NYC Wants to Implement Mobile Payments for Traffic Violations

The Department of Finance of New York City is considering taking “advantage of new technologies and extended public access to government” through technology that would allow drivers to pay parking tickets with mobile devices, like tablets and smartphones.

It is always a battle finding enough quarters to feed the meters when parking one’s car. It is even more of a struggle in the New York City, where parking spots are rare and the cost to park is high. Many people let their meters run out, or simply don’t have enough quarters to fill their desired time, resulting in the infamous number of tickets that are handed out.

The problem is there is no prompt way to pay these tickets. The only way to pay tickets, without a fee, is either in person or by mail-both outdated methods.

In this growing digital age technology has created a solution for this long-time problem, and NYC wants to embrace it.

The Department of Finance of New York City has decided to implement mobile payments to help speed up the process of paying traffic tickets for parking and traffic light violations. The department hopes that drivers will eventually be able to use anything from a debit or credit card to Paypal and Apple (News - Alert) Pay to pay their owed tickets. Utilizing this kind of technology would help drivers pay their tickets in a timely fashion and bring in more revenue for the city.

Not only would it benefit the city, but with this new mobility New Yorkers can cut down on late fees and penalties that surround parking violations. Around $600 million dollars in related fines are collected each year in New York.

Utilizing the capabilities smartphones already have is a great way to motivate drivers to pay their parking violations promptly. This method will provide a more convenient way for drivers to handle the money they owe to the city- without having to go out of their way to do so. While there is no set time for when this technology will be implemented, it is rumored that soon New Yorkers will be able to take a photo of their ticket and complete a payment.