Text to Park: Carleton U. Tests a New System

No need to rush out of class if your campus parking meter is about to run out of time. Take out your cellphone instead.

Parking on a college campus is almost always a hassle. To make life a little easier, a computer scientist at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada, has developed new technology that enables people to pay for parking through text messaging. The system will be tested at a Carleton parking lot this summer, with the possibility of expanding it to other lots on campus.

Here’s how it works: Users open a parking-fee account by registering their vehicle and payment information on a Web site, iParked.ca. After pulling into a parking space, they may then pay by sending a text message giving their parking space number and the amount of time they intend to be there. They will receive a text confirmation with the total amount charged to their account. (The charge will include an extra 50-cent processing fee.)

The site will notify users by text message 10 minutes before their parking time expires, allowing them to purchase more time through another text.

“If you’re in a class or running late, you can just text your request,” said Dwight Deugo, the professor of computer science who created the technology.

Mr. Deugo said he was inspired by similar systems in Europe, where cellphone-based payment is commonplace. He questioned why North America lacked the same service one day when he was using a traditional pay-and-display machine in poor weather.

“It was pouring rain, and I didn’t like getting wet,” Mr. Deugo said.