Corner Brook to decommission all 166 parking meters in downtown area and transition to new ones

Approximately 16–20 digital pay stations will be installed across the downtown area.

The City of Corner Brook is working to replace all downtown coin-operated parking meters with multi-space digital pay stations. After recent issues of vandalism and theft, staff has been looking at ways to do this. At last week’s public meeting, council introduced a motion to have the 166 meters decommissioned. He says these meters have recently suffered from widespread vandalism and theft, resulting in over 90% being rendered inoperative. Coupled with the obsolescence of the equipment and a declining ability to procure replacement parts, the system no longer meets operational needs or community expectations. The current meters are also incompatible with the City's digital mobile parking app and limit users to coin-only payments.

Approximately 16–20 digital pay stations will be installed across the downtown area. Granter says coins will no longer be used be phased out and they will enable payments via debit/credit cards only; coins will be phased out. Units will serve 8–10 parking spaces each, are remotely programmable, and will fully integrate with mobile parking systems. Improve data collection for parking trends and system planning. 

Director of Protective Services Todd Flynn, says this will lead to an increase in revenue after a decline since Covid. Before the COVID-19 pandemic in 2019, the city generated approximately $80,000 annually from its parking program. However, due to the pandemic, revenue declined sharply to around $40,000 per year. Flynn says business owners and customers in the downtown area have complained since they can’t find a parking space since some spots are taken up all day.