City to enable smart phone parking program
For 35 cents, drivers can pay without touching a meter
Motorists in Asbury Park will soon be able to pay for their parking without even touching a meter.
The city has enabled a new smart phone parking program — mPay2Park — which allows users to pay for a spot from their mobile devices.
“You can activate the meter from the cell phone, from your car, wherever you are,” Mayor Ed Johnson said at the April 4 council meeting.
Drivers can go to http://www.mpay2park.com, create an account and link it to a debit or credit card. MPay2Park bears a 35-cent transaction fee for each use. Users must link their accounts to a debit or credit account with a minimum deposit of $25. The account will automatically replenish when it dips below $10, according to the website.
Users can also choose to receive text-message notifications on their cell phones when the meter is within 15 minutes of expiration.
Johnson helped test the program recently and noted it was especially convenient in rainy weather.
To pay the meter remotely, users can enter the mPay2Park URL into the browser of their smartphones, then log in and enter the number of the parking space they have selected, as well as how many hours of parking they wish to purchase.
“Once you set it up, it works easily and conveniently,” Johnson said.
Johnson said activation throughout the city is expected soon. Asbury Park is already listed on the mPay2Park website, although the service is not currently available.
