Paying for parking in Saskatoon just got a whole lot easier.
Starting Wednesday, all you need is a smartphone and you no longer have to wait in line to plug a parking terminal before rushing off to your next appointment.
As a way to help ease parking headaches, the City of Saskatoon has introduced a new easy to use app called “WayToPark,” available for download on both IOS and Android devices.
A long-awaited option for motorists who often run late as a result of the time it takes to find a parking stall downtown then hunt down a terminal to pay for parking.
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Although it was supposed to be launched in September 2015, city officials say it took some time to iron out a few kinks.
“There will be issues at times because it’s a communicating app,” Andrew Hildebrandt, director of community standards with the City of Saskatoon, said.
“But the app is designed as per what was delivered by the contractor to meet the needs of parking in Saskatoon and those are the things we took a lot of time to test and verify and get up-dated and we’re ready and confident to deliver it now.”
It’s a parking terminal in your pocket.
You can now skip standing in line on a cold winter day, or if you leave your vehicle downtown after painting the town red, the next morning you can plug your meter from the comfort of your bed.
“The terminals are still available if the app – if you’re in a location where it’s not working you can still go to the terminal,” Hildebrandt said.
“So they complement each other but certainly it’s an enhancement to the customer service.”
Remaining balances on parking purchases can be carried over to another parking spot on a different block.
Motorists will also still need to obey time restrictions posted on city signs.
“As long as you’ve paid you’re good to park but then you can’t overstay,” Hildebrandt added.
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“So you have to be cognizant of where you’re parking that you haven’t parked there longer than the time that’s on the sign – majority of zones are three hours, we do have a few zones that are less than three hours.”
The app will let you see how much time you have left on the so-called meter and will remind you when time’s up.
City officials say there’s also a possibility to modify the app in the future to reflect zone pricing or varying costs if parking were to be more expensive along certain streets.
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