No coins to park in Ferndale? No problem. Phone it in.

New Parkmobile parking meters that let users pay by using a a smartphone app are going online this week and next in Ferndale. Each of Ferndale's 1,200-plus parking meters will have the Parkmobile stickers applied to them. It's a change that could curtail the common scene of scrounging for coins in the bottom of purses or under seats or of rushing from an outing to avoid a parking ticket. "It's just so much more convenient. It's really the easiest thing in the world to do," says Cristina Sheppard-Decius, executive director of Ferndale's Downtown Development Authority. "For someone like me who works here or for someone who lives and works here, it makes life a lot easier." She says the city is trying to spread the word to register with Parkmobile. That's the only way to use it to pay by phone. Registration is online at Parkmobile and requires information such as license plate and credit card numbers. After that an app is downloaded and a transaction fee of 35 cents per park or a $1.25 a month of unlimited parking is deducted. Once registered, the app is good anywhere, any state, any place, that has Parkmobile meters. When you want to pay by phone, you open the app, plug in your parking zone and parking space – it's on the stickers on the meters – and parking is paid. "It hopefully allows people to save money on parking fees and parking tickerts," Sheppard-Decius says. Ferndale is the first Oakland County city to install them, says Chris Hughes, communications and marketing manager for the Ferndale Downtown Development Authority. According to Parkmobile, Dearborn, Grand Rapids and Petoskey are also part of the system, which has pay by phone meters in more than 20 states. Sheppard-Decius says they're common along lines of mass transit, such as in DC and Massachusetts. Source: Chris Hughes, communication and marketing manager, Ferndale Downtown Development Authority, and Cristina Sheppard-Decius, executive director Ferndale DDA Writer: Kim North Shine