Eliminates Need For Paper Tickets
Outgoing Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, City Department of Transportation (DOT) Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan and Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly announced last Thursday, Dec. 26, that motorists will soon be able to pay for parking by cell phone and on-line as part of a newly announced contract bid.
The city opened the search for a company to provide motorists a means to use their cell phones to pay for parking at all 14,000 parking meters across the five boroughs, eliminating the need for motorists to place paper receipts on their dashboard.
Motorists will be able to pay by launching an app on their smartphone or other device, or by calling a toll-free number, and identifying their location by entering a number prominently displayed on muni meters. The system would also allow payment by cell phone, landline phones and via any internetenabled device.
Motorists will pay the posted meter parking rates; surcharges will not be charged. Payment information will be instantly accessible to NYPD Traffic Enforcement Agents on their handheld ticketing devices indicating that a motorist has paid. Motorists may also pay for additional time, up to the maximum allowable limit, without having to go back to the meter itself.
The city-wide contract follows a successful pilot project with similar technology along Arthur Avenue in the Bronx conducted earlier this year. The initiative is the latest in a series of projects designed to make it easier to find and pay for parking in New York City.
“Residents and visitors of Arthur Avenue have put this technology to the test and now the rest of the city is ready and waiting for the expansion of the pay-by-phone technology to reach the city’s 14,000 parking meters,” said Bloomberg. “Innovative solutions like these are making it easier for everyone to get around New York City and will be a boost for business across the five boroughs.”
“By eliminating the need for coins, credit cards or receipts, payby phone parking has already been a game-changer for drivers in the Bronx, and it’s just one way we’ve made parking easier citywide,” added Sadik-Khan. “Expanding the system across the boroughs will now help more New Yorkers people dial in for faster, more convenient parking.”
“Technology is critical to making daily interactions with government simpler and easier,” said Kelly. “This innovative program will allow motorists to remotely pay from their mobile devices, and it’s another way we are bringing parking into the 21st Century.”
In addition to pay-by-phone technology, the agency has also tested sensors embedded in parking lanes to deliver information on available parking spaces on Arthur Avenue, and is developing potential expansion of parking availability systems for implementation elsewhere in the city.
The DOT has also greatly expanded Park SMART, which increases parking turnover by using variable rates, encouraging motorists to park at a location no longer than is necessary and making it easier for all to find parking while also reducing congestion. The first Park SMART program included portions of the West Village in Manhattan and was successfully tested and then made permanent in 2009.
Additional PARK Smart projects were implemented in Park Slope, Boerum Hill and Jackson Heights. For more information on Park SMART and all DOT initiatives, visit www.nyc.gov/dot.
