August 23, 2017
Matt Rourke/AP
A member of the Philadelphia Parking Authority writes a ticket for an expired meter in Center City.
The Philadelphia Parking Authority will soon welcome back the mobile, parking payment app meterUP after abruptly suspending the service four months ago due to problems with its original service provider.
MeterUP, which allows commuters to pay for parking through their mobile phones, is expected to return as early as mid-fall, the PPA announced in a news release Wednesday.
The PPA has partnered with a new vendor, ParkMobile, which has 60 days to roll out the first three phases of the app.
"We are very pleased 'meterUP' will be back in business shortly and we apologize for any inconvenience the temporary suspension may have caused our customers," PPA Executive Director Clarena Tolson said in a statement. "People can now get back to the convenience of electronically adding more time remotely for parking."
MeterUp, which had a user base of about 20,000 by its end, will allow Philadelphians to once again pay for parking spots through their phone and add more time to meters when necessary. Philadelphia is far from first major city to partner with ParkMobile – the phone parking app service is also used in Washington, D.C., New York and Miami Beach.
Philadelphia's app was discontinued in mid-April after running into "financial problems" with Pango USA, which had headquarters in Israel in New York City at the time of meterUP's launch in 2015.
“Financial problems being experienced by (service provider) Pango USA led us to conclude that we must suspend this payment option,” PPA Executive Director Clarena Tolson said at the time.
Motorists were still able to use kiosks during the interim.
