August 20, 2018

How Traditionally Antiquated Municipalities are Streamlining Payments with Modern Technology

How Traditionally Antiquated Municipalities are Streamlining Payments with Modern Technology

For decades, vehicle owners grew accustomed to fishing out a few quarters each time they had to pay for parking at their local neighborhoods, cities, and and other public places. Lost are those days, as more cities and localities start using technology and change over to smart parking meters and smartphone apps that enable drivers to pay for parking spaces without having to fish for cash or coins.

High Profit for Municipalities

Parking payments have been known to generate the second highest revenue for cities and local communities. Around the country, it has become evident that vehicle owners are no longer comfortable carrying cash, and an alternative solution had to be found. In order to continue to bring in this revenue, systems such as smart parking meters and apps like Meter Feeder are being developed to ensure that parking fees are still paid, but in a more convenient manner. The Meter Feeder app is simple and user-friendly. After downloading the app to a device, vehicle owners have to add their license plate number only once and the information is stored for any future use.

Introducing Smarter Meters and Apps

Numerous cities and boroughs have upgraded their parking meters that only accept coins. Instead of removing coin based meters, they have embraced alternatives such as accepting payments through mobile apps. Displaying paid tickets on the dashboard are a thing of the past. In humid climates the printers on meters jam, in cold areas the credit card readers become blocked with ice or lose power from extreme temperatures, resulting in fines for not displaying proof of payment properly. With technologically advanced meters and smart phone apps, traffic officials can quickly search for vehicle plate information to see if patrons have paid for parking and a broken meter is a dated excuse for non-payment.

Parking Payment Enforcement

In past days of cash accepting parking meters, it was a tremendous hassle for vehicle owners to slip out of the office or leave an important meeting to add time for parking – especially if their vehicles were parked a block or two away. As a result, many failed to pay and this resulted in fines being issued to them. These fines would then had to be paid in person or by a check in the mail. Thanks to Meter Reader, the enforcement officer’s companion app of Meter Feeder, this inconvenience is now a thing of the past. Any parking fines received via this system can be paid online or directly from the Meter Feeder app, if not completely avoided by adding time remotely.

Within the next few years, more cities are expected to upgrade their parking meter systems so that they can take advantage of modern technology and continue to bring in the coveted revenue from parking enforcements. Meter Feeder and its companion app Meter Reader are here to help make the parking hassles more customer-friendly and parking enforcement more cost effective. After all, a happy customer is a unfined customer.

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