Parking committee recommends further review of ParkMobile/Butts contract after public concern over signage and payment options

The West Chester Borough Parking Committee on Oct. 7 recommended sending a proposed contract to add ParkMobile/Butts ticketing services for on-street and lot payments to a work session after residents and staff raised questions about signage, fees and customer options.

Resident Joe Quill said he was confused by new management of downtown paid parking and by unclear signs, and worried that barriers to payment could discourage customers from coming to West Chester. “I noticed that there is a new, management system that is going in place or is in place where no longer will there be free parking after 4PM. And the signage is not particularly clear,” Quill told the committee. He also asked how people without a working smartphone would pay.

Committee members and staff framed the ParkMobile proposal as an attempt to add a widely used alternative to the existing Flowbird app, not to replace the current system immediately. Mitch, a ParkMobile representative, told the committee ParkMobile charges a convenience fee to the user (about $0.40 per transaction under standard terms) and offers brand recognition, a 1-800 customer-service number and a reservation option for garage spaces. “There’s a customer service team with ParkMobile,” Mitch said, adding the service can provide pay-by-phone and a phone number for users without smartphones.

Parking staff said signage will be updated to show both payment options and enforcement hours. The committee discussed customer cost differences — staff noted Flowbird’s fee is lower (around $0.25 per transaction) — and asked staff to clarify how kiosk text reminders and extensions are charged when customers add time. A resident asked whether extending a session via text or app would incur a second convenience fee.

Committee chair Lisa Dorsey and staff emphasized improving signs and customer instructions. John O’Brien, director of the Business Improvement District, was cited as a local contact to help monitor public reaction to any change in payment options.

The committee voted to forward the ParkMobile/Butts contract proposal to a work session for additional review and to resolve open questions about convenience fees, extension mechanics and signage before a final recommendation.

Questions the committee asked staff to answer in the work session include: whether text or kiosk extensions trigger additional convenience fees; how garage reservation fees and their minimums (noted in the proposal as 15% of the reservation transaction, minimum $1) would be presented to customers; and how on-street signage will display both payment options and enforcement hours.

The committee did not approve the contract at the meeting; members said final approval should follow the work-session clarifications.

Ending: The committee asked staff to return with clarified fee mechanics, proposed signage artwork and customer-service procedures for a work session, and to monitor public feedback once ParkMobile is added as an option.