Paying for off-street public parking in Oceanside has gone mobile with the introduction of the PayByPhone system, the company announced Monday, July 21.
The city first announced its contract with the service in December. PayBayPhone is available in Oceanside two public parking lots, at the SALT building and Lot 30 on The Strand, with plans for other areas in the future.
City and company officials say the PayByPhone app allows for faster cashless payment for parking spaces.
“People no longer have to remember to have their bank cards, credit cards or cash to pay for parking, or to rush back to their vehicles to add more time to avoid getting a citation, or worse, cut short an enjoyable beach day because they don’t have any more money on hand,” city Parking Enforcement Supervisor Jessica Farrell said in a PayByPhone news release. “PayByPhone offers our residents and visitors great flexibility when they park. They can start and extend their parking sessions in a matter of seconds through the PayByPhone app, so they can fully enjoy vacation-mode for as long as they had planned when visiting some of our key attractions.”
Drivers preferring to use cash or credit cards can still do so, according to the city.
The app, which has 14 languages available, has a Maps feature that allows a driver to pin their vehicle on a map for easier location when they return, according to PayByPhone’s news release. Users can also locate other parking before they leave for their next destination using its Nearby Parking feature.
In an announcement last December, the city noted that PayByPhone offers the convenience of extending parking times without needing to go back to meters to add money.
“The app will send you an alert if your parking session is due to expire, so you don’t risk a ticket,” the city stated Dec. 20. “You’ll never have to worry about having just the right change, or queue at a machine to use this system.”
Oceanside is among seven U.S. and Canadian cities that have contracted with the service this year. So far in 2025, PayByPhone has been adopted in Baltimore; Bethlehem, Pennsylvania; Hull, Massachusetts; Kansas City; Niagara Falls, Ontario; and Winston-Salem, North Carolina. San Luis Obispo also recently made PayByPhone its sole public parking app.
“We are thrilled to launch PayByPhone in the City of Oceanside,” Carmen Donnell, PayByPhone managing director for North America, said in the company’s news release. “We are very happy PayByPhone is making the parking experience as hassle-free as possible for residents and visitors to this beautiful coastal area.”
The SALT building lot is located at 371 North Cleveland St. near Civic Center Drive. The other lot is located at 101 N. The Strand.
