Community Corner
PayByPhone App Down For Hours: MBTA
It meant free parking at MBTA parking facilities - for a time, the MBTA said.
BOSTON — If you were trying to park at an MBTA facility and use the PayByPhone app, it's not you, there was a system-wide outage this morning. But as of 11:03 a.m., the app is back and running, according to an email sent to Waltham's transportation department, which also uses the app for mobile parking.
Earlier this morning the MBTA announced the app had a full platform outage and that has affected all parking operations in their parking lots. The PayByPhone Systems Team was working on recovering service, according to the MBTA. The officials at Waltham City Hall said there was no real impact for them, but the MBTA earlier said they'd allow people free parking until service resumed.
Cars will not be ticketed or towed. Once @PayByPhone_NA service is restored, they will allow customers to pay then. They will check parked cars after customers are notified that service is restored.
— MBTA (@MBTA) June 4, 2019
Find out what's happening in Bostonfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
PayByPhone is owned by Volkswagen Financial Services, according to its website. And it's not just MBTA parking facilities that are affected: It's not working in the United Kingdom either, according to the company.
The outage comes a day after the company rolled out a new maps feature in Seattle that shows where there are empty parking spaces. The company plans to roll that out across more markets in the months ahead.
Find out what's happening in Bostonfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Patch reporter Jenna Fisher can be reached at Jenna.Fisher@patch.com or by calling 617-942-0474. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram (@ReporterJenna).
Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.
