ParkBoston – Boston Parking Reviews

by Alan The Piano Tech

I have been using ParkBoston nearly daily since I got it, and by and large it's pretty great. I have yet to have any functionality issues, which is pretty impressive. The one issue I have is worthy of my two-star ding, and it is this: the ten-minutes warning is a rather loud and realistic sounding car horn. If you *use* your phone for, oh, say, anything at all that requires the speakers, it will be loud enough to make you jump out of your skin. If you're in your car already and using the phone through your cars soeakers, it's downright dangerous! You can turn the reminder off completely, but it uses the system volume, and you cannot make the sound anything other than the device on your car designed to warn others of danger. Idiotic! Since my complaints about this have gone unnoticed apparently for months, and I've grown to despise ParkBoston despite the fact that it would be five star material without this unforgivable flaw, I have downgraded my rating from three to one star.

by Mirbagg

ParkBoston, created by the city of Boston, uses deceptive practices to generate parking tickets to directly benefit, you guessed it, the City of Boston! ParkBoston malfunctions when you attempt to renew your parking meter or does not allow you to renew at which point the meter has already expired and you likely already have a ticket. You must physically refresh the meter on the street if you want to use the meter for consecutive Parking sessions thus making ParkBoston totally useless. ParkBoston uses your license plate so you cannot park in the same space, but you are not made aware of that until it’s already to late.
Complaints have already been filed with the DOT and the department of consumer affairs.

by Not Seeing It

I got a parking ticket, clearly given to another car, after I left the parking space when using ParkBoston. The only way I found out about it was I got a mailed notice. The time in the ticket was 5 Min after my paid window, but after I physically left the spot, which I’m 100% sure of because I had to be at work by the time the ticket was given. I didn’t bother disputing because I don’t have free time to go to parking ticket hearings, but I will never use ParkBoston again because I realized what a potential scam it is. There is no easy way to prove you weren’t there any more because the meter maids have access to your plate information regardless of your physical presence.

by Inspector Cruzo

User interface experience could be much better. Entered Zone number but then noticed that it was not meter specific. Could not go back to see if I could apply the specific meter info. Several other meters were under the same Zone number. Once paid, the payment did not sync with the meter even after 2 hours. Meter showed “Expired” the entire time, causing me stress. You have to pay an additional “convenience” fee of 0.40 cents! Really?!?! They also Prefunded a card for $10! Meaning they take $10 upfront! And no way to get refunded! Obviously this works for the city of Boston but not for us the people.

by Macmillies

By far one of the more annoying apps I downloaded so most meters in Boston need to be paid by 8 am during the week, and ParkBoston literally just kept staying on the loading screen for finalizing the purchase for the meter and then would just cut off and not go through did that about 5 times to final realize it wasn’t going to work so I still had to go down 5 floors down to go to pay meter manually to find out I still got a ticket in mean time trying to get ParkBoston to work and you can’t pay the meter until 8 so thanks Boston Parking for getting me a Ticket ohhh
And payment went through after I got the ticket and went down to the car

by Diamondsux

I used ParkBoston to park my car and I didn’t get one but TWO parking tickets! I had no idea what I was doing wrong as I never let my time expire. It turns out, a local told me that you aren’t allowed to park at the same meter twice in a row, nor in the same block twice in a row! How would someone from out of town know that? And ParkBoston happily took my money even though I was renewing it a second time. Why would ParkBoston let you renew your time on the same meter if that isn’t allowed!! I’ve never heard of such a thing. I’m going to be disputing these two $40 parking tickets and never coming back to Boston again!

by Steph P.S.

Passport offers zero support for customers who are accidentally charged twice because of a glitch in ParkBoston . There’s no phone support, just phone numbers that connect you to app support (but won’t discuss charges with you) or the local parking office who only deal with tickets and towing. There is a text for help feature that just tells you to call for help and connects you once again to a useless phone number. Emails to the support email address are not answered. I am still trying to figure out how to get a refund for a double charge. Why does the City of Boston recommend an app where there is no support for charges?

by MPrytunes

Was visiting Boston from NC. Upon parking I downloaded ParkBoston , and entered plate #, parking zone, etc., and paid. I entered my plate number as it is on my plate, with a dash. Very convenient and easy to use. To my dismay, I came back to $40 ticket. I parked elsewhere later that evening, and another $40 ticket! I parked the next day, and luckily did not get a ticket, but apparently just got lucky that no parking enforcement came by that day. I called to dispute the tickets upon returning home and was told I shouldn’t have entered the dash. Seems like it should have been an instant dismissal for such a simple “error”, but it had to be reviewed. A week or so later, I received a letter regarding each violation. One was dismissed and one wasn’t!! I called again and was told they will only dismiss one mistake (which isn’t really a mistake as there is a dash in my plate #). What time consuming nonsense for all involved just for including the dash in my plate number! App developers, unless you are trying to take advantage of unsuspecting out-of-towners, please provide instructions in ParkBoston to not include spacers or dashes, or whatever else will cause a problem.

by No Quarters

Have been using ParkBoston for over two years now and have had no issues! There must have been a recent update as when I tried to use it yesterday I couldn’t open it and kept getting a message stating “no internet connection “. This is the first time I have ever seen this!!
Of course I did not have any quarters with me and got a $25 ticket after being parked for only 10 minutes! I am really upset about this and would not recommend ParkBoston especially since I can’t open it!!

by Daphneallison

ParkBoston is fine. It’s pretty easy to use on the go which is great. It’s easy to extend your time if needed without running back to the car which I love! However, users should be able to redeem time you didn’t use. There should be a “check in” like feature where you can get money returned (to the nearest quarter or whatever) if you return to your car before your time is up.

