The City of Chicago is looking to improve parking at O’Hare Airport.

Not by increasing the 25,000 parking spaces it controls at lots and garages adjacent to the airport, but through technological improvements to allow drivers to use their cell phone to locate and pay for parking.

According to the Chicago Sun-Times, the city is seeking bids from companies that have technology which will allow drivers to locate open parking spaces within garages or lots and even pay for their parking using smart phone applications.

Drivers with pre-paid parking would not have to wait at long lines to pay for parking before exiting. The city believes they can eventually decrease the number of manned pay booths at each parking lot or garage location.

The story says 3.4 million cars park at O’Hare annually, or an average of 20,000 vehicles a day.

But the bid description also has a mildly sinister request for potential bidders.

The winning bidder must be able to employ license plate recognition technology at the entrance and exit to parking facilities.

The city wants this technology to supposedly prevent fraud and help locate lost vehicles. But Chicago wants the license plate recognition software to be used to alert the officials when a parking ticket scofflaw’s vehicle is on the premises so city boot crews can slap a Denver boot on the vehicle. Of course, once immobilized the car won’t be going anywhere, as the boot won’t be released until all unpaid parking tickets and red light camera tickets are paid up or a payment plan is worked out.

Here’s the Sun-Times full story, “O’Hare upgrade would let you find and pay for parking with your phone.”