According to Mobile Payments Today, the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency recently announced that it will install near-field communication (NFC) transponder stickers at all of the city's public parking spaces, allowing drivers with NFC capable smartphones to pay for parking simply by swiping their cellphone.

Smartphone parking payment apps have become increasingly popular, both on public streets and in private parking garages. In addition to making the process simpler for drivers, the devices also improve air quality in parking lots and multi-level garages, where easier payment means less time spent idling at payment kiosks.

In San Francisco, officials said that the integration of NFC technology represents a significant step in parking solutions planning, and they predict that the technology will become increasingly integrated as it becomes more widespread in smartphones.

"We expect this to help kick start the more widespread adoption and understanding of the practical benefits of NFC in 2012," said Neil Podmore, Vice President of a mobile payment solutions company.

NFC technology's integration into parking solutions is just one of the many exciting technological advances that traffic engineers hope to see grow in 2012. Major shopping centers, for example, are beginning to install intelligent parking systems that direct shoppers to open lots and spaces, providing real-time information to minimize backups.