Beginning Monday, The City of Hood River will be changing showing how you paid for downtown parking through on-street kiosk pay stations, and introducing a smartphone app as a payment option.  “Pay by Plate” requires users to enter license plate numbers when paying for parking at the pay stations, eliminating the need to return to a vehicle to place a printed receipt on the dashboard.  Customers will also have the option of using one of three smartphone apps to pay for parking: Passport Parking, WayToPark and ParkMobile.  They enable users to electronically pay for parking without using coins at a meter or pay station.  In order to use an app for parking in downtown Hood River, users download the free app, then create an account with vehicle and payment information.  Prompts allow users to choose for their vehicle a zone area, duration of stay, and card for payment.  When time expires, users are notified by the app and have the option of extending the session without having to return to their vehicle as long as they don’t exceed maximum time limits.  The parking apps are free to download from the App Store and Google Play, but a 25-cent convenience fee per transaction is retained by each application developer.