Google Maps will soon make your daily commute easier by not only tracking your time parked but managing your parking payments too.
Google Maps has been through loads of changes lately. From adding traffic lights to allowing mass-transit connections to alerting you if a business is wheelchair accessible, Google Maps has taken many small steps toward making your commute easier.
The latest Google Maps update brings the ability to pay for parking right from the app. Google Maps already allows you to register your parking session to get a push notification when your parking meter is nearly out of time. Soon, when you get that push notification, you can refill the meter using Google Pay.
Of course, this requires advanced parking meters that connect to the internet, which not all cities and parking garages have. But with many areas switching to these more advanced meters, most Google Maps users will find this update useful.
How it works is once you reach a metered parking space using Google Maps, the app launches and prompts you to pay for parking. You’ll then enter your license plate number, the parking zone number and pay. Google Maps will even remember your license plate for future use. The system then tracks the time and alerts you to top up the meter when it gets low.
The parking payment feature is only available in Austin, Texas, but Google plans to spread it out to other areas in the U.S. soon.
