meterUP Parking

About this app

meterUP is Washington DC's official parking meter payment app, built by ParkMobile specifically for the District of Columbia's Department of Transportation (DDOT). The app lets you pay for on-street metered parking, extend your session remotely, and receive expiration alerts — all from your phone. meterUP covers every metered parking zone in DC, including the National Mall area, Georgetown, Capitol Hill, Dupont Circle, Adams Morgan, and all commercial corridors. The app replaced coin-only meters across the city, giving drivers a cashless, contactless way to pay for street parking. Beyond basic meter payment, meterUP integrates with DC's multimodal transportation system. The app shows nearby Capital Bikeshare stations, Metro entrances, and bus stops, encouraging drivers to combine parking with transit for the last mile of their trip.

Key Features

How It Works

Detailed Review

meterUP is one of those apps that does exactly one thing and does it perfectly. If you drive in Washington DC, you need this app. If you don't drive in DC, you don't. It's that simple.

Built by ParkMobile (now part of EasyPark Group) under contract with DC's Department of Transportation, meterUP is the official way to pay parking meters in the District of Columbia. Every metered zone in DC is covered — from the tourist-heavy National Mall area to the residential streets of Capitol Hill, from Georgetown's M Street to the nightlife corridors of Adams Morgan and U Street.

The basic flow is straightforward: pull up to a metered spot, open meterUP, enter the zone number from the meter (or scan the QR code), set your duration, and pay. Your session starts instantly, and DC parking enforcement officers can verify your payment electronically. No coins, no fumbling with a payment terminal on the meter, no worrying about exact change.

The remote extension feature is where meterUP truly earns its keep. Anyone who has parked in DC knows the anxiety of watching the clock during a meeting or dinner, wondering if you'll get back before the meter expires. With meterUP, you can add time from your phone anywhere in the world. Stuck in a meeting that's running long? Open the app, tap extend, and you're good. This single feature probably prevents thousands of DC parking tickets every week.

Expiration alerts are the other killer feature. meterUP sends push notifications at 10 minutes and 5 minutes before your session ends. These alerts are the difference between a $50 parking ticket and a 30-second app interaction. Over the course of a year of DC driving, the ticket savings alone justify installing the app.

The zone finder works well in most of DC. GPS typically identifies your location accurately, and the app suggests the correct zone. In areas with tall buildings (like downtown K Street or the Navy Yard area), GPS can drift slightly, so it's always worth confirming against the physical zone number on the meter.

The multimodal transit integration is a thoughtful DC-specific touch. After you park, meterUP shows the nearest Capital Bikeshare dock, Metro station entrance, and bus stops. This encourages a park-and-ride approach: park on the edge of a neighborhood and take a bikeshare or bus to your destination, avoiding the most congested and expensive parking zones.

DC subsidizes meterUP's transaction fees, which means most payments don't include a convenience charge. This is unusual — most meter payment apps (including ParkMobile in other cities) charge $0.25-0.50 per transaction. In DC, the city absorbs this cost to encourage app adoption over coin payments.

The limitation is obvious: meterUP only works in DC. It doesn't cover Maryland or Virginia suburbs, and it only handles on-street meters — not garages or lots. For garage parking in DC, you'll need SpotHero or Parking.com. But for the specific job of paying DC parking meters, meterUP is flawless.

App Information