NEW YORK (Reuters) - Parking on the streets of busy New York City is rarely a stress-free task, but it is about to become just a bit easier.

Mayor Bill de Blasio announced on Wednesday that drivers would be able to pay by cell phone to use any of the city’s 85,000 metered parking spaces by the end of 2016.

“No more fumbling for change or scrambling to the meter to beat a ticket,” de Blasio said in a statement. “This is a 21st century upgrade that is going to make parking a lot more convenient.”

The citywide initiative builds upon a pilot program involving 264 parking spaces in a neighborhood of the Bronx, one of five boroughs that make up the city of 8.5 million people, the largest in the United States.

Some other cities, including Boston, Salt Lake City and Seattle already have pay-by-phone parking programs.

New York has 13,700 “Muni-Meters” which will continue to accept coins, credit cards and a city-issued parking card for payment. Under the current system, drivers must display a printed receipt on their dashboards.

The new technology would allow drivers to add time to meters within the maximum time limits and to receive credit for unused time, de Blasio said. Parking enforcement agents would use tablets to track whether parked cars have paid for their time.

De Blasio is expected to formally announce the program during his annual “state of the city” address on Thursday.