Google Maps will let you pay for parking or transit fares within the app

If you own an Android smartphone, paying for parking or mass transit is about to get much easier.

Google announced Wednesday it's rolling out a new feature enabling users to pay for street parking or transit services within the Google Maps app.

Google will partner with parking services Passport and ParkMobile to allow drivers to pay for their parking meters. After you choose to "Pay for Parking," you pick your meter number, the amount of time you need, then pay. 

The feature also eliminates the hassle of having to run back to feed your meter again. You can easily add more time directly in the app.

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The Pay for Parking feature will be available to Android smartphone users in more than 400 cities in the U.S., including Boston, Cincinnati, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, and Washington D.C. It's expected to be available on iPhones soon.

Google Maps will also let users pulling up transit directions pay for their fares ahead of time. The feature will be compatible with more than 80 transit agencies around the world. It will roll out more broadly in the coming weeks, says Google.

The new advance payment features even have some health benefits for COVID-weary travelers who would just as soon skip touching parking meters and ticket machines.

"These days, people are upping their hand-sanitizing game and avoiding touching public surfaces as much as possible," reads a post from Google Maps product manager Vishal Dutta and Google Pay product manager Fausto Araujo explaining the new features.

Follow Brett Molina on Twitter: @brettmolina23.