No spare change to pay the parking meter? Pay through Google Maps.
Google is adding a parking meter payment option to the mapping service. It’ll begin rolling out on the Android version of Google Maps for more than 400 cities, including Los Angeles, New York, and Washington D.C.
“Thanks to an integration with parking solutions providers Passport and ParkMobile, you can now easily pay your meter right from driving navigation in Maps,” Vishal Dutta, Product Manager for Google Maps, and Fausto Araujo, Product Manager for Google Pay, wrote in a blog post.
The payment option will arrive on Google Maps as you near your destination. For applicable areas, a “Pay for Parking” button should appear on the app.
“Then enter your meter number, the amount of time you want to park for, and tap ‘Pay.’ Need to add more time to your meter? Easily extend your parking session with just a few taps,” Dutta and Araujo write.
Google is marketing the contactless payment feature as a way to avoid germs during the COVID-19 pandemic. To send money, it’s relying on Google Pay, where you can input your credit card information.
Of course, not everyone owns a car. For people who ride buses or the subway, Google says it’s also expanding the ability to pay for transit fees for over 80 agencies across the globe. The feature will appear when you’re finding directions for public transportation on Google Maps.
“You can understand how to pay in advance and even get your fare ready to go before you arrive at the station —which is helpful when you’re not sure what payment options a transit agency supports,” Google says. The transit fee payment option will also tap Google Pay.
As an example, Google said transit goers in San Francisco will be able to use the feature to buy a digital Clipper card with their smartphone, which can then be used to enter the light rail system.
The payment features are “coming soon” to the iOS version of Google Maps, but no specific launch date was announced.
