In response to what officials say is strong citizen demand, Louisville Metro Government will allow drivers to pay for parking meters with their phones.The city is working with North Carolina-based Passport Parking to accept payments through an app, text messages or phone calls. Such payments will carry a 25 cent fee, which is Passport's only revenue in the deal.Parking Authority of River City Director Cathy Duncan says the agreement with Passport is month to month, and doesn't affect the contract the city has with another outside company to maintain parking meters and enforcement.The pay-by-text service will be rolled out in parking lots soon, and it will be offered a meters beginning next year.City officials say many drivers requested the ability to pay by phone. Another requested upgrade, credit card-reading parking meters, is also in the works. Old meters are currently being swapped out for newer models that accept credit cards. This is a long-term project for PARC, as each new meter costs $500, and there are 4,300 meters to replace (500 other meters won't be replaced, says Duncan).It's expected these upgrades will increase payments at parking meters and cut down on the number of tickets issued.
