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Pay by Phone Parking now Available in Lake George!

Posted: 8/4/2020 - 3-Minute Read

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Pay by Phone Parking now Available in Lake George!

By Amanda May Metzger
LGRCC Marketing Director

Motorists can now use their mobile devices to pay for parking in Lake George.

A new partnership between the Village of Lake George and ParkMobile provides a touchless parking solution through an app that is available on both iPhone and Android devices. Instead of digging for change or cash and touching the buttons on a meter, people can now connect their ParkMobile app to a credit card or other payment form to pay for parking.

The ParkMobile app will apply to more than 650 metered on-street spaces as well as the off-street parking lots throughout the Village during the summer season.

“With the recent COVID-19 crisis, many city leaders are encouraging residents and visitors to use the app instead of the meter to prevent the spread of the virus,” according to a press release from ParkMobile.

Here’s how it works:

Download the app on your smartphone.
Enter the zone number posted on the stickers and signs around the meter.
Select the amount of time needed and tap the “Start Parking” button in the app to begin the session.
Need more time? You can extend the time of the parking session on your mobile device without having to go back to the meter. The app can alert the user when their time is expiring as well.

There is a small fee paid for each transaction but the convenience to the customer is the primary reason the Village adopted the system.

“No one likes parking meters but in a resort community, with limited parking, they are absolutely necessary," Lake George Mayor Robert Blais said in a press release from the Village. “This app makes it easier, more palatable and does away with multiple reasons for letting the meter run-out.”

ParkMobile has more than 19 million users. The app is used for paid parking in New York City, Buffalo, Rochester, Ithaca, White Plains, Syracuse and more.

Beyond New York, the app can be used in to pay for parking in more than 400 cities across the U.S. and is widely available along the Northeast corridor from Washington, DC., to Philadelphia, to Newark.

"We applaud the Village of Lake George for pursuing this idea, especially now when touchless experiences are so important. It's just another way we are working to protect our community and visitors against the spread of COVID-19. The Village of Lake George is one of approximately 200 organizations that have taken the Lake George Region/Southern Adirondacks Health & Safety Pledge,” said Lake George Regional Chamber of Commerce & CVB Executive Director Gina Mintzer.

Bringing ParkMobile to Lake George

The idea for app-enabled payment for parking came from Lake George Village Trustee John Root, who also happens to work for the Chamber at the Adirondacks Welcome Center located on the Northway northbound between Exits 17 & 18.

As the Taste NY Inventory Manager at the Adirondacks Welcome Center, John keeps track of the variety of locally made food, beverages, and other goods in the vending machines. He also interacts with travelers throughout the day.

When traveling to Burlington, Vt., John took note of their paid-parking system, which allowed motorists to download an app and pay by phone.

As he and his wife spent time enjoying lunch at a restaurant, he was able to simply add time to the meter from the table.

"I thought, 'This is the way life should be.' It’s such a buzzkill to guestimate how much money to put into the meter, and then in Lake George, you would have had to leave the restaurant and go out to put money in the meter," John said.

He and the village staff researched the concept and found it would be an inexpensive upgrade that could add convenience and modern technology to the guest experience.

John gave credit to the staff at the village who made this technological advancement possible.

“The people who did the work are the staff at the village,” John said.

Learn more about how ParkMobile works with this video below!

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News Blog

Pay by Phone Parking now Available in Lake George!

Here’s how it works:

Bringing ParkMobile to Lake George

Learn more about how ParkMobile works with this video below!

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