Text to Park Frequently Asked Questions

Text to Park

I sent a text but a parking session wasn't activated. What do I do now?

Why do I need to put the words "start" and "end" when using Text to Park?

Why am I unsuccessful in starting a session when I text 77587 through Google Hangouts?

ParkPlus cell phone account holders can pay for parking by Text. To start a parking session, text the word "start" and then the four-digit ParkPlus zone number to PPLUS (77587). To end a parking session, you will need to text the word "end" and then the four-digit ParkPlus zone number to PPLUS (77587).

I sent a text but a parking session wasn't activated. What do I do now?

Your parking session may not have been activated for several reasons:

- Parking restrictions are in effect

- There are insufficient funds in your account

- The zone number was entered incorrectly

Please ensure that you did not send your text to 403-537-7275 or 403-539-4205. These numbers are used in the regular ParkPlus phone activation process and are not valid for Text to Park.

If having further issues, you can also call in your parking session by dialing 403-537-7275 and listening to the voice prompts.

Why do I need to put the words "start" and "end" when using Text to Park?

On May 31, 2013, we introduced the requirement to put the words "start" and "end" for Text to Park service. This is because a number of our customers experienced duplicate texts being sent automatically by their cell phone carrier to the ParkPlus system. This would cause parking sessions to either start or stop without the customer’s consent.

By changing the process and specifying whether you want the text to start or stop a parking session, it removes the potential for duplicate text messages to affect a parking session.

Note: to successfully start and end a parking session, you will need to spell the words “start” and “end” correctly. However, they are not case-sensitive. For example, "START", "Start" and "start" will all work to start a parking session.

Why am I unsuccessful in starting a session when I text 77587 through Google Hangouts?

There is a known issue with texting the short-code 77587 through Google Hangouts. Please use the direct number 1-587-316-9704 to text instead if you are using Google Hangouts.