What is the National Parking Platform?

The government recently set out its ‘Plan for Drivers’ paper showcasing a variety of new measures that have been designed to ‘improve the experience of driving and services provided for motorists’.

Highlights include more investment in roads and improved road safety in part thanks to new campaigns and actions. However, the National Parking Platform (NPP) is a new measure which could make ‘everyday’ driving easier and smoother – but what is it and what do you need to know about it?

What is the National Parking Platform?

The National Parking Platform is being introduced to make paying for parking easier. It’ll create a centralised system that will ensure drivers don’t need to have a variety of apps installed on their smartphones in order to pay for parking. It’s also publicly owned and not-for-profit and will work to allow parking operators to communicate directly with service providers.

So how will it make parking easier?

The National Parking Platform will allow drivers to use their preferred app or provider to find and pay for parking wherever they are. The NPP says that different parking app providers will ‘compete for business’ by offering ‘the best customer experience’.

— Rishi Sunak (@RishiSunak) September 30, 2023

Essentially, it means that you’ll be able to choose a single provider app and use it to pay for parking wherever you are, rather than having to download individual apps for each new location.

Will anything else be integrated into these services?

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That’s right. As well as parking, other services have the potential to be integrated into this single, large network. For instance, you might be able to pay for electric vehicle charging alongside the parking. This would allow you to tie it all into a single account and payment, rather than having to do both individually.

Have any areas already signed up to the service?

They have. So far, Manchester, Oxford, Cheshire West, Chester and Coventry have all signed up to the National Parking Platform, allowing drivers in those areas to pay for parking via their preferred service at ‘participating car parks and on-street locations’.

Will it be expanded?

It’s expected that the National Parking Platform will be open to parking providers across the UK by the autumn of 2024 as outlined in the government’s Plan for Drivers. The government says that this move will end ‘the need to use multiple parking apps’.

What have providers said?

Caura is one such app which provides a full service and allows drivers to pay for MOTs, servicing and charges like London’s ULEZ. Its CEO and founder Dr Sai Lakshmi said: “I know that motorists across the country will breathe a sigh of relief with the rollout of the National Parking Platform pilot, and I’m one of them.

“The old system was outdated, and it’s refreshing to see the government introduce a programme that listens to and supports UK motorists with easy-to-use technology. What this provides is a unified experience, eliminating the need to clutter your phone with multiple apps for different parking regions or rules. You choose your preferred app, and that one app can be used to pay for parking in various locations nationwide.”