Drivers might soon be able to pay for parking with a smartphone app

Watch video: Drivers might soon be able to pay for parking with a smartphone app. Peter Kim reports. 

TORONTO – You may soon be able to use your phone to pay for your parking spot.

The city’s Public Works and Infrastructure Committee approved a motion Wednesday that could lead to the implementation of a system that would allow commuters to pay for parking with a smartphone app rather than the traditional, and oft-forgotten about, meter.

The plan still has to be debated by city council but similar plans have found favour in cities across Canada.

Vancouver implemented a similar service in 2001 with PayByPhone. With their app, you enter a location number printed on the parking meter, how much time you’d like and confirm the purchase.

“Five minutes before your parking expires we send you a text message reminder to let you know your parking is going to expire and ask if you would like to extend it,” PayByPhone marketing manager Chris Morisawa said in an interview Wednesday. “If you don’t have a smartphone there’s also a phone number to call in and there’s a voice prompt system that guides you through the process as well.”

Jerry Dobrovolny, the director of transportation in Vancouver said the system has been “very successful.”

“Our total revenues has increased substantial and that growth has come through paying by phone.”

They also operate in Kelowna, Surrey, Ottawa, San Francisco, Miami and Dallas.

“The great thing about PayByPhone is that there’s no cost to implement because there’s no hardware. And there’s no physical maintenance. That’s why cities love it,” Morisawa said.

Morisawa suggested some cities have gravitated towards removing parking meters altogether in favour of smartphone payment, citing theft,  vandalism and maintenance costs.

If council approves it during the May 6 session, it could be implemented in Green P parking lots by August or September. Street parking would take longer due to the coordination with Toronto Police.