Paying for parking just became a whole lot easier in Durango. The city has introduced a new pay-by-cellphone feature to its 978 downtown meters.
Traditional methods of paying – coins, credit cards and GEM smart cards – remain available for drivers who prefer doing things the old-fashioned way. But the new option allows users to pay via smartphone using the ParkMobile app.
Former Parking Manager Wade Moore, who retired last month, said the city partnered with ParkMobile to offer the remote payment feature. Users can scan a QR code on the meter, enter their license plate and submit payment.
The time purchased and remaining on the meter appears on the ParkMobile app, where users can also add more time. The app also sends a notification before time expires, Moore said.
Users are likely to notice a discrepancy between the meter display and the time shown on the ParkMobile app. Because meters aren’t connected to the internet, they don’t update with the purchased time. So a meter may indicate it is expired, but the time shown on ParkMobile is valid.
Parking enforcement officers check both meter displays and license plates entered into ParkMobile.
Moore said the city would like to display ParkMobile time onto the meters, but that will require networking all the meters.
The pay-by-cellphone option only required city officials to attach a QR code sticker to each meter. Each code is specific to the meter.
When an officer scans a license plate, they can see if the space is paid, said Parking Manager Tracy Shauinger, Moore’s successor.
Moore said cities that rely entirely on remote payment technology – including payment kiosks – tend to enforce parking with mobile license plate readers, driving up and down the street scanning for unpaid meters. When they find a plate with no paid parking, they issue a ticket.
But in Durango, parking enforcement officers will continue to walk the streets, check meters and issue tickets as needed. They are also equipped with handheld license plate scanners to confirm if someone paid via ParkMobile.
Shauinger said tight parking and busy traffic make vehicle enforcement impractical. Officers would need to stop in the middle of traffic, exit their vehicles and issue a citation.
What’s more, mobile meter readers provide face-to-face interaction with visitors and locals.
“We still get asked where to go to lunch, how do I find the train,” Moore said. “They could be within a block of the train and they still don't know where it is.”
The app adds more payment options, he said.
Shauinger said city meters only accept Visa, Discover and Mastercard, but not American Express. Through ParkMobile, users can pay with American Express, Apple Pay, Google Pay and others.
ParkMobile charges a 40-cent convenience fee per transaction. Moore said the fee may be preferable to interrupting a meal or a meeting – and it is far cheaper than a $25 parking ticket for an expired meter.
ParkMobile is the largest parking payment app in the world, Moore said. Visitors from Oklahoma, Texas, Denver and other regions often have the app already installed. When they arrive in Durango, they’ll be notified they are in a ParkMobile city and can use the app.
Moore said people quickly come to realize the convenience of the app. When the city updated meters to accept credit and debit cards in 2020, only 18% of purchases were made with credit cards. Today, that number is up to 64%.
“It took a long time for those people to figure out, ‘I don’t have to carry change, I can use my credit card,’” he said.
He added: “(It’s) becoming an expectation around the world. This is not an American phenomenon. ... Anything you can do with your cellphone is moving into the future.”
He said someone who lives in Saudi Arabia and uses the ParkMobile app can visit Durango and use it without a hitch.
Some cities never bothered to update their meters to take credit cards, but they are making the leap from coin-only payments to remote payments, he said. Compared to those places, Durango could be considered ahead of the curve.
“All those towns ... suddenly have the most modern thing, and those people are used to it,” he said. “So when they come here, they’re thinking, why don’t you guys have it?”
cburney@durangoherald.com
