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The city showed off a new option Friday that allows people who park downtown, for an additional fee, to pay for it directly from their smartphone.

Tiffany Brander, administration services manager with the Missoula Parking Commission, said the city sees the Passport Parking app as an added convenience. People can avoid waiting in lines at parking kiosks, and they can add time from their phones while they're shopping or at work so they don't have to run out to change it when time expires.

“We’ve heard from Missoula downtown parkers that they want more options,” she said.

Conor Buckley, client success manager at Passport, said users can download the Passport Parking app on their iPhone or Android phone, then make an account that is tied to a phone number, email address or Facebook profile.

They can then store their license plate number and credit card information in the app so they won’t need to enter it again every time they park. Buckley said all personal information is anonymous by Passport and stored in separate databases.

Parking Commission Director Rod Austin said three companies were interviewed as potential choices for the app, and Passport’s information security was one of the primary reasons why the city chose it in the end.