Mobile pay feature coming to Northgate parking meters

COLLEGE STATION, Tex. (KBTX) – The City of College Station has approved more than $100,000 worth of upgrades for some parking meters.

On Monday night, council approved a contract with IPS to improve the meters in the Northgate area.

“We’re actually upgrading the meters that are currently there. It’ll be new housing, the meters will last a little bit longer, but the mechanism is new technology,” said Debbie Eller, College Station Community Services director.

The new technology means people will soon be able to pay with their phones.

“People can set up an account and then they can be notified when parking is fixing to expire and they’ll be able to pay by phone to extend their parking time,” said Eller.

Northgate patrons like Mark Fossett say they hope this will mean less trips to the car.

“I wouldn’t have to run around with change in my pocket to get back to the machine all the time. If they work well I’d be really happy with them,” said Fossett.

The city said they hope this will simplify parking for the Northgate area.

“I do appreciate the city trying to make this area work better and it’s much improved where it was 10 years ago,” said Fossett.

The prices for parking will remain the same, but will have a convenience fee through the app.

The money generated from the parking goes into the janitorial contract to keep the area clean and also pays for supplies for the Northgate public restrooms.

The city hopes to have the new meters installed before school starts in the fall.

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