New Touch n Go kiosks will make it faster and easier to register and pay for parking in Hamilton’s central city.

Hamilton City Council has rolled out 38 new Touch n Go parking kiosks across the central city in response to customer requests for more and simpler kiosks. The kiosks are a secure, app-free way to register and pay for hourly parking in the green and yellow zones. With just a tap of a phone, users can connect then register as they walk away. There’s no need to wait around or download an app, and there’s no customer surcharge fees.

Gordon Naidoo, Head of Transport, said his team had listened to feedback from customers and the new kiosks are part of Council’s ongoing commitment to making registering and paying for parking in the central city easier.

“Touch n Go is about giving people more choice. Whether you prefer using your phone or sticking with the traditional kiosk, we want registering and paying for parking to be simple and stress-free”, Naidoo said.

“These kiosks are also more cost-effective than traditional ones, which means we can install more of them. Our goal is to have a kiosk within 40 metres of every on-street hourly paid parking space.”

Before the rollout, Council tested the kiosks with 80 people of various ages. Most phones connected automatically, some users needed to enable NFC (Near Field Communication) technology in their settings, and only a very small number of phones didn’t support the technology.

“The results confirmed what we already knew that Touch n Go works with the vast majority of phones,” Naidoo said. “Only old phones and the odd entry level model lack the technology. In that situation there are still other options available.”

He added, “Its important people know Touch n Go kiosks are an additional option for registering and payment. You can still use the traditional kiosks or the PayMyPark App if you prefer.”

The kiosks are part of an ongoing suite of simple changes being rolled out to improve the parking experience in the central city. Other changes so far include new signage to better identify kiosk locations and simpler information on Council’s webpage.

How Touch n Go works:

1. Unlock your phone and hold it against the kiosk for three seconds.
2. Tap the pop-up on your screen.
3. Follow the secure payment prompts.

For more information visit hamilton.govt.nz/parking.

© Scoop Media