Paying for parking at muni-meters across New York City could become as easy as tapping a smartphone.
Mayor Bill de Blasio is set to announce plans that would allow drivers to pay by using a cell phone app at the city’s 85,000 metered parking spots by the end of the year.
He calls it a 21st Century upgrade to make life more convenient for people parking at meters, CBS2’s Andrea Grymes reported.
There are 85,000 metered parking spots.
The city said the new system will draw on the experience of a 2013 pilot program in the Belmont section of The Bronx that allowed drivers to sign up for the “pay by phone” app.
Drivers enter their license plate number and credit card information on the app, and when they want to park they enter the location of the closest meter and their card is charged.
A traffic agent would be able to tell if the parked car was paid for by finding the information on their own handheld computer.
At the time, the program was supposed to roll out citywide by 2015.
Muni-meters will continue to accept coins, parking and credit cards, but the mayor drivers could get credit for unused time by paying by cell phone.
De Blasio is expected to make the announcement during his state of the city address Thursday night.
{Matzav.com}
We’ve been doing this for years in the UK!