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According to village officials, Bronxville will soon team up with Pango, a company that created a system that allows motorists to park and pay using their cell phones. Pango eliminates the need for parking machines, the need to rifle through vehicles for loose change, and can be customized and adjusted to fit one’s need.
Over the past year, officials have undertaken an extensive review of the local parking situation, with the goals of “encouraging more space turnover to increase retail business” by making the meters more technologically friendly and accessible.
Bronxville Mayor Mary Marvin said that they studied several options as they got set to update parking in the village, including a credit card swipe system that would have required the reconfiguration of more than 1,000 meters.
“After a thorough analysis of the competing providers, we chose Pango because of their competitive pricing, user friendly application, and the fact that they invented many of the app’s innovations and hold their patents,” she stated. “Pango allows us to take advantage of state-of-the-art technology with minimal capital outlay.”
Bronxville becomes the latest municipality in the country that will begin using Pango daily, which takes more than 1,300,000 pay-by-phone transactions each month. In addition to the ability to pay for your parking without having to run to the meter, the Pango app can also tell motorists where parking is most sparse, which garages are the best value and where there is valet service.
The new technology is set to be implemented as soon as next month, which is the quietest month of parking in the village each year, according to Marvin. She added that while the new technology is in place, it won’t replace the old meters, and coins can still be fed into the machines, calling this a “second payment option.”
“We listened to our merchants, doctors and restaurateurs, whose clientele often require longer increments of time than are currently available,” she said. “As a result, we have increased the number of spaces that allow stays of three and four hours in the Cedar Street and Garden Avenue parking lots.”
Motorists need not have an iPhone or Android to make use of the features of Pango. Those without the latest technology can call from any registered phone with a pin number to arrange for the pay-by-phone function. Once Pango installs the new technology, on-street meter enforcement will be extended until 9 p.m. to encourage motorists to utilize evening parking to frequent village establishments.
“Parking in the village is a constant balancing act between the needs of residents, customers and merchants, and we are committed to working with all our constituencies to maximize usage and efficiency,” Marvin said. “We realize these changes represent a significant departure from current parking practices, and we welcome feedback to improve the execution.”
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