One Birmingham city councilor wants to modernize the city's parking meters.

"How we do parking in the city of Birmingham is antiquated," said Councilor Darrell O'Quinn, who chairs the council's transportation committee. "We've got to modernize our parking system. It is not a new issue. Constituents have been calling for this situation to be addressed for a long time."

O'Quinn formally started the conversation on Wednesday by bringing in representatives from two leading companies: Paybyphone and Parkmobile, which allow parking to be paid by phone or app.

The councilor said he expected this to be the first of many conversations on the topic.

"These are two of the larger companies that have the technology, the platforms to be able to pay remotely," he said.

O'Quinn said he hasn't discussed the matter with Mayor Randall Woodfin, but he said the mayor's staff appears to be supportive of the change.

During Wednesday's transportation meeting, Councilor John Hillard said this was his first exposure to cashless parking companies. He suspected changing over would likely increase revenues.

"That money will go from that meter to wherever we direct the money," he said.

O'Quinn said the city of Birmingham receives annual revenues of $1.7 million from parking meters.

The operational costs associated with the meters, including parking enforcement and maintenance wasn't immediately available.

Transitioning to a modernized parking system could occur at little or no cost to the city, O'Quinn said.

"If we were ready to pull the trigger on this today Parkmobile could start operations within 30 days with zero cost to the city," he said. "They charge a convenience fee of 35 cents per transaction. There is some flexibility of how the revenue share is done."

Parking enforcement would still be required in order to issue tickets.

A representative from Paybyphone said the cashless system would increase safety because motorists can pay for parking while sitting in their car. She said parking meters may not be required in the future. Motorists can be notified to pay for parking through signage.

Many cities including Knoxville, Chattanooga, Dallas, New Orleans and Lexington, Ky. use cashless parking systems.