Edmonton city council looking for ways to help smartphone-less drivers pay for parking

The City of Edmonton is still moving ahead with its plan to retire all EPark machines by the end of July but councillors say the city needs to find ways to make the transition easier for people over the coming months.

Ward Dene Coun. Aaron Paquette introduced a motion at Tuesday's city council meeting designed to slow down the process of getting rid of the machines and examine ways of accommodating people who prefer to pay for parking with cash.

"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?" he told reporters on Tuesday.

The city announced in March that all EPark machines would be removed from streets in phases, starting this month. 

The city's contract with the vendor ends this year and the machines are no longer compliant with the city's credit card processing technology because they only allow transactions with magnetic stripe, not chip and PIN. 

Replacing all the parking machines would cost more than $2.8 million so council decided in the fall of 2024 to get rid of them and move to a mobile-only parking payment system. 

Once the machines are gone, drivers must pay for parking by scanning a QR code with a cell phone, using the HotSpot Parking app or website, or by telephone (but only if using an existing HotSpot account). 

"There obviously are ways for them to pay, but it seems really, really roundabout," Paquette said Tuesday.

"It's like asking people to do 12 things before you can open a door to get into a building."

Ward sipiwiyiniwak Coun. Sarah Hamilton said during Tuesday's meeting that she had also heard from concerned seniors.

She also said she was alarmed to learn that 60 per cent of all public parking transactions currently go through the EPark machines, which accept cash and credit cards.

"The question I have is if this large group of people still hasn't moved to the app, what has been the hang-up for them since we've had the EPark app for almost 10 years?" she said.

City officials told Hamilton that app usage continues to grow, but Edmontonians use the machines because they are there and the city expects people to switch once that option is gone.

Michaela Gatto told CBC News she paid for parking on Wednesday morning using an EPark machine in Old Strathcona.

"I think it's just more straightforward," she said. 

Another driver, Mark Wilson, said he paid for parking using the QR code option.

He said he understands the rationale for removing the old machines but worries how people without smartphones will fare once they are gone.

"For the majority of people it'll work, but we are limiting a percentage of the population that don't have access to that technology," he said.

City council passed two motions on Tuesday asking city officials to deliver parking-related reports to council in the fall — one on how to fund keeping or upgrading city-managed parking infrastructure and another on communication strategies, app updates and education efforts.

Paquette said by the end of the transition period, the city will have better data on app adoption and where people are still struggling with parking payments.

"Once we understand where that need is, then we can probably respond appropriately with alternative options," he told CBC News in an interview on Wednesday.

In the meantime, he said, people who still prefer paying with cash can do so at some private parking lots.