Startup Meter Feeder has made a new mode of managing parking fees for citizens, which also works with old meters.

Paying for parking can be a headache for many drivers. Government authorities in many regions have installed new meters that accept payment via phones or credit cards. However, many citizens find these new meters as annoying as meters that accept coins.

Meter Feeder will make it easier for citizens to pay for parking fees and help local government reduce the cost of operating parking meters.

"Our mission [is] to provide a low-cost payment and enforcement solution for small to mid-sized governments," says Meter Feeder. "We have testimonials from Borough Managers and Police Chiefs showing that our state-of-the-art technology is ready and available for even the most budget-minded municipality."

Meter Feeder detects a driver's location through GPS and allows them to pay for parking fees by entering their license plate details and by saving a credit card or even by using Android Pay and Apple Pay. Meter Feeder will need to know the price zone of the car being parked and not the exact spot where the vehicle is being parked.

The company says that existing meters will also work; however, municipalities will have to add stickers to the meters to inform citizens about downloading the Meter Feeder app.

The app will send a notification to car owners when only five minutes are left so that they can pay for additional parking fees.

Local authorities will have to equip their parking enforcement officers with a Meter Feeder tablet. Officers can find a specific car with a quick search of the license plate and check if the parking fee has been paid. Officers will also have the option of instantly printing a ticket with a mobile printer. The fine tickets include a QR code, which can be used for easily paying fines online.

Many big cities in the United States are switching to mobile- or credit card-enabled parking meters. However, these new meters need local authorities to invest heavily on hardware, which may be difficult for smaller cities.

Big cities in the country can also save with Meter Feeder. San Francisco uses automatic license plate scanners, which can cost thousands of dollars. Instead of installing more of these scanners, San Francisco can adopt Meter Feeder, which can save a lot of money for the city.

Photo: Jenn Durfey | Flickr