A new phone app that allows drivers in Chicago to pay for a parking meter with their smartphone will be tested this week.
Testing for the project, called the ParkChicago app, began on April 15, and the program will last two to three weeks, according to Chicago Sun-Times.
The program will take place in the West Loop, from Madison to Monroe and Halsted to Racine.
Officials said the project involves 279 parking spaces, and city's parking meter contractor, Chicago Parking Meters LLC, will expand the app to all of Chicago's 36,000 parking spots by the end of the summer, Chicago Tribune reported.
Participants can sign up at parkchicago.com or download the ParkChicago mobile app on their Android or iPhone. They must repay their parking fees by keeping a balance on their accounts. The balance will help Chicago Parking Meters, which paid the city $1.15 billion in exchange for all parking meter revenue until 2083.
"The parking meter contract was a bad deal and it will never be good for the city, but we have worked to make lemonade out of lemons," Mayor Rahm Emanuel said on Friday. "From free (neighborhood parking on) Sundays to the new pay-by-cell option, we have made the parking meter deal more manageable for the city and its residents."
Drivers that use the app will be charged a 35-cent "convenience fee" for parking for less than two hours, Chicago Sun-Times reported. Scott Burnham, spokesman for Chicago Parking Meters, said operators of the app will receive this money, which will be used to pay credit card transaction fees.
The app has a wide variety of features, such as multiple license plate numbers and the ability to pay parking fees for multiple vehicles simultaneously from one account, Chicago Tribune reported.
Drivers put in a zone number, which is listed on the street along with their credit card information and a license plate. The app saves their information for future purchases and lets them know in last 10 minutes of parking if they need to pay more, Chicago Sun-Times reported.
Drivers can still pay for the meter at pay boxes and place the receipt on the dash, but parking enforcement workers will scan the license plates to see if the drivers paid for the spot with the app.
