Paphos Smart Parking

[PolemIan]

Has anybody tried using the new parking app yet?

I used the large car park by Kennedy Square the other day whilst I popped to over to Bean Haus for some more coffee beans - fortunately before the nasty collapsing balcony incident above, but as I had some change in the car I chose to use it up in the ticket machine.

The app is ok, security not great, but I can’t work out if the new sensors which are supposed to be able to tell which spot you’re in, will also, presumably once the ticket machines have gone, can also generate a fine if they detect you use a spot but don’t pay for it via the app or SMS.

Feedback from anybody who’s tried it yet would be appreciated.

Ian

[PolemIan]

Mouse, the SMS is to 9191 but I believe there’s a 1 euro fee for the sms itself.

Whilst the app gives choice of languages, unfortunately the FAQ and help it links to doesn’t, unless, I’m missing something on the web page it takes you to from the app

https://pafos.org.cy/smart-city/smartparking/

[PolemIan]

Mouse, no idea, that’s why I’m asking if anybody has tried it yet, I would hope so. The app is supposed to be able to tell which space you’re in, which you can amend if incorrect and allow you to extend the parking period remotely if you’re going to go over time, and I’m sure I read somewhere in theory tell it when you’ve finished if for a shorter period for a better rate, can’t find where I read that though. Might have been the mayor’s or the municipal Facebook pages.

[PolemIan]

Found it.

Important step for converting Paphos into a Smart and Digital City - Smart parking space management system in operation

Another important step in achieving its strategic goal of converting Paphos into a Smart and Digital City is carried out by the Municipality of Paphos with the start of operation on Friday, July 1st parking space management, in the context of the co-sponsored by the The European Union and the Republic of Cyprus Project "Provision, installation and maintenance of smart parking management system for the Municipality of Paphos".

The project is expected to contribute significantly to upgrading the services provided by the Local Authority to the citizens and also visitors of Pafos since through the Pafos Smart Parking application, which was created within the framework of the project they will be able to control the fullness of parking spaces in real time, the ability to have guidance to parking spaces, as well as the possibility to pay by alternative and easy ways.

For the purposes of implementation of the system, the area of the city of Paphos was divided into zones. It is pointed out that the system includes parking spaces that are located both in organized Municipal Parking Spaces and on streets (parodies). In order to pay system users fairly, the following have been set to apply from July 1:

Zone A - Organized Parking Space 1 euro / 2 hours
Zone B - Organized Parking Space 1 euro / 3 hours
Zone C - Traditional seats 1 euro / 30 minutes
Zone D - Traditional seats 1 euro / 60 minutes
Zone E - Free Zero Charge

Zone A: Pervola, Municipal Library, Canary Islands, Karavella, Municipal Market, Agia Sophia Mosque, Kennedy Square, SODAP Beach, Tombs of Kings, Apostle Paul Avenue, Evagoras Palikaridis Municipal Swimming Pool

Zone B: Leontiou, Mousallas, Nikou Antoniadis, Apollo, Salaminos, Dasoudi, China Park, Koubilai Street

Zone C: March 25, Thermopylon, Zenonos, Vladimirou Heracleus, Gregory Auxentiou, Nikodimos Mylona, Gladstonos, Nikos Antoniadis, Paphos Chrysanthos, Poseidonos Avenue, Tombs of Kings Avenue, Apostle Paul, Eleftherios Venizelos, Avenue G. Griva Digeni

Zone D: Adonid, Hippocrates, Pausanius, Leonidus, Agios Kendeus, Renos, Galatia, Lida, Constantia, Agia Napa, Kikeronos, Klytimnistra, Pafia Aphrodite, Ikarus, Athens, Muttalos Square, Muttal Caves, Onoufriou Kliridis

Zone E: Port of Kato Paphos, Rest

Users have the following alternative payment methods available:
● Through the app. This way the user can pay for the minutes he has parked precisely.
● By SMS . If you send a text to 9191 you will be charged 1 € per message. The user is charged to the mobile phone bill. An agreement has been made with Cyta, Epic and Primetel (Primetel from July 14).
● Machines. With payment to the existing machines-receivers for a reasonable transitional period.
● With the monthly parking pass:
○ Option 1: € 25 for Zone A and B except for the Municipal Library and the space on Canary Street. The ticket is purchased through the Pafos Smart Parking app.
○ Option 2: €50 for all Zones. The ticket is purchased through the Pafos Smart Parking app.
○ Option 3: Social exclusion bulletin for people over 65 - € 25 for all Zones. The card is purchased at the Citizen's Service Center (KED) located in the parking area of Stelios Kyriakidis Stadium.

