Passport works with Google to make parking payments faster and easier in Austin

Passport, a transportation software company that enables cities to manage vehicle interactions with streets and sidewalks, is innovating with Google to enable people in Austin, Texas to pay for parking directly from Google Maps. This feature will start rolling out later today and will become widely available in the coming weeks.

Here’s how it works: When navigating with Google Maps on iOS and Android, drivers will now have the option to pay for parking with Google Pay as they approach their destination. They can also visit pay.google.com/parking to pay directly from their phone’s browser.

“We’re excited to work with Passport to help drivers in Austin pay for parking more quickly and conveniently right from Google Maps,” explains Vishal Dutta, Product Manager, Google Maps. “Google Pay and Google Maps were able to seamlessly incorporate Passport’s software, which helped us bring this feature to life.”

As cities around the country continue to look for innovative solutions to drive recovery in the wake of the pandemic, Austin is excited to be the first to offer this new feature in Google Maps to its local parkers. It’s just one of the ways the city is engaging with citizens to keep them safe.

“By providing people the ability to use applications they already have on their devices to pay for parking, people can get to the places they care about faster,” said Gina Fiandaca, Assistant City Manager. “We’re working hard to make it easier for Austin residents and visitors to use the parking system. This effort improves convenience while also reducing the need to physically touch parking meters or ticketing machines in light of the current global pandemic.”

Passport has been delivering parking solutions to Austin residents since 2016 when Passport acquired the local startup application, ParkX. Since then, Passport has equipped the city with back-end technology that provides city and transportation leaders with valuable information to manage their parking ecosystem. In early 2019, Passport helped Austin update and rebrand the ParkX app into ParkATX.

“Integrating Passport’s payment technology into Google Maps makes it easier to navigate and pay for parking in downtown Austin,” said Khristian Gutierrez, Chief Revenue Officer at Passport. “The City of Austin’s parking team has always had a laser focus on delivering a positive customer experience by making parking frictionless. We are excited to partner closely with the Google team to improve the livability in Austin in support of the City’s goals.”