Use this phone app to pay for parking on city streets, parking lots

Following the example of Toronto, Montreal, Orillia, North Bay, Timmins and thousands of other communities, Sault Ste. Marie has chosen the Passport Parking app for a one-year trial run of mobile parking payments.

"The mobile parking payment solution is intended to allow the public to pay for parking on city streets and in city parking lots from their mobile device," says Tim Gowans, the City of Sault Ste. Marie's manager of purchasing.

City Council agreed last night to accept a proposal from Passport Labs, Inc. of Charlotte, N.C.

In addition to allowing phone payments, the Passport Parking app also warns users when their parking time is running short and allows them to top-up their sessions remotely.

Users may also keep track of their parking history and receive email receipts.

The transaction fee for using the app to park is 15 cents.

Start-up costs are $4,600 for cell phones and printers, as well as ongoing costs of about $3,600.

Brent Lamming, the city's director of community services, described the initiative as "cost-neutral to the city."

"It's more of a convenience using the mobile app for the solution," Lamming said.

Unsuccessful bidders for this initiative were:

• Budget Parking Inc. of Etobicoke, Ont.
• Honk Mobile Inc. of Toronto, Ont.
• LocoMobi Inc. of Mississauga, Ont.
• J.J. MacKay Canada Ltd. of Scarborough, Ont.
• PayByPhone Technologies Inc. of Vancouver, B.C.
• Precise Park Link of Toronto, Ont.
• SEPP Parking of Fort Lee, N.J.

A bylaw finalizing the deal will be submitted for approval at a future City Council meeting.

No date has been set for launching the mobile payment service in the Sault.