What the District Council are describing as new "user-friendly" - "Check In' and 'Check Out' payment machines are coming to a council car park near you.

Upgraded parking payment machines are due to go into all 22 council car parks across North Herts, with full colour touch screens accepting contactless payment including Apple and Google Pay.

One of the main new features will allow visitors to 'Check In' and 'Check Out' for up to the maximum stay, removing the stress of guessing how long parking is needed for.

There is also no need to display tickets, removing the need for visitors to return back to their vehicle to display a new ticket.

The machines are powered through the mains in multi-storey car parks, but solar powered in the open-air ones!

The new machines, operated by Flowbird UK, are set to be installed from 17 February in Hitchin. 

Some minimal disruption is expected and notices will be going up in the vicinity before work starts. From work starting, we hope the new machines will be up and running within a week, although delays can happen such as through bad weather. Flowbird will have members of staff to support customers on the day of and for a couple of days following each installation, while also collecting customer feedback.

The PayByPhone option will continue to be available using our existing app and all car parks which currently accept cash will continue to do so – Woodside in Hitchin is the only council car park that doesn't take cash due to previous issues with vandalism.

Please note – the machines do not use QR codes as a payment option given the recent scams.

Car parks in Hitchin affected:

• Bancroft Long Stay
• Woodside Long Stay
• Lairage multi-storey
• Biggin Lane*
• Christchurch*
• St. Mary's Square
• Portmill Lane West
• Portmill Lane East

*There is only one machine to be replaced in Biggin Lane and Christchurch car parks so there may be a time when machines are not in use and enforcement will reflect this. 

State-of-the art electric vehicle (EV) charging points are also due to go into eight of the council's long stay car parks across the district. Managed by Blink Charging UK, the new EV chargers will help provide residents, businesses and visitors with greater access to reliable and user-friendly charging facilities.

Car parks due to have EV chargers installed are:

• Bancroft
• The Lairage
• Woodside

Cllr Daniel Allen, Leader of North Herts Council and Executive Member for Planning & Transport, said: "We're really excited to be introducing Flowbird's modern and user-friendly payment machines, gone are the days of pay and display! The best thing is if you pay electronically, you don't have to guess how long you'll be and can just pay for what you use at the end up to the maximum stay, and not worry about rushing back from shopping and enjoying our towns, or extending via the app. And fear not, we want to make it clear that you can still pay with cash." 

Thomas Harrington, Managing Director at Flowbird UK, added: "The 'Check In' and 'Check Out' feature is a great new addition. Motorists will only be charged for the time they have parked for, which means they don't have to race back to their vehicle before the ticket runs out."