Cash is no longer king for parking.
That’s the takeaway from Wednesday’s committee of the whole meeting in which St. John's City Council unanimously voted to install pay station hardware on Harbour Drive sometime this fall.
The decision still needs to go through a regular council meeting for final approval and details, but transportation lead Coun. Debbie Hanlon said the future of parking in St. John’s will likely include a combination of the PayByPhone app currently being tested on Harbour Drive, and payment kiosks that would accept credit cards and potentially debit cards.
Decision about giving motorists options
Precisely how that will look has yet to be finalized.
Five bidders responded to a request for proposals for the procurement of the kiosks. Some bidders offered payment by debit card as an option, but not all.
Hanlon said councillors seem in favour of pay stations that would allow debit, ensuring motorists have as many payment options as possible.
All except cash, that is.
“If we put cash in the machines, we’ll have the same problems we have now,” said deputy city manager Jason Sinyard, alluding to the ongoing issue of beheaded meters throughout the city.
During the trial run of the PayByPhone app on Harbour Drive over the past year, staff heard concerns about a lack of alternative payment methods for people who did not have a cellphone or who weren’t comfortable using the app.
“Given these concerns and in the interest of making paid parking compliance as easy as possible for all users, it is recommended that pay station meter hardware be installed along Harbour
Drive as part of the city’s new equipment rollout,” reads the decision note prepared by city transportation engineers.
That would mean each parking space would not have its own meter, rather there would be kiosks set up where people could pay.
Parking stations to be installed this autumn
After first being installed on Harbour Drive sometime this autumn, the mixed-payment method approach would then be implemented in other parts of the city.
Hanlon said that might look like individual meters in some areas, pay stations in others, the PayByPhone technology, or a combination of all three depending on the needs identified for motorists in the area. In any situation, cash would not be accepted.
Hanlon said council is looking forward to the new system because roughly half of the current parking meters are broken and it’s costing the city “millions” of dollars.
She said the new approach aims to meet the needs of everyone who pays to park in the city – to make parking as accessible and easy as possible.
“I don’t think you can please everyone, but I think this is a good shot at it,” she said.
As for the old meters, Hanlon said they will likely be repurposed, but admitted she’s not certain there will be a use for them.
“Maybe we’ll auction them off or something,” she laughed.
Meanwhile, city staff gave a summary of uptake of the PayByPhone system on Harbour Drive. Staff’s decision note to council said the app had 80 per cent usage during the trial year compared to the average historical meter use for the area before vandalism became an issue.
Twitter: @juanitamercer_
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