Pay for parking with an app
Pay from the driver’s seat, add time from a café, and stop paying the moment you leave.
Every parking lot that takes app payments has a location number on the sign — usually five digits. Type that in, say how long, and you are done. Nothing goes on the windshield.
The practice app below is called CurbPay and does not exist. Yours may be called ParkMobile, PayByPhone or something else again, and every one of them has these same four steps.
Key points
- Type the location number from the sign rather than scanning a sticker
- Check the license plate before you pay, especially in somebody else’s car
- Read the three lines — charge, fee, total — before agreeing to anything
- Add time from wherever you are, and end the session when you leave
What to remember
- The screen that shows parking, fee and total is the one to read. If it is missing, so is your protection.
- Never judge whether an app is safe. Judge whether you arrived where you intended, and back out if you did not.
- Where parking is charged by the minute, ending the session is what stops the clock.
Try this
Next time you park, look for the location number on the sign and read it, whether or not you use an app. Knowing where that number lives is what makes the app a two‑minute job the first time you try it.
Practice: Pay for parking with an app. Your first lesson is free, with no account or card; the rest are part of a Lantern plan. Interactive lessons require JavaScript.