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Austin first city to allow parking payment through Google Maps

Published  September 2, 2020 10:45am CDT
Austin
FOX 7 Austin

AUSTIN, Texas - Drivers looking to park in Austin can now pay using Google Maps.

Austin Transportation says that it is continuing to improve the ease of access to curb space for residents and visitors to quickly access services and business, making the City of Austin the first city in which drivers have the option to pay for parking directly within Google Maps.

“By providing people the ability to use applications they already have on their devices to pay for parking, people can get to the places they care about faster,” said Gina Fiandaca, Assistant City Manager. “We’re working hard to make it easier for Austin residents and visitors to use the parking system. This effort improves convenience while also reducing the need to physically touch parking meters or ticketing machines in light of the current global pandemic.” 

Here’s how it works:

When navigating with the Google Maps app on iOS and Android, drivers will now have the option to pay for parking with Google Pay as they approach their destination. Drivers can also pay directly from their phone's browser by visiting pay.google.com/parking.

The city says this feature will begin rolling out later Tuesday and will become widely available in the coming weeks.

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Austin Transportation has introduced additional options during the pandemic for travelers. Those needing quick access to curb space can now use the Park ATX mobile payment app and the codes FREE15ATX1 and FREE15ATX2 for two free 15-minute parking sessions, valid every 24 hours. The city has also adopted a more flexible “pay-by-plate” street parking system with more intuitive regulations and new technology.

"The new system adopts a “pay-by-plate” system where users paying at a parking kiosk simply enter their license plate number, so users will no longer need to display a sticker for their parking session," the city stated in a press release.

"Pay-by-plate" system will: 

  • Lift current parking space-time limits
  • Adjust all spaces in all parking zones to a uniform maximum stay time of 10 hours
  • Links the time spent at a parking space to a new, tiered parking fee structure.

"This new system will allow travelers to add time to their parking session as needed to complete their trip without overstaying a time limit and discourages people seeking to use on-street parking spaces as their commuter parking space," the city stated.