Downtown parkers get payment option
Pay meters with coins or phone
A giant model of a brain stationed along a curb between the two courthouses in downtown Scranton visually conveyed a message: the arrival of "smart" parking in the city.
A smartphone payment option for parking meters began Tuesday under a 90-day trial period with the firm Pango Mobile Parking of Baltimore.
Under this new payment method, announced Tuesday by Mayor Chris Doherty and Pango CEO Dani Shavit, parkers may download an app or call or text a phone number that will allow for payment of a parking-meter space via a smartphone.
Founded in Israel in 2005, Pango entered the U.S. market in 2011. The firm operates in 48 cities in the U.S., Europe and Israel.
By eliminating the need for coins at meters, Pango's pay-by-phone method "reduces parking pain to parkers," he said. The option will be available for all city metered spaces and iPhone and Android users.
The city's meters will remain the same and the pay-by-phone rate will be the same as the coin rate - $1 per hour, he said. Parkers may sign up with Pango, free of charge, via the firm's website, www.myPango.com, or by downloading the mobile-phone Pango App, or by calling a toll-free phone number, 877-myPango (877-697-2646). Anyone who signs up with Pango through June will get 10 free parking hours that Pango will pay for, he said.
The city first considered a "smart" meter alternative a few years ago but never implemented it. The 90-day Pango trial period also is not related to bids the city received in August for a 60-day trial run of a parking-meter enhancement program. Pango submitted one of those 60-day trial bids, but the city awarded no contracts.
Instead, the city late last year decided to make the upgrade of meters part of the plan to hire an outside parking meter manager on a long-term basis.
The Pango trial period also is not part of the city's plan for long-term, outside meter management, which has been delayed but is still in the works.
Three bids for parking-meter management opened earlier this month are still under review, and an award of one of the contracts is expected soon, possibly in a few days, said Mr. Doherty and city Business Administrator Ryan McGowan.
The Pango trial period comes at no cost to the city, Mr. McGowan said. With new, long-term meter management having been delayed now for five months, city officials decided to pursue the 90-day Pango smartphone trial system as a way to generate more meter revenue, Mr. McGowan said.
"This trial will go for 90 days. At that point, the city will make a decision on whether to stay with it," he said. "We'll have better numbers. It's all about better information on how we can have better access for parking for individuals coming downtown."
Contact the writer: jlockwood@timesshamrock.com, @jlockwoodTT on Twitter