Metro News Release
For immediate release: July 26, 2012
Pay for parking with mobile phones at Rockville and Fort Totten
Pilot program at Metro metered lots begins Monday
Metro customers at two busy stations will soon be able to stop searching for quarters under the floor mats of their cars to pay for parking.
Starting Monday, July 30, customers at Rockville and Fort Totten stations will be able to pay for metered parking using their mobile phones. Parkmobile, a pay-by-phone parking system, will be available at Rockville station’s 122-space surface metered lot and 22-space Kiss & Ride, and at Fort Totten’s 32-space Kiss & Ride.
Metro will offer Parkmobile as a pilot program at the two stations to test customer interest and satisfaction over the next several months. Parkmobile already provides pay-by-phone service at roughly 17,000 on-street metered spaces in the District of Columbia.
Customers must register with Parkmobile (www.us.parkmobile.com) to use the mobile app or toll-free phone number to pay for metered parking. The Parkmobile mobile app is available on iPhone, Android or Blackberry.
When Metro customers pull into an available space, they will find a decal on each meter showing the unique Parkmobile “zone” and meter number. Customers simply enter the number in the Parkmobile app and select the time they wish to purchase. The time purchased will be charged to the credit card registered by the user and will be reflected on the parking meter. When registering with Parkmobile users will have several options, including receiving a confirmation email or text message with each transaction, notification of when their parking session is about to expire, and the ability to access their payment history online and print reports.
Regular Metro parking meter fees of $1 per hour or $5 a day at the Rockville metered surface lot apply. Parkmobile charges a 32-cent convenience fee per transaction.
Parkmobile is compatible with Parker™ by Streetline (www.streetline.com/park), a smart parking app available for iPhone and Android providing another option for cash-free payments while also offering added features to ease the parking experience. With Parker, Metro riders can check real-time metered parking availability at the Fort Totten and Rockville metered lots, the Vienna South daily surface parking lot, as well as find general information about all Metro parking garages.
Both ParkMobile and Parker by Streetline are available free from the Apple App Store and Google Play.
For more information, please see the PlanItMetro blog post.
News release issued at 1:23 pm, July 26, 2012.