The Canadian capital is the latest North American city to adopt PayByPhone’s mobile phone parking payment method (view press release). The system allows drivers to pay for and extend their parking time using a mobile app, online or by calling a local telephone number. Each pay and display ticket machine has a PayByPhone sticker with instructions on how to use the service and an embedded NFC tag with the machine location number. Drivers with NFC-enabled smartphones wave their device over the sticker to launch the PayByPhone app or mobile webpage. The user and location are then identified and the amount of parking time is entered. An optional text message can be sent five minutes before the time is up, giving the driver a chance to extend. The launch makes Ottawa the first Canadian city to adopt NFC and QR code features for parking. Drivers without NFC-enabled phones can also use the service by launching the app manually or calling the local number.