Parking app glitch resolved
A “cloud infrastructure” issue prevented about half of HotSpot users from accessing the service Tuesday
If you were having trouble using the HotSpot app to pay for your morning parking in Fredericton, don’t worry - it’s not a problem with your account, but rather a technical issue.
The Fredericton-based and founded parking and transit app wasn’t loading on some users’ smartphones Tuesday morning.
“It's not affecting everyone; about 50 per cent of the people are getting through,” company founder Phillip Curley told the Fredericton Independent on Tuesday morning, noting staff are dealing with the problem.
“We're working to resolve - now.”
Just before 11:30 a.m. Tuesday, Curley followed up with the Fredericton Independent to note that the company’s technical team had fixed the problem.
“It's resolved [but] will take 24 hours for all users to be back up,” he wrote in a message.
Founded in Fredericton in 2013, HotSpot is a local business success story, offering mobile payment for municipal parking. Over the years, it has expanded to other New Brunswick cities, then elsewhere in the Atlantic provinces, in Canada and then internationally.
It’s also expanded to include services related to transit and taxis.
Curley explained what caused the glitch.
“Our cloud infrastructure is throttling the amount of people allowed to access our services at any one time,” Curley said Tuesday.
“It took us a little while to find it because some people aren't having this issue.”
When the Fredericton Independent ran into the glitch when attempting to pay for parking in downtown Fredericton on Tuesday morning, contacting HotSpot support ensured parking coverage for the morning given the unavailability of the app.
Charlene Sharpe, manager of parking and transit services with the City of Fredericton, said the municipality is aware of the issue.
“They are temporarily not available, and customers should use alternate payment methods,” she wrote in an email, noting the city will accommodate anyone who gets ticketed due to the problem.
“We are continuing to monitor the matter and customers should keep checking the HotSpot site to see if the system has come back online. We will work with customers who have been impacted.”
HotSpot was acquired last year by the IBO Group, a technology company established in Toronto. Curley was the CEO of HotSpot until its acquisition and still serves as the head of the HotSpot division for the IBI Group.
You can contact Don MacPherson at ftonindependent@gmail.com.