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NYC Department of Transportation offers contact-free parking to reduce infection

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Photo via Facebook/NYC DOT

BY GRANT LANCASTER

The city’s Department of Transportation will temporarily partner with ParkMobile to give commuters another option to avoid physical payments that increase the risk of infection.

Department officials strongly encourage workers who park in the city avoid contact with parking meters and pay on their phones using either the ParkNYC app or ParkMobile’s app at the 80,000 metered spots in New York City.

ParkNYC is a free app that allows users to pay as they go without fees after loading an initial $25 balance, according to the department.

The partnership with ParkMobile will let New Yorkers pay for single transactions with a 15-cent fee on each transaction. ParkMobile may be attractive to commuters from the tri-state area because it is available in other tri-state cities such as Hoboken, New Jersey.

Commuters can still use cash or card payment at the meters, but Department of Transportation Commissioner Polly Trottenberg asked New Yorkers to strongly consider contactless payments.

“Please help us reduce the need to physically service parking meters and collect, sanitize and securely store cash during this crisis,” Trottenberg said.