PANGO Pay By Phone Parking (2014 LGAA)

City of Auburn (Winner)
County: Cayuga County
Population: 10,001 to 50,000
City Hall: (315) 255-4146

The City of Auburn faced several issues with its parking system: (1) paying for parking with coins was not convenient -- especially when the meters are covered in snow much of the winter; (2) the city had no data on how drivers really use parking which limited their ability to make better decisions for the city; and (3) the city needed a new way to increase revenues, lower costs, and have more revenue accountability. The City chose to introduce the Pango mobile payment parking system to make it easy for citizens to pay for parking either using their smart phone or calling a toll free number to start parking. As a result of this program, the City now has data on how the parking system is being used so better policy decisions can be made regarding rates, length of stay, and other important decisions.

There are currently over 1,000 registered users of the Pango parking system. The City found the program to offer many innovative qualities and benefits:

1. Pay for parking conveniently using any phone -- no more coins.
2. Text alerts when parking is about to expire or when a police officer has inspected their car gives citizens a more informed experience.
3. Usage and revenue control reports show the city exactly how the parking system is used and precisely where the money comes from.
4. Smart phone app has local coupons making the parking system an economic development tool of the city for business.
5. City managers can now monitor how often the police check cars which has a positive effect on ticket revenues.
6. System is so easy to use that citizens park more for shorter stays and do not cheat the system for 15 minute parking sessions.
7. City no longer has to create a big capital budget because the cost to implement a new paid parking area is the cost of the signage versus the cost of meters.

As more people adopt Pango, the City will stop maintaining meters and kiosks which will result in a substantial savings. Parking enforcement personnel are currently still required, but the reduced workload to collect and count coins from individual meters will ultimately save time in the field and the treasurer's office as Pango provides a direct wire deposit of parking proceeds

Since implementing Pango parking, complaints from residents and visitors have dropped dramatically, because while people still must pay, they can do so in a very convenient and comfortable way. In addition, the couponing part of the smart phone app allows merchants to provide promotional incentives to attract Pango users to their place of business. The convenience and marketing aspects of Pango help keep downtown competitive with outlying commercial areas where parking is free.

Implementation of the program was made successful through the marketing and promotional efforts of the Auburn Downtown Business Improvement District (BID), who partnered with the City in the competitive selection of Pango as our vendor. The BID was also instrumental in helping get signage in place and bringing media attention to the program. Pango USA engaged Auburn as an R&D city. In return for a substantially reduced fee, the City agreed to be a test market for rolling out Pango in New York.