The City of Edmonton is sticking to its plan to get rid of all EPark parking machines by the end of July, reports CBC News.
But some city councillors are pushing for the transition to be made easier for people who still like paying with cash.
Ward Dene Councillor Aaron Paquette brought up the issue at Tuesday’s council meeting, saying he’s been hearing from a lot of seniors and people without smartphones, which are required to download a new parking app.
“I’m getting a lot of calls from folks who are seniors in my area or people who don’t have smartphones and they’re wondering, how is this going to work for me?” Paquette said.
The city started removing EPark machines this month after deciding last fall to move toward a mobile-only payment system. The legacy machines can only process credit cards with magnetic stripes and not chip and PIN cards. Replacing them would have cost the city over $2.8 million.
Once the machines are gone, drivers will have to scan a QR code, use the HotSpot app or website, or call by phone—but only if they already have a HotSpot account.
Paquette said that while there are options, the process feels overly complicated for some people. “It’s like asking people to do 12 things before you can open a door to get into a building,” he said.
As it stands, about 60% of all public parking payments still are throuigh Epark machines, despite the Hotspot app being around for almost 10 years. Ward sipiwiyiniwak Councillor Sarah Hamilton questioned why so many haven’t started using the Hotspot app yet.
Council passed two motions on Tuesday asking staff to report back this fall on possible options for funding parking infrastructure upgrades and improving communication around the changes.
I guess if you still include an option for coins, newer credit cards and the parking app, you can maximize parking revenue.
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Just sad these machines are better city needs to provide free wifi at all parking places or get sued for that they assume everyone also has data, including any tourists who go to Rogers place want to go in and find they have no data need to download some app and need to sync a visa abroad. Geez