Fearing school revenues would ebb,Nutter wants more study of cellphone app for parking

The Philadelphia Parking Authority wants to modernize its payment system, but the Nutter administration worries that could hurt the city’s public schools.

A measure setting up a cellphone app system to pay for on-street parking includes a rising fee schedule, explained Rick Dixon of the PPA. It allows for remote renewal without going to your car.

“If it’s a two-hour zone and it’s $2 an hour for the first two hours, if you went back for the  second block of time, it would be $4,” he said. “And the third time, it would be $6.”

Andrew Stober of the Mayors Office of Transportation and Utilities, said the Nutter administration is hesitating and wants further review of the plan because it would mean fewer parking tickets — and less money going to the school district.

“It’s great news for customers — they are far less likely to get a ticket as a result of mobile payment technology,” Stober said. “The way we have set up our revenues from the Parking Authority, that’s bad news for the school district.”

Parking authority officials say the rising fees will offset the drop in tickets issued, keeping the whole process revenue neutral.