Carleton University piloting cellphone parking payment system

A new project at Carleton University is aiming to make feeding coins into parking meters and machines a thing of the past.

Rather than using "Pay and Display" tickets or meters, the University will allow users of Lot 2 to pay by cellphone in July and August.

Developed by Carleton computer science professor Dwight Deugo, the system alows users to sign up on the website iParked.ca with their cellphone number, payment info and vehicle information after which, they'll be able to pay for parking by sending a text message.

The system will send an acknowledgement back to their cellphone and a digital receipt will be generation, according to the Carleton University press release.

Users will also get a message to warn them that their parking space is about to expire and give them the option to pay for additional time.

“Imagine never getting a parking ticket again,” said Deugo in the press release. “There is no need to leave important meetings, lunch dates or classes to fill the parking meter. Users can extend their parking time from wherever they happen to be.”

“This is a Canadian first,” said Brian Billings, operations manager in the Department of University Safety at Carleton University. “The use of this new technology will allow us to provide another convenient option for our users.”