Vancouver to spend up to $1 million on parking meter upgrades

By STEPHANIE IP, The ProvinceJune 12, 2012

Up to $1 million from Vancouver’s capital budget has been set aside to upgrade parking meters to accept the new generation of lighter loonies and toonies. Coun. Raymond Louie spoke on the matter Tuesday when council sat down to review budget projects and requests. According to him, about 70 per cent of the city’s more than 9,000 meters have already been switched over to handle the new coinage, upgrades that started even before the new coins began circulating in April. “The federal government has undertaken this change and they’re saving ... tens of millions of dollars as a result of that — but there’s downstream costs to the cities and that’s frustrating,” Louie said of the lighter coins that are more cost-efficient to produce. “It’s not something I would have preferred but we’re understanding of why they made the change.” Louie noted the city also saved money by coordinating the bulk purchase of new meters with other municipalities. Some of the allotted $1 million will also go toward new meter heads that accept credit cards. “It’s something we have to deal with and in the end, I hope the service is seamless for our citizens,” Louie said, adding there hasn’t been a timeline established yet for when all Vancouver meters would be upgraded. Currently, meters that do not support the newer coins will feature stickers warning drivers.