Austin Transportation is testing out a new parking system that allows people to use pay stations without having to return to their vehicles. Rather than print out a receipt that needs to be attached to the vehicle’s windshield, the pay station will prompt the user to enter their license plate number.

The sticker-free parking system will be tested starting next week in a small area near Butler Shores. The pilot will include select pay stations on Jessie Street, Butler Road, Toomey Road, Josephine Street, Sterzing Street, Barton Springs Road and Lee Barton Drive. Austin Transportation will be placing signage near the updated pay stations to alert people of the new system and how to use it.

The sticker-free parking system works by keeping track of a vehicle's license plate number and associated time purchased rather than relying on timestamped receipts. Parking enforcement officers then simply refer to the license plate and the system's database when out in the field. No personal data related to the license plate numbers will be stored.

The testing period is anticipated to last about three months, at which point Austin Transportation will evaluate whether to expand the system to other locations.

Users of Park ATX, Austin's pay-by-phone app, will continue to be able to use the app to pay for parking. ParkATX is available on both iOS and Android.