6 Photos
The license plate reader used to keep track of cars who don't have stickers or day passes. DAN STARK
Cars being helped at Tiana Beach last Saturday. DAN STARK
One of the signs with the QR code to scan to purchase daily parking passes at the entrance to Tiana Beach. DAN STARK
One of the foldable signs at Tiana Beach showing how to buy daily parking passes. DAN STARK
A sign showing the QR code to scan to buy daily parking passes near the pavilion at Tiana Beach. DAN STARK
View of the Tiana Beach parking lot from the pavilion. DAN STARK
Certain beaches operated by the Town of Southampton Parks and Recreation Department will continue to experiment with the use of a phone app to purchase daily parking passes this summer.
The app in question, Passport Parking, fully digitizes the process of getting daily parking passes. Instead of receiving a physical ticket from a beach attendant, beachgoers visiting for the day will use the free app to purchase a ticket.
When someone who has not previously used the app before arrives at a beach using the app, they can either scan a QR code from large signs that have been posted in the parking lots or a small sheet given to them by the attendants. Scanning the QR code will direct the user to a link to download the app.
Once the app is downloaded, users then will receive a verification code via text message or email and are asked to create a four-digit PIN number to protect their account information. Then, users will enter the six-digit zone number specific to each beach that is listed on the signs.
Once selected, they are asked to enter their vehicle’s license plate number, the state it is registered in and an option nickname for the vehicle.
To finish the process, users will enter their credit card information in the app to pay for the permit. Once paid for, pole-mounted cameras at the beaches will read their license plate and be taken down in their system. Users can then park at that beach until 9 p.m. that night.
Once parked, traffic control officers will come around each beach multiple times during the day utilizing license plate readers to make sure cars parked in the lots have purchased permits. Cars without permits are issued citations, which can later be paid for online.
The app was first utilized by the department last July at four beaches: Tiana Beach in Hampton Bays, Mecox Beach in Bridgehampton, Sagg Main Beach in Sagaponack, and Hot Dog Beach in East Quogue. The app will still be used at those beaches this summer.
Parks and Recreation Director Kristen Doulos said that the department is also considering implementing the app at Foster Memorial Long Beach in Sag Harbor and the overflow lot at Ponquogue Beach in Hampton Bays.
The use of the Passport app is part of the department’s goal to make a more streamlined system to park at the beaches, according to Doulos. Using the app for daily parking passes is the first phase of the town’s plan.
In addition to utilizing the app for daily passes, Passport parking has an online portal where town residents can now purchase their seasonal parking passes as well. To do that, residents can upload their car registration and other required documents and pay for the permit online. Once paid for, the department will mail them an actual sticker.
Doulos said that the department has yet to set a time frame for when it will fully implement use of the app for all parking sales. However, she said that the beaches “aren’t fully there yet” in regard to being ready for the full switch, as there were issues with the pole mounted camera at Tiana Beach not properly reading every license plate, leading to some citations being written for people who paid on the app.
Another issue Doulos mentioned is that “the police have been having issues getting as many seasonal traffic control officers as they’d like” to enforce the new parking system.
The problem that Doulos cited is that the changes are ones that have to be made on the fly during the summer.
“It’s hard when you’re running a seasonal operation and you have to pick up everything again,” said Doulos. “But in the meantime, everything else keeps going.”
The price of daily permits also increased this year, going from $30 to $40. Doulos cited the change in the price of that and the nonresident seasonal sticker (which increased from $400 to $450) to the minimum wage increasing to $16 per hour, cost of equipment for the beaches and a mandated increase in lifeguard wages that their contract requires. However, the price of season passes for residents remained the same.
Doulos also added that even once the app is fully implemented, the department does not plan to eliminate the seasonal beach attendants, but keep “some kind of staff” at the beaches in a slightly altered role that isn’t as focused on selling parking passes.
“We were thinking of it as beach ambassadors who could answer questions, direct people and who would still be responsible for maintaining the parking lots, pavilion area and restroom areas,” said Doulos.
Ultimately, Doulos said that the goal for this summer is to make sure that the Passport app is something that the department wants to invest more resources into, as she said the department does not want to rush into implementing something just for the sake of getting it done.
“This is an important operation and we want to make sure we get it right,” she said. “We’re just taking it step by step to see what the best long-term fit is going to be before investing a bunch of money into something that we may want to move on from in a couple of years.”
