Soon, visitors to downtown Birmingham won’t be able to use the excuse “the parking meter was broken” to get out of a parking ticket.

The city council on Tuesday approved parking ordinance modifications and a service agreement allowing for pay-by-app parking in Birmingham. No more excuses.

“We're giving you a front door to help you do the right thing, which is pay at metered parking,” said Lakey Boyd, deputy director for strategy and innovation for the city transportation department. “You have choices on how to pay. But if the meter is in disrepair, then you still would need to pay by app.”

Paying with coins will still be an option.

The city’s revenue from parking meters has been declining. City officials say they believe they’re only collecting about one-quarter of the revenue they should be collecting from the city’s 3,945 parking meters. Boyd said allowing visitors to pay electronically will likely increase the city’s parking meter revenue 30-50 percent.

“I think it’s a huge step forward for modernizing and making parking much more customer-oriented, friendly, modern and easy,” Boyd said.

In the ParkMobile app, users can add their debit or credit card information. Then, follow the instructions on the parking meter sticker, enter vehicle tag number and submit payment.

The parking rate of $1/hour will not change, however, users pay a 45-cent convenience fee. That’s a 30-cent convenience fee from ParkMobile and a 15-cent credit card transaction fee.

It’s 45 cents for every transaction.

Adding the ParkMobile payment won’t change the meter system; there will be a sticker and signs with instructions. Once the contract is signed, it will take around 60 days to start.

Switching to pay-by-app required the city to amend the city’s parking ordinance. The city also had to approve a service agreement between the city and ParkMobile.

The city’s agreement with ParkMobile gives the company the exclusive rights to electronic parking meter payments in the city for the next three years. ParkMobile already has a contract with the Birmingham Parking Authority.

ParkMobile can also help people find a place to park. Because ParkMobile has contracts with both the city and the Parking Authority, users can see where virtually any public parking is available—whether it’s street parking or a parking deck. There are 8,000 spaces in Parking Authority decks.