Parking in Asbury Park may become less of a problem starting July 18 when the city institutes a valet parking service in the downtown for a $20 fee.
The pilot program will run through at least Labor Day and will be operated by LAZ Parking. Users can drop their vehicles off with a LAZ attendant at a valet stand located at Press Plaza on Cookman Avenue at Emory Street and then text to retrieve the vehicle.
An additional valet stand location will be added in the future at Bond Street between Cookman and Lake Avenues. Vehicles will be parked in a city-operated parking lot off Memorial Drive and in the Bangs Avenue Garage. The cost per vehicle will be $20. Hours will be Thursday and Friday 4:30 to 11:30 p.m., Saturday 11 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. and Sunday 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
“This pilot valet program is an incremental step in our goal to improve parking accessibility in the city and especially in our downtown to help support our local businesses,” said City Councilwoman Eileen Chapman, “The service is designed to not only provide coverage during busy weekend evenings, but also during the day to encourage visitors to come enjoy more than just the nightlife in Asbury Park.”
Electric Scooter Share
The city’s new electric scooter share program launches with Zagster, the city’s bike share vendor, and their partner, Spin. The pilot scooter share program will run from July 24 through June 2020. The program includes up to 250 scooters stationed at 30 locations around Asbury Park for riders 18 years and older. Scooters will be available from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. every day at a cost of $1 plus 15 cents per minute. Users will download the Spin app to their mobile phone to set up an account, find a map of scooter locations, pay for sessions, and ‘unlock’ scooters for use with a QR code scan. Scooters must be operated on city streets in bike lanes when available, and not on sidewalks.
“Scooters are an affordable, fast, convenient and fun way to travel around the city,” said Deputy Mayor Amy Quinn, “We did a ton of research before bringing this pilot to Asbury Park, including evaluating other cities that have launched scooter sharing programs and visiting Hoboken, the first municipality in New Jersey to launch a scooter share program. We see this as an amenity for residents who may not have access to a car.”
For more information, visit www.cityofasburypark.com/scoot
Additional Parking Payment App Now Available through ParkMobile
The city is providing an additional parking payment app option to users with the launch of ParkMobile in Asbury Park. The app enables users to easily pay for over 3,000 on-street parking spaces right from their mobile device. The ParkMobile app is currently in use by almost 600,000 users in cities across New Jersey including Newark, Jersey City, Hoboken and New Brunswick.
To pay for parking using the ParkMobile app, a user simply enters the zone number posted on signage in the area, chooses the duration of time they wish to park, and touches the “Start Parking” button. The ParkMobile app will send alerts when the parking session is about to expire so a user can extend time right from the app.
For a limited time, first-time users of the ParkMobile appcan get a $2 dollar discount on parking in any on-street spot in Asbury Park by using the code “PMASBURY” when they start a parking session.
“We are excited to offer the ParkMobile app as another payment option,” says Transportation Director Michael Manzella, “Our goal is to always improve the parking experience – and we know a lot of visitors from other cities in New Jersey already have the app on their phone, making it an easy way for them to pay for parking when they visit Asbury Park.”
