Moncton doing away with hundreds of parking meters, moving to digital system

Moncton is getting rid of more than 460 parking meters and gates on city-owned lots as it moves to an almost entirely digital system.

30 new payment stations will still allow cash payment

Shane Magee · CBC News · Posted: Jun 17, 2025 5:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 11 hours ago

A parking meter with various text. — More than 460 parking meters in Moncton, N.B., will be removed as the city switches to a payment system that's almost entirely digital. (Shane Magee/CBC)

Moncton is getting rid of parking meters in favour of a mostly digital payment and enforcement system.

Councillors voted unanimously Monday in favour of a five-year, $1.4-million contract with HotSpot Parking Inc. for the switch.

The change will see more than 460 meters removed. Gates at a city-owned parking garage and surface parking lots will also be removed.

The new system, similar to one in place in Saint John and Halifax, will rely on payment through the HotSpot phone app, a website, or through 30 new payment kiosks. Those kiosks will accept cash, debit and credit.

Conrad Landry, the city's director of community safety, told council the municipality already needed to replace its meters and has faced complaints about the gates on lots not working properly.

A man in a black uniform shirt and tie wearing glasses. — Conrad Landry, director of community safety for the city, says enforcement can be done with hand-held scanners or scanners attached to city vehicles that check licence plates. (Shane Magee/CBC)

"Ultimately, it's just to improve the user experience," Landry told council about the switch.

A staff report to council says it's increasingly challenging for staff to keep up with repairing and addressing vandalized or malfunctioning meters. The meters were installed between 2014 and 2018.

The change will also affect city parking passes, which Landry said are processed manually by staff and tracked in a spreadsheet.

Enforcement

The new system will be based on vehicle licence plates. That will allow municipal bylaw enforcement officers to use handheld scanners and scanners on vehicles to check compliance.

"So they would just drive slowly on the street and it would scan the licence plate," said Landry. "If it's green, that means they're good. If it's red, that means there's a violation. So [it's] a lot more efficient. They don't have to come out, check the meter, check the plate."

The system will provide data from Service New Brunswick about the vehicle identification number and ownership.

A machine with a large P on the side and various screens and buttons. — An example of the 30 payment stations Moncton plans to install where people can pay with cash, debit or credit. (City of Moncton)

Coun. Daniel Bourgeois asked whether the city should do away with cash parking payments entirely, saying it would reduce the risk of vandals damaging the payment stations.

Landry said the solar-powered machines are built more like ATMs and should be "as vandal-proof as possible."

He said the stations should be located roughly every block where there's currently paid parking. Signs will be installed directing people how to pay, Landry said.