convenience,” Mayor Alan Beach said. “How many times are you running late on the train and can’t feed the meter? Now you won’t have to worry.”

To alert residents and commuters to the change, the village was set to install stickers on all of the meters by the end of October. At that time, Kriegel said, he would supply Lynbrook police officers with handheld devices to track parking violations with the app. If a parking space is lit in red on a device, it means the time has expired. If it is green, the driver has paid for the time.

“It’s just a sea of rectangles, and they’re lit up green or red accordingly,” Kriegel told the Herald in May. “That tells police if there’s a valid parking session or not.”

With the app, village officials were able to set time-limit regulations for each zone, and because the app recognizes vehicles by their license plates, it would not allow users to renew their sessions if they have exceeded their time limit unless they move to another zone.

PayByPhone was created in 2001, and originally offered patrons the ability to pay for parking via a phone call or a text message. It was acquired by Volkswagen Financial Services in December 2016, and has more than 18 million users. It garners $345 million in parking revenue annually and processes 70 million transactions per year in more than 300 cities, including Boston, Miami and Seattle. The app is also used in cities across the world such as London and Paris, as well as in parts of Australia.