By Mary C. Marvin

Oct. 28, 2015:  I am pleased to announce that the village will be rolling out a pay-by-phone option for village parking meters in early 2016. In preparation, the village hall staff is meeting with constituent groups to explain the mechanics of the new app system. The first of such meetings took place last Thursday, with members of our chamber of commerce.

The system is owned and operated by Pango, an Israeli- and New York City-headquartered company. An industry pioneer, Pango holds many of the patents in the mobile parking technology field. With coverage all over Israel and Germany, Pango also operates in many United States cities, including Harrisburg, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Scranton, Alexandria, VA, and nearby Mount Vernon.

In essence, the Pango service is a downloaded app that allows parkers to pay for their meter charge by phone. This alleviates the need for a pocketful of coins and allows one to add time remotely if running late up to the allotted hour limit on the meter. As example, if I prepaid for an hour in a two-hour parking zone, I can add an additional hour while in a waiting room or under a hair dryer.

Pango programs its systems to recognize the rules of each parking "zone" in the village as well as each meter number entered by the user. As a result, the system knows what to charge and how long the user may park. Parkers may also opt to receive an automated alert that notifies them that their meter is about to expire. The alert is typically 15 minutes before expiration but may be adjusted to the needs of the particular app user.

There is a fee of $0.25 per transaction. Parkers may use Pango to pay their fees at all metered spaces in the village, though the coin payment option will never go away. This is simply a second way to pay.

The app may be downloaded via the app store or by accessing Pango via www.mypango.com. Users complete a brief form, entering the license plate numbers (for an unlimited number of vehicles) and credit card information. The sign-up process takes approximately two minutes and there is no fee for the download. Pango works with iPhone and Android, but not Blackberry devices. Once the app is installed, one then just opens the app, chooses his vehicle, and enters a meter number. It can even be done on the run or from a train seat if one is pressed for time. Those who choose not to use the mobile app may still pay by credit card with Pango by calling the company's dedicated phone line at 1-877-697-2646. 

Our parking enforcement officers will have synchronized handheld devices to monitor both coin and app payment methods. Should an app user experience a glitch or confusion at the time of use, he may call a staffed call-in number and receive assistance within 60 seconds.

We expect to have instructional forums for any interested groups, including our senior citizens and school families. Pango will provide several thousand brochures with all the prompts for new users as well as on-the-ground helpers during the actual rollout period.

Not only is the system an advantageous alternative for village parkers, it also has built-in services that can assist our merchants and our chamber. Merchants can advertise sales, extended hours of business, or free patron parking in the app format. The messages can also be almost instantaneous in nature. As example, as you type in your parking space number, you may read that your favorite store is having a sale that afternoon or is offering free parking if you come and shop or dine that day.

The chamber of commerce can use the app to announce local events, including street concerts and sidewalk sales.

Ideally, the village plan was to simultaneously rollout the Pango app with the evening changes in parking meter enforcement. However due to an unforeseen glitch in the synchronization of computer equipment, Pango is delayed.

In the interest of fairness, we will not be enforcing the 6:00 to 9:00 pm meter payment until the non-coin option is available. We will make sure all are aware of the date when the new program app and concurrent enforcement takes effect.

Due to the increase in staffing throughout village businesses and institutions as well as the increase in service-oriented businesses vs the traditional soft-goods stores, parking is at an all-time premium in the village.

The completion of the Kensington garage in the spring of 2016 will alleviate some of the parking stress and we hope Pango will, too. To learn more about the application, go to www.mypango.com or call village hall at 914-337-6500.