St. John's making decapitated parking meters a thing of the past

St. John's city council has green-lit a new parking plan.

Starting this fall, the Pay by Phone app that's being tested out downtown will spread to other areas of the city, and will be supplemented by parking pay stations.

According to Coun. Debbie Hanlon, the app increased paid parking compliance but, she said, people didn't want it to be the only option.

Some people told the city they either didn't have a smartphone or didn't want to use one to pay for a space.

Taking that into consideration, Hanlon recommended keeping the app as an option, but also installing parking pay stations electronic kiosks where drivers can pay.

The city has issued requests for proposals on those kiosks. Hanlon says some bids have come in, but a winner hasn't been chosen yet, so particulars haven't been decided.

She said pay stations will definitely take credit cards and may do debit. But, for at least the first year, they won't take cash. That's because the city doesn't want a repeat of itsparking meter problems.

For years, vandals have taken the tops of meters, breaking them and stealing the coins inside.

"We have 1,167 meters and, I think, half of them are not operational," Hanlon said. "The parking is costing us millions of dollars the situation with the meters so we're really looking forward to moving ahead and having this new system in place."

Meters went unrepaired because of the cost associated with fixing them, and the rate at which they were being destroyed.

A broken meter often meant a free space, but once the app and pay stations are in place, that will no longer be the case.

Hanlon expects the first pay stations to be installed downtown and said they'll start rolling out elsewhere shortly after.

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