For example, I was taking photographs today when it started raining. I had an hour left on my meter but had no way to redeem that money which seems wild given that the capability is there.

Also, ParkBoston always tacks on a “convenience fee” for paying with card. If you’re using ParkBoston , you’re paying with card!! Those prices should just be included from the get-go.

by Beach.bum

I use ParkBoston frequently because I live in back bay and can’t always find resident parking. It’s convenient and great because I want all quarters to do my laundry ;) I like the recent history, I like the reminder.

A couple recommendations from an avid user to make ParkBoston better:
1. A map so you can remember where you parked / see which zone to use if you parked overnight and and want to pay to park in the morning but don’t want to leave bed quite yet (my zone starts at 8am and one Saturday’s I like to read in bed with coffee in the morning).
2. It takes a lot of clicks. Login. Zone entry. Car selection. Payment type. Payment method. Confirmation. I use this for my main car 99% of the time, have always paid with the same card. I wish it defaulted to my main car, my usual payment method and type, left the zone free to enter, and confirmed there, rather than asking each time if I want to pay using credit/debit or parking card, then asking which card, then needing to confirm I actually want to pay. I defaulted to auto login which helped, but I want one or two clicks please. I’ve forgotten to confirm a couple times and been lucky, but I know that won’t always be the case!
3. I wish the recent history allowed for 4 or 5 recent zones. I park on my block and get them confused sometimes and have to go back into my email to figure out which zone is which street and which side of the street in the morning.

Thanks!

by Trinitraveller

First time using ParkBoston i got a ticket.
While going through the FAQ section i though and found the link to contesting a parking ticket. Guess what the link is broken.

So next option in ParkBoston call an attendant: sends you to the city of Boston phone line and no live person on the other end and no selection to dispute a ticket that occurred using ParkBoston as a payment method.

Do i really have to take time off of work to go to Boston and dispute this ticket in person???

ParkBoston seems seriously broken.

Update:
The developer contacted me via email shortly afterwards and let me know the link was fixed.
Also i managed to use the link to contact the parking authority contest the ticket and have it voided.
I’m impressed with the quick action and resolution.

by Pittsiepie

But.. if it could add time rather than start a whole new, it probably has something to do with the two hour limit, just in convientoh paid for 10 minutes on top of my original two hours. Not a big deal only one dollar but maybe the people who write the programming could override that portion of the law? But no big deal if you can't, just going to be slightly over paying!

by 1235$&

Last few months app claims you can’t extend even when you have more time to do so or it would violate zone laws in place. I’ve had to fight tickets due to this “bug.” Even city’s BTD workers acknowledge it’s not accurate. Wouldn’t be surprise if it’s done intentionally as a way for the city to get extra funds through ticketing. ParkBoston is incorrect and needs to be addressed. If done intentionally it’s morally wrong.

by _appleUser

For a product being promoted by “the city”, I gotta say I am impressed with its quality! ParkBoston is reliable, easy to use, and has a decent UI. Don’t try using coins + ParkBoston to get extra time because you can still get a ticket. After a year using ParkBoston, I still give it a 5 stars rating. Good job!

by Ustazhamouda

One is always away from the car when needs to feed the metre .. it is so marvelous to be able to extend the parking period remotely .. Now imagine that one day it will be allowed to get a refund if one happens to leave the spot earlier than planned .. that would be nice .. and fair too ,.

by Cambridge Parker

Very user friendly. Have been using this for 2 years and never had an issue. Simple, intuitive and does what apps should do: makes your life easier. No more scrambling for quarters or running out from an appointment to add money to the meter, because ParkBoston even sends you a reminder when your time is nearing expiration.

by Phoibos

Sign up was easy. Paying for parking is straight forward using a Credit or Debit Card (Visa/MC only). Prepaying is possible but NOT a requirement. They do charge a small convenience fee (just paid 15 cents).
Unless the meter maid now causes trouble, this is great. No more fumbling around at the machine with cold hands and the going back to the car to stick the receipt to the window.

by Smulves

I love love love ParkBoston. Makes it easy to pay for parking without having to even get a credit card out to touch the meter. It remembers your card and car info each time and you just need a simple pin to log in. Zone are printed in large font on the meters so you can enter the info without getting out of your car. This is especially convenient when the weather is bad! I consider ParkBoston to be a huge win for the city of Boston. Nice job!

by Nestblows

I found the ap easy to use and reasonably logical once set up. You can enter multiple cars and multiple payment methods. It sure beats rummaging for change or worse using those machines that dispense tickets that you put in the car window. Quick, easy, flexible, no standing around in the rain or snow trying to get an often broken machine to dispense a ticket. I love it. U should too.

by Nis.e

ParkBoston is very comprehensive and intuitive. I love the fact that it provides me with a timer so that I can make sure that I do not get a ticket. I don't usually find that I have issues with ParkBoston it is pretty functional. I would love though if it had a directory of all of the zones. Other than that ParkBoston is great.