Beach Parking at Cape Cod National Seashore Goes Cashless Beginning July 1

All beach parking lots along Cape Cod National Seashore will soon move to a cashless payment system. 

Starting July 1, park rangers will only accept credit cards, debit cards, or mobile payments at the entrance booths to the beach.

According to a National Park Service press release, the transition to electronic payments is safer, reduces transaction times, and enhances accountability. The switch to cashless payments also follows an Executive Order and U.S. Treasury directives to reduce the amount of cash and checks handled by the federal government.

In a statement, Park Superintendent Jennifer Flynn said that cash sales represent only 10% of in-person sales in the park. During the summer season, park rangers spend up to 8 1/2 hours per day documenting, reporting, and transferring cash receipts.

Fees are collected from May 1 to Sept. 30 at the six national seashore beaches. A private car costs $25 per day, and an annual pass is $80.

Travelers can also pay for entrance fees, book advanced reservations, and cover park usage, among other expenses, throughout the United States using the recreation.gov website and mobile app.

“Moving to a cashless system will reduce the amount of time park staff spend managing cash and increase their availability to engage with the public and collect fees while increasing the amount of fee revenue available to support critical projects and visitor services,” Flynn explained in a Boston.com report.