A FIANNA Fail county councillor is proposing that the authority pilot a new scheme where people can pay their parking ticket over the phone using an app, rather than having to rush back to their car to renew their tickets.

Cllr Norma Foley is bringing the issue up at the next meeting of the Tralee Municipal District councillors on Monday.

The ‘Parking Tag’ app system was introduced by Dublin City Council and Cllr Foley believes it might work here.

Continued below…

“Basically this app facilitates people who have to run back and forward to the parking meter. It’s fast, it’s user friendly and it creates stress-free shopping in Dublin city and I would hope we could replicate it here. I think it’s important that the Municipal District is innovative in its thinking and anything that can help bring people into to the town centre is worth looking at,” said the Tralee councillor.

Consumers download the free app and give their credit/debit card details. Ten minutes from when the time is up on the meter, they get a text so they can top up the meter from their phone.

Cllr Foley is hoping that the Council will contact Dublin City Council to find out more about the system to see how much it costs, if it has been successful and to see if it can be introduced in Tralee as a pilot scheme.

Continued below…

“Parking in any town is always going to be an issue. There are plenty places to park in the town but people don’t know where to go. If you go to Cork or Dublin you’ll see electronic signs telling you where vacant parking spots are so I’ll be bringing that up at the meeting as well,” she said.