Feed the Meter Via Smartphone

Let's call this Walnut Creek parking 3.0.

The city is getting ready to roll out by the end of this month an app to allow drivers to pay by phone on about 55 parking meters along Locust Street between Civic Drive and Mount Diablo Boulevard.

No more grubbing around in your purse for quarters!

Motorists can download the application, set up an account with a third-party vendor and pay for their parking by scanning the quick response (QR) code at the meter.

The clever app will send you a text alert when the meter is about to expire. You can extend the minutes except if the parking meter is marked for, say, a two-hour limit. After two hours, you still have to move it.

The app will work for Android and Apple users, wrote Matt Huffaker, assistant to the city manager, in an email. You can compile your receipts via the app, too. The capabilities of the application are touted on this video.

"You can add more time from your phone without having to physically go to the meter," said city Communications Manager Gayle Vassar.