[drnick1]

Can you not pay with cash or card anywhere? What if you don't have a "smart" phone? I would categorically refuse to park anywhere that requires running a proprietary app on my device. Fortunately, in the States at least, I have not encountered such a place yet.

[cassianoleal]

In the UK, I believe parking companies need to have a way to pay without the app but it's usually so bloody inconvenient that it's about the same as requiring it.

[obmelvin]

Physical machines can be confusing too :)

When I was in Italy last summer, I couldn't figure out how to pay with my card at the machine in a small town, where you'd park to walk into an ancient city on a hill*. I asked two Italian woman for help and even with being able to read the Italian + having paid with coins themselves, they struggled to help me understand the combination of steps required to pay with card.

[Slash65]

In my city in Northern California our downtown uses an app for parking now. I don’t use it so it’s still an option, but you have to goto a kiosk, enter your license plate number, and pay with card. It’s made the downtown more of a ghost town (admittedly it was already dying) and the boomers with cash just don’t go. The younger 20somethings all complain “boomers are too stupid to use an app” and have no concern for privacy apparently. Welcome to the future I guess.

[mikeington]

I have more parking apps on my phone than any other type of app. I begrudgingly download them for some semblance of convenience, but get annoyed that I'm logging in each time as it may be months since I used it, and towns changing apps means I likely have some high percentage of void apps that I keep around just in case. Living in New England doesn't help with lots of small towns, but even Cambridge has multiple apps depending on if you are parking on the street vs in a garage.

[autoexec]

> The younger 20somethings all complain “boomers are too stupid to use an app” and have no concern for privacy apparently.

They were literally trained not to value their privacy. The first generation of ipad kids now have driver's licenses.

[mingus88]

I hear some take pride in being “digital native” and only knowing a world where smartphones are a ubiquitous part of your life.

I’m quite content having grown up without being always online. The childhood I had where what I did between school time and when my parents expected me home for dinner were mine alone. Every event was not recorded by 50+ cameras with bad seats and posted online for nobody to watch.

A truly excellent time to be alive that I doubt we will see again

[singleshot_]

I think we might very well see those times again except it will be very challenging to find food. Good luck.

[smugma]

My wife changed carriers and for a day had lost her phone number. She was texting our son (who is in middle school) and his response was “prove it’s you”.

So digital native kids have learned to not trust people on the internet, don’t use your real name in an alias, etc.

“They were trained not to value privacy” is not what they are being taught in school.

[qalmakka]

You need to find a working parking metre which may or may not work, accept cards or give back change. Also most if not all of parking apps allow you to pay by the exact minute and extended your stay dynamically from the go, while with a paper ticket you need to go back to the car and get another one before it expires

[userbinator]

I do wonder if the "illegal not to accept cash" laws in some states have been applied to this situation.

Note that sometimes the risk is low, and changing your plate is cheaper if you do get a fine...

[calvinmorrison]

Essentially too bad. Look at the parkmobile disaster.

[HeatrayEnjoyer]

The what?

[calvinmorrison]

basically you have to use parkmobile in many places unless you carry literally rolls full of quarters due to the depreciation of the USD, some places dont even have machines anymore. ParkMobile is a moneygrabbing operation that municipalities use to run their parking stuff - yay saas. They got hacked and leaked everyones phone numbers, license plates, history, and more.

The settlement in court was - you got I believe a $1.00 coupon to use parkmobile again - but you could only use .50 towards each transaction

[ElFitz]

That, especially the conclusion, is hilariously bad.

[calvinmorrison]

It's worse I just checked

"

You are eligible for up to a $1.00 credit to be applied to ParkMobile’s service fees. The code provides a $0.25 discount on ParkMobile’s service fees and may be used up to four times for a total discount of $1.00. The code will expire on October 8, 2026. For residents of California, the code will not expire. The code will only work for accounts associated with email addresses that are in the class."

[devilbunny]

Park City, Utah - although there were meters that could accept card or cash available, none worked. App was the only functional way to pay. This was 3-4 years ago, not during ski season but getting close to it (October or November).

[anakaine]

Australia: some companies are app only

[onel]

You can't, no. It's the same story in Sicily. You can only pay for parking using an app, if you don't have a smartphone you just can't park. Luckily the parking app they have is pretty nice, but the requirement is infuriating