Google Maps will help you pay parking and transit fees ahead of time

Google Maps today introduced a few updates to help you get around town without having to slow down to pay at a parking meter or wait in line for a train ticket.

The company announced integration with ParkMobile and Passport, allowing you to pay for your parking meter in some cities right within Maps. Once you arrive at your location, you’ll see a ‘Pay for Parking’ button in maps. Enter your meter number and payment info, and you’re good to go. Likewise, you can extend  the time on your meter via Maps as well.

Given we’re all trying to avoid unecessary touching these days, I appreciate that this means you don’t even need to touch a parking meter or switch to another app.

Maps also now allows you to pay fares “for over 80 transit agencies around the world.” For some of these, that means you’ll be able to pay for your fares before you even get on a train, using the cards linked to your Google Pay account. In the case of New York City’s subway system, you’ll see a reminder that you can now use contactless payments on the subway — something I’ve come to appreciate in this age of coronavirus.

The ability to pay for parking arrived today for 400 cities in the US — Google specifically mentions Boston, Cincinnati, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, Washington D.C — while for iOS the feature is “coming soon.” Transit payments are set to launch “in the coming weeks” on Android — no word on iOS yet.