The Miami Parking Authority is using technology from Verrus Mobile Technologies Inc. of Vancouver to offer a "pay by phone" service covering 8,000 spaces on the city's streets and more than 20 municipal lots.
Motorists can enroll by registering a mobile phone number, a vehicle tag number, and a Visa Inc. or MasterCard Inc. card account number with Verrus, the authority said Wednesday.
To pay for parking, users call a toll-free number from a registered phone and enter the location number, which is posted on the meter or on nearby signs, and the amount of time requested. The parking fee, plus a 35-cent service charge, is charged to the card.
Motorists can receive a text reminder a few minutes before the parking time expires and add more time remotely.
"When there's no need to search for coins or currency to feed the meter, most people tend to pay what they owe," Art Noriega, the authority's chief executive officer, said in a press release.
