Starting Monday, motorists in the City of Butler will be able to pay for parking with a smartphone app.
Pango, as the app is known, will be coming to the Butler Tier Parking Garage on West Cunningham Street and the deck parking lot on South McKean Street. Both lots are owned by the city.
If it works out, the app is likely to be adopted on all metered streets in the city within several months, officials say.
“We will have a 90-day trial. This is far a more efficient process than what we have now,” Jeff Smith, the city's treasurer, said of the system.
Parking costs 50 cents an hour in Butler. The city will continue to allow motorists to pay with cash, Smith said, but will eliminate the weekly and monthly parking passes it now sells to reduce the cost of operations.
The new set-up is likely to be good for revenue, Smith said.
“Other cities that have done this have seen an increase in their collections,” he said.
The web-based Pango can also be operated on regular phones with voice commands.
Users can access the smartphone app at www.myPango.com or call 1-877-myPango. Users have to link their credit or debit card information with a Pango account.
The city pays nothing for the Pango service. Motorists will have to pay a 10-cent fee for each metered parking session.
“They make money, and the city gets parking revenue,” said Butler Mayor Tom Donaldson. “Most people now have smart phones, so we think this will work well.”
Rick Wills is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. He can be reached at 412-320-7944 or rwills@tribweb.com.
