As publicised in our recent Dales Matters magazine and other communications channels we are having to respond to mobile operators' decision to switch off their 3G networks from this year.
Work starts this coming Monday, 22 May, to remove card readers from our pay and display car parks, but all the machines will still take cash payments. We will continue to focus on the PayByPhone text payment service, which is very popular, with over 340,000 transactions since its introduction in October 2021. This payment method has overtaken card transactions in recent times.
The work, which will run through to the end of June this year, will start in Ashbourne, moving on to Wirksworth, then Matlock Bath, Matlock, Bakewell and finally our rural car parks.
Please note that we do not in any case currently offer a 3G-supported card payment service at some of our car parks due to poor signal strength in certain rural areas.
PayByPhone works best through a pre-downloaded App, but users can also activate parking sessions via the company’s website or call centre.
Please note using PayByPhone doesn't cost any more than the cash tariff unless you choose to receive text reminders.
Some of the benefits of using the PayByPhone system include:
- You do not need to queue at the machine and display a paper ticket
- You can extend your stay in the car park (within the car park's rules) without having to return to your car
- It keeps a receipt of all your parking sessions
- It saves you having to carry around cash to pay for parking
