City of Fort Wayne launches app to make downtown parking easier

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) – There’s now a new way to pay for parking in downtown Fort Wayne.

The city announced Friday the launch of ParkMobile, an app motorists can download on their phones to pay for parking. Once drivers find a spot, they can use the app to pay directly from their car rather than dealing with the meter itself.

And it didn’t cost the city a dime, City Clerk Lana Keesling said.

The signage was provided by ParkMobile, and the company ends up getting a portion of the money paid through the app at each meter because of a fee that adds 45 cents to each transaction, Keesling explained. For example, drivers who use the app to pay for an hour will spend $1.45 instead of just a dollar. And just paying for 15 minutes also amounts to that price, because of the $1 minimum for using a credit card and 45 cents for the app.

It was announced in May the app was on the way. The plan to bring ParkMobile to Fort Wayne residents was years in the making. Keesling said officials tested the technology for weeks before announcing its launch, and no issues have come up so far.

Notably, a goal of the app is to make parking easier for people with disabilities so they can manage payments without going to the meter.

If you pay with the app but notice the meter is still blinking red– don’t worry. Using ParkMobile doesn’t automatically change the meter’s light to green. Parking enforcement officers will have to input the plate number to see if the space is paid for, Keesling explained.

That means motorists have to make sure the license plate number is exact when putting the vehicle’s information in the app.

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