Geneva eyes app for paying parking fees

Instead of digging through a purse for exact change or dollar bills, drivers could pay for parking at the Geneva parking deck and the overflow lot with a tap of an app under a proposal the city council is considering.

Aldermen Monday will talk about signing up with Passport Parking Inc. to process payments for the daily fee parking in the garage on South Third Street.

Users would pay a 37 cents fee on top of the parking charge, per transaction. The app would charge their debit or credit card.

The city tried an automated system that accepted credit and debit cards a few years ago but it was prone to breakdowns. So the city went back to the tried-and-true: honor boxes with compartments for each parking space. People deposit money into slots.

A parking officer checks the boxes in the morning, and places a mark on the compartments containing money. A parking officer returns later in the day, accompanied by a police officer, to see if any more people have paid, and to collect the money. Then the parking officer notes on a work sheet what spaces have not paid, and issues tickets.

With the new system, the parking officer will use the app on the computer in his vehicle to generate reports detailing what spaces have paid. It should speed up the process, said Cmdr. Brian Maduzia, who oversees the parking program.

The department will also be handling less cash, which reduces security risk, Maduzia said.

And it will be useful for people who are running a tad late to catch a train or meet someone from dinner. They can pay via their phone, or on a computer, from anywhere. The app will also keep track of their payments, in case they need proof of payment.

Users will have to establish an account with Passport Parking, and load it with at least $10 worth of credit.

The deck has 540 spaces. The fee is $2. Parking is free from 4 p.m. to midnight on weekdays, and all day on Saturdays and Sundays. The deck is generally full most weekdays by 7 a.m., Geneva police reported this spring.

The fee at the overflow lot is $1.75.

Parking Passport says about 40 Chicago suburbs use its system, including six on the Union Pacific West Line. Lombard uses Parking Passport. Elburn uses another app, Parkmobile.