The Calgary Parking Authority (CPA) in Canada is launching a new parking feature called Text to Park in a bid to make car parking faster and more convenient.

Text to Park is set to update the way ParkPlus cell phone account holders pay to park their vehicles across certain zones in the city. Users simply send a text message and mention a four-digit parking zone number to begin a session.

Calgary Parking Authority general manager Troy McLeod said that the CPA is looking for new technologies to make parking faster and more convenient for customers.

"Text to Park is a great new feature to the ParkPlus System and makes activating and deactivating a parking session even easier for Calgarians," McLeod added.

Following the commencement of a Text to Park session, customers are notified with their expiry time so that they know when to return to their car.

To deactivate a parking session, you simply message the exact same message again.

Customers are only charged for the time they actually park their vehicles, rather than paying for set hour blocks that are often used in pay and display systems, and there are no administrative fees.

Text to Park is only available to customers with a ParkPlus cell phone account and can be used for parking on-street in ParkPlus zones, as well as in CPA parkades and surface lots

Account holders receive notifications reminding them that their parking expiry time is approaching, as well as up to four months of detailed information on their parking activity.