The app is available on Android and iOS and can be downloaded from Google play and the App Store respectively.

[trevnhil]

I can see this being a bit of a nightmare.. Yes I can understand the different car parks having a charge to park there, except for the Port one.
But do people, especially visitors and ex pats, know the name of all the streets that they can park in.
For instance, my wife attends St George's hospital. I know that the marked street parking places have a number on them.. Do I now have to pay to park there, as I have no idea what the street name is.
So, I assume that to avoid a fine I had better carry a street map with me and get some sort of app.
But that does suppose that I have a certain sort of phone..

[Lincoln]

As we now live in Polis-thank goodness I shall not be using this confusing system. When we visit Paphos we park in the shop carparks where we shop and the restaurant car parks where we eat/drink.

[Kili01]

Agree with Trev, this all seems a bit of a nightmare, much easier to put 1 euro in a parking meter! I wonder how many expats know the name of all these streets. It will be easier for me to avoid as far as possible shopping in Paphos, except when parking in a Supermarket car park.
I remember that Paphos managed to get a grant for an eye watering amount from the EU to pay for this innovation.

Dee.

[daveg]

Just downloaded the App.....
But it won't open.... maybe it's not live yet?....
Can't see me faffing around with this " Smart Parking"...

[Paphos Pete]

How this works in the UK is the app knows where you are as it geolocates you via your phone’s gps. You don’t need to know where you are or street names or anything. It tells you, and shows you via a map in the app.

So, I would expect the Cypriot system to be similar.

[trevnhil]

Just downloaded the App.....
But it won't open.... maybe it's not live yet?....
Can't see me faffing around with this " Smart Parking"...

But if you park in a numbered parking bay, and don't pay, you could end up with a fine.

[PolemIan]

Just downloaded the App.....
But it won't open.... maybe it's not live yet?....
Can't see me faffing around with this " Smart Parking"...

But if you park in a numbered parking bay, and don't pay, you could end up with a fine.

Trev, basic rules will be, I think, that if the bay you park in has a number on it, a fee however, you choose to pay, is payable.

In answer to my own original post and your question, according to my accountant after a brief chat that I’ll clarify when we next speak at length, yes the system is intended to issue fines if no method of payment is found - just as it is now but only limited to detection by the scooter dudes.

As you know from our recent tech discussions over coffee, I’m into my gadgets and tech, but part of me likes this system and another part thinks for a smallish town like Paphos, it’s overkill. I’d like it more if it was linked to Apple Pay.

I’ll keep an open mind and see how it goes.

Ian

[trevnhil]

The idea of paying for parking is OK. There are ticket machines now on various streets and of course car parks.. And whilst there will me a majority of people who will manage the system quite well, there will be others, perhaps of a similar age to me, that will struggle or not even have a phone that they can use to operate this system..
I saw a 'scooter dude' (your term) this morning putting tickets on windscreens of cars on double yellow lines. I gave him a thumbs-up

[Kili01]

It will beq interesting to see how people without smart phones or technophobic people manage to park their cars outside the numbered spaces..

Dee

[trevnhil]

Lots of the side streets will become even more crowded. Like the one down the side of St Georges Hospital

[Ams]

Just looking at it from a different point of view...

I recently had to pay €2.50 for parking that cost €1.70. But the machine only accepted exact change, which I did not have. I put a €2 coin in thinking 'oh well, I'll lose 30c because it won't give me change, but never mind'. But no, the machine wouldn't accept the €2 as it would only accept exactly €1.70. So I had to put another 50c in (which luckily I had) to extend my parking from 4 hours to 6 hours, which cost €2.50.

That's a crazy system as I can't be the only person not to have exact change. If the smart app had been available that wouldn't have been an issue.

That said, while I am very happy to use the app if it works properly, I do think there should be options, and ones to take account of tourists who won't be able to use the text option. It would make sense to have a card reader to you can just swipe your debit/credit card.

[TandC]

Which car parks have smart parking?

[PolemIan]

Which car parks have smart parking?

All the ones listed in my earlier post, basically any car park, or parking bay / area that has a 4 digit number in the space.

Ian

[TandC]

This might seem obvious but is the "Port of Kato Pafos" the "Harbour"?

[TandC]

This might seem obvious but is the "Port of Kato Pafos" the "Harbour"?

[josef k]

I downloaded the app, and it opens OK. Currently I use it just to identify where there are spaces. It's not difficult to learn the Greek name for a particular car park or road.
If you are determined to park in a space without a number. You will find a carpark full of them in the one behind the mosque carpark.