'End of an era': Vancouver to cease coin payment for parking
A retired coin collector is concerned that the City of Vancouver is ending the option to pay for parking with coins.
By the end of April, the City confirmed to Daily Hive Urbanized that they will be eliminating coins as a payment option for street parking “in an effort to streamline operations and modernize parking infrastructure.”
They said it will take about two weeks to decommission coin use.
“They’re not giving the public much of an option,” said the retired City employee, who asked to remain anonymous.
“I mean, you got seniors, you got tourists that come to town — they like to pay coin. They don’t want to pay by credit, Interac, or PayByPhone. They want to have that option. And now we’re eliminating that option for them.”
He’s also concerned about the job loss this transition will cause.
Prior to COVID, he said there were 12 people working as coin collectors, which was then “decimated” during the pandemic. After COVID, the City brought back seven coin collectors. As people retired, more of these roles were further lost to attrition.
“They only kept five. So, basically, they weren’t collecting every meter every day because the money was down, but they should have been for security reasons.”
The City said that ceasing coin-paid parking will result in “involuntary departures,” as well as other staff redeployed to work in other areas.
But they said the reason for this change is that people paying for street parking with coins has “steadily declined” over time. Just four per cent of parking revenue is paid for by coin.
The majority of people pay through apps, which include PayByPhone and HotSpot.
The former City staffer said he believes this move is part of the City’s budget cuts following the zero per cent property tax increase in the 2026 budget.
“They’re trying to find savings where they can. But my understanding was that they were going to cut exempt staff, which makes more sense, because the City is more top-heavy. And that’s where the money savings would come from, because most of the exempt staff make over six figures.”
He said this decision is “disappointing” because it’s taking away choice from the public.
“It’s the end of an era,” he wrote in an email to Daily Hive Urbanized.
People’s options for paying will include the apps, using a credit or debit card at a pay station, calling PayByPhone at 604-909-7275 to pay over the phone, or calling 311 between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. from Monday to Friday, or between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. on weekends and holidays.