After May 30, people who use their phones to pay for parking across Fort Worth will pay a little bit more for the convenience.
ParkMobile, an app that lets people find and pay for parking on their cellphones instead of paying at a meter, currently charges a $0.35 convenience fee for each transaction. Starting June 1, that fee will increase to $0.45.
This is the first time the fee has increased since ParkMobile was introduced to Fort Worth in 2016. The reason for the increase, according to a written report to the Fort Worth City Council, is ParkMobile’s rising operational costs.
The city doesn’t pay for ParkMobile’s services; instead, people who use the app shoulder the operational costs in the form of convenience fees. The operational costs include marketing, payroll, insurance and development of products and services, according to the report to the City Council.
“This increase will ensure that ParkMobile can continue to provide the City of Fort Worth with the best mobile applications and service to meet customer expectations for parking offerings,” the report states.
People can also use the street meters across the city to pay for parking, which do not incur a convenience fee.
What are you paying for when you use ParkMobile?
The parking charge residents receive when they park using ParkMobile’s app goes to two places. The app collects standard parking fees for the city, and then collects a separate convenience fee for itself.
For example, if a resident is charged $2.35 for parking, $2 go to the city, and $0.35 go to ParkMobile. After May 30, the amount ParkMobile receives would increase to $0.45.
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